How cool is Pandora

Love it when I hear about or discover a new website on the computer

Have you tried Pandora Radio?

It is so cool.  :)

Pandora Radio

We love it over here.

Dylan can type in a type of music like "Disney" and a bunch of songs will come up...

What I enjoy is putting in a praise or worship songs in for "my station" and a group of songs come up that we can enjoy.

Check it out it's a fun.

Camping w/Kids

Yosemite with a young family group from church.

So dirty, but so much fun.

In the valley.

Dylan and a new friend.

 That's our group below minus a couple of couples:)

 Nolan in a river bed at the falls.

 Taryn at a water spot, bottom part missing...don't ask...

 Nolan and his beloved piece of wood. 

 Every night at the campground they had a hay ride, too cute one of the teenagers volunteered to take the twins.

 O'the excitement when your three.

 All aboard the dirty bunch, it was so dirty.

 Ahh to be home reading with daddy.

All tired.  This was in July and if your wondering why no pictures of Dylan.  He was so busy getting dirty we couldn't even catch him to get a photo...

(not the best pictures, but you get the general idea)

Ahh Summer.

btw: i'm hoping someday i can get a new camera to take some clearer photos...

Making Jam

Making Jam

I felt like such the homemaker, it was so GREAT.

First we made a recipe from the farm and I decided it had way to much sugar.

So then I started researching online and found one on cookinglight.com and another on marthastewart.com.

But.

What we came up with was using a "sugar in the raw", which added more flavor.

 Before the mess.  See the white box that is the fresh apple pie.

 chopping and slicing

 The first batch is below:)

The second batch turned out more consistent and solid, you can tell I'm learning from right to left...but this is all the first batch...

The second third, and fourth rounds turned out super yummy.

It was simmered for a hr and then you add a couple teas of lemon juice.

Dylan in the midst of mess.

 So we all decided we are bringing daddy and picking apples here in the fall (along with picking at Grandma and Grandpa's and Avilia)...so here we come apple season.

btw: was I the only one who tried the new "envy" apples at the grocery store, YUMMY!

FALL HERE WE COME!!!

Mom Adventure

So today

I decided to take the kids on an adventure.

(to be really really honest here, i love taking the kids on adventures, but I usually do a little research and a BIG prayer in the morning)

I'd been wanting to go berry picking all summer and knowing it was the end of the season I had to just give it a shot.

We were waiting for a good time for our whole family to go, but every weekend was filled with something.

So since school starts next week I decided I would just take the kids on an adventure over to the coast (hoping to find some berries at a U-pick).

So traveled up highway 1 pretty far

and

found this beautiful beach, but no berries.

 Just beautiful.

We got lost a couple of times, but eventually...and then three farms later

 we discovered

"Gizdich Ranch"

Just a perfect place to take kids.

The kids below before their buckets were filled.

 Picking, so much fun, highly recommend.

 Breathtaking.

 I just love FARMS.

Would love to live, work  and raise kids on one.

 Dylan was really into it he didn't want to leave, but I couldn't take home any more strawberries.  We filled up three buckets to overflowing... I had to make jam now...which will be in my next post...Never done it and it was so fun.

 Cute kid.

 Nolan's bucket was low so Dylan filled it up more

and then he got to pick more. 

Too funny.

 She loved it as well.

 Nolan bless his heart fell asleep on the way to the farm and woke up to the farm and he's the one who wanted to do it the most!  Took awhile to wake up...

 They have a playground and eating area for afterwards.

You can buy fresh pies and treats. 

We bought Jason a fresh (still warm) apple pie.

 Love the sign on the way out.

Just a great day to have before the beginning of the school routine, which I like, but dread at the same time.

Love days like this.

Next post is all about our jam making. 

Dylan chopped and chopped strawberries for me it was just a blast in the kitchen with the kids.

This is one day I have loved and it wasn't perfectly planned, at a amusement park, nor cost a lot of money (although I did get lost a bit and three farms later, so a little gas and a whole lot of strawberries and lots of fun and LOVE!!!)

Paleo vs Livestrong

So I've hit an age and body type

that

has forced me to really look at what I'm eating, ugh...

I exercise a lot...so it's gotta be my diet, bummer no more getting away with things...

I think I mentioned the Paleo diet before, well I felt great on it, but had a hard time excluding so many items from my daily life with three kids.

So.

I recently discovered Livestrong My Plate

This works for me and is something I can do on a daily basis.

It's so cool.

It puts you on a calorie amount each day and every meal you log what you eat, sounds a little tricky, right? 
Wrong.

Easy breezy.

I love it.

It deducts from total calorie's allowed each day and presto you can keep track of what your eating.

We have a laptop in the kitchen so this is really easy for me to log.

It's fun easy and motivating?

Has anyone else tried this?

No excluding items, just logging what you eat and staying within a certain caloric intake, easy.  With that said you do see where all your calories go...so I'm focusing on what I need to eat more and less of.
You log exercise as well so it's super helpful.
Check it out!

San Diego 2011

Some Highlights from our trip to San Diego.

So thrilled to not be potty training this year and just able to go go go...

We had fun.

Then there is Phil's a must when visiting San Diego.

It's right around the corner from Sea World.

If you have kids you want to just order it in your car and pick it up and go to a park with a ton of wet wipes. 

YUMMY.

SUPER crowded, but well worth it after a day at Sea World.

Phils BBQ

On the way home Jason just had to take a little detour to the Regan Library.

Not the best place to take toddlers, but the kids had fun and enjoyed one of Regan's favorite.

Jelly Belly's.

Picture of Regan below is made purely out of Jelly Belly's.

Check out how small they look in comparison to the helicopter

 Outside the kids thought this was funny.

 We visited some friends in Bakersfield on the way home; so great to see old friends. 
Now back to our old schedule and getting the kids back on track.

Hope your having a great summer.

Whew lots of fun in July and lots of laundry, YIKES.

Back to reality and back to my diet and exercise routine.  

Still trying to loose that weight....vacations didn't help... 

I'm not much of a diet person, I'd rather exercise my brains out, but since I had twins and hit 35 i've had a rough time so with the suggestion of a friend i'm trying out the Paleo diet for a month to see how it goes.

I'll post more on this later. 

We actually went on one more trip in July (crazy huh) a camping trip and i'll post that one soon.