super fun 24 hours

Last night Chris and I got back from a night in Palm Springs.  My in-laws have the kids for a week and we decided to get away for one night.  We discovered some rewards points we had from an old credit card and were able to stay for free at my favorite hotel, the JW Marriott.  Since high school my girlfriends and I have stayed here overnight or simply snuck into the pool for an afternoon. :)  It's the most relaxing, beautiful place.

We spent some time at the pool the first afternoon then went out to dinner and got some frozen yogurt to bring back to the room.  The next morning was sooo perfect.  Chris had woken early to go golf so I slept in, went running, and then came back to spend a long time lounging in the lobby with some Starbucks and magazines.  That's my idea of relaxing to a tee. :)

When Chris returned we played some tennis.  Neither of us had played in 10 years!

Overall it was one of the most fun vacations Chris and I have taken together, yet it was only about 24 hours.  We both agreed that one of the reasons was the outside stuff we did (golf, tennis, running)...mainly the tennis. We've talked in the past about how we wish we had an activity to do together.  Playing tennis was such a great thing for this.

We've also run together a couple times here at home since the kids are gone.  It's been fun to add an activity to "us" which now also gives us more things to do on vacation.

 Since we've been home I have been able to get some good deep cleaning done, which feels great!  :)  And while I really miss the kids and am anxious to see them, we've gotten some fun pics/videos from my in-laws and know they are having a blast!

*Did some finger painting the other day.  I was impressed that Cam actually semi-got into it considering he isn't the biggest fan of getting messy or wet. :)

*My little Kendall cannot get enough of her new bike.  A few days ago we road up to the salon where she got her hair cut.

*Speaking of Kendall, we are experiencing MAJOR potty training regression.  I don't know what happened.  She will not tell me when she needs to go and has had several accidents the past few days.  I have no clue what to do.  Anyone else experience this?  I need to start a chart or something because it's been frustrating and confusing. :(

*Chris and I have been enjoying Hatfields and McCoys on the History Channel.

*We road bikes up to the donut shop this morning.  I let the kids share a donut.  Whenever they share it's nice because Kendall can "think" she picks one out, but once it's in front of her she forgets what she picked.  This way Cameron gets to have his choice. :)  I know she'll wise up to this some day!

*Cameron finished his Barnes and Noble book club reading and was able to choose a free book.  He chose a book on the Titanic and both kids have been VERY interested in the whole topic since then.  They want to know about the actual sinking, the iceberg, the boat filling with water, etc.  I found a youtube clip of the Leonardo movie's sinking scene.  They comment and ask a lot of questions throughout.  Here they are very intent on it.

*Costco tonight for groceries and dinner:

--Skinny Cow
--Eggs
--Frozen Veggies
--Wheat Thins

Favorite sample for the family:  Zebra popcorn (caramel, white chocolate and chocolate drizzled)

"the best broccoli beef"

When I look for new recipe to try and there is an obscure ingredient I normally don't stock, sometimes I'll try it.  When there is more than one unique ingredient? I rarely ever try it.  I just don't like spending money on items when there is a possibility I will only use them once.

Two friends have told me about The Best Broccoli Beef recipe.  I was hesitant because sesame oil, oyster sauce and rice vinegar are not staples in my pantry.  But I bit the bullet and was I glad I did!!  This dish had the most amazing, rich, delicious flavor.  Chris actually gave it a 10.  And let's remember that it has BROCCOLI in it!!!  The kids liked it too.  I think it helped that the beef was very tender (sidenote:  Flank steak was $7.99 a pound so I used Flap Steak.  I would also make one and a half times the sauce).

So if you are in the mood for a dish that is pretty identical to that found in a Chinese food joint, this is it! :)

weekend

Friday was a nasty day for me.  I felt like poop and my sinuses were about to explode.  Chris was in OC for some meetings so the last (and worst) few hours of the day with the kids consisted of TV, "special upstairs time", and more TV while I lay on the couch.

