And We're Back!

So we got back from our Grand Canyon/Hoover Dam/Vegas road trip yesterday morning and we've been extremely busy since our return...We had to wash the car seats (apparently Zeek doesn't do too well on long road trips...let's hope this isn't the case on long flights!) along with five loads of laundry (laundry for a family of four is never easy), and I'm getting ready to go back to work on Thursday so I've been scrubbing my house top to bottom and reorganizing my kitchen while I still have free time.

We headed for the Grand Canyon on Friday after Catalina got out of school. Eight long hours and three Ezekiel barfs later, we arrived at our hotel. After breakfast Saturday morning, we biked approximately 7 miles through the Grand Canyon on Saturday. It was a truly amazing way to see the canyon!

The guys at Bright Angel Bicycle Rentals took great care of us! We rented two bikes and one trailer for Matty to pull the kiddos in.

The guys loaded the bikes and shuttled us up the canyon to Hopi Point and then we biked it to Hermit's Rest. It's mostly downhill but there were a few challenging uphill spots on the ride. We loved the adventure, but the brakes locked up on Matty's bike about a mile in so he had an extreme workout. We had a nice picnic along the way...

And after we made it to Hermit's Rest...

We enjoyed an ice cream treat...

We went back to our hotel, took a dip in the pool, and headed back into the Grand Canyon for our dinner reservations at El Tovar Dining Room and had one of seven of the nicest seats in the place with canyon views while we ate! Then we caught a breathtaking sunset and watched the canyon transform.

Followed by a lightening storm in the canyon!! I didn't get any pictures of that...just kicked back on a rocking chair and enjoyed. Sunday morning we checked out, snapped a few pics near the Grand Canyon Sign & with Smokey the Bear...

And then we hit the road and headed for the Hoover Dam, which I wasn't so impressed with. So We decided to head up to Vegas since my husband has never been there. And that lucky guy turned the $5 that I limited him to into $100!

The Grand Canyon was a sight to see and now I understand why it is one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World. I hope that if we are able to return someday, we'll visit it again...but maybe do the helicopter tour or a week long rafting/camping adventure down the river...when the kids are older of course! Maybe while we're living in Guam we'll have a chance to see the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. Has anyone else had a rad summer vacation, sporadic road trip, or some exciting adventure lately? We're hoping to do some traveling again around Thanksgiving... Oh where oh where shall we go?

Going to the GRAND CANYON!!

My husband and I have planned a very exciting last minute weekend getaway con los bebes to the Grand Canyon! I'm super excited because it's one of those places on my list of things I must see before I die.

Matty and I are considering a move to Italy after Guam, if the orders are open...I know, sounds like planning WAY ahead, but it is something we've talked about. So there are some places here in the states that we would like to visit before we leave just in case we're not back in the states any time in the future.

We're going to leave when Catalina gets out of school and drive straight out. We booked a hotel room for two nights that's only about a mile from the South Rim. We'll get in late tonight and sleep, have a free continental breakfast in the a.m., then we're renting bikes for the day (one with a trailer for Matty to pull the kids)! They shuttle you to the top of the canyon and you ride down on a private road with no traffic and magnificent canyon views! I can't wait. The rest of the weekend we'll be unplanned.

Bright Angel Bicycle Rentals

I have a lot to do before we go.

• Kennel our dogs 
• Straighten up my house - especially the kitchen!
• Make Matty take the trash out before we go
• Get a cooler - either from the store or borrow from a friend 
• Pack our bags - for myself and my babies - make sure I bring lots of sunscreen & my Rebel!
• Pack food, drinks, snacks for the kids
• Drive a loaf of my Zucchini Pineapple Bread to my dad (he's at work)
• Pick Ezekiel up from MiMi's 
• Get Catalina from School
• Hit the Road Jack! 

Gotta run! I'll be sure to post pics for you to enjoy!

