San Diego Vacation - Part Three

Day 3 of our vacation was so much fun! Got up at 8:30 and went and had breakfast at my friends Kim and Newton's favorite spot in Fallbrook called "The Garden Center Cafe". I had a poached egg, turkey bacon and potatoes...yum! After breakfast, we went back to the house and Kim showed me all the wonderful plants and trees that they have in their yard.

Neither Kim or I knew what type of flower this is, but it was beautiful!

Apricots

Grapefruit

Grapefruit Close Up

Oranges

Orange Close Up

More oranges

I wish I would have taken a picture of the Meier Lemon tree that they have in their front yard.  We used one in the fresh guacamole we made.

The kids (theirs and mine) had been trying to convince us that it would be okay dokey for just the three of them (ages 20, 15 and 14) to drive themselves through LA county to go to Magic Mountain. Yea, right...like that's going to happen, so to ease the blow of being told "NO freaking way", we decided to go the San Diego County Fair that's held at the Del Mar Racetrack every June/July. Fred and I use to go when we lived out there, in fact, we saw the group "Mike and the Mechanics" at that fair one time. It is a great memory!

When we arrived, there was a ginormous crowd in line to get in, but we weathered the wait and line and once inside, the kids were given some cash and off they went to ride some rides. Kim and I took the time to go see some of the exhibits, our favorite being the flowers -

Our second favorite part of course, was the FOOD!  FAIR FOOD!

There was lots to choose from and I was trying to stick with things that I don't normally see at our own Iowa State Fair . First up.....a HUGE creme puff. I glad that I didn't take a picture of it, because I wolfed it down and it was delicious and I didn't even feel guilty because of how much walking we were doing....yea, way to justify...LOL

This is something that I did NOT try -

We also rode the sky ride so I could get some photos of just how cool the location of this fair is. The racetrack sits right on the ocean and it's just beautiful.

We were hoping that there would be someone cool performing when we were there, but no bands or concerts that night which is kind of surprising considering it was a Saturday night.  Guy Fieri from the Food Network was making a appearance but that was it.

Some of the other foods we tried were the gyros, potato chips on a stick, fried zucchini and some fabulous baklava.  Sure glad we walked a lot, because none of those things were really on my "healthy choice" list..lol!

We met back up with the kids when they ran out of money, of course and decided it was time to head back to Fallbrook.  A great time was had by all of us!

Extreme Family Nutrition Makeover Challenge - Week #5

I was a bit apprehensive about this week knowing that I was traveling for work to Washington DC. No only because of how hard it is to eat healthy when traveling, but also because leaving my guys to their own devices usually does not equate to good choices.

I did pretty darn good while I was in DC. I didn't buy soda and their was only one meal where I really cheated, but it was worth it and to make up for it, I did some extra walking and a workout at the hotel fitness center.

My guys......no, they did not do what they were suppose and their daily logs reflected that. Even after I turned them in, our dietitian emailed me and said she could tell when I wasn't around by our logs....lol

The guys did go to the second of three cooking classes while I was gone. They made a couple different salads and showed a way to incorporation whey protein into a pudding dessert.

Here's hoping we get back on track.

San Diego Vacation - Part Two

I *think* I left off where we were heading to Pacific Beach and Mission Beach to find a place to have some lunch. We headed down Mission Blvd. and everything was so familiar to me. Some things hadn't changed a bit since Fred and I left. Some of the neighborhoods looked exactly the same, yet there were areas that had big changes.

I took Connor by both of the places I lived when I was out there. My first apartment with a girlfriend before I met Fred and then the apartment we lived in after we moved in together. Connor was so mad that we lived out there before he was born and couldn't believe that we had moved. It's hard for a 14 year old to really understand how expensive things and places are and the motivation behind his father and I's decision to move back to the midwest.

After we cruised around Pacific Beach, we headed south to Mission Beach Park to park the car and get out and walk the boardwalk and find a place to eat. Belmont Park had certainly changed since we lived nearby....Wow! I don't even think the roller coaster was functional back then. Now there are rides and shops and places to eat. We decided to grab some lunch at Wave House right on the Mission Beach boardwalk.