Saturday I was feeling somewhat better and wanted to tag along to our Cherry Festival Parade.  It was a nice outing and the kids enjoyed it (despite being disappointed that no candy was thrown from the floats).

That afternoon Chris took the kids to meet his brother's family at Victoria Gardens.  I stayed back and relaxed on the couch.  I rented Gone (pretty good) snoozed, and browsed cooking blogs.  The kids had an awesome time with their cousins at the Bass Pro Shop and dinner at Red Robin.

They had a kids pond where they could catch real fish. :)

The highlight of Red Robin is always the balloons for our kids :)

Much of this morning was spent outside due Kendall's new big girl bike (thanks Craig and Rebekah for passing it along!).  She ADORES it and has such a big grin as she rides around.

Cam has discovered his love of snails and has a little box, which we MUST cover in plastic wrap (with poked holes) whenever we leave the house so they won't escape.

After church and nap we made a family trip to WinCo.  We needed lots of groceries and some restocking on our candy supply from their bulk bins. :)  Tonight is Chris' splurge meal for the week, which consists of fresh french bread from the store and Stove Top Mac-n-cheese I found online.

We have three more days of school and my little guy graduates from a transitional kindergarten boy to a regular kindergarten boy! :)

backfire

Yesterday was one of those days where you try and do something nice for your kids and it totally backfires, irritating you that you even tried in the first place.  :)

The kids and I had walked up to Staters and were on our way home.  Chris realized it was hot, I was carrying grocery bags, and we probably could use a lift home, so he drove up and asked if we wanted a ride.

We quickly realized that Cam's bike wouldn't fit into the car.  As we were discussing what to do, Kendall started throwing a little fit because her pie (pacifier) wasn't in the car.   Things were escalating with her (and Cam because of her) so I just told Chris to take Cam home and I would keep going with Kendall.

This ticked Kendall off so as I pushed Cam's bike and pulled her on her bike, she screamed and cried and would't let up.  After a few minutes Chris came back with our bigger car.  I plopped Kendall in the back, refused to give her her pie since she was being such a stinker, and we drove home.

Chris and I were both irritated that what was supposed to be a nice gesture on his part of rescuing the kids from a long ride home turned into a screaming Kendall in the car and a sweet Cameron who had locked himself in his room so as not to hear her when we got home.  But isn't that the story of parenthood?  Many things we do for little ones not only go without a "thank you", but end up backfiring and worse than before you tried to do something nice!!!  :)

My little munchkin pre-meltown...floating leaves down the gutter. :)

*Over the weekend Cam and I went to Johann's Fabrics.  I saw some little wooden birdhouses for a $1 and couldn't resist.  The kids enjoyed painting them yesterday.

*Dinner tonight:  French toast, eggs, bacon.

*Bachelorette favorites in order:  Sean, Doug, Aire.  Ryan can go jump off a cliff. :)

*Now that speech is over we can get back to library playtime each week.  The kids love it!

*After dinner tonight Chris took the kids to a nearby housing development which has a nice lake.  I packed a couple of cupcakes our neighbor had brought over for a litte treat break.

*I love how Kendall takes bits and pieces of conversations I've had with Cam  and makes them her own.  The other day she pointed to something in a book that had NOTHING to do with what she then said:

"This is Jesus!!  Jesus died.  In three days, he taught the kids about school!"

*When I last visited my in-laws, I was introduced to some SUPER yummy chips.  Chris came back this past weekend with 1/2 a bag left and I've already done some major damage.

holy garbonzo beans!!!!

One of the blogs I follow, Chocolate Covered Katie, is all about healthy desserts.  I've never actually tried any of them...until today.  Holy moly were these Chocolate Chip Blondies wonderful!!!  I was scraping the bowl to eat all the dough before I washed it. The kids loved them equally as well.  Please try!!!!  Sidenote:  I used oats instead of flaxseed and actually decreased the chocolate chips to 1/3 cup.