Family Vacation to Missouri: Day 4

 I didn’t take many pictures on this day of the trip.

We started out at The Gathering House for coffee. I had the Teddy Graham iced latte. It was great! The atmosphere was great, too. It was a little Christian coffee house. They even gave us a scripture reference on our cups. So cute!

After the coffee shop, we had a Wendy’s lunch with the family. The kids love their frosty’s so it was very exciting for them.

The kids did a lot of playing together outside on this day. My mom and I went to the store for an Easter goodie run for Sunday. It was special for all the kids to be getting Easter baskets all together again this year.

In the afternoon, we took the kids back to the playground near the Air Bnb. This air bnb was in the best location for us. We loved it so much!

The playground was right next to the trails to the caves. We did some walking down the trails again, while the weather was still nice.

That evening, we grabbed Firehouse subs and took them to my sisters house on Whiteman Air Force Base. We ate dinner, played a game, and just enjoyed our time together!

Family Vacation to Missouri: Day 3

Day 3 started with a few of us going out to a local coffee shop for some lattes. Unfortunately my sister had to work. She got recalled for Honor Guard, so we were missing her.

For lunch, I had my leftovers from the Mexican restaurant the evening before.

After that, we walked to a playground with the kids and then went to the Caves at Hollow Park. It was a beautiful walk through the woods!

For dinner, we had mini pizza and half salads from SPIN! Pizza.

After dinner, we hung out on the back patio. It was heavenly.

Later that evening, we got to go on another walk just Nick and I. That was a special time. The weather was incredible.

I got a lot of steps in on this day!

It has been such a breath of fresh air being here, watching the kids play together, and even just getting outside after a long winter in Pennsylvania.

Spring Challenge: Week 2 Update

Here’s week two’s update of the Spring Challenge!

Spring Challenge Tasks 

Drink 90-120 oz of water daily

• Sunday: 60 oz
• Monday: 60 oz
• Tuesday: 60 oz
• Wednesday: 60 oz
• Thursday: 60 oz
• Friday: 60 oz
• Saturday: 60 oz

Walk for 30-60 minutes/week

• Sunday: 15 minutes
• Monday: —
• Tuesday: —
• Wednesday: —
• Thursday: 60 minutes
• Friday: —
• Saturday: —

Track nutrition daily + stay within calorie range 5/7 days each week (1,650 - 1,850 calories)

• Sunday: 1,800 calories
• Monday: —
• Tuesday: —
• Wednesday: —
• Thursday: —
• Friday: —
• Saturday: —

Blog weekly challenge updates

• 2/2 weeks done with this update!

Weight-Loss Goal:

My realistic and main goal is to lose about 6 pounds during this challenge. My “shoot for the moon” goal is to lose 10 - 15 pounds!

10 Weeks | March 21 - May 30

Starting weight: 216 lbs | Goal weight: 210 lbs - 201 lbs

• Week 1: 215 lbs (-1 lb)
• Week 2: —
• Week 3:
• Week 4:
• Week 5:
• Week 6:
• Week 7:
• Week 8:
• Week 9:
• Week 10:

The weigh-in for week two is unknown since I’m still on vacation. I didn’t want to miss an update, though. 

I haven’t been tracking my food intake but I did get some good activity in and I have been doing well staying hydrated with water and Gatorade zero.

I’m quite sure I’ll come back with some extra weight but I’ll also be coming back home with some pretty awesome memories! We get back home early this week. As much as I’m sad to leave, I’m also looking forward to getting back to normal routines.

Let’s keep going!

Family Vacation to Missouri: Day 2

Our second day of the road trip was pretty awesome! We stopped in Casey, IL to visit the “world largest” mailbox, rocking chair and pencil. We also hit up one of the tastiest coffee shops for a much needed latte.

We stopped for lunch at Blue Springs Cafe, where they make “foot high pies”. Of course we had to try some!

We got to the Air Bnb around 6pm. It has been a dream here! It’s just as comfy as home.

My sister’s family, my mom, stepdad and brother all got together for dinner at a local Mexican restaurant. It was a great way to kick off our visit together!

It was a great night! I only ate about half of my dinner and kept the other half for lunch the next day. I’ll share about the next day of our trip, soon! 

As for this first night in Missouri, we got some great sleep and thoroughly enjoyed our time all together again!

Family Vacation to Missouri: Day 1

The first day of our family vacation was a travel day! The road trip is half of the fun for us! We like to take our time and stop at fun places along the way.

The girls had a comfy and fun set up in the back seat. We got them curtains to help shade them from the sunshine and the sea back covers gave them plenty of storage for fun items and a tray for coloring, snacking, etc.

Our first stop was for breakfast. We got a bunch of goodies from Market Hall at Van Aken in Ohio. It was a great way to start the trip!

After a couple hours of driving, we stopped at Grandpa’s Cheese Barn in Ohio. This provided us with a snacky lunch! We all shared some pieces of various cheeses, beef sticks and pretzels.

Our next stop was the Columbus Conservatory and Botanical Gardens. We had never been, and this was a nice way to stretch our legs!

After a couple hours back on the road, my husband and I needed another coffee stop. This turned into a “donut and coffee shop” because: vacation, and kids, and yum. 

We each tried half of the donut we had picked from Parlour Donughts, then packed them up and got back on the road. I’d say we had some leftover as snacks in the hotel room. I mean, this is what we had hoped for them, but it wasn’t too long after taste testing these goodies that they got dropped on the pavement in the parking lot at our hotel when we arrived. 

Probably for the best. We truly didn’t need all of these donuts hanging around!

When we got to the hotel, we all went swimming and then I went for a walk around the hotel to get some activity in. It was 80° with a warm breeze. It felt amazing to be outside!

We ordered a late night dinner from CJ’s pizza after we settled into the hotel room. CJ’s is our favorite pizza in Plainfield, Indiana! And when I say it’s our favorite, I mean it was really good when we got it last year and we haven’t tried anything else. We all enjoyed it!

My eating choices for the day were definitely giving “on vacation mode”. I could have done better but, I also don’t have any regrets. I made sure to drink a decent amount of water (60 oz) and I got my activity in for the day! 

Overall, “roadtrip, day 1” went really well. Halfway there, another 7 hour drive coming right up!