Still Alive...

I'm still alive here. I just have been busy. Busy having summer fun with kids, siblings, parents, cousins, friends, grandparents, etc. It's been a great summer. Lots I need to post about. I have taken so many pictures. But for now, since my husband has most of our pictures on his laptop (which is 1500 miles away) and I have the camera but can't easily upload the pictures, I thought just a few words would be fine.

Before I forget, I wanted to jot down a list of yummy foods that we have eaten while we've been visiting family, most of which were made at home.

• Spring Rolls with peanut dipping sauce - homemade by my sister, but we got to assemble them so we'd know how to make them later.


• Pad Thai - homemade by my lovely sister


• Clean-out-the-fridge-and-pantry veggie quesadillas


• Crab cakes - from scratch, made by my awesome cousin


• Build your own burger at "The Counter" restaurant in Seattle with many choices for everything, including 5 different choices of meats. We ate there right after our 1/2 marathon and marathon!


• EASY creamy chicken enchiladas


• S'mores bars


• Sandwiches with all the fixings on whole wheat sandwhich thins, the ones that look like thin hamburger buns


• Banana oat bars - made from food storage foods


• Cafe Rio-like foods at my cousin's house, and we did also go to Cafe Rio once! - YUM!


• Dick's drive-in in Seattle - I remember liking the burgers a lot more in the past. The shakes are super delicious and the fries are greasy, but still yummy. But I actually like In 'n' Out burgers a ton more than Dick's. The choices, or lack of, seemed similar to In 'n' Out's.


• Ivar's - best fish and chips and clam chowder! Although, I was disappointed that one time when I was there, I ordered Smoked Salmon Chowder and I didn't realize it until I was on the freeway, that they had given me Clam Chowder.


• Green Curry - made by my talented sister
  


• Bubble Tea - I thought it was yummy, but Grant and some of my kids thought it was weird with the tapioca pearls in it.


• Super yummy Corn on the Cob. It was so easy to just soak it in water with everything still on it, cook it on the grill over the fire (camping), and then peel it (schuck?) and eat it! Oh so yummy. And EASY! That's the way to go! I'm doing that from now on!

• Homemade BBQ chicken pizza that my sweet cousin made. Loved the crust!
  

• Grilled Cheese Tuna Sandwich. YUM! It doesn't sound like much, but... Man it was good! We had Tuna and pepper jack cheese with avocado and lettuce. It was mouth watering. I think I'll make this again and also add thinly sliced tomatoes and onions. Maybe even substitute alfalfa sprouts for the lettuce. Really, the possibilities are endless. I just am mad that I never tried any of those things before. You could also do chicken, turkey, or salmon instead of tuna. Oh yum!!

• Fresh Crab caught by my wonderful uncle!

• S'mores with butterfinger bars (thin), s'mores with carmel/chocolate bar, and s'mores with some other type of chocolate bar that I can't seem to remember right now. :-)

• Mango Salsa - the most wonderful ever! My amazing aunt made it. We had a delicious meal at her house! We always do!
  

I wish I had pictures of these amazing foods! I feel like I'm forgetting many great meals people have provided along the way. I'll try to add them later, as I think of them. I am so grateful for the friends and family that have fed us and provided a place to stay. We are so blessed and loved spending time with everyone we have been able to see on this trip.

Hopefully I'll get around to posting recipes of some of these soon! Let me know if there's one that is listed that you would like a recipe for.

Disneyland 2010

*This picture was not taken at Disneyland. It was taken by my 7-year-old daughter, at a park in San Diego, the day before we went to Disneyland. I just thought it was a fun picture of me and my kids. And I was also so impressed with my daughter's photography skills. We'll be sending her out to make her own money soon. ;-)

I really do need to get better at posting more often. I used to blog a few times a week. I don't know what happened. Oh wait, yes. Yes I do. I got pregnant. I got tired. Oh, so tired! When I used to blog at night after the kids went to bed, now I zonk out. So here I find myself spending the morning hours blogging, instead of doing laundry and dishes or playing with my kids!!

Oh well. Let the guilt go, right? Maybe I will be less tired soon... in the 2nd trimester. Or, when I stop training for a half marathon. Or... no longer have little kids. Well, since I can't wait for the last one, I'll just have to do the best I can for now.

So here's some pictures from our Disneyland trip on April 2nd: (They are in no particular order, and with no captions, because I am too lazy... or tired.... But, I figure if you really want an explanation about something, you can just ask and I'll respond. Sound good? Thanks.)

We really did have a blast at Disneyland. It was everyone's first time, except for me. It was fun though, because I hadn't been for about 13 years. Many things have changed. We managed to only spend $135 for admission (total for a family of 6), $14 for parking, and $0 in the park for food! I really loved that we could bring in our own food! And since I never take my kids to McDonalds, we told them if they didn't ask for any souvenirs or food from the food stands, etc... the whole day, that we would take them to McDonalds for happy meals on the way home from Disneyland. It totally worked! Except the kids were all asleep before we left the parking garage at 11pm. We ended up going to McD's on our drive home to AZ two days later. That was good enough for them! :-)


















P.S. I also thought I should mention that the reason why I look really frumpy in all these pictures is because I was trying to hide the fact that I was pregnant, so I could go on all the big rides. I was approved by my midwife, to go on the big rides, if I was feeling okay. Since I don't usually get sick during my pregnancies (yeah, I know, lucky me.) I was good to go. I wanted to wear something that would hide my growing belly a bit better. The shirt I wore did the trick. I felt bad a few times, when I'd see the signs that said, "Expectant mothers should not ride this ride." But then I reminded myself that I was only about 10 weeks along. If I was more than about 15 weeks, I would not be riding them. Right?

Has anyone else been on roller coasters when they were pregnant?