I Love Camping!

Bags of Popcorn always go camping with us (but never come home) ;-)

We always eat allot of fish too....

And I LOVE escaping in my kayak....

Its ALWAYS romantic......

We just got back from a several day trip at Lake Koocanusa. It was allot of fun and I did allot of things right dietwise. Here's a list of some of the "right choices" :

- My husband packed bikes for us all and led us on an excruciating trek up a mountain road. I peddled up Miss Moonbeam in the baby seat for an extra burn! After that we had to hike through the woods in search of a waterfall. It was quite the work out :-)

- I only ate 1 hot dog each time we roasted them (and only 1 s'more each time too). Our only left overs were hot dogs. The kids referred to them as "gross". It got me to thinking "Do I really need to bring hot dogs to roast to make camping fun?" Probably not. Now the s'mores, well old habits die hard (lol). We all prefer my daughters homemade grahms to the store bought ones hands down! Though they are made with a good amount of butter. The kids favorite camp meals I made which they claimed were "best ever" included :

• chicken quesadillas on home made wheat tortillas


• fresh caught native fish


• shrimp and brown rice in a garlic sauce


• nachos made with my own mashed beans and elk burger topped with veggies and salsa

case in point : all healthy, wholesome for the most part foods - hooray!

- bravely i did a good amount of kayaking. Two hair raising trips across Lake Koocanusa exploring. It was great fun, allot of arm and abd work and high adventure!!

- swam across to the end of the bay several times with the girls and did the whole perimeter one time. That was HEAVENLY!!

- drank allot of lime and mint water. Drank less than a can of soda the whole time until our date night.

- packed snacks to "fill in" for the things I knew I shouldn't eat allot of - like substituting that second hot dog for cottage cheese with strawberries or having half a banana with peanut butter as a late night snack or breakfast filler.

- Hiked all over, enjoyed the sun, friends, etc.. Though I made delicious meals and enjoyed them, they weren't the center of the enjoyment for the day :-)

I told all about our trip on my other blog, including this story, but its kind of a funny one :-) On the middle part of our camping trip some of our friends joined in with us. That Saturday afternoon, while the men were off fishing, the children were playing in the water near by. Us girls were relaxing at an ultra secluded cove. We were laying out on the sand in our bikinis laughing and visiting and just soaking up the sun. Here and there we'd dip in the cool heavenly waters or swim out to where the choppy cold waters met the calmer waters of our private bay.
It was probably in the 80's or 90's and I felt like not much could be closer to heaven on earth. Then all of a sudden this helicopter flies over. It flies over again. Then it flies over AGAIN!! Around that time, my friends husband was getting back. After it flew over 3 times, it circled us! We all wondered what on earth it was doing. "Why is that helicopter looking at us?" my 8 year old wanted to know. "They're not looking at us, buddy." He told him. Then he thought for a moment, perturbed and with a rather disgusted voice asked "Why would anybody want to look at women in bikinis?!" We all laughed.

I suppose it is time for me to change the name of my blog as I have been rather inconsistent in my sit ups endeavors. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad I aspired for it. I did pretty good the first 6 months and my abs are allot better than I ever imagined. I just am so busy and can't seem to keep up with them, especially when I'm doing so many active things outdoors. That's okay. I will keep doing them, just not every day. So any new name suggestions?

Working Mom Blues and "Operation Hawaii"

Back on my other blog, I announced "Operation Hawaii", my plan to work on healthy eating. In recapping - I started that on 10/27 which was mainly eating clean, whole foods and avoiding processed/white sugar/flour/portion control/etc.. I completed the first week of that, which wasn't easy and then had a rest day where I ate some of the disallowed foods. I just figured that if I was going to try and do it on a long term basis then I needed to have a day every week where I could eat some of the things (like white flour pasta) that I was missing out on. I've never quite done the "off once a week thing" or outlawed processed foods, so its a bit of an experiment. That first week I gained a pound, which, I have decided to blame on PMS, yes PMS. I did lose 1/2 - 1 inch mostly everywhere. At any rate, I'm well into my 2nd week of "Operation Hawaii". That all sounds rather boring, and I hope I haven't put anybody to sleep.
Some of the ways I've broadened my horizons a little in the fitness department has been with biking. I'm even going to add it to my blogger "interests" list. Really, for some reason, I had this idea that biking wasn't real exercise. Let me tell you, biking on wet gravel and dirt while climbing hills with a baby on board BURNED BAD and I am way less cynical of biking. I also liked it because Super Catman and Moonbeam LOVED EVERY MINUTE OF IT. Moonbeam threw a big ol' hissy the first 2 days when the ride was over and refused to get out of her seat. Since I'm on my 3rd 12-hr night shift, biking with the kids in my tiny window of family time has been a good multi tasker (time with them plus exercise).
I also may have avoided the whole bike thing because I quite possibly have the most embarrassing bike known to chicks. I got it on clearance from Walmart like 10 years ago. I tried giving it away twice and it was given back to me twice - FOR REAL!! It's green, but splattered with red paint. I got the baby seat for $2 at a "Your Trash Is Also Our Trash" type outdoor sale. It was right next to some adult uh - play items. Again, not kidding. It looked like it came straight out of the 70's. I considered photographing myself and Moonbeam on it together, but I was fearful that somebody would submit the picture to peopleofwalmart.com's "redneck transportation" section .

Super Catman's rides aren't all that stylish either. He alternates between a variety of bikes. The first, whose seat wobbles up and down when he least expects it. It causes only occasional crashes. The next one is tiny and he can't ride it properly. The next is a girls bike which he is embarrassed to ride. I don't know what happened to his good bike, but it seems it, too, has some morbid disability. ALL OF THEM are vicious and have terrible appetites. Each one, often and unprovoked, attacks his pant legs. He has gotten to the point of rolling up one pant leg to his thigh when he rides so as to avoid getting it caught. This presents an odd image to the neighbors, who I am always hoping, do not examine our "rides" too closely. Another calamity that continually befalls the lad is that the bike chains of most of them often prefer not to associate themselves with the rest of the bike. They are snobs for sure, each and every one of them. I can't count the times he tells me to "hold up" because his bike chain has fallen off once again. Despite all this bike drama, Super Catman never complains if somebody will only take him out for a ride. After my recent rides, I was all about stealing a few minutes in my hot tub. Something about having that hot tub waiting for me seems to make work outs outdoors a little more appealing.
In other news, I have contacted my first person to interview, but I haven't heard back. Yes, this prestigious opportunity has not been accepted yet - lol. Also, Kudos to The Sock Fashion Expert who made wonderful home made whole wheat tortillas with lean wild burger for tacos. I piled on the veggies with salsa too. They made great meals while I've been working. Best wishes to you, fitness pilgrims, march on through the weekend :-)