Peace Out, "To Do" List

Peace Out, "To Do" List 

I was not feeling it today. The last couple weeks have been close to a muddled mess and I have been teetering on a fine line between "organized & on schedule" and "out of control and crying in the corner". The youngest's sleep pattern has been bonkers and I am officially more sleep deprived now than I was when I had an infant in the house, so I am sure that isn't helping much. 

I have figured out a few keys to survival that have made a major difference in my busy life, no sleep and all. I have been strict about setting up a schedule at night for the following day. Even though, like any decent mom, I can assess a situation pretty quickly and make changes when and where I need to, it makes a huge difference to have an idea of the big and some little things that need to happen and when. Look, sometimes we stick to the plan and sometimes the plan needs to be adjusted, but it is definitely helping. 

And then there was today. Adjustments weren't going to help. We needed an overhaul. I knew it right away, we needed to feed our souls a little bit today, find a little balance. So, everything else got scraped. I almost wish we had kept Big Sister home from school to join us, but I didn't. 

Brother, Little Sister and I went to Princeton, NJ to walk the path along the D&R Canal. We know that path, its really easy and quiet and pretty. This was definitely the best decision I made in weeks. Everything seemed a little better afterwards. 

How lucky am I that I could be joined on a beautiful Fall hike with these two hams. Love them so much. 

"I'm walking!!!!" I think by next Spring the stroller will be a thing of the past.  

Sometimes a good hike is all you need to put things into perspective and feel connected to the whole world. The rest of the day was a breeze after having the opportunity to take all this in. 

Thank you so much for coming over to read my blog!  I hope to see you back again. 

Why Am I Doing This Again?

Why Am I Doing This Again? 

Let me set the scene for you: Its Friday night. I am researching how to restore the balance of good and "bad" bacteria in one's digestive tract because yes, I am a ball of excitement and yes, this is really what I consider a fun Friday night. Ok, maybe not "fun" per se, but definitely worth while. (Stay tuned for the post on that topic.) I hit the bed around 11:00. Deep sleep immediately. Somewhere around 11:10 the baby, who is no baby anymore at 19 months, is up and screaming for a bottle. Well I am just plum tuckered out so she easily wins. No contest. I put her in our bed and give her the bottle she is so urgently demanding. Then I did the same thing at 1AM and then again at 3AM. By 4AM I thought she was just going overboard so I put my very weary foot down and decided no, not this time. Although you may be screaming 4 inches from my face, I will rub your back, tell you its ok and share my pillow, but I am certainly not giving out anymore bottles. She was not pleased but eventually fell asleep. 

Then the alarm went off at 5:30 and I think I had a flash of pure rage. I have the whole "getting up and getting the oldest off to Kindergarten" thing down but Saturday is a special kind of twisted. Our kids go to German Language School on Saturdays which basically begins the same time as our neighborhood elementary school does on Mondays through Fridays, its just that German Language School is about an hour away. So, that means Saturday keeps the same weekday routines, just a whole lot earlier. (See what I mean? Kind of twisted, right?) 

I yawned, grumbled a bit, got to cooking, prepped lunches, got the kids up, dressed, fed, car loaded and we set off to school right on time. All was well. Until the traffic, and the detour, and the screaming "baby" (ahem, 19 month old) and the way she Harry Houdini-ed her one arm out of the strap of her car seat... twice, then watching the clock strike the start of class as we were still sitting in the car.....

Stress.

When I finally got the olders into class I went back to the car with Little Sister, who was now all smiles thankfully. I felt like I was spinning a bit.  It was a whirlwind morning after an eventful night. I couldn't help it, I sat down and just thought, "I need to shake this off. I am getting a big, fancy coffee and going shopping!!" You've been there, right? A little "retail therapy" to fix everything right up? My goodness, I liked the sound of that! And I could really use some boots. I turned the car on and gripped the wheel. I took a deep breath but out of nowhere I had a complete flashback. (Really brain, you couldn't keep this to yourself?) Were this a movie, the scene would turn back to me, late summer/early fall 2012. I could see it pretty clearly in my head. 

