Family Vacation

I didn’t weigh in at Weight Watchers last week to test the “true” results of my new plan, but with good reason–I was on vacation! 🙂  Our whole family went to Illinois to visit my parents, and most of my siblings were there for a mini-family reunion. (My sister, unfortunately, was unable to come as she is still recuperating from her surgery…but her son and husband came, and my nephew even brought a friend!) So, today’s post is a recap with lots of pictures!

We left Wednesday morning, and it was just me and the boys (my husband flew in Thursday because he had to work Wednesday night).  This is how our trip started…

 

 

That’s an over-turned fifth wheel, blocking all (two) lanes on the toll road in Indiana.  We were just half a mile behind it, and we were stopped–literally–for an hour. 😛 We saw people playing catch with a football and sitting on top of their cars…that’s how much time we had to kill.  I saw no ambulances, just several big tow-trucks, so we think everyone was okay.

By the time we got there, we were late for my parents “pre-Fourth” barbecue, but we made it and I got to hang out with my siblings.

 

 

Do we look related? 😉 We also got to see the fireworks my dad shot off.

 

 

Until the cops came.  Really, they did! Turns out, it’s illegal to shoot off fireworks in Illinois!  But my dad was let off with a stern warning. (And I daresay he’ll do it again next year. 😉 )  My dad took the boys overnight and I went back to the hotel…all by myself!  I was upgraded to a suite (sweet!), and I didn’t know what to do with all the room!  I even had my choice of beds, lol!

 

 

The next day, July 3rd, was a family trip to Six Flags.  My brother and my son JJ had a blast on the Go-Karts, where they not only beat my dad and other nephew, they beat everyone and took first place!

 

 

Later, JJ and my nephew (aged 6) went on a kiddie roller coaster.

 

 

Love his big open mouth in that shot. 😉  We had lunch, and then my dad took both boys on a log ride.

 

 

They got so wet. The kids were thrilled.  My dad, less so.

I didn’t actually see Jamie too much at the park.  He and my niece and nephews (all teenagers) spent the day going from one “big” coaster to another.  Here’s one they road.

 

 

That was actually a tame one!  Meanwhile, I took my two youngest nephews to the water park area, and I spent two hours walking around to all the different slides and climbing to the top over…and over…and over…!  Then JJ asked me to go on one of the “tube” rides.  He tricked me, though.  He was supposed to go on the easier one, but instead went up to the top level and did the Mega Wedgie.  The one with the 40-foot straight drop through a trap door.  Dude!!  I saw a lot of people go up there and then chicken out, but not my son. He shocked me with his stupidity bravery, and he loved every minute of it. He got a big scrape on his leg, a “battle scar” which he proudly shows off.  😛

The next morning, Jamie and I got up early to celebrate our independence by doing a local 5k race. 

 

As it turns out, there are a lot of hills in this area of Illinois!  Jamie was tired from both the hills and the previous day’s walking at the amusement park, but we finished.

 

 

 

It wasn’t his best time, but all that matters is that he got up and ran…none of my other family members did that!  Well, except for JJ, sort of.  When he found out there was a kids’ half-mile run, he asked if he could do it.  It was free, so I said, “Why not?”  One of his first races was actually a 1/2 mile run last year about this time, and it was quite a struggle for him, especially at the end.  He kind of whined about it afterward. 😉  This year was a different story.  He was excited about the run, and he was determined to finish well.

 

 

 

He wasn’t in the lead, but he finished in the top third for sure, and the important thing is that he gave it his all and ran really strong!

After our 5k, we went to a local water park. (Because we clearly weren’t tired enough from a day at the amusement park and then a 5k!)  The kids had a blast, and my dad even got me to go down  one more water slide.  (I’m not a big ride person.)

 

 

After that, it was off to watch the local fireworks.  My brother and I got all dressed up for it.

 

 

And I took a couple of pictures.  😉 (I actually took a couple hundred, but I’ll spare you by only showing a few.)

 

 

 

 

The next morning, I ran six miles…because technically, I had a 10k on my training plan.  I ran along a main road for a mile (had to jump over a downed power line that was draped across the road, which I thought was odd…it didn’t seem to be live, though!).  Then I ran along a nice path for a while.

 

 

The sunrise was nice.

 

 

The sun rises SO early in Chicago!  I did a simple out and back, and on the way out, it seemed rather easy, and then I realized that I was heading toward the Des Plaines River, which meant I was on a subtle decline.

 

 

And that meant I would have a subtle incline all the way back. :/  I survived, but it was a bit challenging.  And then, just a quarter mile from my hotel, I experienced a first:

 

 

I was stopped by a police barricade!  I got yelled at by a fireman when I tried to keep running past, so I stopped abruptly and waited.  At first, I couldn’t see anything, and I worried that someone might have gotten hit by a car, and they were lying on the road on the other side of the police car.  But then I saw 2 cops and 2 firefighters gingerly removing…wait for it…that power line I hopped over an hour earlier!  LOL!  It was, indeed, not live.  They finally let me go, and they all joked as I ran past, “Run faster! You have to make up for the lost time!”  😉

We had a more relaxing day on Saturday, and then we drove home Sunday.  It was a fun family vacation!

But let’s talk about food for a minute, shall we?  Barbecues and healthy eating don’t really go hand-in-hand.  My options this weekend were lots of hamburgers and hot dogs (at my parents’, at the amusement park, at the water park), and you know we aren’t talking lean ground beef or reduced fat hot dogs. :/  I’m actually not a huge hot dog fan, but although I do like hamburgers, I won’t eat the cheap meat that you usually get at barbecues and fairs. (The stuff my dad had for his barbecue was 22% fat–and that was dinner two nights in a row!)

Because my choices weren’t ideal, I spent nearly the whole weekend eating…salads. 😛 Don’t get me wrong, I love salad, but even I get sick of it.  I had brought food and was able to eat my usual breakfast (cappuccino with skim milk and a multi-grain English muffin), but my lunches and dinners from Wednesday to Sunday consisted of:

Wednesday:

Lunch: Salad

Dinner: Salad

Thursday:

Lunch: Salad

Dinner: Salad

Friday:

Lunch: Soft pretzel

Dinner: Chicken wings (skin removed) and salad

Saturday:

Lunch:  Greek yogurt and banana

Dinner: Shrimp fajitas (the highlight of my trip, food-wise!)

Sunday:

Lunch: Salad

Dinner:  Shrimp and brown rice (made at home)

 

So, 6 of my 10 main meals were (or included) salad.  Dude. That’s a lot of salad. :/  I only had one glass of wine all weekend (what the…?!), but I did get some birthday cake on Saturday when we celebrated my niece’s birthday, so, yum.  We walked a lot, as you can imagine, plus I ran 9 miles, and I figured with all that salad I’d eaten, I had done a good job this weekend diet-wise.  I maintained the plan I’d started last week, logging every treat as part of the weeklies, getting all my 29 daily points from “real” food, and doing my best to get in my Good Health Guidelines. (I’d say I was 85% on that front.)   I actually ended up using  only 16 of my 43 activity points, but a lot of that was walking around the parks, which I tracked in my eTools, but wasn’t sure it was “real.”

So, after all that…

 

 

I gained 2.6 pounds.  Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.  Needless to say, I’m not too sold on the “new” plan, but I’m going to continue it through at least Wednesday, when I’ll weigh in again at the center and see what Glenda has to say.  I swear, if I gain weight, I’m going to make her pay my “over goal” fee. :/

Regardless of what the scale said this morning, I did have a great vacation, and that’s what matters, right? 🙂

Thanks for reading!