A Week in Lancaster

Last week the kids and I spent a week at my parents house in Lancaster, PA. We all had such a great time. We cherry picked at Cherry Hill Orchards which has become a tradition for the week after school is done. We lucked out and it was the first day they were allowing everyone to pick. The kids had a great time and sampled a cherry from each tree they chose to pick from. We brought home a couple pounds and they disappeared by the end of the week. We did a ton of shopping at the outlets and my mom took us to her new favorite mall in the area. We ate lunch out, stayed up late, watched tv together and slept in. It's nice to be spoiled every once in a while and I enjoyed not having to cook any meals while I was there. 

On Friday night my mom's church friends were having a picnic for the Sunday School families. (My mom was a teacher) The kids mainly ate the homemade desserts and got soft serve from the ice-cream machine they had. The highlights for my kids were the candy drop which was a one person plane that flew overhead and dropped tons of candy from the sky, the horses, and the kittens that were recently born. It was so nice to see the kids fit right in and make friends. The children already knew our names because my mom likes to brag about us. Which is awesome, lol! Here is Liv showing off her new dress!

John did so great with the horses! He really has a way with animals.

I have to say this is one of my favorite pictures that I have ever captured of Olivia.

She loved playing mommy to the baby kittens. She was talking so sweet to them.

Give her ALLLLL the kittens!!!

Here's the candy dropping from the sky!

A beautiful sunset on the farm.

Fitness Progress and Recipes for the Week

Getting my grocery shopping list together for the week used to give me so much anxiety now I've been a little more excited about making new meals. This week we tried a couple of new ones, they all turned out great so I thought I would share the links. Follow me on Pinterest for more recipes, I love to share ideas for some new foods.

Bacon and Pea Mac and Cheese (I subbed Applegate Farms Uncured Turkey Bacon and Barilla Gluten Free Pasta)--Not really a 21 day day fix approved recipe but I wanted to try something new. Everything in moderation.

Slow Cooker Barbacoa Chipotles in adobo sauce have changed my life! Delicious.

Try this recipe for home made enchilada sauce! YUM! 

Below are my progress pictures from the first week of the 21 day fix to the last week of the 21 day fix. Not a huge difference yet! But I've become more toned, my energy levels and endurance are increasing. Feeling pretty great!

Lighting isn't great but I took these in a hurry! #momlife

Liv and I after a tough workout, happy that I keep pushing myself.

Weekend Days

Last Saturday it was a beautiful day out. The kids and I were on our own hanging around the house and they were driving me CRAZY. I was beyond frustrated, couldn't take the noise level and the constant fighting. I was over it. I was about to be scary mommy. "THAT'S IT!" I pretty much screamed. I grabbed my bag, the camera, some bottles of water, and we were out the door. They kept asking "Where are we going?" my response "Silence, you'll see when we get there!" We have this great park with a walking trail and some beautiful trees and open fields right by our house that we don't utilize enough. I parked and told them to start marching. Were walking the trail. The WHOLE trail. My goal was to tire them out enough so that when we got home I could relax hopefully in peace. I don't know maybe get one thing done without hearing them bicker! I love this stage (age) with the kids I really do but sometimes I get to my breaking point. By the end of this adventure they were a little easier  to handle and we enjoyed a quiet night at the house. They showered and bathed and I took some time to blow dry Liv's hair which is a nice quiet, relaxing, bonding time for both of us.

Farmer's Market

Of course the opening day at the Farmer's Market we buy sweets! But we couldn't resist trying some goodies from Joanne's Candy (the inside out s'mores were delicious) and undrgrnd donuts truck.

From left to right: Vanilla and Chocolate Swirl, The Homer (Vanilla dunk, raw sugar, chocolate with bacon), Captain Kranky (Strawberry with Captain Crunch), Camping Out (S'mores Donut), Chocolate and Strawberry Dunk, Caramel Apple

The kids were so excited for the fresh donuts! 

We bought some farm fresh eggs and they were delicious! 

Here is what our second farmer's market trip looked like.

A sea sponge for my mom since she had been looking for one. This bar of soap Liv really wanted but turns out completely dries her out. Fresh asparagus and a new cilantro plant from a farm in NJ since ours died while we were away on a long weekend down the shore. And this delicious yet very spicy Chipotle Black Bean hummus from Lancaster Hummus Co.