4th of July Weekend

I hope you had a wonderful 4th of July weekend! We sure did!

We went to a couple of picnics and watched fireworks, of course. Just the classic kind of celebrating over here. I love this season with small children. We know it doesn’t last long and so we’re cherishing every holiday and so much of this summer with them.

We also know that my husband and I are growing up right along with them, and so we carved out a day for just the two of us to get out and enjoy one another this weekend, too. We went out for bagels and s’mores lattes. It was a nice treat! Then we went to the lake to walk around and sit together.

The 4th of July picnics were fun and great, too! I made pinwheels as a dish to share and it went over well.

I’d love to say that now that the holiday is over, I am looking forward to getting back on track with eating well but I know there is a lot of “eating out” coming my way these next couple of weeks. 

My sister’s kids will be in town and so we will all be over at my moms house a whole lot, eating out as we go on adventures and just going with the flow most days. These next two weeks will be like a staycation of sorts when they are in town. It’s always a lot of fun and we’re looking forward to it but I also know the extra challenge it is going to be for my healthy eating goals.

I don’t want this to turn into an excuse to have a free-for-all with my eating so I am going to keep balance in mind best I can.

What I Ate Monday - Zoo Trip Edition

Monday morning started out the same way most of our summer mornings have started, with us letting the chickens out to free range in the back yard. 

It’s so peaceful and joyful to watch the chickens and kids run around the back yard together in the morning. These are the days!

Since the weather was warm and cloudy, I thought it would be a great day to walk around the Zoo. I drank a protein shake for breakfast and packed our lunches before heading out.

When we got to the Zoo, I renewed our membership and was thankful for the ability to do that and also for being in the season of life when we hold a Zoo membership for us and our young kids to enjoy.

First we rode the train, and then we walked around to look at all the animals. Our kids loved to see the chickens, even though we have some at home. They also loved seeing ducks, which is so funny because they were the wild ducks in the creek below the train bridge.

For lunch, I packed salami and cheese sandwiches, grapes and some vegetables for the girls.

We walked around the zoo some more after lunch, and the girls rode on the carousel before playing “fox and chicken” at the zoo playground. 

They have the best most comfy chairs at the zoo playground and so I took a moment to sink into one of those while they played and ran around.

We had a great day at the Zoo! Once we got home we had an afternoon snack and relaxed a bit in the air conditioning. 

When my husband got home, he grilled chicken sausage, potatoes, peppers with mushroom and onions on the Blackstone which tasted amazing for dinner!

After dinner, I plugged into work for a couple of hours from home. I was a little tired from our long day, but I was also super grateful to be able to work from home for a bit on top of all the things we did that day. It felt like the best of both worlds, and I know to cherish those moments.

After working for a few hours, I was hungry. I checked my nutrition tracker and I still had 540 calories before I hit my goal and so I made myself some “loaded nachos”. 

It wasn’t a healthy choice but it fit within my calorie range for the day and satisfied a craving. This is a real look into what I ate on Monday, when I was just going with the flow.