... get fitter, eat healthier, drink less, have fun with the kids... DAY 30

Get Fitter

• Group Power class at the gym.
• 12km cycle at the gym.
• 2 hours of walking round Owlcatraz, not massively taxing but still activity and it was super hot which made it harder!

Calories burned - 550 at the gym.

Eat Healthier

• Weetbix for breakfast
• Picnic food for lunch; rolls, ham cheese, chutney, salad etc.
• A few spoonfuls of the pasta I made for the kids that they didn't eat for afternoon tea!
• Dinner out at family friends house. Lamb, chicken, salad, roast veggie, brown rice and prawns.

I may have eaten too much today! Oops, not much I can do about it today! Just have to work it all off tomorrow!

Drink Less (Alcohol, More Water)

• Dinner out as I mentioned so I have had a couple of small glasses of wine.
• 2 litres of water

Have Fun a with the Kids


We had a great day out at Owlcatraz. Not really sure how to describe it BUT the best way I can think to describe it is as a Bird and Animal Sancturay with a focus on owls and glow worms. To some this may sound boring but on both occasions we have been the sun has shone and we have had different guides all with great chat!

The fun for the kids today included;

• A trip into the old Shannon jail.
• A tour up through the farm to see

1. Roosters
2. Kune Kune pig
3. Ostrich
4. Deer
5. Goats
6. Ducks
7. Alpacas
8. Sheep
9. Rabbits
10. Guinea pigs
11. Cockatoo (Joey)
12. Glow Worms (this was just for the adults but most fun, I will do a blog about this separately, fascinating stuff)

• A tour of the Owl house.
• Picnic.
• Thomas the Tank Train Ride.
• Ice cream.

Like I say some people's worst nightmare but its a family run business and each animal has its own story and character as a result! Such a lovely warm, welcoming place. Maybe I'm getting older but I love it!

Mummy was again the photographer for the day so I will return with a post with some pictures and a blog about the Glow Worms!

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Kapiti Island Today 29/1/13

Today we have some lovely photography from my Mum! I packed them (Mum, my Stepdad and my Sister) off on a boat trip to Kapiti Island with strict instructions to return with pictures. Here they are ...

Kapiti Island from the boat before leaving this morning...

Kapiti Island up close and personal ...

Views for Kapiti Island ...

Meeting the intrepid travellers from the boat...

Three fried little Scottish skinned peeps! A great time had by all I think!

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... get fitter, eat healthier, drink less, have fun with the kids... DAY 29

Get Fitter

• Lovely Hubby and I did the Trig Run this morning! 2.6km up hill run/hike up to the highest point of Paraparaumu then a run back down! So, so, so hard but so good for you and on a day like today amazing panoramic views up and down the Kapiti Coast, across to Kapiti Island AND over to the South Island!
• The kids were at Day Care, the folks on a jaunt across to Kapiti Island and we're on holiday so we borrowed another kayak and went out for a paddle together before lunch. The tide was really high so much to my horror we ended up quite deep quite quick! Deeper than my paddle should go which is 218cm! Imagine my delight TERROR when a sand shark swam by! I know it's not going to do anything to me but that doesn't stop me screeching and paddling faster!

Calories burned - 500 on trig run. Not sure how much on kayak but a fair few by the time we lug them onto and off of the beach!

Eat Healthier

• I know I said I was having shakes for lunch and breakfast but given what I had a head of me I thought I better have something solid for Brekkie so I had some weetbix.
• Protein shake after run.
• Peanut butter and jam sandwich for lunch.
• Protein shake for afternoon tea.
• Chicken, courgette, pesto and Camembert parcels on the barbecue served with rice and asparagus.

Drink Less (Alcohol, More Water)

• A weak white wine spritzer has been consumed! This being a hostess is stressful!
• 2 litres of water.

Have Fun With The Kids

Feeling the joy of Mummy guilt today! We sent the kids to daycare despite not being at work! I can't actually remember the last time Lovely Hubby and I had a day to ourselves so we decided to be selfish!

We still managed a bit of fun with the Kids. We picked them up from Daycare early and went to meet Granny, Grandad and Aunty Katy from their boat trip and went for ice cream! Then Maisie helped daddy cook dinner, a (probably vain) attempt to get her to eat something new!

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Wordless Wednesday 30/1/13

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Kapiti Island Today 29/1/13

5.40pm ...

Taken from Raumati Beach again!

The troops and I spent a couple of hours on the beach in an attempt to get some respite from the heat!

A sweaty one today!

The yucky sweat dripping down your face kind of day!

Great to get down to the sea side where it's a bit cooler!

It may be slightly cooler but the sun is still super strong!

