Last year we flew our first kite at the shore. We headed out again today. I so love that we DO things instead of talking about doing them. That is my lifetime goal.

Little Bean didn’t quite know what to make of it. :)

Click here for last years [...]]]>

Last year we flew our first kite at the shore. We headed out again today. I so love that we DO things instead of talking about doing them. That is my lifetime goal.

Little Bean didn’t quite know what to make of it. :)

Click here for last years kite photos and a bit about what the kite represents to me.

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Of course I have tons to tell you but no energy left, so I’ll let the pictures do most of [...]]]> I really think I was a beach bum in a former life. Every time I’m at the Jersey Shore I wonder why I don’t live closer to the ocean. It just feels like home.

Of course I have tons to tell you but no energy left, so I’ll let the pictures do most of the talking.

These two got me up bright and early.

Their interactions are getting cuter and cuter.

We started the day with a healthy breakfast.

I made sure to stock the beach rental with fresh fruit. I’ll feel better about all the junk knowing I got at least a few servings of fruit and whole grains in the boy. Plus what beats a New Jersey blueberry in July? Ummm pretty much nothing. :)

Soon it was strapping baby on time.

We were headed to the beach!

Little Bean slept..

while the boys played…

and I read.

Nutrition Diva gave me a copy of her book at FitBloggin’ Local and I’m loving it! She’s great at giving the straight talk on nutrition without any lectures or hype.

Soon the stomach started to rumble so I decided to reach for a snack.

"That’s it" sent me some samples of their bars right before I left. I was interested in trying them, as all they are is fruit. That’s right, fruit. Nothing else.

I must admit, at first glance I wasn’t too impressed…

but they were tasty! At least the apple/apricot one was. Looking forward to trying their other flavors later in the week.

I also fed Little Bean on the beach and posted a bit about it on Baby’s First Year. Click here for a pic and the story.

Anyway, little guy asked us to bury him so we obliged.

After a full day in the sun we headed back for showers.

I decided to take my long run while the boys relaxed and watched soccer. (How heartbreaking was THAT?!?)

It was a tough 5 miles, but MAN did I feel awesome afterwards.

That’s week 3 DONE on my training schedule. I can’t believe it! (I’ll wrap up this week with next, as I did shift around workouts becuase of vacation)

When I got back it was time to hit the boards. The rides were calling our names…

We got dinner at a little seafood place and I had the best blackened salmon over greens. For dessert, some Polish Ice. Delicious!

We headed back and chilled for a bit…

Now both kids are sleeping. The Husband is reading. And I’m ready for bed.

Can every day be like this? Please? :)

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I kid, of course. There’s nothing I like more than going to the beach with the family but dooood, with two kids you need a lot of $hit!

This may have been the most active, most [...]]]> It’s our last day here in the Outer Banks. It’s been an amazing week! We hit the beach, walked, rented bikes, flew kites, hung out by the pool and ate some wonderful seafood (more on that in a bit.) I even ran 21 miles since Sunday!

This may have been the most active, most fun, most relaxing week ever! I’m thinking the fact that my last day of work was the Friday before we left has something to do with it. ;) Regardless we have a blast and today was the best day ever!

It started with a short bike ride to return the bikes we rented. I didn’t get a picture of us but little guy and I raced around on a tandem bike like this one. We rode about 14 miles total yesterday just cruising around. It was AWESOME!

Once the bikes were returned we put a 6 hour shift in at the beach. The water was PERFECT minus a few jellyfish but we braved it. We played paddle ball, took the boogie board out and built sand castles. Little Guy was having a blast…

He even just chilled and people watched with us for a bit…

While on the beach I was reading My Two-Year-Old Eats Octopus: Raising Children Who Love to Eat Everything. What an amazing book! I’m only a few chapters in but I’m loving the stories and advice. There’s even a chapter on pregnancy and breast feeding. How fitting. ;)

Even though I’m not finished with the book it has been inspiring me. Tonight we went out to dinner and I excitedly ignored the children’s menu ordering Ryan a steamed veggie platter…

He also spilt the husband’s steamed crab legs and shrimps. It was so nice seeing him eat such great food and I was proud that he was willing to try everything. Although.. the ceviche didn’t go over to well but the husband loved it. ;)

After dinner we strolled back home stopping for our last bowl of ice cream. It definitely put me over the feeling full edge but it was worth it. We were having a good time trying each others flavors and just spending quality family time together.

The day has now come to an end. Little guys is in bed and I must help the husband pack. We need to head home and I have a busy week ahead even though I won’t be "going to work." FitBloggin’ planning is in full swing. GreenLiteBites is in desperate need to some new food ideas and I FINALLY will have time to initiate some new challenges on BlogToLose. It’s work but it’s my work and there is something amazingly empowering about being my own boss. Oh! PLUS it’s little guys last week before Kindergarten!! So many fun things going on!

