What I Did on My Summer Vacation

This is a view from the car window as we drove across

Vancouver Island.  Beautiful lakes, big cedar trees, mountains

and sky.  It's gorgeous the entire way.

Hi!  We're just back from our vacation.  We were gone just 8 days but packed a lot of fun and time with loved ones into that time.  We flew out to Seattle and, along with Johnny's family, spent the weekend with Laura's family.  Then we made a brief visit to John's sister's new home in Mt Vernon (the Washington State version--funny that we live in Mt Vernon, Virginia).  We crossed the border Sunday night and caught the early morning ferry to Vancouver Island.  The drive across to the west coast takes about three and a half hours.  John's mom bought some prime beach front property back in the late '60s and we've vacationed there with the growing family around every other year for almost 40 years.  His mom died a couple years ago and the property is for sale.  This was a last hurrah reunion and all but one of the 35 assorted descendants made it--a record attendance.  The weather was great.  High 60s, mid 70s, the entire time and although some of the days started off foggy, we saw the sun almost every day and only had one overnight rainy patch.  

The house on the property is pretty small and has just one bathroom.  A few of the younger generation families stayed there.  The rest of us stayed in nearby accomodations.  This was the view from our place, a two bedroom apartment.  The beach was just at the end of the walk and there's a nice hot tub there on the left just before the beach.  The water up there is always cold--avg temp 60 degrees, so the hot tub was very welcome!  Cox Bay, where this place was is a great surfing spot and we were the only ones in the water with bathing suits instead of wet suits!    The apartment also had a fully equipped kitchen.  We cooked our healthy breakfasts and often popped back for lunch.  We also cooked a couple of the dinners for the entire crowd.  I made fajitas (sliced grilled flank steak, tons of sweet peppers, caramelized onions, portobello mushrooms, sauteed chicken tenders, guacamole, sour cream, shredded romaine lettuce, and grated cheese.  We had chopped fresh pineapple on the side and, later, at the beach campfire, s'mores.   I made a ton of food for that night.  John grilled and cut 6 flank steaks!  I served everything separately so that people could create their own favorite mix.

I only ran twice while we were there, once near my daughter's house and in BC on the morning after we arrived.  This lovely bike path paralleled the main road and I ran from our apartment to the beach house and back, a total of 5.5 miles.  I would have run more, but there were plenty of opportunities to get exercise and most of them also offered the opportunity to visit with loved ones.  I walked the beach a few times a day (~4 miles), joined in a little in the everlasting volleyball game--there was almost always a game going on.  Another fun activity was walking out on Frank Island--a rocky part of the beach that becomes an island at high tide.  It's a fun climb, and a bit challenging.  This was the first time in years that I felt fit enough to go the distance.  :-)  The Pacific Rim National Park is just a couple miles down the road and we went on the Rain Forest Trail one morning.  That's where my new picture (the one w DH at the top of the page) was taken.

This is Jeannine who was quite fearless in clambering all over Frank Island.  The edges and tidal pools in the rocks provide lots of interesting fauna and flora.

DH admires a sea urchin that Rose found.  The kids are great about knowing that the critters go back to where they were found after they've been admired and examined.

SIL David and grandson Benjamin pose on the rocks.  David took a couple of the great pix that I'm sharing with you.

Laura and Tobey pose with me.  We hadn't noticed that we weree in a similar colors until the photographer said something about it.

Our SIL, David, took these next two pictures on the evening before we left the beach.  We were outside after dinner and someone noticed whales in the water just off the shore.  There were at least three and they played there, jumping out of the water, chasing one another, blowing impressive waterspouts, and waving their tails above the water.  They played there for about 30 minutes just before sunset. The first picture shows the whale's tale above the water to the right of center.  The second picture captures a view of the mountains, layered with mist and sky and clouds.  I really like it.

One other very cool thing happened while we were there.  On at least three nights, after it got dark, there was phosphorescence on beach. John and I only saw it once (being part of the older, early-to-bed-generation), but it was amazing.  The wet sand, near the surf literally sparkled and glowed when we stepped on it.  We could kick up water droplets that shone and glittered on the dark beach.  It was a greenish-blueish glow, very sci-fi! The others reported that later on, the surf was glowing, too.