Think I may have even got a bt of sun on my legs!

Terrible example for a pharmacist to set BUT I've given up putting sunscreen on my legs!

They never seem to get any colour either way!

The tide was very low which makes Kapiti Island look real close!

Bit of a nuisance having to walk for ages to get into the sea!

I'll hopefully have some views looking from the Island tomorrow!

My crimbo pressie to Mum, Stepdad and Lil' Sis' was a trip over to the island!

Mumis primed to be my guest photographer for the day...

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... get fitter, eat healthier, drink less, have fun with the kids... DAY 28

No weigh in this week! I'm not at work so I have measured myself instead. So, so, so chuffed! Compared to 17 days ago I have lost 8.5cm. I measured my chest, arms, waist, bum and thighs. The smallest loss was 1cm and the biggest 3.5cm! *PHEW* thank goodness all this hard work hasn't been in vain!

Get Fitter

• 5.50 am Group Power class.
• 6km run with Lovely Hubby after class! I hated every minute! overly Hubby has a much faster pace than me so I felt like I was holding him back the whole way! I did manage an epic sprint finish though! I love doing that but I thought I was going to spew at the end!
• Managed a kayak session and sea swim this afternoon too! Quite scared of this sea swimming but I was brave and put on my goggles and put my head under! I still kept my eyes shut because it is yuck and murky! Not pleasant, I was swimming through seaweed! I kept screeching Lovely Hubby over as he was in the kayak near by! Not sure what was more scary the big bad sea or Lovely Hubbies attempts to ram me with the kayak!

Calories burned - upwards of 1300

Eat Healthier

• Protein shake with added banana and spinach for breakfast.
• Carrot and coriander soup for lunch.
• A couple of whole grain pita breads for afternoon tea.
• Sausages, potatoes and salad for dinner.

Drink Less (Alcohol, More Water)

• It's been a long day so I am having a pint of fizzy water with a splash of white wine in it!
  
• 2.5 litres of water.

Have Fun With The Kids

• All fun today has been supplied by the Lovely Granny, Grandad and Aunty Katy!

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Kapiti Island Today 28/1/13

5.50pm ...

Taken from Raumati Beach! Apologies to the lovely family photo bombing my picture!

The Kapiti Region is going to be basking in glorious sunshine for the week! Perfect for the arrival of my parents!

I reckon they will be bored of the beach by the end of the week but we must make the most of it before the weather changes!

Lovely Hubby and I went for a swim while Granny and Grandad played with the babies and Hound on the shore!

Funnily enough they are finding it hotter here than they did in OZ over the weekend! But it was a bit breezy at the beach so they weren't tempting to swim themselves!

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... get fitter, eat healthier, drink less, have fun with the kids... DAY 27

Mummy is here! I will endeavour to post daily but family fun and catch ups may get in the way! Hence my posts may well be to the point and functional!

Get Fitter

• 2.35km walk to Daycare with The Cherubs in the pram! Bloody hell despite only walking I was a sweaty mess on arrival! Tad embarrassing when the Daycare ladies asked if I had ran there!
• 5km run home after Daycare drop off! Felt like I could run forever! Amazing what a few days off does for you!
• Lovely Hubby had a swim in the sea while Mum and Stepdad watched the bairns! We didn't swim far but whoa it's hard swimming with waves crashing into your face and the tide washing you into the shallow waters! Pooped my pants and yelled for help when my foot came in contact with something rather sharp on the sea bed! I was rather disappointed by Lovely Hubbies slow non existent response! No worries though, I expected my foot to be pouring with blood but there was no marks!

Calories Burned ... 700

Eat Healthier

• Protein shake for breakfast (and Archie's left over weetbix) (not a spelling mistake they call weetabix weetbix here in N.Z).
• Toast with peanut butter and jelly plus protein shake at lunch.
• Small morsel of biltong before dinner.
• Steak, potatoes and salad for dinner.

Drink Less (Alcohol, more water)

• Reunited with Mummy after nearly 1 year I think I'm allowed some bubbles! No!!! Well I'm having them anyway!
• 1.5 litres of water.

Have Fun With The Kids

The fun was supplied solely by the second Christmas brought from Scotland by Granny and Grandad! I'm not sure I will get much of a look in for the next 7 weeks! This evenings fun ...

• Granny and Grandad picking The Cherubs up from daycare.
• Playing at the beach with Grandad.
• Opening pressies from Scotland with Granny and Grandad.
• Reading new story books with Granny and Grandad.
• Having bubbles with Granny and Grandad (fizzy water).
• Doing jigsaws with Granny.