Right about at that point I had decided that I needed to make some serious lifestyle changes. I couldn't drop the last 15+ pounds of baby weight, I was out of shape, lethargic and just did not feel well in general. I made some pretty big nutritional changes around that time by doing my first Whole 30 and then easily falling into a Paleo lifestyle. I began cutting out processed foods for the entire family little by little. I began to run and work out at home with my kids around. At some point, as all this was coming together, I promised myself a few big things. I promised that I would do everything I could to inspire my kids to live healthy and fit lives. I promised to encourage them to be outdoors and to love it. And one very specific promise I made in September of 2012, when another year of German Language class began, was no more Saturdays waiting for class to be over while sitting in an over-priced coffee shop or book store or Megalo-Mart. Unless it was raining or storming or freezing to the point that all the layers in the world weren't going to keep you warm, Little Sister and I would wait for the olders outside. I can get a couple of laps in around the park, she might come along for a ride in the stroller or get out and walk herself. We get in some fun, some quality time. We might play on the playground equipment or throw rocks in the water. We collect leaves and point out the busy squirrels. We do all that and more... and its awesome. Its awesome for a number of reasons but the one that stands out for me today is this: It is awesome because I made a promise to myself and I kept it. I didn't fall back into the easy routine of sitting around in a retail shop of some sort, spending money I may or may not have on crap I may or may not really need, just because I might feel like I think I deserve to or I can't think of anyplace else I have to be. The truth is I actually deserve more and I do have somewhere else to be. And way better things to do. I was in a temporary fog brought on by serious lack of sleep, a bit of stress and a whole bucket of a pity party I was holding for myself. Luckily I shook it off before any serious damage was done (to my bank account, of course) and major explanations needed to be made to the husband. I think its ok to forget once in a while why I am on this journey. Its even ok to veer off course sometimes. It happens. The most important thing is to be working to move forward and to stay true to the promises you make to yourself. I am learning that staying true to yourself can feel really amazing. 

So, shopping got nixed. My little spitfire and I headed over to the park and had an awesome 90 minutes in the fresh air. We saw geese, ducks, a beautiful crane that landed in the pond, an army of squirrels preparing for winter and so many dogs taking their owners for a walk. I helped Little Sister name all the things she saw and held her hand while she kicked up fallen leaves. See, definitely more important. 

 Look, I still need boots. I will get them. Just not today.

Waving to the ducks and geese on our walk in the park.  

Thanks for reading everyone! 

Six Mile Run

Six Mile Run

I don't like to think about it but the summer is drawing to a close and quickly. It makes me feel a little frantic about letting a weekend pass without getting in a good hike. Not that we don't hike through the gorgeous Fall season and even the brisk days of Winter, of course. But thinking about the bundling up in the crisp, chilly weather, the shorter days, the more hectic schedules, it sure is nice to be able to just pack up a few water bottle, a few healthy snacks and head to a trail. 

Today's destination was Six Mile Run. There are a few different parking lots for the trails on Six Mile Run as well as a number of different trails. We found trail parking right off of Jacques Road in Franklin Township, NJ. The first 0.3 miles of the trail we took was on this open portion. It was filled with butterflies and a whole lot of big, blue sky.

There was some geocaching to be done on this trail. Big Sister and Brother hunted this cache down along with the Daddy. They emerged from the trees with a treasure in hand! 

Here is Little SIster enjoying the ride. Its neat to listen to her vocabulary expanding on our hikes as she points out "water", "flower" and "puppy". (There were lots of dogs on the trail today and she was loving it.) 

Less than half a mile on the open path led us to this covered portion of the trail through the trees. This was when the hike went from flat and grassy to steep and full of hills. This was everyone's favorite part of our hike. It was completely engaging and moderately challenging. A novice hiker could negotiate the path well enough but the steep hills and roots make it impossible for strollers. 

The entire hike through the woods ran parallel to this stream. It definitely added to the charm of the trail. 

Look at Brother go! This is a good upward march for the little guy, but he loved it.The steep hills make this trail popular with mountain bikers, so it is best of be aware of approaching riders and move over to let them pass. 

I just love how a beautiful trail can transport you into your own peaceful world. Its is almost hard to believe we are only about 20 miles away from our house. This is a hike I would definitely recommend! The summer isn't over yet so grab your little ones and get out there!  


Thanks for reading everyone! See you soon! 

