Easter Special 2015

One day while browsing on Facebook I came across a post that showed an individual coloring Easter Eggs using rice in cups and food coloring and how it kept the mess down, plus gave the eggs a really nice texture.

Well, I figured I would give it a try this year with the kids since it seemed so easy.

I went to H.E.B and bought some little snack containers that were around $1.97 for six, some food coloring, and two dozen white eggs for a total cost of around $12.00.  We already had the white rice where we bought a 50 lb bag a while ago.

Our supplies to color Easter eggs this year.

The kids and I then put about an inch of white rice in the bottom of each container and then added the food coloring.  We started off with purple.

We also started a pot of water to boil to cook the eggs.  We always get our salted water boiling and then drop the eggs in with a ladle which we think makes them easier to peel.  Not 100% if that really works, but all of the eggs we have hard boiled do seem to peel easier since we started using that method.  Once we add in the eggs to the hot water we let them boil for twenty minutes, remove them from the heat, and run cold water over them until they are cool to the touch.

Hard boiled eggs.

Now it was time to add the rest of our colors to the rice and start dying eggs.

Pink

Orange

Green

Since we only had six containers the colors we used were blue, green, orange, pink, purple, and yellow.  The ratio of food coloring to rice was probably important, but we just winged it.

In the video I watched, the rice did not stick to the eggs quite as bad as it did with our eggs.  I added a little bit of water to some of the containers to try and thin it out so the rice maybe would not stick to the eggs as bad.  It helped some, but also messed up the shade.

Add one hard boiled egg.

Close the lid and shake until the egg is completely covered.

We may have too much food coloring in this one.

Waiting for the eggs to dry so the rice will fall off.

As far as not being as messy as the traditional method used to color Easter eggs, well I'll let you be the judge of that.  We really tried to do it a clean as possible, but fell short of our goal.

As you can see below, there was a mess after we were done with food coloring all over the place not to mention the rice.  

The after mass of dying our Easter eggs using the rice method.

This was after brushing off the rice clinging to the eggs after they had dried some.

This does not wash off easily, so I guess my hands will be stained for a few days.

After we were done, I just threw all of the containers away.  If you use good plastic containers, they may stain and with the kids I do not like to use our glass cups or containers due to them maybe breaking.

All of the containers in the trash.

All in all I would say that it was not any easier using this method over the traditional method of dipping the eggs in the liquid coloring solution.  Maybe if you bought a kit it would have everything proportioned out properly so that you would have better results.  If so you could comment and let us know.

We think our eggs turned out OK, but really they are not so special that we can say the rice method is best.  You can judge for yourself.

Our finished product using the rice method to color our Easter eggs.

We do need to remember that the eggs are not the important part of Easter, but the fact that Jesus Christ rose from the dead and saved us from our sins.

All of our kids know there is no Easter Bunny and that Easter is not about the candy, the outfits, or the eggs, but about how we are saved by Jesus Christ who died on the cross for us.

We tell our kids not to let other children know there is no Easter Bunny because some parents want to keep up that tradition, but as for our kids, they know the truth because we never want them to grow up and question whether Jesus was also a made up story. 

We also still let them participate in Easter egg hunts and get them candy on Easter, but remind them, that is not what it is really about.

I love the below cartoon, which sums it up pretty good.

So true!

So we had our fun coloring our eggs and will have just as much fun eating them on Easter Sunday or after.  Next year we may do it the traditional way or maybe I will find another way of coloring our Easter eggs and try that.  

But we will always remember that we are blessed that God saved us by sending His son Jesus Christ to die on the cross for us.

God bless you all and may you have a wonderful Easter Sunday!

Thanks!
Don, Misty, and Kids...

States we have visited so far.

 

River Walk San Antonio Texas

Today we explored the River Walk of San Antonio Texas by walking from the Pearl Brewery to downtown which was around a five mile round trip.  It was a beautiful sunny day with the temperature right around 81 degrees Fahrenheit, so it was not too hot or too cold and not a bug in sight.

We started our trek from the Pearl brewery where there is plenty of free parking.

Pearl Park

Looking down stream towards downtown at Pearl Park.

In 1881 the brewery was opened as the J. B. Behloradsky Brewery and the City Brewery.  It was then renamed the San Antonio Brewing Association in 1883.  In 1886 the first bottles and wooden barrels of Pearl beer are shipped.

In the year of 1916 the San Antonio Brewing Association was the largest brewery in Texas even outdoing Lone Star.  But when prohibition starts in 1919 it switches over to near beer and soda pop bottling.

