Fun and Festivities July 6, 2012

I hope you all had a fabulous 4th of July! We had a great celebration! Keenan certainly had fun, being silly with his cousin, helping Avo (Keenan’s nickname for my dad, which means Grandpa in Portuguese) make ice cream (and licking the spatula after the ice cream was finished) and playing with sparklers for the first time.

Here is a little re-cap of our day:

Wagon riding with Uncle E and taking pictures in 4th of July outfits:

The roller coaster “wagon” ride with Uncle E!

Swimming and trying out Keenan’s new Puddle Jumper! This is one of the best purchases we have made for Keenan, hands down! A mom in our swim class recommended it, and we (and Keenan) love it! It is Coast Guard certified, which is a bonus, but the best part is it keeps your child upright (instead of on their backs, like traditional infant life jackets), so they can learn to kick and paddle while floating. The Puddle Jumper has two arm holes (like floaties) connected to a belt that goes around the child’s belly. I was able to swim with Keenan in the deep-end and not feel nervous, because the Puddle Jumper is very safe and secure. The weight/size requirement is for kids 30-50 pounds, but Keenan is 26 pounds and it fit perfectly. If you are looking for something to help your child learn how to swim this summer, I highly recommend it! Also, it is very inexpensive, only costing between $15.00-$20.00! I bought the most basic one from Amazon for $20.00 (including shipping).

Swimming!

Ice cream making with Avo: Keenan helped put ice and water in the bucket, but he was so fascinated with watching Avo crank the handle. After the ice cream was finished, he and his cousin were the first ones to taste it!

Dinner and Dessert:

Keenan devouring his ice cream cone!

Sparkler time: Keenan wasn’t as excited as I thought he would be. His favorite part was putting the finished sparklers in the water bucket!

Sparkler time!

Today, after getting back into town, we slowly got back on track with eating healthy again (cutting back on portions, rich food and dessert) and went back to the gym, CrossFit. Even though we had lots of fun the past two days, it felt good to have a more “normal” day. My body needed it! I ate too many  peanut butter cookies and ice cream yesterday!

Tomorrow, I will be heading to CrossFit in the morning and then Keenan and I will head back to my parents’ house one last time, to spend the weekend with them and my niece, since my husband will be out of town and my brother and sister-in-law will be out of town, too. Keenan will enjoy having the additional time to play with his cousin (he cried when we had to leave this morning!). It should be fun!

What did you do for the 4^th?

Food and Family July 2, 2012

Cousins!

We just got back from a fun-filled (not to mention food-filled) weekend at my parent’s house. My sister-in-law and niece flew in from Montreal (where they live) on Saturday to spend their annual month of July here. Since we only see them a few times a year (aside from skype), we were so excited to see them! My brother has been here for the past 2 weeks on business, so they were finally able to join him, due to my sister-in-law finishing-up school for the year (she is an elementary school teacher). It was fun to watch Keenan interact and play with his cousin; he just loves her! They pretty much play non-stop from the moment they wake-up to bedtime (stopping for meal and nap times, of course). It’s cute, by bedtime, they are SO exhausted!

In my family, food is a MAJOR part of all of us spending time together. My mom is Italian, which means TONS of good food all the time (mostly healthy food, but a lot of it)! Most importantly, she loves to have all of us at the table enjoying meals together. Since I was child, sitting down for a meal as a family has always been a special time for us to converse, talk about our days and solve the world’s problems. So, this weekend was full of wonderful (but rich) food: steak, ribs, potatoes, bread, cheese, ice cream and best of all, my mom’s special banana bars and rocky road! Having will-power doesn’t exist at my parent’s house; I think I ate at least 3 banana bars and 4 pieces of rocky road over the course of the weekend…EEK!

So, needless to say, it is time to face reality and go to CrossFit this afternoon to work off what I consumed the past 72 hours (before more indulging occurs on the 4th!). I have to say even though I splurged this weekend, it was worth it! I am firm believer of eating 80-20 or 90-10 (eating healthy at least 80% of the time and allowing yourself to indulge in not-so-healthy foods 20% of the time). If you tell yourself you can’t have a certain food, such as ice cream, you will want it even more, so you might as well allow yourself to have a treat here and there. Life is too short to not enjoy the simple pleasures, such as eating homemade banana bars!

When I go to my parent’s house, I know I will probably splurge a little (dessert, having an extra rib or a second helping of pasta at dinner), so I try to compensate for the additional calories by eating a little less at breakfast and lunch. I also practice mindfulness when I eat: listening to my body when I’m full. I may want another rib, but I ask myself, “Do I really need it when I know I am going to have dessert later?” Once the weekend comes to a close, such as today, I always make sure to get back-on-track with my eating, proper portions and most importantly, exercise. After a few days, my body feels back to its’ normal self. As far as the scale goes, I like to weigh myself three days after coming home from a weekend away or vacation, because consuming additional sodium, alcohol and drinking less water can make you retain water (which adds pounds). By giving yourself 72 hours before you weigh yourself, you might find you didn’t actually gain any weight! On a side note, I only weigh myself once a week to keep things in check, but I mostly keep tabs on how my clothes fit.

How do you get back-on-track after being on vacation or gone for the weekend? Is food a big part of your family gatherings?