Zucchini Pineapple Bread

I have been off of work this week relaxing after surgery. To occupy all of my free time and to make use of some of the food I need to start using up in my home, I have been a busy baking mama! I usually post pictures of new foods I make on my Facebook and I have been asked for my recipe for this delicious zucchini pineapple bread that I baked last night.

Mix All of These in a Medium Sized Mixing Bowl:
3 cups of all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt

Mix These in a Large Mixing Bowl:
1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon nutmeg
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 eggs
1 cup canola oil (you can use veggie oil or olive oil, I used canola)

2 cups grated zucchini

1 8oz can crushed pineapples strained

As you mix in the zucchini and pineapple, the batter will be a bit frothy. This is normal. Don't panic. 

Add your dry ingredients to the bowl of wet ingredient in thirds. 

Stir in 1 cup of chopped walnuts (or pecans) & 1 cup of raisins or dried cranberries (I use a combination of both). These are both optional but it's worth the splurge to add em!

Preheat your oven to 350 and grease your meatloaf pan. Bake for about 1 hour or until you insert a toothpick pulls out clean. This recipe makes 2 amazing, tasty, moist loafs so keep one and share one with a friend!

My girlfriend Sam said this bread reminds her of Fall. I think it's something about the warms fragrance of cinnamon and nutmeg. I like the pieces of pineapple and the crunch of walnuts!

1st Day of School

Today was Catalina's first day of school! I was so excited for her that I hardly got any sleep last night. Do you remember what your first day of school was like? I remember those restless nights for the first day of school every year. Catalina didn't seem to have my same restlessness. She slept like a champ. And again tonight she's down before 8:30 with ease...both of my kids are actually, which it quite uncommon for our household and something I am going to work harder at. It's nice to have a few hours before bed kid-free!

So I have been reading a few blogs and articles for inspiration on creating well balanced and fun meals for Catalina because she can be a picky eater at times though my girl prefers healthier choices: 2 Little Lunches and 20 Bento Lunch Boxes to name a few. Here's what I created for Catalina's first day of school:

Heart Shaped Turkey Sandwich with Celery Arrows and a Fruit Salad on the Side

I enjoyed making my baby girl's lunch so much last night that I made even greater efforts for her next lunch box creation. Here's what my lil kindergartner is getting tomorrow:

Lamb Shaped Ham Sandwich with Lettuce, Fresh Green Beans, and Carrot Flowers, Turkey and Ham Flowers, Heart Shaped Slices of Monterey Jack Cheese to go with Pepperoni Slices and Crackers. Fruit kabobs on the side. 

Catalina got herself ready for school this morning. She's such a big girl. She even ate all of her breakfast!

My Pretty Girl

I had surgery yesterday to repair a ventricle hernia...but that wasn't going to keep me from seeing my girl off to her first day of school...I just couldn't bend over much to hug her.  

Outside Her Classroom

Mommy is so proud of you Catalina! I can't wait to hear how school goes tomorrow.

Catalina is going to be in the middle of her Kindergarten year when we relocate to Guam. I want to start researching what the school year schedule is like overseas in Guam. I have heard that school uniforms are a requirement, which I'm okay with. If we live on base, Catalina will be in a DOD school. Does anyone know the quality of education children get in Guam? 

Home Sweet Home

No amount of time home with my family is ever long enough. I already miss my mom and my sister. I'm going to miss out on another three years of my niece's life. Seeing Terrence break down in tears as he said his goodbyes to our baby girl was absolutely heartbreaking. I started to question whether or not the decision to move to Guam is the right one since it's so far away from family...My mother is super stressed out and really wanted us to move back to Virginia. My sister could really use my help with raising Toniya. I could really use their help while Matty is underway. Terrence really wanted his baby girl to be closer. Catalina needs her dad in her life. I hate to second guess my decisions. It's unfortunate that my children will not be around their cousin and that my daughter will be even further away from her biological father but this move is the right move for MY family. 