When prohibition was lifted on midnight September 15, 1933 the San Antonio Brewing Association had 100 trucks and 25 railroad boxcars rolling out within minutes with their beer.

In 1952 San Antonio Brewing Association changes its name to Pearl Brewery Company.  In 1952 it is taken over by the Pabst Brewing Company and is then shut down in 2001.

Now the 22 acre site is home to many restaurants, a year round weekend farmers market, the Culinary Institute of America, and other specialty shops.

The back side of the Pearl Brewery.

Also to open in Fall 2015 is Hotel Emma which is to enhance the Pearl campus experience.

Tia, Ian, Avery, Misty, Chloe, Courtney, and Ethan with Hotel Emma in the backdrop.

Soon we were heading down stream towards downtown San Antonio on the west bank of the San Antonio River.


Along the way we stopped in a cave to rest and take some pictures.

Kids stopping at a cave to take a rest.

Dad taking a rest with the kids in the cave.

Little did we know that the cave was an evil monster that eats anyone who passes by.   Our first warning was when we saw the face of the monster deep inside of it.

The face of the monster.

We could see it drooling with anticipation of eating us for dinner.

The monster drooling.

Soon our survival instincts kicked in of fight or flight, so we chose flight.  We saw our chance to escape through a narrow opening to the right, because we all know that running out through the big opening on the left just did not make any sense.

The only logical escape path.

So up through the narrow opening we ran as fast as we could.

The monster shows itself.

Lucky for me, I made it out and just in time to get a shot of the kids getting eaten by the monster.  They will be missed.  Remember that Seinfeld episode where George pushes kids, granny, and a clown out of the way to get out of an apartment that's on fire, well it was nothing like that.  The kids were just too slow.

Ian, Ethan, Avery, Courtney, and Tia being sucked back in and eaten by the monster!

Well come to find out the kids gave the monster an upset stomach, so it spit them all back out and we continued on our way to downtown San Antonio. 


Actually this is called the Grotto by Carlos Cortes which was created in 2009.


The rest of our walk was not so adventurous as our monster encounter, but we still had fun and enjoyed the views the river walk had to offer.

Every overpass or bridge had some type of art.

Turtles basking in the Sun.

Looking to the east bank of the river.

Starting to see down town San Antonio.

Kids running down the sidewalk.

Ethan, Misty, and Chloe enjoying our Sunday stroll.

The kids taking a break on on of the many resting places along the walk.

 Entering a tropical area of the walk.

Such a beautiful place to walk through.

One of the many boat docks where you can get picked up by a river taxi.

Tia, Courtney, Ian, Avery, Ethan, and Chloe sitting on a tile couch in front of the Southwest School of Art.

By this time we were starting to get pretty hungry so decided to eat at Rita's on the River which is a Tex-Mex resturaunt.  

The food was very good, but we did not like how they only give you one complementary basket of chips and then you have to pay for any additional ones.  The chips and salsa should be free flowing in our opinion.

Waiting for our table at Rita's on the River.

After we ate we decided that we needed to walk the 2.5 miles back to Pearl Park on the east side of the river and go home.

No idea of what this is about.

Tobin Center for the Performing Arts.

A picture of a picture.

Kids resting in an arch way of faux trees.

Courtney and Tia at the locks.

San Antonio Museum of Art.

Another reason to walk back on the east side of the river was to avoid the Grotto monster on the other side.  Even though the kids put a bad taste in its mouth, why take a chance

The Grotto or monster's lair.

Finally after walking a good five miles or so, we made it back to Pearl Park just in time for them to turn on the lights behind the sign for the Culinary Institute of America.

The Culinary Institute of America.

All in all it was a great day of discovery and exercise.  The kids may need counseling for their near death experience with the Grotto monster, but if it wasn't for that then they would need it for something else.

We are so blessed to be able to live such a life and see all that we can while traveling America.  We take for granted the little things and complain about the stuff that just does not matter.

We are healthy and get to see the glory of God everyday in all that He has made, but sometimes only see what is inconvenient to us, which would be a blessing to others.

I pray that me and my family get closer to God and do more for Him than we do now.  If you tithed your time the same way you tithed your ten percent for money than that would mean that you would give God 2.4 hours a day.  I know we are coming up short.

God bless everyone and safe travels to those who are traveling.

God is great!

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Thanks!
Don, Misty, & Kids... 

States visited so far.