Look who came to visit!

Ryan and I watched my nephew Camden while sister Stacey, hubby Heath and other nephew Jace went to the Aquarium! I think we had more fun! Camden is SO cute and such a good baby! We can't wait to see him again really soon! (And the rest of the family too...) ;)

One Days Pickings

Here are the new things we've made with our zucchini:

Whole Wheat Pineapple Zucchini Bread
Turkey Zucchini Stromboli
Zucchini Pizza Bites
Giant Stuffed Zucchini
Zucchini Lasagna
Raisin Zucchini Bread
BBQ Zucchini

They were ALL so yummy! It is a good thing we aren't tired of zucchini yet. Anybody want some?

Eating Right...

My sister and I had a conversation the other day about how much we enjoy food - esp. sugar... ;) I know it will be a never ending battle - to avoid eating too much sugar. Ryan likes to tell people about how I complain of eating too many jelly belly's or gummy bears and end up with a tummy ache... I'm not going to lie. It is all true. I love chewy candies. I love fruit snacks. I love all types of candy that stick in my teeth and give me cavities... I know I shouldn't but at least it isn't something that won't cause my teeth to yellow, or give me smokers skin and lips, RIGHT?! (Might make my teeth fall out though...)

So, in order to enjoy my sugar addiction, I like to make meals that are healthy and yummy too! Most of the recipes I snag and try are from diet blogs or web sites, and most of them are usually very good! For all you weight watcher folks, these web sites usually post how many points each meal is too!

So, enjoy, enjoy. If you have some type of sugar craving, then use these sites to help you counteract the bad stuff and now you can say you are eating right! ;)

Gina's Weight Watcher Recipes and Skinny Habits for a Skinny Life and Green Little Bites

Fruit of our Labors

the PEACHES are ripe!!!

We picked half of the white peaches, but I think they will be gone before bed tonight... SO yummy! They are smaller than we thought they'd be, but they are SO juicy and yummy!

El Capitan Canyon

Ryan and I took a little vacation and visited El Capitan Canyon for some "Luxury" camping. El Capitan Canyon is just north of Santa Barbara. We stayed in the Creekside King Cabin. It was so fun!

We had this special package waiting for us full of goodies! It was fun to receive such a fun package full of goodies!

This is looking up to our cabin from our own private fire pit and picnic area. We had a great porch too. It was so scenic and very beautiful. They don't allow cars in the Canyon so it was walking or biking wherever we went. The beach was about a 10-15 minute walk, but they had a nice trail to follow which was fun too! The trail was lined with wild blackberries! Yummm...

Here is what we made for dinner our first night there - Chicken and Rice. It was delicious. We did ALL of our cooking in our dutch oven. Ryan was the cook. He did such a great job!

Here we are... hanging out around our campfire!

We had a little problem with the toilet. Well, actually Ryan had a problem with the toilet... No worries, though. He fixed it with a roasting stick... We tossed that one in the trash.


This is what we made for breakfast in the dutch oven. It was SOOO yummy! It was supposed to be an omelet, but we couldn't get the dutch oven flat in the fire pit over the coals, so we just scrambled the eggs. It was SOO yummy. We have even made it twice since we've been home it was so good! The secret ingredient is onions and jalapeno. Did I mention is was delicious?

There were several trails in the area for hiking or biking, so Ryan put me in his extra Mt. Biking gear and off we went.

This was the view from about half way up to the top of the hill. It was so beautiful.

Here I am coming down the small hill that felt like a huge one. I wasn't used to the speed... I thought those padded shorts would make the ride better, and they did, but the next day it didn't feel like it... Sore buns for sure.

When we got up it was nice and sunny. It was so beautiful on our bike ride. Then we went to the beach and it got cloudy and cool... Oh well. It was still fun to be at the beach. We took naps on the beach until it was too cold out for bathing suits.

This was our yummy dinner! BBQ Ribs. It was really delicious just like all our other dutch oven meals.

Cute Ryan sitting by the fire. It was a nice little spot. There were other cabins around but not too close.

Can you see the skunk? Look for the stripped black and white tail. You can't tell from this picture but he was pretty big! We also saw some deer in the camp area as well as birds, lizards chipmunks and squirrel. Oh yeah and some turkey buzzards... Big ugly birds.

Our last camp fire. We had to burn all the wood before we left. There is something mesmerizing about a fire. I love to watch the flames as they flicker and move as such a rapid rate. We had a great trip. Next time we'll just hope for a little bit warmer weather.

Lizzard

The other day I went outside to water some of our plants in the back yard. A lizzard ran over my foot and startled me. It was a little bit bigger than usual so I called Ryan so he could see it too. He wanted to catch it with his dental floss trick... He tried, but in the attempt the lizzard lost his tail. I felt bad for the poor guy. I'd never really seen a lizzard lose his tail. The gross part was that the tail kept moving for over 10 minutes! Nasty! I teased Ryan for the rest of the day about the poor lizzard and how Ryan broke his tail off...

Well, the next day the lizzard came back to get it! We were shocked when we saw this guy on the screen!

Garden Update

They may be small, but they were the yummiest strawberries EVER!!! Peaches are starting to get all rosey pink! Can't wait to taste those!

Here is Ryan cooking up a zucchini from our garden! Isn't he just so cute! We are picking 3-4 zucchini a day! Come get some if you want. I am making a ton of zucchini bread too... YUMMY!