My Snack Hack

I have always had a issue with Munchies Snack Mix.

I don't think the pretzels belong. Munchies is a summer staple for us, we take a bag with us to the beach, but the kids also don't enjoy the pretzels, so they usually got tossed to the seagulls as we were leaving (don't feed the seagulls while you're there or you won't get a moment's peace!)

Chad brought a bag home from his office a few weeks ago, and I have been enjoying the occasional bowl in the evenings,  but what to do with the pretzels? There is a distinct lack of seagulls where we live!

I accidentally came upon a solution. I left the pretzels in a bowl overnight,  and the next morning at coffee time pretzels seemed like a reasonable snack! 

So, now I savour the cheezie goodness of Munchies in the evening, and keep a little bag out for the pretzels. Throughout the day I enjoy the pretzels!  I still don't believe that pretzels belong in Munchie Mix, but now I have 2 snacks in one bag!

Horse Riding on The Beach

What a windy day! Had breakfast, then decided to get some chairs by the pool in the sun. Successfully got 4, but Luke had gotten 2 in another spot. Tara & I went to find out about horseback riding & we could go at 11.

It was perfect weather, not too hot, & not cold, just windy, but we didn't really notice on the horses.

Our horses were not best friends, & kept trying to beat each other so they could be in front, so that was fun. Rode along some paths by another resort, to the beach, & through the wetland area. It was fun, & only ₱10 for the hour! Tipped with a Wunder bar which they were very excited about.

After riding changed into swimsuit to sit by the pool some more & read. Got hot enough to swim through the water, & when I tried to get out on the side I successfully stood up, lost my balance, & fell right back in, and of course made a weird yelping noise as I fell! Chad thought it was quite hilarious, & Tara was sad to have missed it!

Went for a later lunch since dinner reservations at the Cuban restaurant were for 9pm. Then went back to the pool until around 4 when the sun wasn't out anymore. Changed to clothes & sat by the building in a less windy spot. Played scum for a few hours, then finally it was time for supper!

Went to the Cuba restaurant to discover it was closed. Not sure what happened with our reservation! We could have got to Italian, but it was at the pool in an open area, & we chose to go to the dining hall.
After dinner, checked onto our flight online, then off to bed.

Blustery Beach Day

Breakfast, then went to the lobby for awhile since it was a cooler day. Read & had cappuccino for awhile, then decided to all walk down to the next resort. Didn't see much different there in the shops, but Tara enjoyed the foliage.

Came back & changed, & found a sunny spot at the pool, so I read in the sun for awhile, then lunch! Asked Luke where Tara was at one point, & he said, "at the beach, el beacho!" I told him not to call her that. 😂

After lunch I went to the beach since all the pool chairs were taken, but it was too windy & cold, so didn't last long there. Came back to the room & changed, then went to the lobby to read again. Got tired despite 2 cappuccinos, so I went for a kip in the room.
Back to the lobby for more reading & cappuccino!

We had made late dinner reservations at the Mexico restaurant, so we went for a light supper at the dining hall first which was a mistake, because we were all quite full, but the food was good! Luke & I were debating whether I could eat all my food, & I thought he said, something bad, but what he actually said was, "betcha can't." 😂 We noticed the candle on our table was out, so I helpfully told my good friend Rollie, our waiter that our Candle was 'dead', in Spanish, & he had quite a shocked reaction to that, & asked, "why?" & I told him because it wasn't lit... I realized the next morning that instead of telling him our candle was 'dead', I told him our candle is 'poop'! Oops!
Then we went to a lip sync show which we enjoyed more than the Cuba dance we saw the other night.
Back to the lobby for drinks & chatting, & then bed!

Cuba, a Day In The Sun

Woke up at 730. Got dressed in shorts and tank top! And a sweater. Decided to walk to the beach. Dipped my toes in, the water was a bit cool. We decided to go have breakfast. We didn't want to wake Luke and Tara since they had said they'd sleep in. We sat for a long time at breakfast, & after a while they joined us.

We decided to put on swim suits & go back to the beach. We stayed there until lunch, with the nice waitress lady refilling our drinks. We decided to try the beach restaurant & had some burgers for lunch.

After lunch we went to look at the shops area & to sit by the pool. At 2 we had a presentation from our tour guy about activities we could do away from the resort. Tara & I booked massage & facial for a few days out. Decided to ask about other activities & really got the run around. We had to walk all over the place to get information. We asked Ivan on one side of the towel hut about horseback riding, & he said he had no idea. On the other side of the towel hut we saw a sign with prices for horseback riding, so we asked Ivan again & he told us all about it! One guy just kept offering to give Tara & I a massage... No thanks!

We watched people try to ride a keg in the pool. Then it was bingo time, & the guy next to us was being a sore loser since he came in 2nd in the keg,& then wasn't getting bingo numbers. He stormed off & his uncle took the card. Then his uncle said he got bingo, so the guy went over to get his prize. He stormed back to his uncle saying, "you tricked me!" but he totally deserved it!

Got changed & read in the foyer before we went to dinner. The food here is good, just not what you expect. I'll have a burger... Oh, that's not what I'm expecting, but it's ok!

There were a few statues around the dining room at dinner.  After dinner got cappuccino, then decided to go back to the rooms to watch some TV & read, then bedtime.

San Diego Retreat!

Last week was the biannual CRC PW Conference/Retreat.  I never know what to refer to these events as since they are both a conference (we have speakers & break-out sessions), & a retreat from our everyday lives, so I waffle between the two.  This year the event was held in San Diego, & we had gorgeous weather (32C/95F)!  It was great being able to see old friends & meet new ones as well.  We played games, wandered around the city, laughed, cried, hot tubbed, learned about difficult places, & God's grace through it all.

