Last End of Summer Play Day

 As the summer draws to a close, we wanted to share one more day with Emma doing something fun.  We started our summer with Enchanted Forest, so decided to end it the same way!

We had planned to come her on Labor Day, but other plans got in the way for the whole weekend, so Glenn decided to take off Friday so we could play.  We decided not to push it, and had a lazy morning, not arriving to the park until it was lunch time. Emma insisted that we needed to lunch by the water show instead of the hamburger stand where we could sit outside. She wanted her cheese pizza and the watch the water dance. So we walked up the hill to the Water Show and got in line.  Unfortunately, they were momentarily out of pizza and asked us to come back in 10 minutes.  So, we sat in the front row by the water and enjoyed the show while we waited.

 After lunch, we headed back to the front gate to take the fairy tale trail up to the top.  Glenn decided he needed a photo of Emma and I under the arch, but we were lucky that someone came by and asked if she could get a shot of all of us.

 Next it was on to visit our favorite fairy tales.  Emma gets a little braver each time (as is evidenced by the photo of her standing in the Witches mouth), and has decided to be willing to go into the dark caverns.  However, she is still not ready to do Alice's Rabbit Hole, and has decided the Old Woman's Shoe Slide is not for her.

 I had to add this photo, as it is the first real photographic evidence I have seen that I am losing weight! Yeah!!!

 We once again got the Kiddie Ride bracelet for Emma to ride her 4 rides.  She made good use of it this time, and rode twice as many times as the cost of the bracelet. She loves these rides, and had such a blast, making new best friends (2) along the way.  She even decided at one point that she didn't need Mom & Dad any longer, as long as we could see her.

 After the park, we had a nice dinner at California Pizza Kitchen, and did some grocery shopping.  Then is was home to bed and some sleep for our tired little girl.  A fun way to end the summer.

August Birthday's

Emma and Pirate Cousin love to cuddle

 So, August is a busy Birthday Month in my family.  Not only do I celebrate, but my Father and Sister-in-law share the same birthday on August 30th.  And then add to that, there is an Aunt, two Uncles and a cousin on my Mom's side that all have birthdays (and I may be missing someone).  So Today we gathered (just my parents and siblings & families) to celebrate the birthday's this month. Meredith and I decided we wanted an easy, lazy day.  We sat out on our deck while the kids played, and just visited and ate.  And for eating, we kept is simple!  Sandwiches, salads and chips.  No fuss, no dishes (paper plates were purchased!)  It was great.  I think all of us have been very busy this summer, and needed a lazy day, so this fit the bill.

Meredith and Joe just chilling on the deck

Dad checking out his gift from Emma

Notice that Army Man and Emma are sitting on Pirate Cousin

I Reached Another Goal!

So today I reached my most fun weight loss goal: I now weigh less then my husband!  I know this would seem silly to some, but to me it has been depressing to weigh more then my husband.  I know, we are both around the same height, and he doesn't have breasts like I do, so realistically you would think that I should weigh more.  But he is a guy, and traditionally he should weigh more.  Also, when we married, he did weigh more.

I was surprised at my WW meeting today when I lost over 6 lbs this past week.  Not really sure what I did to have such a big weight loss, but I will take it.  So now over the past 16 weeks (hard to believe I have been on this journey for 16 weeks) I have lost 34.6 lbs.  So that is an average of 2.16 lbs a week.  I am very happy with that. 

So my next goal?  I should reach it in the next few weeks.  It will be 10% of my starting body weight.  So that will be at 37 lbs down, just 2.4 lbs away.  So yes, if you just did the math, I was 370 lbs when I started.  Actually, it was a little more, and I lost over 5 lbs before starting WW, but for tracking purposes, we are comparing to my starting date.

So after my 10%, my next personal goal is to be down to 300 lbs by our trip next May.  That will only be 34 lbs in the next 9 months, so I really hope to be an over achiever, and be down much more then that.  But to reach this goal, it would be around 4 lbs a month.  Totally doable.  I also need to add in exercise. I keep telling myself that when Emma starts back up to pre-school, I will start walking during class time (when I am not teaching).  That worked well this past spring, however I did have someone to walk with then who also had a child in the same class.  That is not the case this time.  I really need to find a walking buddy come next month.

A Fun Birthday

 Today was my Birthday.  Glenn and I celebrated last night with a lovely night out.  He took me to McGraths, a place he never likes to go because he does not like sea food.  We had a wonderful meal, and great conversation.  Then we headed over to the movies and watched Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters.  It was a fun movies, but the books are much better.

So for today, we had the opportunity to get together with Glenn's cousin's family.  They live in Eugene, and we do not get to see them often enough.  They were actually on their way home from an extended-family vacation in Yellowstone Park.  They stayed the night in Portland, and wanted to spend the day doing something other then being in the car all day again with 5 kids.  So, we all went to OMSI to play.

 I have to admit that we did not take all that many photo's today.  We were too busy talking!  Glenn's cousin's name is Ardel, his wife is Stacy and their kids Jessie, Paige, Andrew, Megan and Emily.  Emma fills right in between Megan and Emily in age.  We really enjoy visiting with the Wicks, and getting together.  After we arrived, Stacy took her older three to the Mummy exhibit, while we went with Ardel and the younger two to the Discovery Space for younger children.  We got there, and the three all went off to play in their own spaces.  We did eventually all end up on the lab playing with flubber and doing the craft, but that was for about 10 minutes.

 Soon the girls were hungry, and we headed outside to eat the lunches we had brought with us.  Stacy and the kids met us out there.  After lunch, Glenn and Ardel headed across the street to visit the train museum, but all the kids wanted to go back to OMSI, so Stacy and I took them to a show in the planetarium.  This was Emma's first time, and she was rather excited.  However, it was a show on the Sun, and I am not sure she was understanding it.  She did like looking at the photos however, and noticing the different look of the room.

 Eventually it was time to leave OMSI, and the kids were all hungry.  The Wick's kids all wanted to try a restaurant that they don't have in Eugene, so we headed to Chevy's on Lake Oswego to dinner.  The food was wonderful, and the company even better.

 As Chevy's is right next to the temple, we decided to head over after eating and do the Visitor's Center.  We knew that the temple was closed for cleaning, but it had been announced that the visitor's center would still have tours on Sunday's.  I mistakenly thought this meant that it was open, but I was wrong.  The Visitor's Center was only open on Sunday's! And the grounds were closed, so we could not see the temple except through the gate!

Oh well, it was still a great  day, and I enjoyed my Birthday!