Aruba 2012

You can take Maisie out of the gym but you can’t take the gymnast out of Maisie.  What a beautiful setting to do what you love the most.

For 23 out of the past 26 years, for a couple weeks each December, this has been my of the world.  This year Maisie and I spent two weeks on the beach with my parents.

Sometimes even Energizer Maisie stopped long enough to enjoy the view.

Maisie & Grandma watching the catamaran Rumba pass by.  

As we’ve done the past five years, we celebrated family day on the beach.  Due to his work schedule, Eammon isn’t always able to make the trip to Aruba with us but this, our sixth year of being a family, he was able to come down for part of our trip and was there to celebrate family day.

Grandma, Grandpa & Maisie enjoying the warm ocean water.  We generally have good sized waves, some years they’re huge waves, but this year the water was quite calm so it was easy and safe for Maisie, and all of us, to get in and out of the ocean.

This year, more than in years past, Maisie slept in a bit each morning so breakfast with Grandpa wasn’t every morning but she still enjoyed her time with him when she was up early.

Maisie and Grandpa off on one of their walks along the beach.

Maisie also loved going off on walks and to either the ocean or one of the pools with Grandma.

It’s always fun to see our friends Sandy & Allan.  Usually the annual Maisie with Sandy & Allan picture includes their son Carl but this year it was their daughter Elaine who got to enjoy the beach and whom we got to spend time with.

Allan & Sandy, Maisie and Fabiana.  All year long Maisie and Sandy collect pop-tabs from sodas, soups, pet foods & any canned item and then they bring them to Aruba each December.  All of the pop-tabs that are collected are part of a fundraising effort which supports the Ronald McDonald House Centers. 

Maisie loves adding all their collected pop-tabs to Allu the bear.

When not on the beach, my mom tortured us all as she brought along a 1,000 piece puzzle and even though I despise puzzles I got sucked into working on it.  No one could pass by it without trying to place a piece or two.  Over the two weeks we did get quite a bit together, probably about 3/4, and hopefully rolled up it made it home in decent shape and now my mom can be tortured and finish it on her own!

We often had visitors on the patio, watching us while we ate our meals.

On our way home, the view from the plane as we passed over Florida.  It was a nice trip but it’s great to be home and now it’s crazy busy trying to get ready for Christmas!

I have a gorgeous new recipe over on Cook Lisa Cook for a Steak au Poivre, a dish which coincidently I had for the first time over 20 years ago, in Aruba, at the now defunct Chez Mathilde restaurant.  Click on the link or the picture to be taken to Cook Lisa Cook and the recipe.

