Lots of Trips!!

We have been traveling fiends these days...First we had our trip to Jamaica for our monthly date around the world...We made jerk chicken wings and fried bananas for dinner and they were super yummy!

Jerk Chicken Wings

First you have to make your wings....

Chicken Ingredients:

3 boneless skinless chicken breasts (cut into 1” chunks)
Oil (for deep frying)1 cup all purpose flour2 teaspoons salt½ teaspoon ground black pepper½ teaspoon cayenne pepper¼ teaspoon garlic powder½ teaspoon paprika1 egg1 cup milk

Chicken Instructions:

Heat oil in a deep-fryer to 375 degrees. In a large bowl combine flour, salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, and paprika. In a small bowl whisk together egg and milk. Dip each piece of chicken in the egg mixture, and then roll in the flour mixture. Repeat so that each piece of chicken is double coated. Refrigerate the breaded chicken for 20 minutes.
Fry chicken in the hot oil in batches until the outside is nicely browned and the juices run clear (about 5 minutes per batch). Drain on paper towels. Repeat until all of the chicken is gone.
Mix fried chicken bits with your wing sauce.

Jerk Chicken Wing Sauce

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons green onion (minced)
1 cup water
¾ cup ketchup
½ cup dark brown sugar
¼ cup apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons hot sauce
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 ½ teaspoons cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon cornstarch
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon onion powder
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoons nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon allspice
1/8 teaspoon sage
1/8 teaspoon thyme

Directions:

In a small saucepan sauté onion in butter over medium heat. Whisk in the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 45 minutes.

A couple weeks later, we had our trip to Arizona (this one we actually got on a plane for...)

Here's Oliver getting prepped for his fun in the sun with some slightly-large sunglasses :)

 This trip was Oliver's first time on an airplane and he did SO well!! Maybe it was because everyone on the plane kept telling him how adorable he is, so he thought, yea...I won't get fussy today. Whatever the reason, he was an angel and slept most of the flight there and back.

Here he is sleeping in Daddy's arms on the way home

Grandma and Grandpa got Oliver a convertible car seat, so he felt like quite the big boy sitting in this seat (and he was looking a little too old for me...what happened to my newborn??)

Aunt Kati said he always made this face at her...on the way to church he just started at her like this until he fell asleep!

 The main reason for the trip (other than it having been way to long since we were last there) was for Oliver to meet his Great Grandma McLaughlin and his Great Aunt Patty. They gave him so much loving!! He was so spoiled; they would never let him go too long without being held and they gave him lots of toys and cute clothes (we had more luggage for Oliver than for me and Tommy combined!)

Great Grandma holding Oliver...do you see the Japanese resemblance??

 We went and saw Divergent and Veronica Mars (they were both great!), met a lot of friends in Mesa, and ate lots of yummy food (I've been craving The Good Egg for like a year and a half). Our baby was so exhausted that he started falling asleep when we set him on the bed to get his swaddle blanket ready-no binkie or nothing!

An exhausted bear after being set down for like one second

 But when he was awake, he was the happiest baby! He also had his first giggles with Daddy on March 25th; it was so cute and exciting.

Aunt Coey got this way cute shot of him smiling and I love it

 While we were there, we also got to meet James, a 9-month old baby of some of Tommy's parent' friends. As you can see, that 7 month difference is a pretty big one...

We had a super fun time and were pretty sad to leave, but we got to come home to our new place!! That's right, we've made the move upstairs and no longer live in a basement. We are really liking the space in our new apartment/house and as soon as decorating is done (which is taking forever since we have to work around naptime for hanging things up), I will put up pictures :) Stay tuned!