Had some excellent chicken nachos and a Mai Tai and it was fun to watch the surfers on the Flowrider. After eating we did some walking and some shopping. There was a very cool surf and skate shop called Sun Diego where we did some financial damage buying Connor a new pair of DC Rod Dyrdek skate shoes, a t-shirt and a hat. My girlfriend Kim's daughter Marisa was looking for a new pair of Van's and couldn't find them at the beach, so after we walked the boardwalk for a while, we decided to head back to Fallbrook via I-15 so we could stop at Westfield Mall (formally known as North County Fair - it was brand new when we lived there) and check out Zume's and a shoe place Marisa knew about.







After a couple of hours of mall walking and spending more money, we headed back to Kim's for dinner and to chill out after a full day.

More later.......

Extreme Family Nutrition Makeover Challenge Week #4

Week#4 ended with Fred and I going to see Jersey Boys Sunday night. What a great show! Although Fred doesn't really like Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, he did enjoy the show.

We did pretty good Week #4. We've made some changes that I'm pretty sure are going to stick with us even after the challenge is over. I finally have Connor eating wheat bread and liking it rather than white bread. Fred is really watching his portions and I've ramped up my exercise by starting to jog. I bought a Nike+iPod fitness system and I'm loving it! I like how it tracks my walks/runs and I tend to go further, longer and faster when I use it. The down side is it won't work for my elliptical workouts because it can't recognize my sensor when using the elliptical.

Last Saturday, Fred and I went to Fitness Sports and bought new athletic shoes. Fred got a pair of New Balance and I got these babies - they're so pretty! lol



and I must say that they make my feet feel like they are enveloped in puffy clouds.

We kept things pretty simple this week with our food. Mostly using the grill and having vegies and salads as sides. We did splurge and go to Subway Saturday while we were out doing some shopping, but made good choices there.

We also bought a Frisbee at Scheels while out shopping and plan on spending some time in our yard throwing the Frisbee around as a family activity.

Fred is down 12 pounds and I'm down 3 pounds since starting the challenge. I'd like to be down a few more, but I'll take what I can get.

Extreme Nutrition Makeover Challenge - Week #3

Today is the last day of week #3 of our Nutrition Makeover Challenge. Fred weighed in today and he is down 8 pounds. I'll weigh in tomorrow morning. It was a pretty good week. Got lots of activity in and this week we were able to go on two family bike rides. One for an hour and the second for 35 minutes. I really need a new bike, or at the very least new gears put on mine. I may go talk the guys at the bike store next month. Fred and I both need new athletic shoes, so next Saturday, we're going to go get properly fitted.

We also went to the first of three healthy cooking classes that are required of us for the challenge. Elizabeth, our dietitian and the dietitian from the Ankeny store made a wonderful Caribbean Jerk marinated Pork Loin, Baked Sweet Potato Fries, a yummy Chicken and Hummus wrap and then showed us how to whip up a tasty and healthy trail mix made out of Kashi Go Lean Honey Almond Flax cereal, almonds, dried cranberries. I made some up this weekend and added raisins and banana chips.

I was at a scrapbook convention most of Friday and a good part of Saturday and tried to make good food choices, but I did snack on things I normally wouldn't. I had a couple Diet Pepsi's during the convention so I lost the points for not drinking soda, but it was worth it.

Tonight we made some excellent Chicken Fajitas, with chicken breast strips, green pepper, onion, tomato and used the La Tortilla Factory Smart & Delicious Whole Wheat tortilla. We added some avocado and some jalapenos for some kick. We paired it with some Spanish rice made with brown rice and Rotel diced tomatoes & green chilles. Excellent dinner!

On the menu for this week is BALT's (made with Turkey Bacon and adding avocado), Grilled Boneless Pork Chops, Pan Seared Cod Fillet and a healthy version of Chicken Parmesan and Pasta.

Here's hoping for a successful weigh in tomorrow!

San Diego Vacation - Part One

Well, we've been home almost 2 weeks and I'm just now able to sit down and get pictures proofed and to post about our wonderful vacation!

