Stay-Cation Part THREE!!

Our weeklong staycation continued on Wednesday, otherwise known as

 

Spring Break Day FIVE:

 

We met some friends at the PEZ factory - it was SO cool! Our friends live in another area of the state and we don't get to see them often enough so we sort of met in the middle and had a nice time with them. PEZ was neat, it's a small, self-guided tour that shows you all about the history of the candy. They have a production room with viewing windows as well but they were only boxing candy, not making it the day we were there. And of course there is a souvenir shop area where you can purchase all kinds of neat PEZ candy stuff. If you decide to go, keep in mind it's VERY quick and simple - but I still thought it was fun.

 

 

 

It cost $5 for adults and $4 for kids and they give you a souvenir badge/lanyard thing to keep plus each guest gets a $2 credit to use in the shop. I was also pleasantly surprised to see that the prices weren't jacked up - most of the PEZ dispensers were around $2 or $4.

 

 

 

 

Look how many different PEZ they had!!!

 

The production area ... 

 

Joy with her friend Josie ...

 

 

You could fill a bucket of PEZ from this candy buffet - it was $4.99 for the bucket.

 

Steph and Owen!

 

Josie and Hope!

 

After PEZ we went out to the Olive Garden for lunch ... it was so nice to hang out with Steph and her kiddos, we don't get to see them nearly enough but we have been friends for a LOT of years ...

{about 14 I think?}  

 

 

Then after we parted ways my girls and I stopped on the way home at IKEA! They had fun looking at all the home décor ... especially since Hope is working on changing her room décor right now.

 

By the time we got home we basically just had a little time to change clothes and then headed out for Hope's soccer practice. Joy and I walked laps for a while during the practice. We came home, got some dinner and then chilled out watching the movie Journey 2 together. After the girls went to bed Bob and I watched Survivor - our Wednesday night tradition!

 

Spring Break Day SIX:

 

My in laws wanted to have the girls come over for the day so they went off with Grandpa and Grandma and I had the day to myself ...

First stop was they went out for breakfast, then for a bike ride at a park we love on the ocean ...

 

 

Then they had an art lesson with Grandpa and painted these beautiful paintings. They made them for my bathroom and I can't wait to see them once they get framed and hung up!

 

I spent most of the day cleaning, painting and organizing. I'm on this kick right now where I have this mile long spring to-do list and I'm on a mission to get it done!

 

Spring Break Day SEVEN:

 

So that would be today and I didn't take ANY pictures today! But honestly today was mostly just a chill day ... at least compared to the rest of our week. My girls both had sleepovers planned for tonight, and I wanted to let them rest today. So they both slept in and kind of just hung out relaxing and watching TV for part of the morning which is something they really haven't had the chance to do much of this week. We went and picked up our groceries and I dropped a whole load of stuff off at Goodwill ...  then I continued on my painting mission today while the girls did their own things. Hope was busy trying to declutter and organize her room to get it ready to paint soon. Joy played on the computer, colored and hung around. Definitely a very low-key day which I think was just what they needed.

 

And that brings us to tonight ... Joy is at a sleepover at our church with the rest of the 3rd-5th grade Awana girls. And Hope invited 2 friends to come sleep over here. They are watching movies, eating treats, painting nails and making silly videos while they dance around. =)

 

Bob and I just watched a good movie called Chasing Maverick and now I'm getting ready to head to bed ... it's been a GREAT week and we still have the weekend to enjoy before the girls head back to school.

 

have a great weekend friends!!

 

 

 

 

Stay-Cation Part TWO!

WARNING WARNING - lots of pictures ahead! =)

 

So the past three days have been JAM PACKED with fun. I apologize in advance for the length of this blog post but here we go ...

 

Spring Break Stay-Cation Day THREE:

We had Krispy Kreme donuts for breakfast, oh yes we did ... only on Spring Break, don'tcha know... *grin*

Monday morning the girls and I started out with heading out to a favorite local used bookstore. We brought in a boxful of books to sell and were given a $10 credit which was cool so we each picked out 3 or 4 new-to-us books to read.

 

After that we headed to a favorite local park. It's SUPER gorgeous, right on the ocean, with a huge old mansion that they rent out for weddings and such and lots of big, green, lush lawns to explore. We packed a picnic lunch and met some friends there. Hope brought her rollerblades, something she absolutely LOVES to do lately. Do not be deceived by her shorts and t-shirt though ... it was FREEZING that day and even in jeans and a sweatshirt I was shivering!

 

Some of our dear friends!!

 

The mansion ...

 

 

Beautiful daffodils in bloom!

 

 

There are all these cool gardens and gates and paths ... I snapped a few photos of my girls and some of their friends ...

 

 

And my two beautiful daughters!

 

 

 

Myself and Joy

 

Hope, rollerblading with a friend.

 

 

After that we took one of Joy's friends home with us so she could spend the night - but first we had to make a quick pitstop at my FAVE place ... Rita's!!! The Gelati is my absolute favorite and soooo delicious!

