Breckenridge, CO

Oh my, we had a blast over the holidays and enjoyed lots of family time.  I did a terrible job capturing the moments of Henry's first Christmas but believe me when I say the child is very blessed!  He didn't really "get" Christmas this year but is always happy around people, especially his favorite people (aka family members). We ended the holidays with a trip with my family to Breckenridge, CO.  This was my second trip to Breck and Chris' third trip to hit the slopes...lucky guy!  The town got great skiing and such a cute main street.  It was H's first time flying and he did great!  We flew out of the Akron/Canton airport since we could get a direct flight and where pleasantly surprised at how nice everyone was there.We did learn its better for H to fly at nap time than bedtime but it still will be a while before we fly with him again.  

We had 8 adults and one baby on the trip, which meant plenty of babysitters!  Henry enjoyed several outings to dinner, the coffee shop and stroller rides around Breck while the rest of us enjoyed the slopes.  Especially the day of FRESH POWDER and the opening of Peak 6.  It was definitely the best skiing I've ever done and was so, so beautiful.  The weather was great and we really enjoyed our selves.  Henry slept in a pack n play in our room...which meant he ended up with us every night.  He also didn't adjust to the time difference so someone had to get up with him before the sun was up at 4:30 or 5am each day.  

Henry showed off some of his 11 month old skills for his grandparents and uncles including standing up on things (including the fire place mantle...he's a little dare-devil), high-fiving and eating.  This child can put away the food, especially yogurt and bananas.        

Spring break in DC

Almost 1 year after our last DC trip, I was back but this time with my parents and Henry for spring break. The weather wasn't as nice and I missed the cherry blossoms again but we still had a great time! We stayed in Foggy Bottom (The Fairmont DC) which was a short metro ride/long, but manageable, walk from the National Mall and DC's most famous attractions...and close to Founding Farmers, yep I took my parents there...such great food! Our hotel room was spacious, which was necessary for all of the baby paraphernalia (pack n play, stroller, boppy) and very nice.

I was a little nervous being away from home with Henry, which I'm sure is completely normal, but he was a champ. Of course, it helped that there were four extra willing hands to take care of him. We stopped a couple of times each way for Henry to eat and stretch and while in the city, he either rode in his stroller (The BOB with a car seat adapter) or his carrier. I carried him for our Capitol tour, over an hour was a bit much but he slept the whole time.

We were able to meet up with Alicia twice, which was so, so nice!

Here are a few photos of our trip via Instagram (I had my hands full enough without a camera too!):

Vaca Recap

I was finally able to get the photos off my camera and onto the computer so here are a few to re-cap our San Diego vacation in September.  We had a great time and it was such a fun and interesting city!

Our first full day in San Diego, Chris and I walked to the USS Midway.  It's a retired air craft carrier and was HUGE!  We got our fill of military history on the self-guided tour.  It was so interesting to learn how they launch and land planes on this huge carrier.  

Chris, sitting in one of the planes on the flight deck

Sonya, about 1/4 of the way down the flight deck

We spent an afternoon and had dinner in Old Town, the historic part of San Diego with stuccoed buildings and house-made tortilla chips...delicious!

C's Patron Margarita.  I had a blood orange spritzer...
delicious but not the same!

One day, we drove out to Coronado to see the Hotel Del Coronado and so Chris to see the Pacific Ocean for the first time!

First time in the Pacific!

The flowers were just gorgeous! 

 On our last morning in San Diego, it was really foggy.  We hit the coast and tried to see the sights anyways

Week 20 Baby Bump

Sea Lion!

All in all, we had a great trip!  So wonderful to take a few days away together and explore a new city.

Meal Planning after a week or weekend away

I know I owe you all a vacation post or two....and it's coming!  Just a quick pop in to offer some suggestions on meal planning after being gone.  If you are like us, we try to leave our fridge as bare as possible because I hate wasting food.

1. It's a great time to take advantage of all those items in the freezer!  We usually have a few meals prepped in the freezer that I can pull out for a quick defrost or pop in the oven.  Or at the very least, some frozen chicken breast or meat and veggies waiting to be turned into a quick dinner.

2. Ditto for the pantry.  I always have soup ingredients on hand for a fast, delicious and healthy dinner.

3. Make a quick run out for the essentials.  When we got back from California, it was 10pm so I wasn't up for a trip to the store but the next day I headed out for milk, eggs, coffee creamer, lunch meat and fresh produce.  Not tons but just enough to get us by.

4. Ideally, meal plan BEFORE you go and fill the freezer with meals.  This didn't happen for us but maybe next time away :)

So what are we having this week?  Well, Chris is trying to limit is carb intake so I'm trying to be supportive (really hard when most of my pregnancy foods involve the starchy stuff)!

Monday-Grilled chicken breast and kale and sweet potato chips
Tuesday-Mexican chicken and rice soup (pulled from the freezer)
Wednesday- Ground beef chili
Thursday-left overs
Friday-Corn and Shrimp Chowder

2011 In Review

We've had a very blessed and busy 2011!  Here were the highlights:

In January we flew to Colorado to meet up with our NC friends and to ski at Vail.

In February we added a new family member, Lila.

In March Chris ventured to Brazil for spring break.

In April we ran a 10 miler with Brittany.

In June we spent a week in the OBX with family and friends.  Shortly after, Chris started making the weekly drive to Cleveland for his internship.

In July we participated in our first adventure race..which ended in a broken hand.  And had our first guest blogger, Brittany!

In September brought Chris home again and the start of school at OSU and the start of football season.  But not before I made a trip to Cleveland for a visit.  We also hosted a baby shower for Danielle and Tim's pending arrivals.

In October we welcomed our first nephews Luke and Logan.  Chris ran is first (and only) marathon and I was so proud of him.

In December we finished out the year by spending the holidays with family and a few sunny days in Sanibel Island, Florida.

What were your favorite parts of 2011?  What are you looking forward to in 2012?  We've got some adventures pending so keep in touch!

We made it!

Made it to Tampa, waiting for our ride to Sanibel island...then the fun can begin!

Summer Solstice Chicken

While on vacation, we were each assigned a night to make dinner for the family.  Our night fell early in the week and we decided on grilled chicken, grilled corn on the cob and Asian slaw.  I was able to make my marinade before we left, using fresh herbs from our garden and it was delicious!  I adapted a recipe from Janice Cole's cookbook, Chicken and Egg; A Memoir of Suburban Homesteading with 125 Recipes.  The Summer Solstice Chicken was so flavorful but not overpowering (but BRIGHT GREEN), exactly what we needed for our relaxing beach meal :)

Summer Solstice Chicken Marinade:
4 cloves garlic, smashed
approx 1 cup chives, chopped
approx 1 cup cilantro
approx 1/2 cup dill
1 medium white onion, chopped
 2/3 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Toss everything into food processor and blend until smooth.  Marinade chicken for at least 8 hours or overnight before grilling.  Thanks Brittany for the awesome cookbook, it is full of great recipes :)