DH and Johnny spent 45 minutes surfing on the day we left.  Jack was among the admirers and got caught by the waves.  He was a pro by that time, though and said, "it's okay, they'll get dry!"

Another shot of my two daughters, Laura and DIL Tobey.  We went out to a place near Laura's and had a great breakfast.  I managed to stick to my plan and special ordered an eggwhite omelet with summer veggies and a fruit plate, neither of which was on the menu.  It was deelish!

A group picture just before we left Seattle.  With DH, our kids and all five grandkids. I can't wait until Thanksgiving when we'll all be together again.  I'm hoping to be almost to my goal by then!  Funny how I'm a lot more willing to have my picture taken as I get closer and closer to my goal weight.  :-)

My plan for the vacation was stay as close to my plan as was possible and to allow myself at least one treat every day.  I had four s'mores, a cookie, a goodly share of tortilla chips, and whatever was being served for dinner.  I did eat my planned breakfast every day and stuck to my plan at lunch time too.  Altho I didn't do my regular exercise routine (biking, running, and weight lifting), I got a fair amount of exercise every day.  Did I mention the beach volley ball?  I was not quite up to Misty May in skill or sartorial splendor, but it was fun and good exercise!

I went to my WI this morning.  I lost 2.6 pounds at my last WI, two weeks ago and was hoping to avoid gaining today.  Although our scale, which always travels with us, showed a 3+ pound gain on the day we returned (Saturday), I managed to jump right back into my good eating and exercise habits and LOST an additional .6 pounds at my WI!  This morning my scale showed me the upcoming decade for the first time!  Color me happy.

Lots more pix on my FaceBook site.  Friend me and you can see!  Tish Farrell Oliver.

July Happenings

Hi all!  Long time no write.  Sorry!  

Things are going well.  I celebrated my 61st birthday this month and feel just fine.  I used to think 61 sounded old, but one's perspective changes.  Actually, with my weight loss and exercise program, I actually feel younger than I did several years ago when I weighed much more and exercised much less.

We had a great trip to New York City a couple of weeks ago.  DH was involved with a conference, but I was free to explore and enjoy myself.  Highlights were a repeat visit to The Cloisters (one of my favorite places in NYC), an 8.2 mile run around Central Park (!!),  shopping (nice to have some of those 12P dresses fit!), and Pinkberry!  I first read about Pinkberry (non-fat frozen yogurt) on Debby's blog.  Lo and behold, there was a Pinkberry four doors from our hotel.  Let's just say I'm hooked!  Thank goodness my closest one is 30 minutes from here!

Part of the lovely walk through Tyron Park on my way to visit The Cloisters when I was in NYC. Doesn't this look like something out of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe?

The last bit of the walk to The Cloisters (that tower in the background is part of it).  The Hudson River is directly on the left.

This is one of the cloisters.  It is planted with a medieval garden and each plant is marked.  I got some ideas for my garden here.

I asked one of the other visitors to snap my picture.  That's the Hudson River in the background.

I was out having lunch in a restaurant by myself last week and discovered something.  I looked over the appetizers and found a good looking salad (Caprese, one of my favorites) that I thought I would eat for lunch.  Then I was tempted by the lunch salads and thought I'd just order both--salads, right?  That couldn't be too far off the mark.  Well, besides the expense, the calories did add up, so I decided to use my tendency to procrastinate to my benefit.  I ordered the appetizer and decided to defer the decision on the lunch salad.  By the time I'd finished the Caprese, I was content and didn't order the other salad.  SCORE!  Who knew that I could turn one of my bad habits to work to my advantage?!  

DH and I have been enjoying our bike riding.  Yesterday and the week before that we ate early and took an after dinner ride to Fort Hunt Park.  There is a Sunday evening concert series there all summer and we enjoyed the music while we rode the mile+ loops around the park.  In the middle we zipped over to the Mount Vernon bike path and rode to Mount Vernon and back along the river just before sunset.  B-E-A-utiful!  Last week's ride was 20 miles and last night we added a bit more and got up to 23+ miles.  

Ella playing dress-up after I allowed her to rummage in my scarf drawer!

