"The North Idaho" Vacation: Day 5

It was stormy and yucky today so we spent all morning inside. So I had time to play with Ruth's hair:


It cleared up in the afternoon so we went up to Bonner's Ferry which was only 20 miles or so from Canada! We walked around the town, which was cute and then saw Myrtle Falls.

"The North Idaho" Vacation: Day 4

Since we were staying at the top of Schweitzer Mountain it took about 20 minutes to get into town. Ruth was generously sharing the beautiful view with her Homba. On the way down the mountain we stopped for a photo session.


Today we spent down in the town of Sandpoint. We saw a really great Antique store.



Brad, the kids, and I spent time at the city park:





And we did more window shopping.


We thought the name of this women's clothing store was hilarious!

"The North Idaho" Vacation: Day 3

Today we spent the entire day in Coer d'Alene. The whole town has a moose theme.



We ate the most amazing cupcakes EVER. I had a red velvet cupcake, filled with raspberries and the most perfect cream cheese frosting ever. Not too sweet or too tart, just perfect.

We spent most of the day shopping:


The toy store had a merry-go-round that Ruth adored. She was really sad that she couldn't go on it for longer.


We also went on a cruise of Lake Coer d'Alene which was nice...except that Will wouldn't let me sit down the whole time, he wanted to be rocked...notice the grumpy face in the picture below.


After the cruise we got back in the car and drove to Sandpoint, Idaho which was about an hour away. We checked in to our place on Schweitzer Mountain, we stayed in a condo at this ski resort. And finally got to eat home-made food again.

"The North Idaho" Vacation: Day 2

The main event of today was that we went to a great Farmer's Market in Walla Walla. I got an amazing raspberry croissant drizzled with chocolate, yum. Everyone else shared a hotdog bagel which was also yummy. Ruth got some raspberries and gobbled them all up!


We saw Fort Walla Walla. This is a tree cross section cut down in the 70's that was over 500 years old when it was cut down.


We ate lunch at an amazing local place in Clarkston, WA called Hazel's. It looked like the Hawaiian aisle from the Dollar Store puked up in this place...but the food was AMAZING.


We saw University of Idaho in Moscow, Washington State in Pullman, and Gonzaga in Spokane.


We ended the day in Post Falls, Idaho. We tried to go swimming at our hotel but the water (that was suppose to be heated) was cold, so Ruth didn't like it.

"The North Idaho" Vacation: Day 1

We left around 7am and only made it to Bliss Idaho before stopping for food and the potty.



We drove through Baker City, Oregon and made it to Enterprise where we saw Chief Joseph's grave and ate lunch at a great local place call "Friends."


Our stopping place was Walla Walla, Washington. We got there around 5pm and went directly to the Whitman Mission which was our favorite thing of the whole vacation.


It was beautiful and peaceful.


And it was directly on the Oregon trail.

Playdough and Packing

I made some playdough for Ruth the other day...she was more interested in the cookie cutters than the playdough...sad. She also kept trying to eat it and was totally grossed out because it was so salty. I think she was confused about it not being food because I put her in her high chair to play with it.


Will has become a total thumb sucker, has rolled over twice two weeks ago and not since and has discovered the art of thumb twiddling.

What do we need all this stuff for?! (notice ALL those diapers)

Vacation!

Paula and Asa are coming into town tonight to take us on a week long vaca to Northern Idaho! We're driving around a bunch to see some sites Asa is interested in, spending three days in Sandpoint at a resort and then coming home through Montana. We're so excited, especially since Brad has been working like a maniac for the past several weeks. We all need a break.

Earl M. Hardy Box Canyon

This was a super fun day for all of us...including the dog. We drove through a bunch of corn fields and parked in what felt like the middle of nowhere. We slathered on sunscreen and then hiked for about a mile on a gravel road. Then out of nowhere this huge canyon appeared.



We hiked a bit further and then the trail lead down the side of the canyon. It was a rough hike but completely worth all the views of the river and falls.