D&R Canal, Kingston

D&R Canal, Kingston

Our days can be so busy, rushing to appointments, hustling though the grocery store, dropping by the post office, getting home to prep the next meal, making time for the baby's nap, the laundry, the housework....ugh. I saw a day full of that for me today. And I think I actually felt my soul cringe a little just thinking about it. Of course every one of those tasks are necessary and important. I usually feel a great sense of pride and satisfaction, even happiness, taking each one of those tasks on and caring for my family. But today had a bigger calling. I could look around the house and make a mental list of all the things I really needed to get to today, but some other part of my brain was saying, "No way. Just get outside." That other part of my brain knew that a good hike would be so, so good for my soul. We just had to do it. 

Right off of Route 27 on the Princeton and Kingston border in NJ, you will find a parking lot and trail head. This is part of the D&R Canal trail that goes from Kingston to Griggstown. It is an "Out and Back" linear trail, so the distance you hike out, will be the distance you hike back to return to your car. The entire distance is 5 miles one way, or 10 miles to walk back to your starting point. 

The trail is an easy hike and perfect for a stroller. The path is wide like you see here in some parts, but also become more narrow in other points along the trail. 

The walk along the canal is really peaceful and serene. It is beautiful to look at and the children were engaged by all the creatures we spotted. We startled a crane, unintentionally, at one point. He hurried into the middle of the canal and then took off into the sky. It was quite a sight and the olders were awestruck.  

Everyone really loved this trail. Every way we turned there was something to point out to each other. While looking close to the water, Big Sister caught sight of a very large black snake, a black rat snake is my best guess. The kids were in awe once again. We also found animal prints, lots of insects and an infinite number of beautiful butterflies. All of the kiddies were so excited by all the discoveries they made. 

We spent an hour and a half on this beautiful trail. We hiked out a little less than a mile and a half before we turned around to head back to our car. The time together sharing the sights and sounds while here were just what our souls were craving. 

Thank you for reading everyone! See you again soon. 

Keep 'Em Moving

Keep 'Em Moving! 

Everyone knows we love to hike and try to hit the trails as often as possible. But I am also a big advocate for the family neighborhood walks in between the opportunities we get to hike. It is so easy to carve out 30-45 minutes in a day to corral those little ones up and walk as a unit. I love to make time for this for a number of reasons:

* Everyone gets in some healthy cardio!

* Walks serve as a reminder to kids about limits, safety procedures, distance allowed away from the grown up which is important on hikes, too.

*Everyone keeps up their endurance

*AND YOU SHARE ANOTHER FUN ADVENTURE AS A FAMILY!

The kids were outside playing today but before I called them in to wash up, I put the baby in the stroller and led the mob out on a neighborhood stroll. For those who might think trekking through the same ol' neighborhood over and over can get boring, there are lots of way to keep the babes engaged. However, today, something fun presented itself to us. We discovered mushrooms EVERYWHERE! It became a game for the olders. They were on the hunt for mushrooms and searched for the coolest looking blooms they could. find!

Here are some of the amazing fungi they discovered!

THANKS FOR READING EVERYONE!!

A Whole Happy Visit

A WHOLE HAPPY VISIT

Today was just awesome! The MOMS group of North Brunswick invited Whole Happy Kids to be a guest at their monthly meeting/playgroup. It was such an honor AND so much fun! 

Our main message was about helping busy moms find ways to move away from processed foods and toward wholesome, fresh foods. Being a stay at home mom of 3, I understand the conflict of wanting to make everything from scratch, keeping everything local and organic but feeling the pull of busy schedules, running on zero energy and the need for a few short cuts. Whole Happy Kids wants to support moms with ideas and recipes for whole, healthy eats. I want to provide enough support to make whole, healthy eating a little bit easier to achieve. I brought some easy to make samples of nutritious snacks like kale chips and pumpkin silver dollar pancakes. I think all the samples were a big hit. 

I was also able to talk to the group about introducing the little ones to hitting the trails! How exciting to be able to talk face to face with moms about some of the benefits of hiking with our kids! You will have to stay tuned for the post about our group hike next week! I can't wait! 

Some amazing moms checking out the samples and info. 

Thank you so much to the MOMS group of North Brunswick for inviting me and my actual, live and in the flesh Whole Happy Kids. It was wonderful to meet you all and I look forward to keeping in touch with all of you! 

