Home Sweet Home July 23, 2012

Such a tired boy!

We got home late Saturday night, around 10:30 p.m. Keenan was SO tired. He fell asleep on the way home, around 9:00 p.m. and then woke-up after an hour, crying and saying, “Keenan all done!” Poor little guy, he just wanted to get out of the car and be in his crib. The drive back was the LONGEST drive we have ever taken! There was so much traffic on the road, it was ridiculous, thus making the drive even longer. Needless to say, we were all glad to be home (though, not for long, since we leave for Alaska next Monday).

Yesterday, we spent the day unpacking, cleaning out the car, doing laundry, getting groceries, working on Keenan’s birthday invites (which I’ll post about later this week) and catching up on sleep, since we were all so tired. Keenan slept till 9:00 a.m. yesterday morning and still took a 3 hour nap!

Keenan is still catching up on his sleep because he slept till 9:15 a.m. today, sleeping for over 13 hours! So far, he has been napping for over 2 hours! We are putting him to bed on time tonight and hopefully, he will be back to his normal “schedule,” tomorrow (but, it sure is nice that he is sleeping in so late!).

As promised, here is a recap of our trip:

Beach: Our house was 7 blocks from the beach, so we tried to go to the beach as much as possible, which ended up being every other day. Our beach days were our “relaxation days,” after a busy day of site-seeing the day before. Our house was on a hill, so the walk to and from the beach was a great workout, especially pushing Keenan in his stroller with all of our beach gear (thank goodness for our BOB!). Keenan and his cousin loved playing in the sand and building sand castles. Keenan loved getting more water in his bucket with my dad and “jumping the waves!”

Having fun “jumping the waves” with Nonna and Avo!

Keenan and his cousin after a morning of playing on the beach…they were tired!

Sea World: The day after we arrived, we headed to Sea World. It changed SO much since I was there 15 years ago! The park now has roller coasters and water rides (my dad, brother, husband and me managed to squeeze in a ride on the Manta, which was fun!). We saw all of the shows and I think I enjoyed watching Keenan’s reaction to seeing dolphins, whales and sea lions for the first time, more than the actual shows! He was mesmerized! We also watched a Sesame Street show and Keenan and his cousin got to meet Elmo, Abby and Cookie Monster. I wasn’t sure how Keenan was going to react, but all he wanted to do was “hug Elmo!” I had to hold onto him during the entire show because he kept wanting to climb-up on stage to see Elmo. After the show, we stood in line and Keenan and his cousin got to take pictures with all of the characters. When it was our turn, Keenan ran to Elmo and gave him a big hug; it was adorable! Since he was so enamored with Elmo, we had to get him a little Elmo doll and Elmo sandals, which he loved (he sleeps with Elmo every night and hasn’t wanted to wear any other shoes, but his Elmo ones!).

The Shamu show!

Keenan was SO happy that he got to meet Elmo!

USS Midway: After a “relaxation day” at the beach, we headed to the USS Midway, a retired aircraft carrier that has been turned into an aviation museum. It was incredible! We learned so much. It was especially interesting, since my dad was a Naval Officer and lived on a similar ship (though a lot smaller) many years ago.  The Midway provided me a glimpse of what life was like for my dad (something he hasn’t talked much about). In addition, Keenan enjoyed seeing and sitting in all of the airplanes and helicopters!

Standing in front of the “Top Gun” plane.

Zoo: On our last day in San Diego, we went to the Zoo. It has also changed so much from when I was there 15 years ago; there are so many more animals to see! Like Sea World, I couldn’t wait to see Keenan’s reaction to all of the animals, since this was his first time going to a Zoo. He was mesmerized by the Elephants, Kangaroos, Giraffes and especially the Polar Bears (we saw one sitting-up and eating a carrot!). But, the highlight of the day was the petting zoo, where Keenan and his cousin were able to pet sheep and goats. Keenan was in awe; he loved petting the goats and giving them hugs. I think we stayed there for at least 30 minutes, because Keenan and his cousin did not want to leave!

Petting the goats at the Zoo.

“Hugging” the goats!

Our Eats: Since we stayed in a house, we cooked every night, to make things easier and to save money. It’s hard (and expensive) for a family of 8 to eat out every night. For all of our family vacations, my mom usually takes the lead to cook most nights. But, we made sure to give her a break and cooked every night during this trip. During the day on our “relaxation days” we made sandwiches for lunch and when we were out and about, we dined out. My husband and I went to Costco and Trader Joe’s to stock-up on groceries, once we arrived in San Diego. We planned most of the week’s menus, except for a couple of nights that my brother and sister-in-law cooked. We made roast chicken with roasted broccoli mixed with cherry tomatoes and feta cheese, pork loin with roasted cauliflower, fish tacos, burgers with oven-baked zucchini fries and an antipasti picnic night. Sorry, I forgot to take pictures of the food we made!

Keenan enjoying an ice cream cone after visiting the USS Midway, thanks to Nonna and Avo!

