Thursday, August 5, 2010

Just Enjoying Life

Happy Thursday!  How is everybody doing?  I could get used to not working.  Too bad I would miss the dinero, too!  HA  The past 2 days have been fairly low key as we wind down the last few precious days of vacation.  We stayed out on the deck until the wee hours of Wednesday morning, then I was awake by 8.  Needless to say, I drank a boatload of coffee.  But breakfast came first.IMG_2923 This is a packet of Nature’s Path flax oatmeal jazzed up with some coconut butter and carob chips.  DELISH!  IMG_2922 Nature’s Path was kind enough to send me a few items to review, so I’ll be getting to that just as soon as I try everything out.  One review I can share now is for their newly revamped line of granola bars:IMG_0748 These were in the box that was sent (YAY!!) and you can read all about what we thought about them by clicking right here.
I pretty much spent ALL morning reading blogs.  Time really flies when you’re having fun!  I know I haven’t been commenting as much, but I’ve been reading each post.  Once I’m 100% caught up I’ll be back to full fledged commenting!
I eventually got hungry for lunch and whipped out my smuggled turkey artichoke sandwich half from Panera.IMG_2933
I opted to eat it cold and liked it lots better!  I’m not a big re-heater of things like pizza, sandwiches, etc.  I much prefer those kind of leftovers cold.  My hubby, on the other hand, likes everything to be steamy hot.  He was kinda grossed out that I ate this cold.  LOL  And the last few deck photos, I promise.  Just wanted to show the completed projects that I’ve been babbling on about so much!  :)IMG_2930 IMG_2925 IMG_2929
And here are how the deck lights from Target look, both with and without the flash(taken last night at dusk):IMG_2946 IMG_2944
And here are some shots of the gardens I’ve been working on.  Ya know, in case any of you thought I was slacking the past few days!  HEHEIMG_2932 IMG_2927
In both the above photos I turned all the dirt by hand with a shovel.   I also did the edging and extended them a wee bit.  The picture underneath is still a blank slate.  That patch is under a huge maple tree and doesn’t get much light so the grass never really grew properly.  I finally decided to clear out all the weeds and roots and in the fall I will be transplanting some of my perennials there so it will look gorgeous in the spring.  This one was a back breaker and my hands are still sore from clearing the space!  DOH!
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We had a great summer dinner last night.  I made bison burgers with my smuggled ground bison and there was also fresh corn on the cob the my neighbour gave us.  I served my burger on a bagel thin with pickle, roasted red pepper, tomato and lettuce.  IMG_2937 For dessert I cubed a ripe, sweet pineapple for us all to share:IMG_2938
My kids have been helping the neighbour with some yard work so she took them to DQ last night and treated them to Blizzards.  While they were gone my hubby and took our adopted doggie for a walk:
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When we got back I tried this Skinny Cow ice cream cup:IMG_2939
This was not very good.  Wegman’s was selling them as singles so we bought 4, but I wasn’t hungry for mine after my salad so I threw it in the cooler and popped it in the freezer when we got home.  It didn’t have a lot of taste to it except for the bitter aftertaste.  Good trial run, though.  I know now not to fork over the cash for them here!
We were late going to bed again last night and early to rise.  I spent another morning on the computer entertaining myself.  LOL  While at that I downed a bowl of my favourite Kashi cereal ever; Kashi U:IMG_2947
Crunchy flakes, walnuts, blueberries….Mmmm!  I won’t say where I enjoyed my morning activities, but I’m sure you can guess!  ;)  Before I knew it lunch time had rolled around.  I wasn’t terribly hungry, but knew that eating lunch where we were heading would be a challenge so I took one for the team and used all the burger topping leftovers and a few extras to make a light salad.  IMG_2948
A little bit of lettuce, tomato, corn from the last cob, cuke, tuna and pear & blue cheese dressing.   I also enjoyed half a Panera chocolate chip cookie.IMG_2949 So!  We took the kids to a water park that’s one city over from us.  Can’t believe I haven’t been since I was a teenager.  DS had never been down a “big” waterslide so I wasn’t sure if he’d like them or not, but he had a blast.  And I knew without a doubt that DD would be jazzed.  Here she is hitting the bottom of one slide.IMG_2952 Unfortunately, everyone one I took of DS shows just a big splash!  But here is is at the bottom of a tamer slide:IMG_2956 DD went down some “cyclone” slide that dumps you into a cylinder and spins you before you get dropped in the water.  No thanks!IMG_2955 And lastly, the 2 of them happy as clams!IMG_2957 Before we left they each got a “fake” tattoo…IMG_2963 IMG_2961 The fun and sun made us all peckish and the fam got soft serve cones at Mc Donald’s.  I wasn’t feeling one so I waited until we got home then had a piece of Stonemill pumpkin seed cranberry bready with a touch of butter,IMG_2964
I tended to the veggie garden a bit and picked myself some kale for dinner.  It’s so pretty!IMG_2965 We did a beer butt chicken on the BBQ so I decided to turn my dinner into a big salad.  I tossed the kale with some cucumber, yellow tomato, green pepper and a dressing made with some olive oil, white balsamic vinegar, chili powder, honey, salt & pepper.  Then I topped the whole beast with some chicken breast!IMG_2966 My sweet end was a chocolate Oikos yogurt.IMG_2972
Last time I bought the caramel and I like them both very much.  A  great healthy treat!!  After dinner we hauled butt over to DS’s soccer game.  He’s got one friend from school on his team as well as one of his All Star teammates and on the opposing team were 2 classmates as well.  I had the camera so I annoyed them all taking pictures!  Here’s the 5 of them;IMG_2970
DS is in the centre.  The little rascals….but they’re all great kids! 
Well, my hubby just came outside from having a shower and his back is BURNT.  Guess he didn’t do such a good job with the sunscreen.  I’m off to lather him in aloe…..  ;)
Bye for now!!