And when the conference was over, some of us stayed for a few extra days.  These are the hijinxs we got up to!

Alicia & I  searched through Groupon for fun activities, & we decided we didn't want to do things we'd do with the kids (like the Zoo, or SeaWorld)

So we decided to jump out of a plane! 

It was crazy fun, & it was an added bonus that the weather was so nice!  We didn't have to worry about being cold at 13,000 feet because at 8am, it was already 23C , so a light sweater was all we needed.

 We made it!

Next, we went to the beach!  On our  way there, Alicia kept saying, "look how beautiful this is!"  So I took a picture.  Then she informed me, she had been talking about the view of the water out her side of the car!  Oops, I still think the palm trees lining the road are cool!

Alicia had a surfing lesson while I layed on the beach reading a book.  Our friend Beth joined us as well, & had a nice stroll along the shore.  See, there's something for everyone in San Diego!

Our last evening, the three of us went to a little shopping area for supper & to look for some souvenirs.  I had mussels, which were good, but not as good as PEI mussels!

In one of the shops I found this awesome dishtowel, but I was unwilling to spend 13 American dollars on it, so I just snapped a picture instead & called it a night.

At the rental car place, we were told to go pick the car we wanted.  When we got to where the cars were, there were a few Chevy Cruzes, & a lady was about to drive away in a Fiat 500.  "You're lucky you got here before us!" I joked.  She replied, "Do you want this car?  I work for the company & I just have to bring a car to the other lot."

So, we got the Fiat 500 for the day!  It was a fun ride, but I think something was wrong with it because it was making some weird sounds!  

The next morning the other girls left, & I was on my own, so I took my book to the pool to while away the hours before my flight home.

It was a busy, yet refreshing week away, & I look forward to the next one in 2 years' time!

Beach Day!

One of the things we do as often as we can is go to the beach!  When we have company we take them to the beach with us!  Normally it's just the kids & I, & while the kids play in the water & build things in the sand I read a book.  Troy & Tara's family is not used to being so sedentary, so they did a bit of  beach exploring as well.

They found big & small starfish...

Asher became a merman...

 And the kids built a few sandcastles!

After our fun day at the beach we went to dinner at one of our local pubs.  The kids like it because they have etch-a-sketches to play with, & we like it because it has good food & a fun atmosphere.

When we got the bill we saw that we hadn't been charged for the kids' meals, so we brought it to the waitress' attention.  "Kids meals are free this month!" we were told!  If only we had known earlier, we would have come more often!

Rainy Days Are Par For The Course

Sunday we decided to try to sneak in a walk to the lighthouse before the rain got bad.  We did end up getting wet, but not terribly (not as bad as getting caught in the ocean!).

We came, we saw, we took some photos!

The lighthouse wasn't open (I don't think I have ever been there when it was), so we looked around, but it was pretty wet & overcast.

Can we go yet?

The wind was not conducive to going to the beach either, so we opted for the arcade & lazer-tag!

We decided it would be more fun to have lots of people for lazer-tag, so we convinced Grandpa & Grandma to play, as well as Uncle Arie, Aunt Lorene, Kelsey, Breton, Asher, Chancery & I.  I won by a long shot, & was told that my gun had probably malfunctioned to have a score that high.  I call it a win, & I won a free round of lazer-tag for the next time we go!

The Oregon Coast

Today was the day to head into Oregon.  The weather looked like it would cooperate & there was no rain in the forecast!

Reading before breakfast, & I guess Chancery was cold!

We made it to Astoria, of Goonies, Short Circuit, & Kindergarten Cop fame, but since the kids don't really know any of those movies, & the rest of us had already seen the locations, we went straight to the Astoria Column.

Will we make it to the top?

Of course!

For $1 you can buy wooden gliders from the gift shop & throw them down from the top.  The kids probably went up & down the tower 5 times because it was so much fun (& a great way to burn off energy!)

We had lunch at Fort Stevens State Park & wandered around the old bunkers a bit.

We stopped to see the 1890 shipwreck at Point Meriwether.  Pretty crazy to think that this ship has been here for the last 125 years!

Then it was off to Hug Point, a family favourite!

The kids climbed the rocks

and we looked in tide pools

and we got caught by a sneaker wave!

I told Asher to stay on that rock, but he got worried that the water was still coming & he ran off it.

Kelsey (who you can see in the little niche in the photo above) also got soaked, but she was trapped around the corner, & couldn't get back up the beach until the wave subsided.

I had a little water come over the top of my boots, but Asher had it up to his hips.  We had to dump the water out of both his boots.

We figured that since Breton & Chancery were playing above the waterfall that they would at least be dry, but Chancery had gotten into the water from the stream.

We stopped for dinner at a restaurant, & the waitress commented, "What is that smell?  It's like campfire.  Are you guys camping?"

Me: "No, we just all got soaked at the beach today!"

Long Beach!

When searching for a picnic spot, my Dad likes to find unique places...

I can check "picnic by a disused Nuclear Power plant" off my list!

This trip has been happening since the early 90's, & it has been taken with various members of my dad's family each year.  This year my Aunt & Uncle & 2 of my cousins joined us.  It was nice to have some helping hands with the kids, & Asher & Chancery enjoyed all the attention!

We made it to the hotel, & decided to walk down to the beach.  Due to some flooding on the path, we had to find an alternate route through the dunes.

Our rain boots weren't tall enough for the puddles we encountered.

Next year we should bring hip waders!

We made it to the beach!  It's a great beach to play in, it would probably be even nicer in the summer when the weather is warmer, but March is nice too.