Connor and I left on Thursday, June 17th. We had to drive to Omaha, as we were flying Southwest to San Diego with layovers in Denver on our way out and Phoenix on our way back. Getting there was pretty uneventful. Flights were smooth and Connor and I spent our time in the air watching a movie on our DVD player. We didn't get into San Diego until 10:30 at night and we had a 45 minute drive ahead of us after arriving. I knew I would be tired, but excited to see Kim and Newton again.

Kim and Newton were there waiting for us as we came out of the gates and we went to the baggage claim area where we found that Connor's bag didn't make it to San Diego with us. We dealt with the paperwork we needed to in order to have the bag delivered to us as soon as it arrived, but poor Connor had no clothes.

Once we got to Fallbrook, we ended up staying up until about 1:00 before hitting the sack. We had a big day ahead of us.

Friday - June 18th

We needed to pick up our rental car at the Carlsbad airport by 11:00, so Newton, Kim and I took off to get it. We left the kids at home (Kim's kids are 20 and 15 respectively) and Connor was still sleeping (I knew it would catch up with him).

I ended up upgrading to the next level of car and got a really cute blue Toyota Camry to drive around. Back to Fallbrook we went to pick up the kids and head down to the San Diego beaches.

First stop was LaJolla. A little village I know well. Besides living just south of it in Pacific Beach, I also spent a year at school here and Fred and I used to spend time here as a couple......shopping, dining, walking around the cove, watching the sun set over the ocean at Scripp's.

We walked along Prospect Avenue looking at in all the shops before heading down to the water to see LaJolla Cove.

Ocean view from Prospect Avenue



La Valencia Hotel in LaJolla


My Kid and Kim's Kid




The Kid at the Cove


LaJolla Cove is world famous for it rocky outcroppings and the seals that like to call it home. Here's a few pictures.







I could watch the seals all day -







After playing in LaJolla for a few hours, we decided to head south to Pacific Beach/Mission Beach and find someplace to have lunch. Pacific Beach is where I lived both as a single girl and then once I had met Fred, he and I had an apartment just around the corner from Mission Bay.

More late.....

Hy-Vee Extreme Family Nutrition Makeover Challenge - Week #2

Week #2 went pretty good......until Friday, when I caved and had a flour taco from Tasty Taco's......and then proceeded to get sick within a hour and a half after eating it. :(

I guess my stomach and body just couldn't handle it. I've been eating pretty "clean" the last few weeks and having that taco just gave my tummy fits.

Connor broke his toe in a bike accident last week, so we were only able to get in ONE family activity this week. We all went back up to Haines Park and played some tennis. We really have a good time when we do...well, Fred and I have a good time...Connor just bitches. :)

July 4th was a challenge. First off, the weather sucked! second, we were having a house full of people coming over for a BBQ and just like I thought, I overate.

So now....I am really really going to have to play it very close to the bone (so to speak) the rest of the week, or I could see a big increase on the scale. The next day wasn't too bad when I weighed in, only up a pound, but it may not appear for a couple of days, so I'm making sure to pound down the water and really really watch my portion sizes the next few days.

We have really taken advantage of all of the great fruit that is in season. Everything from fresh pineapple, cantaloupe, watermelon, blackberries, raspberries, blueberries and strawberries.

I went to the Downtown Farmer's Market last Saturday morning and picked up new potatoes, corn on the cob and kale. We've never tried kale and the couple that were selling it told me to try kale chips! Tear the kale into bit size pieces, dip your fingers into olive oil and lightly coat all the pieces of kale, spread on a cookie sheet and sprinkle with sea salt or kosher salt and bake until the edges start to blacken. Eat like chips! Kale is chock full of good for you things!

I'll be back next week with another update on our challenge!

BTW - Here's the photo that we sent to our dietitian to use for the challenge.



But I rather like this one myself......lol

4th of July Rainbow

For the second year in a row, the weather was gloomy with periods of rain, so everyone was stuck inside. We passed the time talking about books, music and politics (it's a good thing everyone there were Democrats..lol). On the menu, was traditional 4th of July fare; Grilled Hamburgers and Hot Dogs, potato salad, homemade baked beans (from a recipe I got from the Des Moines Register a couple of weeks ago (recipe to follow), sliced pickled cucumbers and for dessert, the choice of frosted brownies, 4th of July decorated sugar cookies, ice cream in waffle cones or watermelon.

