Playland Adventures

Grandma T is here!!! And we really couldn't be more excited. We met for breakfast in the morning at the cutest little place call The Red Wagon (sorry no pictures of it) then we headed down the street to the PNE at Playland. Out of 21 years that I've lived in the Fraser Valley, I've never been so we thought now would be a good time to go.

Children, don't try this at home.

We watched an amazing show by the Peking Acrobats (closest thing to a circus I've ever seen too).

Ya that's right, that's 10 people on a  bike.

Sugared Whale Tale: delicious.

The food was so amazing there, no one would ever go hungry (well maybe if you didn't have any money-prices were steep).

P-U, it stinks in here. Those are pregnant cows behind Wren.

There was a lovely farm exhibit that we went through that included, pig races, animals, gardening, Kidz Discovery Farm, honey bees etc. Was pretty cool.

Braids.

Wren and Grandma T.

I will remember this face when I take a bite of thanksgiving turkey.

Moooooo

Tiny little chicks, super cute.

A calf which I petted, surprisingly was really warm.

Mmmm, lunch.

"Mom, can I have a bite please?"

Lollipops are the coolest!

Just quenching our thirst.

Sandcastle competition where artists did an incredible job on these. 

We didn't go on any rides but they were sure fun scary to watch. 

If you don't know this already, I deathly afraid of rides.

Ok, maybe not this ride.

The all too famous wooden roller coaster. Built in the 50's. 

Finished out day with some gelato, yum yum.

We had an awesome day, weather turned out to be great even though forecast called for rain. So glad we went, will definitely be a summertime tradition in our household.

Health Tip Tuesday: Size Matters

Portion size definitely, 100% matters. Today we will focus on controlling that with plate size. The size of the plates we use on a daily basis.....

Look at all the gorgeous patterns.

I know that when shopping for dishes, they will usually come in sets. Sets that will consist of "dinner" plates (commonly 10"), dessert or side plates (usually 8"), and some bowls and mugs maybe too. The way they are labeled just makes it seem like we are obligated to use that 10" "dinner" plate for our main course in our meal.....so wrong. 

In the above picture, see those smaller plates in the front there? Those are the ones we should be grabbing before we load up for dinner. And this is why: for some reason we feel the urge to complete every single bite left on our plate before declaring we are full. And maybe this urge exists because we were taught just that - to "not waste". This is something I do and I don't even know if I can consciously help it; but what I (and we) can do is just make the plate we use smaller, therefore, less food is sitting there begging for consumption. See how simple that is? Mind tricks, I know.

Our 10" plates have gone untouched for quite a while now (mostly only used when company are here) and I can honestly say we aren't missing much - but my fat jeans are sure missing me. 

Check out these super cute plates from French Bull

I want to hear some clever names for that 8" plate that will guide us into thinking that it is truly superior to that  lousy ol' 10" plate. Post in comments.

Health Tip Tuesday: Water

Drink more water!

Simple, pure, refreshing water.

Our body is approximately 60% water (that's over half people) so we need to be replenishing ourselves - clearing out toxins, lubricating our joints/organs, etc. The list could go on and on for the health benefits of water and I don't want to bore you so I'll make it simple: water is ESSENTIAL and there is NO substitute for it.

By substitute, I mean this: 

or this:

or any of this:

and even this (not even the diet kind, believe me you 

aren't doing your body any favours by drinking diet):

You aren't going to go wrong when you drink water - pure water. 

If for some crazy reason you think water is bland and tasteless (you will learn to love it if you cut out 100% of all other drinks), you can add fruit or veggie slices to your water. This will give the water a touch of flavour  without the added sugar and other nasty things that are in beverages these days.

There are some drinks, of course, that have definite benefits. An example is tea. I drink a large cup of green, honey-lemon-ginseng-tea in the morning. I used to really love coffee but after being told that maybe my body isn't responding to it well and I should try switching to green tea, I have lost that tummy pooch and haven't had an afternoon sugar low. So be careful with coffee, apparently lots of people don't handle it well and don't even know it. Listen to your body!

So maybe you are someone that doesn't drink any pure water in a day. Then I suggest switching one of your other beverages to water each day until you are mostly drinking water. Maybe you are someone that doesn't drink much water or drink much of anything else either, then I suggest you adopt the water bottle as your new accessory. Carry it everywhere with you and take little sips every few minutes.

Personally, I love a stainless steel water bottle. They seem to keep the water cold longer.

So what do ya say? Join me in the H20 revolution!

