New Year's Day - Hoppin' John and Fun at Nikka's House

Walter and I had a fun time visiting with our friends Wayne, Michelle and Nikka on New Year's Day. Walter was feeling slightly better than the night before so he was able to come along for the fun. (Yay!)

I have long appreciated the southern tradition of eating a dish called Hoppin' John (blackeyed peas and rice) on New Year's Day for good luck. I made the dish on New Years quite a few times, but not consistently every year. We did not have Hoppin' John on New Years 2007 and in retrospect I wish we had. :) So this year I was determined to remedy that.

I made a nice big pot of Hoppin' John and some honey cornbread and took it to Wayne and Michelle's house in Maple Valley. They had never tasted Hoppin' John before but it seemed to be a hit. We had a great time eating and visiting.

Wayne and Michelle's daughter Nikka (hard to believe she is almost 6!) has recently discovered the hula hoop. I asked her to show off her hula hoop skills for my camera, and she did not disappoint. As you will see on this video the first time she swung the hoop it went around 2 or 3 times then fell. That was the warm-up. Then she swung it again - in the opposite direction this time. The hoop went round and round ... and round ... and round.... Nikka was keeping that hoop up like a champ! I counted over 20 revolutions. Way to gooooo Nikka!



I also got a video of their dog Chip's latest trick - he can crawl!



Thanks for the hospitality Wayne and Michelle. Walter and I had a great time.