I'm back from my mini-vacation at the beach! It was just two days and one night away, and it was relaxing at all, but I totally enjoyed the change of scenery. And what beautiful scenery it was!
Oh, to be a child again!
All of us woke up at 5:30 in the morning to walk down to the beach and wet our feet in the sand. I wasn't really sure I would be able to rouse a sleeping 20 month old at that early hour, but all I had to do was lean over and whisper in her ear, "Baby, Mommy's going to the beach now. Do you want to come?" She sat up within 30 seconds, rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, and said, "Mommy. Beach. Water. Shoes. Come on. Let's go." And so, she got her shoes on and we played on the hammocks while Dadda freshened up. She walked all the way to the beach. A really looong walk, and when we got there, the look on her face was worth every minute of lost sleep! Mommy and Aimee splashed about in the waves, and when she had had enough, she said, "Mommy. Sleep. Mimi (milk). Let's go." I carried her back to our cottage, got her into some dry clothes and gave her a bottle, which she chugged down. Within minutes, she was back in the Land of Nod.
Have you seen a smile THIS pretty at 5:30AM?
The long walk to the beach
There at last!
Sandy toes...
Aimee had some wonderful (and new) experiences on this trip. She picked a mango from a mango tree, enjoyed running over manicured lawns, dug in the sand and played 'catch' with some other little girls. And the sights! She saw crocodiles, snakes and turtles, oh my! And while we were at the crocodile park, we also saw some beautiful, bright blue kingfishers and some gorgeous, colorful butterflies. She saw mallards, and little love birds, too. 
I had a fun time drawing the names, because I couldn't get the numbering to work on my Disqus system. I ended up having to do the whole thing manually. I had to copy the comments, format them, delete ineligible comments (unless Jill would like to win a copy of her own book! LOL), and then number them on an Excel spreadsheet. Then, I used Random.org to draw the winners, and they are -
Manu, from Manu's menu, who said, "Ahhh and I already like both The Harried Cook and Mad About Macarons on Facebook! ;-))))"
AND
Elisabeth, from Food and Thrift Finds, who said, "I popped over from Lizzy's blog. Your mousse pie looks beautiful, and light as feather...no doubt absolutely divine! Such a nice giveaway...will be checking her site out, and follow. I'm also following your blog...happy to say! Please visit my blog, and follow, if you'd like!
CONGRATS, Manu & Elisabeth, and please email me at foofoofoodie(at)gmail(dot)com with your address, and I will pass that information on to Waverley books, so they can send you each a copy of Jill Colonna's best seller, Mad about Macarons!
I finally got to do some baking today, and I am looking forward to sharing that with you soon. Tomorrow, perhaps? 