Whole Happy Bird Watchers

WHOLE HAPPY BIRD WATCHERS

This morning we decided to stretch our legs and head out around the neighborhood. To add a fun twist to our walk, I introduced the little ones to a preschoolers version of bird watching! 

I created this colorful bird watching checklist for the little ones. We went over each item and then set out to see what we could find! (No need to leave a comment on my awful illustrations. lol! My children, thankfully, are very forgiving.)

We set out on our way and the little ones went right to work looking for neighborhood birds. Finding a bird nest was proving tricky but Big SIster and Brother stopped under every big tree to have a look. 

It was a perfect day! Everyone was so happy to be outside! Maybe it was just me but it seemed like there were even more birds out this gorgeous morning than usual. I am so grateful they obliged us. 

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My little bird watchers were diligent in tracking their findings.  

We had a really fun walk, got in some early morning exercise and had some practice being careful observers of nature. It was a great start to another perfect summer day! 

Lastly, I will leave you with this. No matter how passionately they plead with you that they do not need to use the bathroom before the walk, MAKE THEM GO. Or else, walk home with a kid like this. For 5 blocks. 

Thanks for reading you guys! Hope you are having a great summer! 

Group Hike at the Plainsboro Preserve

Our Group Hike at

The Plainsboro Preserve

There were mixed emotions as we began our hike but everyone had a great time in the end.  

What better way to enjoy a hike than by inviting some friends to come with us! We had a great group of happy lil' hikers geared up and ready to hit the trails at Plainsboro Preserve in Cranbury NJ. It really was the perfect way to kick off the summer. 

Our group of young hikers came equipped with binoculars and magnifying glasses. They really didn't want to miss a thing. They also liked the idea of a scavenger hunt and tried to find all the things on this checklist. Turns out there were lots of things to add to the bottom portion. For example, while on a  trail through the woods, the boys leading the way spotted a deer pretty close to the path! She darted off deeper into the woods but some of us caught a glimpse of her as she went. 

These are some of our young hikers heading off and leading the way. On this first stretch alone we spotted wildflowers, animal tracks, bird feeders and nesting boxes, a variety of bugs and insects, including beautiful shiny blue dragon flies. And I would be amiss if I didn't also mention the occasional and very captivating mud puddle. Definitely a big draw to our little ones. :) 

There was lots to see and discover. The kiddies had their eyes wide open and didn't miss any of it. Whenever one little hiker discovered something amazing, they would call all their fellow hikers to come over and investigate. All the grown ups helped point things out and explain the discoveries. 

Our hike began on a fairly open and flat path but we did head into the trails that led into the woods. The little ones kept their eyes peeled for neat things to point out to each other. They also did a great job of looking for trail markers to keep us on the right path, too. We found these cut logs in a clearing along our trail and got to snap a couple of fun pictures like this one. 

One happy little hiker needed to hitch a ride with her mom. Not a bad deal if you can get it.  Her mom made the funniest observation: her littlest one had the cleanest shoes in the lot. Completely true!

There was something to see at every turn. After a vote at the end of the hike, the highlight of everyone's adventure today was finding the tadpoles. Everyone huddled around to see them. All the little hikers were so excited to see them swimming around. It was so cute to watch.

After a close to two mile hike, we found a shady spot to refuel, rehydrate and relax. It was such a fun day and we are so glad we got to share it with our friends!

I hope we see you out there on the trails. Thank you so much for reading!

Food for Fuel

Food for Fuel

Ideas on what to bring on a hike to keep your little ones full of energy!

If you are heading outdoors and hitting the trails with your kiddies, here is a list of ideas of things you might bring to keep them fueled up!

For the babies:

• Plenty of water or bottles

Roasted Sweet Potato cubes

• sweet potato cubes

• Cut up grapes

• raisins

• cooked veggies like peas and carrots

• dry cereal 

For your toddlers and young children:

• lots of water

Two bowls for my kids, ages 3 and 5;
one of fresh veggies, the other
is raisins, dried apricots and
almond slivers.

• fresh cut up veggies like cucumbers, tomatoes and peppers

• bowl of dried fruits and nuts

• PB&J sandwich, or sun butter and jelly, or almond butter and honey.... you get the idea.