OK… I really need to go. I’ll leave you with one of my favorite pics of the day. We were having fun trying on hats at the gift shop. :)

I hope you have a great week! Enjoy your weekend!

Oh! and I have a few more vacation pics over on RoniNoone.com click here if you are interested.

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It was my first day back from vacation and I decided to hop on the scale and assess "the damages." Ugh. Why do [...]]]> I totally forgot to mention these two things in last nights post. I swear, sometimes I think I’m losing my blogging mojo. Anyway…..

Thing #1: A Wink from the Scale Gods

It was my first day back from vacation and I decided to hop on the scale and assess "the damages." Ugh. Why do we do this to ourselves? What’s the point? Of course it’s going to show a gain. I ate nothing but pizza, ice cream and french fries for an entire week. I was on VACATION. der.

Yesterday I started my old morning routine. Woke up. Peed. Stripped. Then faced the scale. I braced myself for unveiling. Guessing what glowing red number would shine back at me. Reminding myself that it IS only a number. That regardless of what is says I have no regrets. A healthy lifestyle is about balance NOT depravation.

I take the first step on the hunk of medal to turn it on, hop up and see….

Err…..

Bat….

Err….

Bat…

Cycling over and and over again.

I either broke the scale with enormous weight gain OR the batteries were dying.

I’m pretty sure it was the batteries. At least I hope so. ;)

I smile to myself.

I didn’t really want to know anyway. It doesn’t matter.

Thank you scale gods for reminding me that I am more then a number.

Thing #2: The Winner of the Impossible

Just before vacation my Have You Accomplished The Impossible? contest ended. I was planning on posting the winner while at the beach but it totally slipped my mind.

The winner was chosen randomly. I use random.org to pick a comment out of total number left. In my opinion it’s the only fair way to choose. I can’t evaluate everyones stories. They were all so wonderful! I’m considering a series were we showcase one a week. In the mean time here is Tara’s. She was randomly selected to win the $100. Congratulations on all fronts Tara! You are AWESOME!

I’ve gone from 328 lbs to 167 lbs over the last 19-ish months. I’ve run two 5K’s when I used to think the only way I’d run is if I was being chased. I regularily ride my bike all weekend long instead of taking my car everywhere and I’ve become obsessed with yoga.

More importantly, I have successfully taken my life back. I’m no longer miserable or unhappy because I realized that it’s a choice. You can choose to be happy or sad but you have to live with whatever choice you make and I realized that I’d rather be happy. The only thing holding me back was ME!

The thing that I”ve accomplished that I never thought I could was that I am actually proud of myself. I’m bursting with pride actually, something I never, ever said before.

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I was going to save these shots for Wordless Wednesday but I couldn’t wait. I’m just too darn excited! We flew our first kite this evening!

After a little family turbulence–a tired 5 year old on vacation overload can be hard to handle. Sometimes I miss those toddler years– we made it [...]]]>

I was going to save these shots for Wordless Wednesday but I couldn’t wait. I’m just too darn excited! We flew our first kite this evening!

After a little family turbulence–a tired 5 year old on vacation overload can be hard to handle. Sometimes I miss those toddler years– we made it to the beach at the end of the day to try and fly our very first kite. Well, my and the Little guy’s first, the husband says he did it once when we was a kid.

It was SO much fun. Why haven’t I ever done this before? I was always fascinated by the kites on the beach but I never once thought I could do it. This reminds me of other times I wanted to do/try/experience something but didn’t for some reason or another. Too busy? To shy? To insecure? To worried what I’d look like?

Why do we do that to ourselves??

Anyway.. I was pondering that but I don’t want to get too deep. Here’s the pics!

If you are interested the kite we tried is the T-Rex Lear ge Easy Flyer. It was a cinch to put together and Ryan got the kite up on his second try!

Any kite flyers out there? Other newbies? We can’t be the only ones!

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I told you I’d be inspired to blog this week. I just can’t stay away. It’s an obsession. :) Anyway….

I had to pop in and tell you about the July race for my one running event per month goal this year. Yesterday I met JenInRL on the boardwalk in Atlantic City [...]]]>

I told you I’d be inspired to blog this week. I just can’t stay away. It’s an obsession. :) Anyway….

I had to pop in and tell you about the July race for my one running event per month goal this year. Yesterday I met JenInRL on the boardwalk in Atlantic City to run the Christmas in July 5k. It was awesome seeing Jen again after FitBloggin. I didn’t really get a chance to hang out with many during the conference. I was just too frazzled.

