It's still there...

Yesterday was our first time back to Disneyland since getting blocked out for the summer. It was a lot of fun.

It was our first trip to Disneyland while being on the gluten and casein free diet though. In preparing for Disneyland, I made sure to give the kids a big lunch. They had homemade GFCF corndogs (they taste great). Then, for dinner they got to have In-n-Out fries, a banana, a fruit snack, and juice. It's so nice to know that In-n-Out uses fresh potatoes, and only fries are cooked in their oil. So many other fast food places add "stuff" to their fries for taste or crispness or whatever, and they often use the same oil to cook those fries as well as other breaded food items. The other nice thing about In-n-out being so GFCF friendly is, Anna and I usually get a burger there too. And keeping mommy and daddy happy is an important thing. *big smile*

We went on the Jungle Cruise, then Anna took the boys on the tree house while the girls and I watched the ducks in the lake, then Pirates, the Tiki room, Buzz Lightyear, then Finding Nemo (thanks Sara), and then home. More and more, Jennan wants to walk instead of be in the stroller, so it looks like pretty soon we'll be a "one person" stroller family.

So yeah, good times.

A little skin?! ...scandalous!

Carl's Jr. has new fries. They're a "natural cut", skin on style of french fry. Their add campaign is "Don't blush... we're showing some skin." Personally, I liked they're old fries just fine. I don't know why they had to go and change them?

I've tried the new fries already by accident. Well, maybe not "accident", but I ordered some fries last time I was at Carl's Jr. and these were the fries I got. They're not horrible, but they do have that coating a lot of other fries have now to give them a better "crunch" on the outside. At least it's a very thin layer, so it's tolerable. Also they're a bit thicker that their previous fries.

Anyway, if you need an excuse to try them, you can get a coupon for a free fries and drink with the purchase of any Prime Rib burger HERE. (By the way, if you haven't tried the Prime Rib burger yet, it's a very tasty burger. I highly recommend it.)

J Fo's Bday dinner and party...

Jennan's birthday was last Saturday. We planned a last minute birthday party for her for Sunday, so we decided to go out for a birthday dinner that Saturday. This would be our first time eatting out since putting the boys on their GFCF diet.

The restaurant we decided upon was Red Robin. There's a couple reasons why. First of all, the kids like it there, and that's a big help. But more importantly, they cook their fries in their own friers. Meaning, that only fries are cooked in that oil. Places that fry other breaded items in the same oil as their fries contaminate their fries with gluten (through the little pieces of breading that come off in the frying process). So Red Robin has a huge plus in our book for their cooking methods.

Red Robin was very accomedating. We brought our rice ice cream, and they put it in their freezer, and dished it for the boys. We able to order a plain grilled chicken breast that Liam and Jennan shared, and Duncan had a hamburger patti with pickles on it. All the kids really like the fries at Red Robin too. The waitress was very good, and never made us feel like we were asking too much, or taking too much of her time. For a first time eatting out since the diet, it was a pretty painless experience. Now the quest is to find other restaurants that have the some cooking practices and are as accomedating. One other place we know of for sure, for quality, non-cross contaminated french fries is In-N-Out. Oh darn.

Sunday afternoon we had a small Foutz family reunion of sorts and a birthday party for Jennan. My aunt Becky was in town from Idaho with my cousin Samantha (11 yrs. old), and my uncle Larry was in town with my cousin Eric (32?) from Merced, CA. Neither knew each would be in town at the same time. All my other local aunts and uncles were invited to chow up at the compound to visit and hang out. We did a pot-luck dinner, had the huge slide out for the kids (and many of the adults), and had a good time visiting. As I mentioned, many of the adults went down the slide. Even my 77 (?) year old grandfather! Other adults of note were my aunts Kathy and Lisa, and my uncle Jeff. Of course Becky did, but I think we all figured she would. And maybe the biggest shockers of all were my dad and mom! Needless to say, everyone was having a good time.

A little later we had cake and ice cream, and a pinata. The cake was decorated as a cat, and it was made with 2 different kinds of GFCF chocolate cake. The head was made from a mix, and the body was made from scratch. The scratch cake was a little chewier than the mix cake. The mix cake was definetely better. I think we'll be trying other scratch cakes in the future though to find a good recipe. The frosting was a "butter-cream", but without the butter. We brought a soy ice cream (ran out of the rice ice cream the night before) for the boys, and had regular ice cream for the masses.

It was really great to get together with extended family. Also from Anna's side, her mom and dad and her sister Sara and her family (minus husband) came to the party as well. Even Sara went down the slide a few times.

Good times. Good food. Good visit. Good day.

(This video is old, but it's to show you the slide everyone was playing on.)