a taste of spring in January (and a peanut butter sandwich recipe)

The weather this weekend has been amazing. Upper 60's. Light breeze. Sunny skies. Today the temperature is back down to the mid-40's and it is gloomy, but with the threat of snow early this coming week, even the 40 degree temperatures seem like a treat.

On Friday, I took the boys to the zoo in Tulsa to enjoy the warm winter day. Liam was so excited to go see the aminals. The promise of a train ride and a carousel ride before we left was enough of a bribe to keep him on his best behavior while we toured the zoo.
Liam is still at that stage where anything and everything is potentially scary, so animals that weren't behind a thick pane of glass were a bit too much for him this time.

The crow cawing behind a wire screen? Frightening.

The adorable marmoset scurrying about the rainforest exhibit and coming within a couple feet of us? Absolutely terrifying.


But the enormous fish safely kept back in their tank? A favorite.

This hibiscus in the rainforest completely caught me off guard. A tropical flower never seemed so exotic, such color in the middle of winter's grays and browns.

Back outside, Liam found the one remaining pile of snow from the last storm. It needed some stomping.

We found a picnic table for lunch: clementines with apple peanut butter miso sandwiches.

This is one of our favorite sandwich fillings, adapted from Cynthia Lair's Feeding the Whole Family.

I like to mix up a batch and keep it in the fridge for quick, easy, and, this time, on-the-go lunches. It is just sweet enough and doesn't make the bread soggy like jam or crystallized like honey, and the probiotic boost from the miso is good, too.

The original recipe calls for almond butter, but I only sometimes have it on hand. It also calls for apple butter instead of the applesauce that I use. Either variation is good.

Apple Peanut Butter Sandwiches with Miso

Mix the following together and enjoy on bread as a sandwich filling:

1/3 cup applesauce
1/4 cup peanut butter
2 teaspoons white miso

Liam really likes this sandwich spread, and would eat it in a bowl with a spoon if I let him...

I have already introduced River to peanut butter since the allergy testing we did in November showed he didn't have any reaction to it. He also likes clementines.

After lunch, we made our way over to the train. Liam was very concerned when I told him to pose on the tracks for a picture. Mama, the train is going to come and squish me...

While we waited for the train, I let Liam make one of these souvenir coins. He enjoyed the process and then was especially fascinated watching other kids take their turns.

After the train ride, we went on the carousel. Even though he has been on it before, while strapped to me in the Ergo carrier, this was River's first time officially riding one of the carousel animals, a seahorse. He smiled the entire time, bouncing up and down with glee.

Liam chose the shark, again, and obviously had a good time. I stood between them, holding Liam's hand and River's waist band. It's these silly little moments that make me really feel like a mom. And I love it.