Other wonderful recipes posted on Cook Lisa Cook include: Mango Lassi, Stir-Fried Asparagus with Water Chestnuts, Ginger & Cashews, Curried Roast Chicken Pieces with Spicy Sweet Potato & Carrots, Grilled Corn & Bacon Pudding, Oriental Chicken Salad, Potato Salad with Bacon, Coffee Crusted Steak, Home Style Chicken Curry, Watermelon Frosty,  Mango Gazpacho, Toll House Double Stuff Oreo Brownies, Long Beans with Walnuts, Blacksmith Pizza, Rhubarb Crisp, Laksa, Math Book No Bake Cookies, Aloo Gobi, Mint Lassi, Red Curry Chicken, Lamb Curry, Grilled Corn, Avocado & Tomato Salad with Honey Lime Dressing, Baked Egg Cups Two Ways, Thai Peanut Salad, Holy Guacamole, Cantaloupe Agua Fresca, Wallaby Darned, Piggy-Out Cookies, Wicked Good New England Lobster Roll, Long Beans with Garlic, Super Simple Summer Shrimp Salsa Salad, Grandma’s Teriyaki Steak, Watermelon Tomato Gazpacho, Red Chinese Long Beans with Peppers & Red Curry, 24-Layer Crêpe Cake, Fig & Watermelon Salad, Grilled Chèvre & Fig Panini, Spicy Asian Cucumber Salad, Grilled Prawns, Spicy Brown Sugar Bacon, Kicked Up Piggy-Out Cookies, Pesto Pita Pizza, Cilantro Lime Chicken, Nutella Crêpes, Mango, Lime & Chile Spiced Ice Box Pie, Roast Beef & Garlic Herb Cheese Sandwich, Layered Crespelle with Bolognese, Fresh Mozzarella & Basil, Jamaican Jerk Meat Pies, Nutella No Bake Cookies, Velvety Mac & Cheese, Welsh Cakes, Tom Yam Ghoong (Spicy Shrimp Soup), Lime Jewels, Southwest Pasta Salad, Walnut Roca Squares, Uncle Bubba’s Shrimp & Grits, Chocolate Chip Gingersnaps, Levain Bakery Chocolate Chip Walnut Cookies, Copycat “KFC” Coleslaw, Happy 6th Birthday Maisie Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting, Caramel Stuffed Apple Cider Cookies, Thin Mint Irish Coffee, Caramel Apples, “Rotisserie” Chicken, Pulled BBQ Chicken Sandwich, Mummy Hotdogs, Mango Upside Down Cake, Pork Belly Soup with Collard Greens, Aloo Tikki, Pink Strawberry Cake Balls, Praline Pumpkin Cheesecake, Apple Dumplings, Rum Cured Salmon, Apple, Cranberry & Rhubarb Crisp, Hasselback Potatoes with Garlic Sour Cream, Crunchy Oat, Almond, Cashew & Pebbles Granola Bars, Texas Chicken with Lime Butter, Biscoff Fudge, Eggnog Popovers with Cranberry Butter, Creamed Corn with Cheese and Cilantro, Potato Crusted Pork Chops, Oatmeal, Cashew & Chocolate Granola Bars, Texas Chicken Sandwich, Seared Scallops with Creamy Pesto & Lemon Pepper Pasta, Thai Chicken Noodle Soup, Glazed Lemon Squares, Chang-Style Brussels Sprouts, Maisie “safe” No Bake Cookies, Ponderosa Lemon & Sour Cream Tart, Pork Dumplings with Rice Wrappers, Sweet & Spicy Apple Pork, Dark Chocolate Dipped Candied Lemon Peel, Crunchy Fudgy Heart Bites, Double Chocolate Meyer Lemon Mousse Cake, Malted Pretzel Crunch, Shrimp & Avocado Salad with Carrot Ginger Dressing, Apple Pancakes, Baked Egg & Avocado, Health(ier) Peanut Brittle, Crab Cake Stuffed Mushrooms, Broiled Sushi, Tomato Sauce with Onion & Butter, Loaded Potato & Buffalo Chicken Casserole, Slow Cooker Chicken Curry, Slimmed Down Loaded Potato & Buffalo Chicken Casserole, Baked Meatballs, Skinny Blueberry Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins, Fruit, Nut & Poppy Seed Chicken Salad, Peanut Butter & Jelly Bars, Jalapeno Popper Grilled Cheese Sandwich, Hearty Sausage, Mushroom & Cheddar Mini Quiche, Strawberry Soup, Chicken Tenders, Mango Melon Banana & Chia Smoothie, Lacy Cheese Crackers, Dried Cherry Almond Tart, Thai Cucumber Salad, Grilled Thai Chicken, Chili Maple Mustard Ribs, Curried Grilled Thai Chicken Salad, Copycat “KFC” Original Recipe Fried Chicken, Double Chocolate Mousse Cake, Cauli-Rice, Cauliflower Crust Pizza, Fritos Crusted Pollock, Chicken Satay Noodle Salad, Mini Cheesecake Bites, French Fries Hash Browns, Soup Day Soup, Thai Curry Shrimp with Shirataki Noodles, Toasted Sesame Ginger Salmon with Sesame Ginger Honey Glaze, Bacon & Cheese Zucchini Fritters, Fried Green Tomatoes, Crispy Zucchini Chips, Zucchini with Onion & Brown Sugar, Shrimp & Vegetable Madras Curry, Baked Buffalo Chicken Wings, Maisie “safe” Bacon & “Cheese” Zucchini Fritters, S’mores Granola Bars, Marshmallow Pops, Broiled Tomatoes, Steak with Bourbon & Brown Sugar BBQ Sauce, Thai Peanut Noodles with Chicken, Sweet Italian Sausage & Roasted Chestnut Stuffed Mushrooms, Sweet Potato Glass Noodles with Honey Garlic Lime Shrimp, Curried Chicken Salad, Slow Cooker Ranch Mushrooms, Roasted Spatchcocked Turkey, Crockpot Baked Stuffed Apples, Cauliflower with Seared Peppers and Caramelized Onions & Garlic, Crispy Oven Roasted Potatoes, Braised Beef Short Ribs and White Chocolate Marshmallow Cranberry Cashew Bark.

Enjoy!