Josh Renaud's weblog detailing the exploits of his family in Ferguson, MO, USA. Starring Yoli, Jadzia, Ludi, Josie, and Joseph Renaud.
Ludi lets us know very clearly when she is enjoying some food. Her mouth gapes open wide, her way of saying “shovel in the food, now!” In the photo above she was enjoying apple pie. She really, really, really likes apple pie and would probably never stop eating it if we didn’t make her stop (or run out).
Jadzia is not quite so keen on apple pie. But she does love chocolate pie, which is on the menu for today.
While we were in Bolivia, Ferguson’s new Maid-Rite opened. It’s in the space where O.T. Hodge used to be. I miss the Hodge, but I was eager to check out the new place with its loose ground beef burgers. It’s the first Maid-Rite franchise in the St. Louis area.
I wasn’t sure if I’d like it. I’m not a huge sloppy joe fan. But Maid-Rite isn’t a sloppy joe. It’s a loose, crumbly seasoned ground beef, but without sauce (unless you order a specialty one with BBQ or something like that).
I bought the $8 Bacon Cheese-Rite basket. Basically you get the sandwich, fries, and a drink. The food was excellent. I really enjoyed the sandwich, and the fries were perfect.
A little bit pricey for my taste, but I bet we’ll take the kids every once in a while. They have corn dogs and other stuff which will be perfect. Jadzia can scarf corn dogs down like there’s no tomorrow.
Since Yoli still has our digital camera down in Bolivia, I didn’t take any photos of the inside. But the Maid-Rite website already has a bunch of photos of the Ferguson location (original, archive)
On Saturdays when Yoli’s not working, we like to walk around town. We start off by going to the Ferguson Farmer’s Market and picking up some veggies. A lot of times there are food/cooking demos going on, which means free samples. And there’s always good music. In this photo, Yoli’s telling me not to take the picture because I’m taking it from the wrong angle (the sun is behind them).
We had a mini-celebration for Ludi’s first birthday earlier this week. She turned one on Wednesday.
Unfortunately, late July and so far in August has been a time of hustle and bustle. We were in Houston the two days before Wednesday, staying overnight with our friends the Zanders so that we could do a bunch of paperwork at the Bolivian consulate in that city. Fortunately we completed everything we needed to, and now we are set for our trip to Bolivia at the end of August.
So Wednesday arrived and we knew we wanted to do something for Ludi, since it was her day. We had already settled on a trip to the Whistle Stop, but I thought it would also be fun to go to the Botanical Garden first.
It had been raining, so that scared away a lot people and we got a great parking spot. (This accords well with my “Six Flags Strategy”: Plan your trips to Six Flags on rainy days, that way the lines are short and you get to ride the rides more times.)
On Monday and Tuesday, we spent a 1.125-day vacation in St. James, Mo. where we visited my brother Justin and his family. His youngest son Keaton was celebrating birthday Numero Uno.
The differences between siblings are a source of neverending amazement and bewilderment. Jadzia has been picky for quite some time. But Ludi? She eats almost anything. These days she is eating a ton … probably a growth spurt.
She can be picky in her own way. If we have oatmeal for her to eat, and we are eating dinner (say, sweet and sour chicken with rice), she won’t eat the oatmeal. She wants to share in whatever we’re taking off our plates and putting into our mouths.
I have to point out, this fills her mom with joy.
Parades, markets, softball games … It’s been an eventful weekend here in the Renaud Empire.
My Saturday:
Girls go to storytime, presented by Ferguson Municipal Library.
Eat free Mediterranean food from demonstration.
Check out liquidation sale at furniture store around the corner.
Return with food from market.
Drive up to Fiesta in Florissant.
Look for our favorite vendor, Tango, with their Argentine empanadas.
Watch lots of dances.
Take girls home and lay them down for naps.
Go to the batting cages and hit 60 pitches.
Come home and get ready for work.
It’s a new season at the Ferguson farmer’s market, which means more chances for Yoli to enter contests.
You may recall that last year Yoli took second place in the pie contest.
This year there is no pie contest, unfortunately. In its place, the market will hold several contests for different fruits. Saturday was the first: the berry contest. Any “delicious creation” that featured berries was eligible.
On Saturday, we finally came to possess a substance of awesome power: lard.
Yes, you read that right. Pure lard.