When we got down to this lake area we really wished that we had swimsuits. Ruth went trudging into the water anyways and started to float downstream...face down. Brad had to jump in to saver her.

Here are some pics of us relaxing in the back yard in the hammock I bought in Mexico before Brad and I got married. (And I'm down to 187 pounds!)

The Curse of the Popsicle or Be Careful What You Promise

Last week we ran out of "popsicles," aka the generic brand of Otter Pops. So that night when Brad got back from work we ran to the store to get some more. Unfortunately for Ruth, they don't come frozen. She had to wait all day for some popsicles and then once we finally had them she STILL couldn't have one. I promised her that the next day she could have as many as she wanted, because really, who can resist this:

So the next day came, and I was resolute to keep to my word, I don't want to be a bad example and break my promises. So first thing in the morning she wanted a "pa" as she calls them. So she got one. Well, needless to say, I quickly regretted promising "as many as you want." She probably ate 15 popsicles in one day; she definitely took advantage of the situation! Look at her lounging on the doggie bed in popsicle heaven!


Well the morning after "the day of popsicle heaven" Ruth woke up and I went to change her diaper like normal. When I opened it up I found popsicle poo...it was neon green! All things considered, I guess there could be worse consequences to making bad promises!

Piano

(This is my little lounge singer in the making!)

This last weekend Paula and Asa brought us a piano! It is absolutely gorgeous and I'm so happy that we have it in our home. Ruth loves to play, I am happy I get to practice and get better, and it's so fun to listen to Brad play (since he is the only mostly fluent player in the house). Brenda and Val came up for the weekend too, and we celebrated Val's b-day by eating out a bunch, hanging out a bunch, and going to Shoshone Falls where we all got eaten alive by mosquitos. (Unfortunately I forgot to steal pictures from Paula's camera before they left...so no pics of the weekend.)


Here's the funny story of the weekend. Brad was playing "Puff the Magic Dragon" while Ruth sat next to him on the bench. I was singing along and we were just having a fun time. Well, the dog was in the house, and as soon as we started playing and singing she came out and sat right behind Brad. Then right as we were finishing up the song, Boudicca decided to chime in and she howled along with us. It was so funny, just like in the cartoons.


This is Ruth watching a cat video:

This is a great picture because you can really see Ruth's tan line from her sandals

Also, Ruth said her first prayer today! Yay!

Weighing In

I get so nervous every time I decide to step on the scale or try on an old pair of jeans...and this morning I did both! Happily I am down 5 pounds from last time to 190!!! And I am officially into my size 16 jeans, yes! It feels so good to be able to really see a difference and to have proof from my old clothes. Brad and I were looking at my drivers license picture from a year ago (where i weighed 20 more pounds than now) and it is so obvious that I've lost weight.


I credit most of my success to FitWatch because it really has shown me that I was eating WAY too many calories even though I thought I was eating healthily. I also think that exercise has helped too, not only because I'm burning more calories that way, but because I'm building lean muscle which helps to burn fat. I also never weigh myself more than once a week and always at the same time. I read that you weigh the least at 7am, so that's when I weigh in and I always "wear" the same thing so I don't have to worry about clothes contributing to weighing more or less.

I still have 30 pounds to go to reach the weight that I want to be. But I've been thinking that I could keep going and lose even more weight. 160 is the weight I had been at since my sophomore year in high school so it's what I'm used to. But it is technically still one point into the "overweight" category on the bmi scale. So why stop? Especially since I've figured out this whole weight loss thing. I'm feeling pretty motivated to keep going and maybe get down to 140, I can't even imagine how good I'd look then! We'll see what happens. For now my goal is to get to 160, so 30 more pounds here I come!

Hot Dogs and S'Mores

Brad and Ruth chillin' after dinner

Ruth eating an extra marshmallow

Will being super cute

Me, getting super messy because I was trying not to drip on Will