Beer: My husband’s favorite brewery is Stone Brewing Co. (which is located near San Diego), so we had to visit. We tasted almost all of their beers and my favorites were the Smoked Porter, Levitation Ale and Ruination IPA! The brewery is huge. It’s out in the middle of of an industrial park, but their restaurant and outside patio (where we sat) was quite nice and relaxing. I highly recommend visiting their brewery if you are ever in the area, or at least trying some of their beers (you can find them at BevMo or some grocery stores).

The lineup that we tasted at Stone Brewing Co.

Coffee: We brought our french press, grinder and some coffee beans, so we were able to make fresh coffee everyday. But, since we were in Southern California, my husband and I made sure to stop at as many Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf  shops as possible. They only have one shop in Northern California, in San Francisco, so anytime we are down south, we take advantage of them! Our favorite drink is their Carmel Blended! It is probably the best frozen coffee drink I have ever had! They make it with the toddy and add their non-fat vanilla powder, caramel and ice. It is creamy and not overly sweet. Again, I didn’t manage to take a picture of any of the ones we had, sorry!

It is time to get back to reality and head to CrossFit this afternoon (my goal is to workout 6 days this week, to maximize my time before we leave for Alaska next week) and start getting ready for our next trip. I have lots of errands to run this week, as well as things to do, such as cleaning the house (I’m not looking forward to it, but it needs it!).

What are your plans for the week? What kinds of things do you do to get ready for a trip?

Making the time to work out July 6, 2012

Keenan enjoying a leftover rib from our 4th of July feast!

Happy Friday! Was it me, or did this week feel a little weird, since the holiday was in the middle? It felt like a mini-weekend in the middle of the week!

Today is all about catching-up from the holiday, doing odds and ends and squeezing in a workout, before heading to my parents’ house for the weekend. Since we are leaving for vacation with my family in a week, I want to squeeze in as many workouts as I can (since I’m not sure how many opportunities I will have to work out, while we are on vacation). There is a CrossFit (CF) box (CF lingo for “gym”) a couple of blocks away from where we are staying, so my husband and I are planning to catch a few workouts there. It will be fun to see another box, too! Speaking of working out, I’ve received some questions in regards to how I find the time to exercise and prepare healthy meals, so I thought I would address them here.

How do you find the time to work out? 

Working out has always been a priority in my life. It is as much a part of me as brushing my teeth or taking a shower. If I don’t exercise, I don’t feel like myself or feel at my best. Instead of finding the time, I make the time in my schedule to work out. At the beginning of the week (Sunday night), I look at the calendar to see what we have planned and then I schedule my workouts accordingly. Since I do CF, there are only certain class times, so I have to plan my schedule around the CF schedule. Before scheduling anything, such as play dates or Keenan’s music and swim classes, I plan when I will work out first and secondly, plan our days’/weeks’ events. By putting exercise at the top of my list, I know I won’t miss a workout, since it is penciled-in on my calendar!

Even when I worked (before and after I had Keenan), I always scheduled my workouts for the week (either first thing in the morning, before work, or on my way home), making it a priority. If I worked out in the morning, before work, I made sure to go to bed early the night before. It was all about planning ahead, which I still have to do now (even more than before!).

How many days do you work out in a week?

I work out five days a week, Monday through Friday, giving myself the weekend to rest and recover. If I can’t make it to our box one day during the week, I plan to go to the Saturday morning class, to make-up for the workout I missed during the week. Or, if I cannot make it to our box a couple of days during the week (on the rare occasion), I will take Keenan on a 3-5 mile jog (he loves to ride in our BOB Revolution Stroller!) and once we are done jogging, I will do air squats, push-ups and sit-ups.

Do you cook every night?

Yes, my husband and I cook pretty much every night (at least 6 days out of the week). Since he works all day, I cook Monday-Friday and he likes to take over on the weekends. Since we are living off of one income (since I stay-at-home with Keenan), we limit the amount of times we eat out to 1-2 times (max) per month. We have a monthly grocery/food budget, so all of our food (including meals out) comes out of it.

How do you plan for and prepare healthy meals for you and your family?

At the beginning of the week (Sunday), I plan out all of our meals for the week, using new recipes that I find, or having some of our “usuals,” such as grilled chicken with whole wheat pasta (using my pasta sauce) and a veggie, one-pot meals (with protein, whole grains and veggies) turkey meatloaf, or chicken burgers with oven-baked sweet potato fries. We always include lean protein, a whole grain and lots of veggies in each of our meals. After I have a game plan for all of our meals for the week, I make a grocery list and head to the store to purchase everything we need. Since we have a monthly food/grocery budget, I only buy items (including fresh produce) that are on sale, but now that Summer is here, we try to go to our local Farmer’s Market every Saturday for all of our fruits and veggies (Keenan loves to pick out produce at the Farmer’s Market!). Since I limit our purchasing to sale items, I sometimes have to modify our weekly menu, substituting certain ingredients. In the end, it all works out and we are still able to eat healthfully and inexpensively.

How to you plan/prepare your family’s meals? Do your kids eat the same meal as you and your spouse? How do you find the time to exercise?