Without too much detail, I want to share the scoop on my relationships with "my baby daddy daddies." I read all these blogs about other military spouses and how they married the love of their life or how they've been together many years before they made the decision to have their first child. Now I'm not sure if these ladies are truly madly in love and are lucky to live fairytale lives, or if they're trying to convince themselves that their lives are hunky-dory but that certainly isn't how my life has unfolded, though I don't hold many regrets. I had my daughter Catalina while I was in college. I was head over heels for her daddy Terrence, but things didn't work out. Let's just say that I was never very clear with him about what I expected of him once Catalina was conceived. I wanted to hear that his intentions were to marry me and we would be a family...please do not take this wrong...I am not one of those psycho broads that gets knocked up in hopes to keep a dude. In my mind, before Catalina was ever conceived, I had planned every detail of my life: I'd finish college and start my career. Terrence would propose in a couple of years. There'd be the huge engagement party but we would elope on an exotic island with a sunset ceremony on the beach followed by fireworks and send DVDs of it all to our friends and family who couldn't be there, and after buying our first home we'd start a family. 

Image Borrowed from DreamWeddingReceptions.com

Well, my fairytale didn't come true. And when Terrence wouldn't verbalize that he at least had intentions of us being a happily ever after family by marrying me someday...not right away but at ANY point in our future...our relationship tumbled downhill. We broke up when Catalina was ten months old and we fought constantly until Catalina and I moved away to California just over a year later. 

Catalina and I moved across the states to live with my dad. I got a job in property management and after a year or so of being in San Diego, I met my husband at a property I was helping out at: Coral Gardens...what a dive, don't ever live there! At this point in my life, I wasn't looking for love or anything more than a good time, but I couldn't shake this guy.  We dated for a couple months...mostly because I was too busy with work to be concerned with finding my "soulmate" and he made every effort to work around my schedule and enjoyed spending time with me and my daughter. One night dad and I got to arguing and he kicked me out of his house (I won't go into details about this...it doesn't really matter...I still love my daddy). This push out of the nest forced me into getting an apartment and accepting a position at a property I had previously worked at. Though I was hesitant to the idea, it made financial sense for Matty and I to live together...It's expensive to live in San Diego! Anyway, a month after we moved in together we found out we were pregnant! (Yes, things happened that quick! He knocked me up like two weeks before we moved in together.) So yet again, my life did not play out the way I had hoped...I guess that's what I get for having premarital sex. I was petrified to have a child with a man that I hardly knew. I come from a family where all three of us kids have the same mother and father and I didn't want to be one of those broads with multiple baby daddies, but I went with my gut. We got hitched at the courthouse in October when I was six months pregnant. I like to tell people that Matty pulled the "keep a bitch" and knocked me up on purpose with the intent of persuading my hand into marriage. I got married in black.

I have a beautiful ring, but I didn't get the elaborate proposal or have the wedding of my dreams. HOWEVER, I married a damn good man that I cannot stand most days and the only thing we have in common is the cutest lil creamy skin, blond hair boy ever!

We've been married almost two years now. We have not been through a deployment yet. This is our first PCS together (I say together because I am a Navy Brat and I'm accustomed to moving a lot with the Navy as a child) and I know that an overseas move sounds intimidating to most, but I view it a little differently. It's an opportunity for us as a family to see different parts of the world that most Americans will never experience. We plan on traveling to surrounding areas. We are looking forward to a slower pace of life so that we can enjoy time with our babies and with each other. And it gives our family and friends a unique place to vacation to should they decide to visit.

I've come to realize that home is not where you were raised or grew up as a kid. Virginia is not my home. Home is here and now with MY husband and kids and our dogs. It is where we unite each day after work, share a meal, relax, and lay our heads with peace and comfort because we are together.  I love my family and no matter how annoying it might be when I get home from work and have to use the bathroom and both kids, both dogs, and my husband feel the need to join me in the bathroom,  I would not trade them for the fairytale I had envisioned of my life. With them, no matter where we lay our heads, we are home.

The Eagle has Landed!

