Amish Adventures

When I told my mom my great idea to "Spend 4th of July with the Amish" she thought I was kidding - but I was serious!  And it turned out to be a really nice weekend!

 

We left Friday morning and met Erin, Andy and Hendrick for lunch.  Then the six of us spent the day together going though all the little shops in Berlin.  Lyla decided Andy is her boyfriend and wouldn't leave his side!  And Hendrick was just a happy little guy all day long.

Before they left to head back we decided to take some pictures.  Lyla is our official photo bomber!!

We stayed at the Berlin Resort which was really nice.  They even had a perfect room for us to keep Lyla in:

 

Just kidding..... This is just one of the little playhouses in their village.  They had the jail, dance studio, movie theater, grocery store, art studio... So cute!  Lyla and I played down there for a while Saturday morning.

They also had two little John Deere bikes the kids could ride.

And a little church where Lyla taught us right from wrong...

 

We started the day Saturday at a cute little coffee shop where Lyla got a smoothie.  Then we walked around the shops some more since there were a lot less crowded than they were on Friday.

We found a local winery that was really nice.

We went to Sugarcreek to see the cuckoo clock.

After lunch I took Gary and Lyla to my favorite grocery store.  Any grocery store that you can eat an ice cream cone while you shop is #1 in my book!  Then we went back and hung out at the hotel for a while before going to see the fireworks.

They had all of these bouncy houses, face painting and different activities that were free for the kids.  Including this human bowling ball:

 

And a mechanical bull!  I told Lyla - "mommy has done this before too".... lol

 

 

Overall we had a very nice little weekend getaway!  Now we are back to reality.

WLW - Week #24

Starting Weight:  155 lbs
Today’s Weight:  133.6 lbs
Total Loss:  21.4 lbs

I did great hitting my 8,000 steps every day last week.  I was going to bump it to 9,000 this week, but so far this whole week has just fallen apart as far as my exercise & eating go. I'm hoping I can get back on track today. Then Friday, Saturday and Sunday we will be gone on our mini-vacation so who knows what will happen those days!  But I've promised myself no matter what come Sunday I'm back on track. Starting Sunday I'm doing 9,000 steps a day!  And Monday back to my good eating habits and calorie counting. I've worked really hard & deserve a little break. But I've also worked too hard to throw it all away. 

Lyla's Preschool Graduation

It was a big day for Lyla!  She had her preschool graduation this afternoon! 

Carter Cuddles

Having a nephew is pretty wonderful!

WLW - Week #23

Starting Weight:  155 lbs
Today’s Weight:  132.8 lbs
Total Loss:   22.2 lbs

I'm exactly where I was last Wednesday which is A-Okay with me!  :)

I was successful with doing at least 7,000 steps every day last week and I have done really well getting at least 8,000 every day this week so far.  Monday I actually had 11,000!  That was 100% thanks to Lyla and her bike!  We made countless laps back and forth in front of the house Monday evening, her on her bike, me following behind on foot!   And yesterday I hit 9,000 thanks to shopping with Ashley! 

Don't Blink

I finally brought my new 5x7 picture of Lyla to work to put in my frame on my desk.  I couldn't get the back to go on and decided... its probably time to take the old pictures out.  There were too many in there to get the back to close.  Want to talk about a walk down memory lane???

 

I also decided that I need to get more frames because I have ZERO interest in replacing the picture from Erin's wedding.  That is my favorite picture of Lyla. 

 

Pictures bring back so many memories. 

 

That first one of me holding her, she was 6 weeks old.  Gary and I took her to get pictures.  We spent a fortune on them. 

 

Then the one of the three of us.  She was 5 1/2  months old.  We couldn't get her to sit up on her own for any of the pictures, so we tried to prop her up in the ones where she was by herself.  Then of course the following week she starts sitting up on her own without any issues!

 

The one of her with the blue clip and blue ruffle shirt... that was her one year old picture.  The only time we didn't buy the CD of all the pictures.  I regret that, they were some of the cutest ones!  I loved her hair then!  All the curls and it was still short so it was just all kinds of crazy! 

 

Then the plaid dress.  That was her two year old picture.  I took her to the playground and pretended to be a photographer and took them myself.  We had so much fun just letting her run around and play.  She was so happy they all came out really good!

 

The blue dress is when she was three years old.  I played photographer again and took pictures on my own at my mom and dad's house.  I always loved the way the light came in the window over her in that picture.  And her HAIR.... she changed so much in looks and personality from two to three. 

 

The black and gold dress she got as a Christmas present from Maria.  We didn't go anywhere over Christmas that warranted wearing a fancy dress so on New Years Day we got up in the morning and took her to get pictures in her fancy dress.  She was three and a half.

 

And then there was an epic fail at any good pictures to document her being four years old! 

 

So I took her to get pictures for five years and that's the new one in the frame.  Plus the other frame of her at Erin's wedding (3 years old).  And yes, I cropped Erin out of that picture.....  ;)

WLW - Week #22

Starting Weight:  155 lbs
Today’s Weight:  132.8 lbs
Total Loss:   22.2 lbs

Its the week of 2s.... Week #22 and lost 22.2 pounds....  :)

I'm kind of on a weird cycle of gaining weight every weekend and losing it every week between.  I'm not overly concerned though.  As long as I keep going back down during the week.  When that stops, there is a problem.  But its summertime and I want to enjoy my weekends.  I'm drinking, I'm having ice cream with Lyla, eating at cookouts.  I'm living my life and being conscious while doing it, but not overly obsessed with the calories.  I save that for Monday thru Friday.  Like I said before, I'm glad I started all of this when I did.  I got a great jump start on things while it was winter and life was boring. 

I was able to do at least 6,000 steps every day last week.  So far this week I have succeeded in doing at least 7,000 every day.  Hopefully next week I can do 8,000!