Wisconsin Dells

Do you ever run out of ideas for dinner?  I have the hardest time trying to come up with different things to make at night for dinner.  I am not the kind of person that enjoys eating the same meals each week yet I find myself always making the same things.  We had hamburgers on the grill again for dinner tonight.  It sounded so boring to me.  My family loves burgers on the grill and they are actually a very easy, quick dinner.  Still, it was boring...so I added some bruschetta to the dinner.  That's right.  I went down to my garden and picked 6 roma tomatoes and a big handful of basil.  I had the sun dried tomatoes and garlic in my fridge.  When I ran to the store to get buns for tonight's burgers, I grabbed a big loaf of french bread.  I know you usually see bruschetta served on a baguette but I'm not a fan.  I don't like hard crunchy bread just like I don't like hard crunchy cookies.  I am a soft bread/cookie eater.  The bruschetta was amazing.  I think Dane had 5 slices of them.  Don't tell him I said that though.  The balsamic vinegar in the tomato mixture is out of this world!  You have to try it.

I take 6 roma tomatoes, chopped and thrown into a bowl.  I add 1/2 cup of the sun dried tomatoes that come in the jar, packed in oil.  I take the tomatoes out of the oil and chop them on a cutting board.  Throw those into the bowl.  Mince 3 garlic cloves, throw in the bowl.  I add about 2 Tbs of olive oil and about 2 Tbs of balsamic vinegar.  Chop up 1/4 cup fresh basil and again, throw that into the bowl.  Season with salt and pepper and Ta-Da!  The mixture is made.  You can let this sit for a bit, I usually wait about 20 minutes before spooning the mixture onto the bread slices.  Sprinkle with a little mozzarella cheese and bake at 500 degrees for about 10 minutes.  You can put these under the broiler if you want, I would but my broiler is broken.

I've made this a few times before and it seems like the more I make it, the easier it is and the better it tastes.  Know why?  Because now I don't measure anything.  I guess, smell, and taste until it's just the way I like it.  This picture is from last year.  It still turns out looking the same, the flavors just get better.  The original recipe I found called for 1/4 cup olive oil.  Way too oily for me.  I want to taste the juices that come from the tomatoes and the hint of vinegar and the yummy basil, not the oil.

We made it to the Wisconsin Dells before school started this summer.  We had a blast.

The view looking out of our room window.

The view looking at the window in our room.  Cody, enjoying a second breakfast before we head out to the water park.  We went this year with friends, they have two boys close to our boys' ages.  We had so much fun!

Can you believe my 7-year old went down that yellow slide all by himself?  Cody went down so many big water slides this year.  I still can't believe he did it.  I think he went down this yellow one twice actually.  Becoming such a brave boy!

Every year we take our picture with the Mexican guy at this awesome Mexican restaurant.  You probably recognize him if you've been there.

Isn't it so funny how red Dane's head gets?  No matter how much sunscreen he puts on or how brown his head already is, his head always turns bright red.  Maybe he should start wearing one of those swim caps in the sun?  Cody, can the boy ever just sit and smile nicely?

We went on the duck boat tour this year.  Brady got to be co-captain and sit up front with the guide.

He loved it.  Poor kid was so sun burned by the time we got done.  There was no shade up there and the tour was a good hour long.  I bought him ice cream when we were done to cool him off.

Again, leave it to Cody to turn a nice family picture into dysfunctional looking family photo.

Until next year Wisconsin Dells!

Nite!