After dinner, Paul, my sister and my nephew and I went on a walk. We were all stuffed and needed to walk some of our dinner off. Even though it was still drizzling a bit, we all decided to tough it out and do 30 minutes. Felt good to move around.

A bit later after our friend Paul left, he called back to our house and said "Look out at the sky from your deck, there's a huge rainbow".....and this is what greeted us -









It was too wet to do sparklers, so we had to settle for the rainbow instead, maybe we'll do sparklers some future weekend.

Happy 4th of July!

Extreme Nutrition Makeover Challenge - Week #1

Our first week of the challenge was a challenge, as Connor and I were in Southern California on vacation. We weren't able to receive points for not eating out, nor did we receive any points as a family for cooking and eating dinner together. Although individually we got points for physical activity, we weren't able to score any for a family activity, but that's okay, we're going to make up for it now.

Friday night we grilled a lean piece of sirloin, sauteed mushrooms in beef broth, butter buds, garlic and parsley (they taste sinfully rich) and make a big lettuce and vegetable salad. After dinner we all went outside and did an hours worth of yard work together with Connor mowing and Fred and I weeding, weed-wacking and deadheading.

Our hydrangea are looking gorgeous so I had to cut some of the blooms and bring them inside to enjoy -







Saturday was Fred's birthday. We gave him his presents in the morning (a Best Buy gift card, a Mr. Coffee Iced Tea Maker and an assortment of BBQ/Grilling items). He wanted to go see a movie and as hot and humid as it was on Saturday, a dark cool movie theater was the way to go. We decided to forgo scoring points for NOT drinking soda pop and indulged ourselves with soda and popcorn. It was worth it. His birthday choice was Knight and Day with Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz. I'm not a big fan of Tom Cruise, but the movie wasn't bad. It wasn't a totally waste of two hours and it's what my hubby wanted to see. Afterward we went to Walmart and bought each of us a cheap tennis racket and a couple of cans of balls. The Botts' are going to take up tennis as a family activity, or at least for the next eight weeks.

When we got home, we decided to make homemade pizza using Flatout Bread. I've bought Flatout quite a few times, but have only used it for wraps. Our Dietitian Elizabeth suggested using it as a pizza crust. We made our own individual pizzas - Connor's of course was cheese, but we did rope him in to trying a couple pieces of Canadian bacon (he didn't like it...surprise, surprise), Fred used Canadian bacon, pineapple and cheese and mine had cooked chicken, mushrooms, artichoke hearts and cheese. We did use a jarred pizza sauce, but only used a couple of tablespoons per pizza, so it can't be all that bad. The results? They were a pretty darn good alternative to take out pizza.

Sunday is weigh in day for Fred and I and I was pleased to see that I was down a pound! and Fred was down two pounds! Not bad for being on vacation and having to eat out a lot.

Slept in Sunday morning until 10:00am! I never do that, but it was lovely!

Took my niece and a friend of hers to our local aquatic center for a couple of hours and even Connor drug himself away from his film editing to join us. My sister and our friend Paul joined us for dinner. We had a pork stir fry made with lean pork loin, mushrooms, red and yellow peppers, cabbage and bean sprouts. I made the Lundberg's long grain brown rice that was given to us in our bag of groceries from Hy-Vee. I also had some more of the lettuce/vegie salad I had made the night before.

After dinner and after Paul and my sister went home, Fred, Connor and I went up to the tennis courts at Haines Park and hit some balls around for an hour. It was so much fun! and Fred and I aren't too damn bad. Connor had been talking smack since we bought the rackets on how he was going to kick our butts, but guess what? We showed that little smack talker...in fact, he was so surprised at our tennis abilities that he copped an attitude and started this whole "I'm bored, this isn't any fun, when can we go home" BS because we were kicking his butt....LOL! We made him stay.











I'm off tomorrow.....then back to work.....I'm not really bummed, it's inevitable, so there is no need to get depressed about the thought...it is what it is. I'm glad that I've scheduled my summer the way I have, I don't think I'm working a full 5 days in a week until after Labor Day. I like taking the bulk of my annual leave during the summer. It's just the way I like it.