So we made it to VA a-okay yesterday. There were no problems with our flights and everyone at Southwest was super friendly and accommodating. I have to say when I got to the parking lot at Norfolk Airport I was instantly welcomed by hot humid evening mugginess: 90 degrees at 12:20 a.m. I told my mom this trip home will do me some good: get me reacquainted with heat and humidity and rainy weather because Virginia Beach is getting all of that right now.

We spent the day at the mall with three kids (my daughter, son, and gorgeous niece) and mom got me this pretty bitching bracelet. It's called an Xtreme Energy bracelet. My mom and I participated in a demonstration kind of like this video that was posted on YouTube. It's pretty mind blowing and I'm digging it. I'll update you about it in another month or so and let you know if I'm still sold on it.

Tomorrow we are going to spend the morning at the beach and probably the afternoon at a family friend's pool.

I borrowed this image from cvent destinations guide. I'm sure the beach will be much more packed than this. 

Friday I hope to be kicking it with my bestie. Saturday throwing a cookout. Sunday going to see my brother. As you can tell, I'll be pretty busy so you might not hear much from me until I get back from vacay! Don't be envious!

Do You Leash Your Baby?

Tomorrow Zeek baby and I will be heading to Virginia Beach to visit with family and to pick up Sister. As much as I can't wait to see my baby girl I am equally dreading traveling alone with Ezekiel. I don't know why. I did perfectly fine by myself with Catalina when she was younger and part of me knows everything will go smoothly... But Zeek doesn't listen as well as Catalina did. And he can't be still. I dread being that mother with the crying baby that makes everyone on the plane miserable. And we have a layover in Vegas. That airport is a nightmare to me. There are all kinds of people...like any other airport...but there are also those trollies that shuttle you around the airport and so many stinking terminals. Anyway, I'm sure it'll be super fun the time of my life okay. I'm a big girl; I can handle this.

Getting ready to travel leads me to my title. My friends and I were discussing baby leashes at Matty's birthday dinner. Personally, I've always been opposed. I look at parents walking their children around the malls and shopping centers with disgust and mentally I spit on them. I know, I know, that sounds so cruel. I have voiced my opinion to several mothers in my day though. At a pet store one time I looked straight at a lady and said, "That's the cutest thing ever! Oh where did you get him? Does he do tricks too?" referring to her toddler. I've seen women ignoring their children as they tug at their "leashes" and I've seen a dad jerk his kid's "chain" and for the most part I just think it's degrading to the child and a sign of a lazy parent.

Ezekiel's Mimi, our friend Michelle, put things into a different perspective for me though. I think about this more now that we're embarking on an international move. There are certain situations in which it child-leashes could be okay and I hope to humor you with explain my thoughts on each:

• Extremely Crowded Places - I'm not talking Walmart people! This is more llike Six Flags or Sea World. Places you might want your child to explore since exploring helps build your child's self confidence and self esteem. Places where you want to enjoy time with family and not worry about someone trying to take off with your kid...not without dragging you too.  
• Airports - I will not be leashing Ezekiel for a flight stateside...though if I see a baby leash at the airport I might take pictures of him in it to send to his dad and everyone in my contacts list...but I am considering it for international flights. Strangers are always walking up to my son and asking to hold him or to take their picture with him - NO CREEPY MAN AT SIX FLAGS YOU CANNOT HOLD MY SON FOR A PHOTO! The thought of losing my babies in a foreign country is just morifying!  
• Near the California/Mexico Border in San Ysidro - Before Zeek came into this world, we were shopping at the Carter's Outlet in San Ysidro and I swear the people down there could not keep their eyes off of my daughter. It was not in a perverted way either. More like a "I will take your baby and sell her for mucho dinero on the black market" sort of way. Either that or they were jealous amazed that my lil beaner speaks such articulate English. I chose not to take my children there any more. 

So anyone who has stumbled across this, what is your opinion? How do you feel about leashing your baby? Have you ever done it? Is there a certain that you do it? Or is it like a babysitter for you while you gab on the phone with your boyfriend? Just kidding! There's no judgement here...well maybe some, but no one will blast you down for it here and I promise I won't spit on you.  I appreciate your sharing.