Weekend Outdoor Fun….Yes, Outdoor Fun…Can You Believe It?

Oh my, was it a great weekend to be outside. I went outside in January….and had fun….simply amazing!!!! It was so warm….in the 40’s here in Green Bay both days…yeh!!!!

I had planned to go to yoga Saturday morning as usual but when my husband mentioned to me that it was going to be warm enough to venture out and take a hike I immediately changed my plans.

We stayed close to home since we knew the snow depth in our area and arrived at one of our favorite nearby trails. I was very happy to see it was not nearly as snow covered as I had thought it would have been. 

We walked along the trail and took in the sunshine on our faces with great pleasure. It felt so good to breathe fresh air and get in some outdoor exercise.

We watched the ice fishermen nearby on the Bay of Green Bay, all the while thinking to myself how crazy of a sport ice fishing is. 

We did not see much wildlife while we hiked but we did run across a trail friend who was moving very, very slowly but moving none the less.

Three miles later we ended our hike and it felt amazing.

Then on Sunday I woke up, got in a gym workout, came home to meal prep, and once again headed back outside for yet another hike with a friend this time.

We walked 5 miles, saw one bald eagle that I scared away trying to get a picture of, and lots of melting happening all along the way. 

I know it’s too early to be this excited about the weather being so nice but you know what, I will take what I can get and enjoy every last hour until the next snow fall happens or the next ice storm glazes over everything in sight(which could happen tomorrow from what they are saying).

All in all it was a great weekend. I feel refreshed and ready for another long week ahead.

 

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I Thought 50 degrees in February Was Awesome…..64 Is A Small Miracle

Wow, what a week we had here in Green Bay. Sun was shining, snow was melting, warmth was beaming down from the sky, and I saw neighbors I have not seen since November. It’s always so funny to finally see who you live next too after a few months and high five each other for making it through another LONG winter.

Alright, so maybe winter is not quite over yet, but you could not tell by the week temperatures we had here. Needless to say, this all changed Friday morning upon waking up. We were once again, hit by yet another snowstorm. Which made me so happy that I took complete advantage of the nice days we did have and spent every moment possible outside for exercise.

Here, take a look:

Sunday: Fox River Trail walk 3 miles…The trail, river, and parking lots were packed with everyone wanting to get some fresh air. However, we found a quiet stretch to walk on which offered us some peace from all the bikers.

Monday: 2 mile walk and upper body weight routine

Tuesday: 3 mile walk and upper body weight routine

Plus numerous hours playing outside and going for two kid walks which equal approx 1.5 miles total….exhausting day but so nice to enjoy this mid February.

Wednesday: 1 mile walk…..In honor of National Margarita Day my dear neighbors brought over two margaritas for my husband and I. I then proceeded to drink mine before leaving for our evening walk, which then went from a planned 3 miles to a stumble instead of a walk and lasted 1 mile instead. However, I am not complaining since that margarita sure tasted great after a long, summer like day:-) It’s great to have such wonderful neighbors….

Thursday: home: 30 minute recumbent bike and a 3 mile evening walk before the snowstorm arrived over night

Friday: rest

Saturday: I finally got the virus all my daycare children have been passing around for the past few weeks, so no exercise for me today:-(

As for meals this week, I will admit, I should have planned some grilling meals but I did not. My husband is the griller in our family and we had some nights where he was not due to be home on time so inside meals it was all week. Although, that’s ok, we still had some great meals and one new recipe this week which was a summer time quinoa salad because summer temps deserve a summer salad…right?

One night was pulled pork sandwiches with roasted carrots and sun dried tomato couscous.

Another evening was no boil lasagna because nothing is easier than making it all in the early morning and sliding it in the oven when you spent all day outside and need a hot dinner but have no energy left to prepare it at the end of the day.

 

Setbacks Are So Discouraging

As I mentioned last week, I needed to take a bit of a step back from my exercise routine with the small setback in my recovery. I stopped lifting weights for the most part but did continue doing some sort of cardio almost everyday.

As for my week, it was quite crazy. We had gorgeous weather almost every single day which we took full advantage of by playing outside for hours. Which made nap time for my kiddos peaceful and awesome for me to accomplish a few things during this time.

I was on the fence all week whether we should pack up and go camping or not since the weather forecast was not the greatest. Although, after some thought, I figured at least 50% of the time the forecasters are wrong so why not take a chance and see what happens. Thankfully, if we do need to sleep in the SUV, we are prepared after a little construction work to make this possible. I love that my husband just goes with the flow and makes the plans in my head happen in real life.

On that note, here is what I did for workouts this week.

Saturday: Gym: 30 minute elliptical and leg weights

Sunday: 2 mile trail walk

Monday: 30 minute recumbent bike and stretching in the early morning

and a 4 mile family walk in the evening where we saw so much wildlife.

Tuesday: 50 crunches and 30 minutes on the elliptical at the gym

Wednesday: 20 minute recumbent bike and floor routine with light weights

Thursday: floor weight routine with light weights, 1.5 mile walk

Friday: rest (no exercise but since temps are suppose to hit 80 today we will be running around playing outside ALL day which is far from rest in my opinion…..but I love it!)

If all goes well, I will be back Monday with some pics from our 1st camping trip of 2016.

Have a great weekend and Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there.

Weekend Highlights-Geocache #500, Mother’s Day

Do you want to see instant energy? Well, I had it all weekend thanks to good ole Mother Nature.

Saturday I started my day with a workout at the gym bright and early. The alarm went off at 4am so my husband and brother could go out on the bay for some fishing for the first time this year. They had great success but I have no pics to share. If I would have sent the camera I would be pretty certain I would not get it back. (My husband is known to drop things in water fairly often.) So anyways, I figured it was the perfect opportunity to get in a workout before starting my day.

After my workout it was go time….I washed the car, cut the lawn with my new lawn mower

which I LOVE, visited with my mother in law, made an orzo pasta salad for dinner, did three loads of laundry, went grocery shopping, played some cards on the front porch with my husband(our favorite spot in the summer),

and it is also where I enjoyed eating dinner Saturday night. I just could not get enough sunshine.

Sunday I woke up to more sun shining through our bedroom window, which is so much more pleasant then the alarm clock waking me up. It is truly like instant energy for me. So I flew out of bed, made the coffee, packed the trunk with our lunch, boots, sunscreen and water and we were out the door in about an hour. We had a goal to find our #500th          geocache. We headed to a trail we started last fall and really wanted to finish it so we could continue on with another trail we had also started last fall.

Within a 1/2 mile I felt alive. The sun was bright and the trail was endless in front of us. We saw our first wild flowers of the season along the trail.

We logged 21 successful finds and we walked over five miles. Awesome!

And the #500th cache happened to be the most painful of all. It was hidden in a bush of buck thorn!!!! I watched from the trail as my hubby ventured in to retrieve it.

The final stop of our day brought us to a summer time treat. ICE CREAM!!!

After all, it was Mother’s Day, I think I earned an ice cream treat.

My Mother’s Day ended with a homemade chicken dinner my husband prepared in our rotisserie, baked potatoes, stuffing and side salads. And the best part was….I didn’t have to prepare or clean up a single thing.

Pure Heaven 🙂