Sunshine and a SeaBus

On Saturday, Lane, Wren, and I went with my parents to Harrison Lake. It was a gorgeous sunny day and it is one of our most beautiful lakes in my opinion.

Dad and Lane went fishing in the boat for most of the day. Us girls met them for lunch - a tasty fish n chips. Wren and I gave into the inviting water and splashed around. Wren loved it!

A little chilly at first but was refreshing after a few seconds.

It's just like the bath, splish splash.

Oooh, mud, a whole new level of fun!

..... I'm not sure if she is farting or something here. Strange face anyways.

After lunch, we enjoyed soft serve ice cream.

On Sunday we went to Lonsdale Quay Market in North Van for the day. After some lunch and a walk through the market we jumped on the SeaBus (first time being on it, super cool!) where we ended up downtown and then walked to Robson St. and drooled over the cool shops.

Live music in the sunshine with lunch, um, yes please.

Outside of a little toy store. Those are supposed to be lollipops behind us I believe.

Arriving at Waterfront Station where this huge cruise ship was docked.

This was the SeaBus. Kind of a funny shaped boat but hey it serves its purpose well.

....... and we're off.

Hope you all had a fantastic weekend because we sure did. Brace yourself for Health Tip Tuesday tomorrow......

Recipe Sunday: Cannelloni

My husband made this delicious cheese and spinach cannelloni. The pictures just don't even do it justice. Hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

Ingredients
- a large bunch of spinach
- an onion
- oil (we use coconut oil)
- 2 1/2 tbsp butter (unsalted)
- 4 tbsp white flour
- 2 cups of milk
- salt and pepper
- 1 3/4 cup of ricotta cheese (where do they come up with these measurements? would 2 cups ruin it?)
- 3/4 cup of grated parmesan
- 2 eggs
- nutmeg
- cannelloni



Chop up the onion, sautee it in the oil until it softens up, Then add the washed spinach to
the pan, salt it, cover it, and let it steam and shrink down and turn dark green.




Put the spinach and onions in a bowl and drain, or in a colander and press out the juice.
Then chop it up a bit so you don't have big stringy spinach pieces.




Meanwhile, melt the butter in a saucepan on low heat, add the flour and whisk. Let that cook for a few minutes. Add the milk while whisking and bring to a boil. Then reduce heat and simmer while whisking occassionaly for about 5 minutes. Add some salt and pepper and you have yourself a roux.




Take your roux off the heat, add all of the ricotta and most of the parmesan.
Add the eggs, the spinach mix, the nutmeg, and mix it all up.




Put a few spoonfuls of the filler in the bottom of the baking dish. Stuff your cannelloni. There's no graceful way of doing this. Just get your hands in there as long as it has cooled enough. Line up your cannelloni in the dish. Spread the remainder filler over the top. Then sprinkle it with that parmesan you had left over. Bake for 35-40 minutes at 375. Enjoy!

 And here's our meal plan for the week. I only linked a recipe for the cannelloni (same as what I just wrote up above). The rest is fairly self-explanatory I think.

Monday
- cheese and spinach cannelloni

Tuesday
- chicken ceasar salad

Wednesday
- perogies
- frozen veggies

Thursday
- homemade mac & cheese with broccoli

Friday
- chicken stirfry over rice

Saturday
- omelette with leftover veggies

Wren's First Word

Do you ever have those days when you feel like a million things have happened? Well today was one of those days for us, or for Wren to be more exact.

She's been working on her two top teeth and hasn't been complaining at all even though she's had a bit of a fever and then threw up tonight (thanks amber beads, you're doing a great job).

We have also been singing/playing the "Baby Beluga" song probably too many times because today she babbled out her first word: "baby".

And, while Wren was having some cuddles with Dad and watching Baby Einstein, she started clapping.

It's wonderful to see her learn new things and to have firsts; it makes us proud parents, even more puffed up to say the least.

Spent an afternoon at a little man-made lake in Coquitlam reading. 

 


The lake even came equipped with a fountain too.



Since I will be going back to work soon, we thought it was best to wean her off of her afternoon feeding.
I did a lot of research and found that coconut milk was the best option. She seems to approve.



Wren's new little outfit from Old Navy:
shirt: $6
skinnies: $15



Thought I'd buy into the coloured jean look. It's kind of fun.

.....and the maxi trend too. Both are from Jacob.

Poor little girl hasn't been eating today. She just sits in her chair like this and blinks really slowly.

My oh my Wren, even when you are sick you are still very productive. We love being your momma and daddy. It's so much fun to watch you grow.