Jack was not amenable to having his photo taken, but he said something cute as I was putting him down for his nap the other day.  I had refused some final request (I think it was a third story) and he looked at me with his big blue eyes and said, "If I was Amie and you were Jack I would read another story to you!"  So do you think he got the third story??   Youbetcha!  

One of several red lobelias (cardinal flower) that I planted this year.  My camera was not quick enough to accurately catch the hummingbird (see the blur?), but this plant sure attracts them.  They ignore my feeder now, in favor of these alluring red plants.  This plant is about four feet tall.

Of course the birds all disappeared when I went outside with my camera, but we usually have at least three or four on each feeder (plus the hummers on the lobelia, beneath).  The pink and white are spider flower, or cleome, and are descendants of those that my grandfather used to have in his garden when I was growing up.  They seed themselves and are quite striking.

Where I spend a lot of time every week.  This is the Long Bridge on the Mount Vernon Trail, alongside the Mount Vernon Parkway.  I love this part.  This was early morning (~7 a.m.) about a week ago.  There is a marshy part on either side and a small river that passes under the center part.  I like it best at super high tide.

These are some of the pretty plants I've seen lately.  The flower is a large hibiscus type and I've seen them in gardens.  I've also noticed at least one plant that had dark pink flowers. They definitely like very wet soil as they were in the marshy part.  Anybody know what kind they are?

Lots of "Art Time" these days while Jack is napping in the afternoons. Lke most four year olds, Ella loves all things "princess" and this crown was an immediate hit.

I keep track of my running and biking on Daily Mile.  This chart shows the combined distance for the past 26 weeks.  I'm not trying to set any records, nor am I training for a race, but I'm finding it pretty comfortable to run 4-5 miles three times a week and to bike 12-20 miles three times a week.  Not charted is my twice weekly trip to the gym where I do resistance weights for about 45 minutes.  

All this activity and following a WW/17DD approach to my eating has yielded a good weight loss.  This chart is from Dec 6, 2010 until the present.  My father died on the 6th and I spent an entire year gaining weight.  Finally, in the past few days, I've gotten below that weight again.  And I will definitely  lose more.  I'm going to reach my goal this time and stay there.

A couple posts ago I had expressed a hope that I could lose 7.5 pounds before we left for a family reunion at the end of this week.  Well, guess what?!  As of this morning my daily WI shows me down 7 from that day and I still have 5 days until we go to drop the last half pound.  I will be down ~13 pounds from our last family reunion there.  Did I mention this is a beach holiday?  Yes, I'm going to feel great!

I took a chance on a flat of Costco peaches the other day.  YUM!  I love peaches.  I had to let them soften for a couple of days, but these are super.  

What's your favorite summer produce?

Beating the Heat

Record breaking heat today, tomorrow, and Sunday, then a "cold front" coming
with temps only in the high 80s!

The huge storm that hit here a week ago took out many trees, including this grand
old specimin that we guess was 300 years old and maybe 10-12 feet in diameter.

The storm hit here around 11 last Friday night.  Immediately knocked out power (and AC).  Laura had just flown in from Seattle to spend the weekend before flying home with Rose on Monday.  We decided to leave the house in favor

of an air-conditioned nice hotel with a pool to enjoy the weekend together.  We headed north and, despite many inquries, didn't find a hotel with rooms and power until we got to Wilmington, Delaware (about 2+ hours north of here).  There was visible storm damage (downed trees all along I95) until well north of Baltimore.  Many hotels that 

we tried did not have power.  Our own power didn't come back until Sunday and we were without Cox service (phone, Internet, TV) until Monday night.  There are people we know who are still without power.  We want underground wires if and when we buy another house!  We were very lucky.  Just branches blown from neighboring trees in our yard.  

Johnny and Jack fill the bird feeders, staying in the shade of the umbrella and the crape myrtle.

Laura models star bubble blowing techniques.

It's so hot and humid out during the day that our outside playtime (bubble-blowing and playing on the slip and slide) usually takes place before 10.  We tried the playground one morning, but despite the shade, the swings and slides were much to hot for comfort.

Rose must take after her mom, some pretty good bubble production going on.

