It certainly looks like a few slices of pizza, but really, this plate contains one of our family's time honored traditions--"Food Challenge." Since Tony and Wendy first met, they enjoyed comparing/contrasting the goodness/benefits of like items (food, drink, restaurants, etc.) to determine which was more superior based upon various criteria. There have been beer and donut challenges, but nothing quite competes with a good 'ol fashioned PIZZA challenge. To make it even more interesting, we kicked off September's challenges with a dual challenge--pizza and ice cream--just to keep it interesting. And so, the challenge began--placing cheese pizza from the well known pizza chain Bertucci's against local joint (and favorite of the family), Pizza Factory!
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| The boys give consideration to both pieces...and really take their time... |
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| Daddy and Abs too have a taste of the sauce, amount of cheese, flavor of the crust.... |
In the end, and after results were tallied, local joint Pizza Factory emerged as the victor, while two family-owned ice cream joints battled for place. Interestingly, when all was said and done, Mad Maggie's chocolate far surpassed Benson's, yet Benson's vanilla earned top honors for flavor profile and depth of flavor over Mad Maggies. Just a little fun to get the kids more comfortable with their palettes. We feel this is a necessary if we ever wish to dine out at a restaurant that doesn't have chicken fingers on the menu. :)
Each year, we somehow manage to gain visits from our Colombian and South American relatives right around the Fall timeframe. We know they come for the changing color of the leaves, pumpkin ale and apple picking of course..but we enjoy the company nonetheless. One of our favorite New England destinations for our out of town visitors is Marginal Way in Ogunquit, Maine. It is a quick car ride to the coast, and there are plenty of fabulous restaurants, taverns and hot spots to visit after the mile+ walk is complete. This year was no exception as we traveled northbound with South American cousin Graciela and her son in tow....
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| Just look at that gorgeous coastline! |
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| Graciela poses for her perfect Maine shot.... |
After our guests departed, we were back on track to enjoy all that New England has to offer--including the King Richard's Renaissance Faire in Carver, MA. Tony and Wendy first went together when pregnant with Abby, and have wanted to return ever since. This was the first year in many that the A-Team put on their royal gear and headed south to enjoy 'becoming a knight' and of course, the festival ending joust!
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| The royal court sits in preparation for the joust... |
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| One of the jousters has a quick swig of 'ale before fighting. :) |
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| Alec gets his flag signed by one of the jousters.... |
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| Abby stands beside her favorite, the Blue Knight! |
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| Aramis of course selects the Red Knight, who walked off in victory! :) |
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| The battle was brutal and mean....but in the end, all had an agreeable time! |
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| The kids learned about sword making/Blacksmithing |
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| And also took away the knowledge that cannons are just too complicated to operate. :) |
Our September ended with an increase in knowledge and appreciation for all that we have.
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