Anyway Here we are before the race…

We had a blast running this 5k! Jen did an amazing job for her first. We kept a great run/walk pace for the 3 miles and then I ran ahead so I can snap her crossing the finish line…

I was able to record the run on the Nike+ after picking up a new iPod before heading out for vacation. Did I tell you I fried my last one on sweaty run last weekend? I can’t remember, regardless, here’s our run….

Chart taken from Nike+ web site after sync. Click here to see how I did it.

After the race we walked down the boardwalk and decided on some Ben and Jerry sorbets. An amazing post race treat on quite a hot morning!

We split a small mango and a pomegranate. Both SUPER yummy!

I then returned to the family and had the most amazing beach day ever! It was pristine out. Nothing but blue skies for miles. The water was a fabulous 73 degrees, the waves are incredible and I got to enjoy it all with my fearless little man…

We spent more time in the water then out and I hope to do it all again today! I gotta go get ready… it’s 7AM and he’s already got his suit on. ;)

By the way.. took that video with the new phone. It’s amazing!

Oh! and the 5 year old quote of the day, yesterday was… "Beach! Here I come!" being screamed from the porch of our rental. LOL

Hope you are having a great week! I’ll be back again, I’m sure. :)

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*phew* I feel like I’ve been in a whirlwind for a few weeks now. Giving notice at my job  has given me a new burst of blogging inspiration. I accepted an ATHENOS Spokesblogger offer over on GreenLiteBites this month and have been having a BLAST coming up with recipes using feta. My inbox [...]]]>

*phew* I feel like I’ve been in a whirlwind for a few weeks now. Giving notice at my job  has given me a new burst of blogging inspiration. I accepted an ATHENOS Spokesblogger offer over on GreenLiteBites this month and have been having a BLAST coming up with recipes using feta. My inbox is bursting with questions I can’t wait to answer here on Roni’s Weigh. I have a new site in the works to celebrate my career move to professional blogger. I am a movin’… and a shakin’! :)

Personally, I’m coming off the high of planning my Mom’s surprise 60th birthday. Little guy has totally embraced Tae Kwon Do and I love watching him in class twice a week. I’ve been working out in the mornings and am excitedly planning my training for the Rock ‘n’ Roll marathon this December. I’ve been feeling good. Busy! but good.

I’m really trying to embrace the whole do what I can when I can attitude. I found myself starting to fall into the "After" mindset.

After I leave my job I’ll…..
Once training starts I’ll…

I hate when I do this. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with looking forward to things but sometimes I use the future as an excuse for not doing something in the now. Does that makes sense?

Anyway, I’m not going to get into it tonight. I’m tired and I have a bunch of stuff I need to get done. If you happen to follow me on twitter or my FaceBook page you may have witnessed my geek side when I waited in line to get a new Droid phone….

It.is.AWESOME!

I’m planning on writing a review post about it on RoniNoone.com once I figure it all out and I’ll have plenty of time to do so while at the beach next week!

That’s right. Next week is my family’s yearly outing to the Jersey shore. I’ve been going for 16 years, 5 of them since weight loss blogging!

Last year when I was gone I sent twitter updates from vacation…

• Twitter Updates from Vacation! – 2009-07-11
• Twitter Updates from Vacation! – 2009-07-12
• Twitter Updates from Vacation! – 2009-07-13
• Twitter Updates from Vacation! – 2009-07-14
• Twitter Updates from Vacation! – 2009-07-15
• Twitter Updates from Vacation! – 2009-07-16
• Twitter Updates from Vacation! – 2009-07-17

In 2008 I actually recorded videos and wrote posts prior to leaving and had them publish while I was gone. (ummmm yeah.. Can you tell this was when I didn’t have a full time job. lol)

• Vacation Video Fest – Session 1
• How do you Enjoy Vacations?
• Vacation Video Fest – Session 2
• Vacation Video Fest – Session 3
• Vacation Video Fest – Session 4

In 2007 I just confessed I was Back from the Beach and Bloated. In 2006 I confessed as well. And finally 2005 was 1 month into weight loss, when I was taking a picture a month…

MAN! I love bloggingI It’s so much fun to peer back in time.

This year I’ve had no time to prepare any posts or set up auto twitter updates. I just need a break. I may post, I may not. I’m not making any promises. I have a feeling I’ll get bursts of inspiration here and there but I’m unsure if I’ll have the means to update.

I will, however, be on twitter and I’ll post a pic or two to the facebook page. My goal this vacation is to have fun, unwind and reeeelax. I want to run on the beach, play in the sand and swim in the ocean. It’s as simple as that. :)

I hope you all have a great weekend and week. I’ll be around/back with lots of pics and a full report. :)

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