• fresh fruit

• granola bars

These are just a few ideas of what I might try to bring along on the day of an outdoor adventure. Sometimes one snack per kiddie is enough but if we are planning on being out for 2 or more miles, I tend to double up on snacks for everyone, even the grownups. 

Also, I try to be mindful to make a little bit of a bigger breakfast on the day of a hike and even give the mob a banana before we step onto the trail. Lots of times they make it through the trail without asking for a snack. If that is the case, we find a nice spot to sit after our trek is done and eat then or they chow down in the car ride home. But should they need something along the way, these are all pretty easy to eat ideas, no mess and nothing should get left behind. 

See you out there!  AND THANKS FOR READING!!!!  

Brother is having a snack break on the trail. All he needs is a log and an apple. 

Poison Ivy, Ticks and Bears, Oh my!

Poison Ivy, Ticks and Bears, Oh my! 

Ok, Ok. There weren't any bears. Well, no bears that we know of. We finally got to our first camping trip of the season and we did, something new for us, camp in "bear country". That meant we needed to take extra precautions to avoid inviting bears to our campsite. Like I said, we did not actually see any bears. Oh, wait. Except for that one very exciting moment when I made the entire family freeze in their tracks and "SHHHHH!" because I saw a bear cub. It was a very tense few moments before the Daddy pointed out that the bear cub was actually a ferrel black cat. Ah, well. So, in conclusion, no bear sightings. 

The weekend started off a little rough. Friday was a wash out due to heavy rain storms. We finally arrived at Stephen's State Park in Hackettown, NJ on Saturday at noon. Upon inspecting the campsite with my surprisingly keen eye for once, I spotted a bunch of poison ivy. Especially with our littlest camper running around, who is only 15 months old, we decided to find a new campsite. We loaded everyone back into the car and searched the campgrounds. We did find another great spot and by 1:30 we were finally unpacked and CAMPING! 

Our first order of business was to get to hiking. We decided to head to Saxton Falls. From our campsite, it was a little less than 2 miles to get to our destination. We figured we would mostly be walking along the river so the elevation changes wouldn't be drastic. We thought it might be a good idea to take the stroller for a change.  Well, that was a mistake. But the results were hysterical. 

There is a small part of the trail we hiked that is along the main road. That part was a little tricky with the whole mob in tow. However, once we got to the portion that led off the road, we could quickly put that behind us and focus on the gorgeous trail in front of us. It was a steep climb to the main trail. It had some tricky footing, steep declines on one side of the trail and sometimes even on both sides. It was an engaging path with a small creek on one side, lots of little creatures to see and a tricky little obstacle to climb through. (Yea, with a stroller.)  








Walking through woods and particularly tall grass can mean ticks. They are just a reality of being outdoors. Sure, they can give you the creeps but for the sake of the babes, its best to put on a brave face and shake it off should you spot them. After every hike and throughout a camping trip the Daddy and I stop and check the kiddies and ourselves for ticks. We carry needle-nose pliers in our backpacks because they are our favorite tick removal tool. We found a few over the 2 days we were away on this trip but our family policy is to remove them and move on. Done. If you and your family hit the trails, check out this helpful post about checking for ticks on trails.com. 

Ah, so, the obstacles. They can make a hike even more fun when you get to climb and crawl over them. However there was no way around these large, fallen trees branches in the path and with the stroller... well, we had a bit of a perplexing situation. But we solved it pretty quickly.  I crawled through and then the Daddy started passing kids through.

Then there was the business of getting the stroller through. Ha! Poor Daddy! 

We got to the Falls and hung out a bit, the kids were awestruck. They really enjoyed seeing Saxton Falls. But it wasn't long before we were heading back to our campsite with thoughts of a roaring campfire in our heads. 

No dinner tastes quite like a dinner cooked over a campfire and after working up a significant appetite, we were all looking forward to dinner!

I love watching the kids playing while we get the fire and food going. They love to investigate the natural world, make up games and collect treasures like cool rocks. They found and observed so many new bugs and spiders. But when dinner was ready, they didn't need to be called twice, they were hungry!

As you might imagine, no camping trip is complete without s'mores! The olders could not get enough! 

Despite the late start we all felt like we had a really full camping trip. We got in a great hike, had lots of fun play, made cool discoveries and some awesome family time. You know what? The kids are already asking about when we are camping again!!! 

THANKS FOR READING!