 

 

 

This pretty much says it all!

 

 

That night Hope went to the movies with friends and Joy had her friend sleep over. So we watched 'Diary of a Wimpy Kid' with them and had popcorn and treats.

 

Spring Break Stay-Cation Day FOUR:

 

We got up early and drove Joy's friend home. Then headed out to go to SIX FLAGS for the day! This year we decided to buy Season's Passes since it cost the same as a one day pass PLUS the girls are both big enough {and brave enough} to ride all the big rides with us.

 

We went with our good friends and their kids and it was a BLAST!

 

I have to tell ya ... when I was a kid I LOVED roller coasters and had NO fear. But the older I've gotten {and had kids} I get so scared, I'm such a wimp! So as we drove up there Tuesday morning my stomach was all jittery and feeling anxious but I also knew I wanted to conquer those fears and not let them hold me back this summer. If we were going to have season's passes I was going to enjoy them! Anyway ... we get there and start with a couple mild rides and then we're walking past this roller coaster that goes upside down and backwards and the line was SUPER short so my husband says 'let's go!' and right then and there I got my nerve up and did it! It was so fun and exhilarating!!

 

Here are the girls with their friends...

 

 

 

Here we are waiting to get on one of the mild coasters ...

 

 

My friend Lynn was VERY brave, she gets motion sickness but she tried 2 roller coasters! I don't know if she'll ever go on them again .... but ... she was brave for that one day! LOL

 

This girly of mine ... she wanted to play that game where you shoot baskets and it says 'one in wins' ... so she pays for 3 balls and she MAKES IT IN 2 out of 3 times!! hahaha ... we were so impressed! There was a crowd of boys about her age standing behind her and they looked pretty impressed too! Love it!

 

 

As the day wore on it got a bit cloudy and cool and even sprinkled a little. The lines were SO short, it was awesome cause most big coasters only had a 10-20 minute wait! I told my family, 'we have to take advantage of this cause the lines probably won't be this short all season!' so we ended up going on LOTS of very cool roller coasters.

 

But there was this one - Bizarro - that I just had SO much fear and anxiety about. It goes 77 miles per hour and has a 221 foot drop. I kept looking at that hill all day and thinking I want to conquer that ride but I'm SO afraid of that hill! So later in the day we walked by and wouldn't you know the line was only about 20 minutes long - I knew it was NOW OR NEVER for me as the lines are usually much longer. So only my husband, Hope and I were brave enough to try it, everyone else waited for us or rode other things. As the car got towards the top of the hill I felt so anxious about looking down so I literally closed my eyes and didn't open them until I felt us going back up the next hill! I also screamed my head off ALL DAY on the rides so I have a very sore throat and scratchy voice, even now two days later! But I was so happy that I conquered it and now I know I can do it again when we go back.

 

Anyway, moving on ... just before we were leaving for the day my husband decided to go on Downtime, it's one of those free fall things. He ended up going on about 3 times because there was no line. I wouldn't do it because that kind of thing messes with my stomach! LOL

Here he is before they started ...

 

 

And right as we went to leave the park after a long, fun, full day we saw Porky and his girlfriend and snapped a fun picture ...

 

 

On the way home we stopped at On The Border for dinner ... so good! What a crazy and fun day, we came home happy and exhausted and talking about when we'll go back up again ... =)

 

 

Only 4 days into vacation and still more fun to come ... stay tuned!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spring Break Stay-Cation

My family and I are staying home for spring break this week. So we wrote up a list of things we'd like to do to enjoy our 'stay-cation' ... here is what we've done so far on these first two days:

 

Spring break day ONE:

My girls hung out with some friends watching a movie while I went for a run with my friend. I ran FIVE WHOLE miles! This is the first time I've ever gone that far! That also made my total for the week 12 miles which is the most I've ever done.

 

After that, we ran home so I could shower, then headed to a birthday party for a couple hours. When we got home mid-afternoon it was kinda cold so we did an inside activity which was PAINTING! The girls got paint, canvases and easels for Christmas so we put them to good use. This is the picture I wanted to copy for my painting:

 

 

And here is my version with the inspiration photo below it:

 

Just mine:

 

{I TOTALLY forgot to take pics of the girls paintings!

I will do that later and update when I blog again!}

 

Then we ordered pizza for dinner and watched 'Parental Guidance' together,

it was a really good movie!

 

Spring Break Day TWO:

 

First we went to church this morning.

Then we picked up some grinders for lunch.

Then we went home, changed our clothes and picked up our bikes.

We rode 4 miles on this great trail near where we live.

 

Then we went to this great place that has delicious ice cream!

 

After that we came home and all of us helped cleaned our 2 vehicles inside and out. Then we did a little yard and garden clean up while the girls played in the woods. After that we started a campfire, our first for the year!! It was a little chilly, I had several layers AND a blanket on - but it was fun and we stayed out there until almost 9pm.