The house seems empty without Rose's cheery presence.  Ella and Jack miss her a lot, too.  They were always "up" for any game or activity she suggested and she did a great job a big-sister.  A nice change for Rose, the youngest of 3 in her family.  Rose got better and better on the bike when she was here.  We stayed a while Saturday morning after the storm, hoping that the power might come back on, and went on a 13 mile ride through the neighborhoods.  She was a trooper, never complained and was as interested in seeing the storm damage as we were.  We did have to maneuver around downed power lines and walk our bikes around big downed trees, but we had a good ride.

Jack and Ella were more interested in catching bubbles on their bubble wands.

One of the many trees down across my running path.  I run very early in the morning.
Notice the very long shadows and the pinkish-hue of the sunshine--there was an old poem that my mother shared with me once that mentioned "rosy-fingered dawn." She was buried at Arlington 19 years ago, today.

I've kept up with the running and biking, despite the weather.  I get out to run by 6.  It was 84 degrees at six this morning!  DH and I went for a nice bike ride on Independance Day, mid-morning to noon.  It's a little cooler biking because we use mostly shaded paths and the bike generates a little "personal-breeze."  We also take two large bottles of ice water and stop to drink it half way through.  We don't need to stop, but the water break is good.  And yes, Mom, I always slather on lots of sunblock.  Funny to think that when I was growing up people used sun-tan lotion to get a tan!

The Slip and Slide got a good workout.  I love Jack's expression--he loves it, but it's
cold and the water is getting on his body.  The slip and slide left a 20X5 foot swath of
dead yellow grass after our 2 hour play session.  A knife to the heart of lawn-tender DH.

Anybody have any ideas about how to prevent the yellow dead grass under the slip and slide?  It really is annoying, but the children love it so.  Our best slip and slide area (shaded and sloped) is smack dab in the middle of the back yard.

My brand new running shoes (Nike Vomero 7).  I love the color
and my first run in them, this morning, felt like I was running
on clouds.

Shelley wrote about her new running socks.  She said they'd make
her run faster.  Mine are a different brand, but it's true!  I thought
the pink color might deter any house-sharing sock snatchers!! (Hi
sweetheart, ti amo!)

I lost .4 at my WI last week.  WW was closed on the 4th, so I'll expect big things next Wednesday. 

My new-found refreshing summer drink.  Lemon Ginger Green Tea iced-tea.
I make a large pot of it in the morning and finish it by dinner time.

Stay cool!

Fence Post, WI, and Pix

My running is going very well, despite the first wave of summer heat and despite the challenge of finding times to run when someone else is able to watch the grands. I ran four times last week for a total of 18.5 miles. Running very early, I was able to beat the heat and avoid leaving Rose alone. I found it also started my day off on a note of success. I feel good about myself when I've run and am set up to have a good day of following my plans. If you look closely, you'd probably notice my little halo on those early morning run days!

We had a new fence put up last week. We'd had a chain link fence that was here when we moved in, but I wanted a wooden fence for a few reasons. I like the look of them, for one thing, and we're hoping they will inhibit the deer who have been feasting on our liles and hosta and many other beautiful, and apparently delicious, plants in our garden. I chose to have the solid part only four feet high because we like our neighbors and want to be able to chat face to face through the "topper." i also thought the fence would make a nice backdrop for our garden. I think the three workers were trying hard to be careful, but there were several plant casualties in the garden beds near the fence. :-( I'm hoping that most will come back next year. The workers worked through two of our hottest days. Rose and I kept them supplied with a cooler of ice water.

I lost 1.4 pounds at my WI last week. We're going to a family reunion, beach vacation on Vancouver Island in five and a half weeks. I'd love to lose 7.5 more pounds by the time we leave. The last time we were with this crowd (DH's sibs' families) I was feeling quite trim at 6 pounds above my current weight. :-)

One new recipe in the RECIPE page this week. Debby asked for the recipe for my brownies. It's there and you'll love them, but caveat emptor! They're wonderful and made from old-fashioned, read NOT health or diet-concious, ingredients!

We're aiming to take an after-dinner bike ride tonight. Rose is opting out, but can stay alone for a bit with Jay. We'll shoot for an hour long ride. I've missed riding.

If one picture is worth 1000 words, I wonder how many these two pictures are worth?