14 comments:

  1. Sounds like a great vacation wrap up. Your deck and garden look so pretty - the perfect spots for relaxing! I've never tried that Kashi U cereal - I haven't seen it in Canada so may have to pick it up on my next US trip.

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  2. U seriusly had the best vacation ever! I like vacations that are at home vacations rather than jumping on aplane and going somehwere, unless its just me and my fiance, then yeah we like to do that !

    Your deck is very pretty, arent you having a get ogether you said or cookout soon? I thought maybe you mentioned that!

    I LOVE PUMPKIN TOO! It's almost pumpkin time!!!!

    Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh dairy queen is so good, so nice your neighbor took the kids there as a treat for helping , it's nice to have good neighbors!

    Have a great night girl! xoxo

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  3. What a fun couple of days! I did the cyclone thing (we called it a toilet. lol!) when I was in Mexico. I was on a cruise ship and on our excursion while we waited to swim with dolphins, we got to have an entire water park to ourselves.

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  4. awww the picture at the end is great! The boys look so little...hehee.

    Is that Bingamens waterpark I spy!? I was forced to go down that cyclone drop countless times the past few summers - when i was a camp leader! loool. Scary stuff :|

    I'm surprised that skinny cow stuff was no good. I really like the chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream cups from skinny cow! But you pay sooo much for em :S

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  5. Glad to hear the vacation is awesome. I cannot wait to take some time off. Deck looks fabulous. The lights make it look like a little romantic cafe :) Love that. Your lunch salad is just beautiful- corn cut right off the cob is so yummy. Enjoy the last bit of vaca!!

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  6. I love how your new deck looks... so chic and comfortable, specially those lights! great job!!! :D
    "wasting" time on the internet is so therapeutically relaxing! ~~

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  7. I'm really enjoying the new Nature's Path bars--I'd have to say the pumpkin is my current favorite--I cannot wait for pumpkin season to be here! :-)
    And all of your hard work on the deck paid off, it looks fabulous and the lights add the final touch!!

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  8. what a great post!!!

    " I know I haven’t been commenting as much, but I’ve been reading each post. "

    Girl. Story of my life lately too! I totally appreciate all your comments; the comments i get from busy moms like you just mean something extra special for me b/c honestly, i know what it takes to comment when you've got kids to tend to and life is calling you!!

    :)

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  9. those bars could keep me smiling for DAYS!!!! you wouldnt notice if one went missing right.. the sunny hemp in particular hehe- swiped!!

    perfect way to cool down and enjoy the sun and family, i loved going to water parks! wish there was still one nearby!

    xoxo <3

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  10. I love how your deck is turning out - it's going to be gorgeous to eat outside on when the weather starts to get cooler!

    There's definitely something about the combo of sun + water that will sap all the energy out of you. Every time I go to the beach or a waterpark I'm famished by the time we leave!

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  11. I love that you still have this post, because I LOVE the title!!

    Hope your wekend is going great love and hope the cookout goes wonderful too!!!!

    Love ya! xoxo

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  12. Your backyard looks beautiful!! You've really done a great job with the deck and garden :D

    Glad you had a fun time at the waterpark! I think it's kind of funny when you have such awesome things so close by yet you havent been there in *years*. I'm the same way with some of the attractions here!

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  13. The deck looks awesome, Krista! What a great place to sit and relax. Your gardens look wonderful too! I'm glad you've been enjoying your vacation!

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  14. I have no concept of gardening, because it seems like they wouldn't take that long to tend to based on the size. Blame my mom - she won't let us do any gardening or lawn cutting. LOL.

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