 

The girls had found some cool treasures in the woods including some glass bottles and colored glass.

 

This bottle was really neat, it said 'Star Water' on it and was really cool!

Anyway, that was day one and two ... stay tuned for the rest of our week!! =)

Show Us Your Life ~ Health / Workout Tips

Let me preface this by saying that my mantra USED to be 'I LOVE food and I HATE exercise!' which I always thought was a dangerous combination! {and it is}

Call me crazy but I have literally started to change the way I feel about that statement. Yes I still love food and I probably always will and it will always be a struggle to eat healthy - however, the more fruits, veggies and healthy stuff I eat the more I like that kind of stuff! Crazy, right?!

Also, I am learning to enjoy exercise. It's still HARD and many days I still have to force myself to do it. But I'm getting stronger and feeling better and even though I'm still not losing weight I know it's been so good for my body. {I try to think of how it's helping my insides, even if it doesn't look like it's helping my outsides.} ;)

So here are my tips for health and exercise:

1. Just do it. I don't care if you don't want to, do it anyway. You will ALWAYS feel better after a workout but you might be filled with regret if you skip it. So suck it up and do it anyway.

{in the cold winter months I did the Elliptical Machine in my basement} 

2. Find a partner! This has made a WORLD of difference for me. I used to loathe running and even thought of giving up on it altogether. But now I have a couple friends who meet me each week and it's made it SO much more enjoyable! You'll find that just going with someone else will help inspire you to keep going and not quit and you can encourage each other when the workout gets hard. PLUS, knowing I have someone counting on me to show up makes me DO the workout every time. Where as if it was only me, I would make excuses and skip it FAR too often.

{my friend and I have run 2 days a week for the last month or more, even on days when it was 32 degrees and FREEZING - we would often wear 4 layers of clothing to run outdoors!!}

3. Find something you enjoy - but know that it still might be hard at first. Getting into the swing of things always takes work and will probably be outside your comfort zone when you start. You will probably even be sore for a while at first but just keep at it. If you try Zumba for the first time, don't get frustrated cause you don't have the moves down - just keep showing up and trying your best and you'll get it soon enough. And you're still working out and burning calories even if you don't have the exact moves worked out.

{Running in a 5K adventure race with my husband and brother in law -

SO good to have a family that enjoys being active! I married into one!! }

4. Do lots of different things so you don't get bored. Walk, run, play tennis, ride a bike, swim, go roller skating, just be active and keep moving. Variety is the spice of life and will help keep you from getting bored PLUS will keep challenging your body so it doesn't get used to the same exercise all the time.

5. Schedule it. Literally write in on the calendar and don't skip it! Keep it as an appointment the same way you would have a doctor's appointment.

6. Eat more of what God made. Don't worry about diets and diet foods. Don't follow every plan and scheme, don't buy all the low fat, no fat, 'health' foods ... just go back to basics and eat fruits, veggies, lean meats and dairy. Most things that come in boxes were MADE not GROWN.

7. Drink lots of water and little else. I still enjoy my coffee {just something I am not willing to give up} but I hardly ever buy/drink juices, sodas, etc... Just water is the best thing for you and it's FREE! {buy some fresh lemons and put lemon slices in your water, I promise it makes all the difference!}

8. Keep a food journal or follow an app like MyFitnessPal. If you really want to count calories or lose weight the best way is to keep track of what you put in your mouth. Trust me, I know from experience that little bites of this or that throughout the day really do add up and you will be shocked when you start tracking all those little things.

{riding bikes with my girls - it's important to get them moving too, so be a good example

 and show them that taking care of your body is important!}

9. Enjoy life! I truly believe life is meant to be enjoyed, we are meant to be outside and move and breathe and be active and I also think it's good to enjoy good food. I never want to be someone who is so restrictive about what I eat that I am failing to enjoy life. it's OK to have treats sometimes, even those really unhealthy things. Just follow my friend Jessica's advice and 'let a treat be a treat' as in you only have it in moderation on rare occasions. {I'm definitely working on this because ALL TOO OFTEN it's an occasion for me to enjoy a 'treat' and I know I need to find better balance with this!}

 

{when I'm running and want to quit this is my mantra, I say it over and over in my head ALL THE TIME!!}

10. Share your journey with others! I know I said have a workout partner - but it's also great to have friends who share your passion for a healthy life. So find some friends who are on the same page and share recipes, tips and advice. Workout together. Encourage each other. Get together to eat and share healthy foods. I always benefit when I share this type of bond with friends!

 

{YES! This is what I want to do this year!!}

 

 

 Hope you have enjoyed my tips, please know that I am NOT an expert in any way and am just a girl on a mission to be healthier each and every day. I eat junk, I skip exercise, I mess up - but I pick myself up and keep moving forward.

Check out Kelly's Korner to see what others have to share about healthy eating and exercise!