Oh, For the Love of Snoopy!!!

Let me introduce you to my new frenemy, the Snoopy Tendonitis Sno-Cone Machine.

The joyous machine of old? The fun of your childhood (not of mine. I don't recall ever having one). You can make a wonderful snow cone at home! No need to go out! No need to spend money! After all - it's just shaved ice and syrup! Let the fun begin!!!!

Brandon got his Snoopy Sno Cone Machine for his 4th birthday or for Christmas last year. Due to various factors (either the fact that the temperature plummets in September to fall-like conditions, or the fact that we were moving into our new house, or maybe the whole Christmas/snow outside/cold/cold/cold), Snoopy got put up in the closet for future use. We discovered it last week as we were doing some closet cleaning and got it out. Brandon was so excited for shaved ice, and I agreed to make some.

The instructions say to put 1 ice cube in the top, where the Snoopy is, and turn the crank on the back. Magically, shaved ice, about the consistancy of Colorado snow, appears in the little round area in the front. The kids are as happy as the Lucy and Charlie Brown on the front! But what they don't tell you is, OH MY GOSH, it's hard work! And not only does it take a lot of strength in arm #1 to churn out enough ice for one little cup full, but it also takes all the strength you possess in your other arm to hold the little plastic machine on the counter. As of this post, both shoulders and both elbows hurt way more than they should. I found that if I partially crushed the ice prior to putting it in the machine it worked a lot better. But it still was a lot of work. Then there's the syrup - which is just sugar melted in water with some coloring. Niiiicee. More sugar to rot their teeth. It's not as if my kids are sugar deprived. When you pour the syrup on the shaved ice, the ice melts down. You end up with a little cup that's now only half full, and you have to crush more ice! AAAHHH!!

Brandon's reaction to having a cup of shaved ice - "MMM, tastes like cold PEZ!" Great.

Luckily my kids only requested two cups of ice. The hard work paid off because both of them were pretty happy afterwards. As for me - I'm going to freeze some juice in ice cube trays so that I don't have to add that nasty syrup again. And I'm putting Snoopy away for a few days, until my arms recover.

Don't you just love the face Caitlin makes when I say "smile!"