It was this picture from last Dec, posted on
FB by a friend, that brought me to my senses and
back to being serious about getting myself in shape.

Tonight, -30 pounds later, feeling good about myself.

Photo Story

We had a great time hosting a tea party for FIL's 90th birthday.  He lives in Wilmington, NC and we and all our progeny (kids, in-law kids, and grands) went there to help him celebrate.  Daughter Laura made this beautiful cake and it was possibly the best cake I've ever eaten.  Awesome.  I tried to limit myself, but suspect that this cake was largely responsible for the 2 pound gain my scale reported the day after the party!  (fortunately gone within a few days)

The grands (12, 10, 8, 4, and 2) worked on this banner and we think it turned out wonderfully well.

These are the world's best brownies.  The recipe was my grandmother's.  I made and froze 4 batches of these and never had even one until the birthday party.  Um, they might have also contributed to that 2 pounds.  But they're all gone now. :-)

We put son John in charge of the helium balloon kit.  He got them blown up and the kids were delighted to find places to attach them around the party room. (We had reserved the poolside party room at FIL's condo complex.)  Granddaughter Ella is eying the platter of scones as she looks for a place to tie her balloons.

Grandson Ben is a talented chess player.  His opponent was in his mid 90s, has played chess for decades and was surprised to lose 4 out of 5 games to a 10 year old.

After the party, the children gathered up all the balloons and took them outside.  No, they didn't let them go, they had fun popping them and disposed of them in the trash.

Laura gave the grands a push on this neat swing in a large Wilmington park (Greenfield Park).  They climbed trees (live oaks, I think), enjoyed the Spanish moss, saw an alligator in the lake, caught a small box turtle, and collected some large pine cones for future art projects.

DH and I love being surrounded by our gang of grandchildren.  We love each and every one!

More smiles!

Grandson Jack (almost 3) gets up close and personal with the little box turtle.  He waited patiently for it to come out of its shell and chortled when it scuttled into the water.

Granddaughter Jeannine scrambled right up this live oak.

We brought granddaughter Rose (8) back to Virginia with us.  We took her up to Lancaster County PA to a play about Jonah at the Sight & Sound theater there.  We drove through beautiful countryside and saw a dozen horse drawn vehicles.  There were also horses powering the farm machinery.  

The play was so well done.  It was a musical and the staging, special effects, and costuming were every bit as good as at plays I've seen in NY and at the Kennedy Center.  It was a fun day.

Rose loves to shop.  Here she is modelling an outfit we found at Kohl's.  Gotta love those 75% off racks!

Can you spot the dog in this picture??  I seem to be the only one in my family who has noticed the dog who is always out in this yard in our neighborhood.  Here's my photographic proof.  Remember, you can click on the picture to enlarge.

My new favorite meal.  Tish's Eggplant Parmesan .  I made up this recipe with what I had on hand one night and it's a definite keeper.  (lean ground turkey, lots of veggies, grilled eggplant, fresh mozzarella).  Only 275 calories per serving.  The recipe is in the RECIPE page in the sidebar to the right.

My little Nike+ is not reporting my running right now because the Nike+ site is being renovated.  But I'm doing really well with the running.  I ran 5 times last week, averaging just under 4.5 miles per run.  I'm running farther and faster which makes things better as I can allow an hour for transportation to and from plus the run rather than the hour and three quarters it took me for the same run a month and a half ago. I've been getting up early to accomplish my run before Rose wakes up and the other grands arrive.  The weather has been wonderful recently, but I noticed that the 90s and even a 100 degree day are in the 5 day forecast.

I'm not biking as much as I'd like now.  Mostly because Rose is not yet a confident biker and we don't leave her alone.  We'll get back to our long after-dinner rides in a few weeks.

I'm continuing to lose at my weigh-in's.  I'm down over 30 pounds since Christmas.  Happy days.  I've had some great "closet shopping" sessions and reclaimed some cute outfits that hadn't seen the light of day for over a year and a half.  I still have 23 pounds to lose to achieve my WW goal, but I feel confident that I'll get there.

Today is DH's and my 39th anniversary.  No big celebrations today, but we are very thankful for our wonderful life together.  We're hoping to get in a bike holiday weekend next month.  Maybe that will be our celebration!