Poor Archie has had no fun! Unfortunately he is not keen on his Granny and Grandad! He has been particularly stupid since they arrived! He has cried and cried and cried some more! Not sure what his problem is but god forbid they look at him! Hopefully he will be better tomorrow otherwise him and Granny will NOT get on!

Must get to bed! Bubbles and a late night will not make my 5.50am gym class particularly enjoyable....

Linking up to Pinkoddy and A Party Of Seven for Motivational Monday!

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Meal Planning Monday 28/1/13

A difficult meal planning week ahead! My Mum and Stepdad arrive for a holiday (*whoops with delight inside*). Lovely Hubby, Lil' Sis' and I are all on holiday for a week for the occasion (it's been a year since we last saw them!). The weather looks like it is going to be amazing! (Fingers crossed the awesome weather will tempt them further to retire here!). If the weather is as its meant to be the barbecue will have a good innings this week!

So what I'm trying to say is we have no official meal plan but I think this weeks eating will involve some of the following ...

• Chicken kebabs and rice. We'll pop some peppers, mushrooms, courgettes and cherry tomatoes on the skewers along with the chicken.
• Sausages and salad.
• Steak, baked potato and corn on the cob.
• Lentil Dahl with rice.

I won't plan any further. That's a good start. The folks might have their own ideas and we may eat out a couple of nights!

Linking up to Mrs M ...

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... get fitter, eat healthier, drink less, have fun with the kids... DAY 26

Oops this weekend has been a bit of a fail with regard to my 'new year, new me!'. The Cherubs and I have been on a jaunt up to Auckland to see our very, very good chums The Donnelly's for the weekend ...

Get Fitter

Eeeeeek! Zero exercise. We intended a sea swim but it was too cold! I got a good upper body workout lugging Archie on and off the plane but that was it! I have big plans this week to make up for it though so fingers crossed I can make up for lost ground!

Eat Healthier

The Donnelly's are healthy eaters compared to us anyway so I probably ate better than I would have at home!

• Delicious chickpea curry on friday night
• Smoothie for Brekkie, rice and tuna and rice for lunch and sausage sand salad for dinner on Saturday.
• Fried breakfast in the barbecue for brunch on Sunday ( a bit naughty but fried eggs on the barbecue are worth it WOW!)

Drink Less (Alcohol, More Water)

• I had bubbles on Friday night AND bubbles and wine on Saturday night! Very, very bad but I've not seen these guys since September! It would have been rude not to!
• I'm not sure how much water I've had but I've had some, maybe about 1.5 litres per day!

Have Fun With The Kids

• Took Baby Archie on his first plane trip.
• Took Lady Maisie on a plane to see her best friend.
• Let Archie coat himself in sand at the beach.

I wasn't required to provide much more fun, it was provided by our hosts! Maisie got to play with her best friend what more could she want and Archie got to eat food in a different house, what more could he want!

Mummy arrives tomorrow BUT I am in holiday too so no excuse not to get right back on the wagon!

I will have bubbles to celebrate their arrival but that will be it till the weekend.

As for exercise I have big plans which I will of course share as it happens!

I think I will have a smoothie for breakfast and lunch each day this week!

And I will be of no use with regard to fun as for this week no one will trump Granny and Grandad as far as fun is concerned ...

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Silent Sunday 27/1/13

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Rangitoto Island Today 26/1/13

10.15am...

Bit of a change of scenery for you guys today!  The view today is from Takapuna Beach (Auckland) out to Rangitoto Island!  The island is a dormant volcano!  Can you tell?!?! 

A normally nice calm beach but it was very windy today!  If you strain your peepers you can see a line of sail boats across the bottom of the island!  

Its so fancy up in Auckland they even

have lifeguards in their beaches!

#Saturday Is Caption Day 26/1/13

It's caption time folks!  Captioning from sunny Auckland this week!  Can you think up a caption for this pair of trampoline maniacs!?!?

Linking up to another maniac (jokes (kind of)) Mammasaurus 

F.Y.I trampolining is best when one is wearing jammies!

... get fitter, eat healthier, drink less, have fun with the kids... DAY 23

Fantastic little flow chart here! You can't really argue with it! Perhaps one for the fridge door or visible from the sofa!

Get Fitter

• Group Power class at the crack of dawn! First time I have seriously thought about turning the alarm off and going back to sleep since I started this thing! I battled on though and even put my weights up!
• We went for another Team Simpson Walk/jog/run like we did on Tuesday. Tuesday we did it in 40 minutes, today we did it in 30 minutes! Quite nice having the whole family along for the fun!

Calories Burned - 650

Eat Healthier

• Just a plain protein shake with spirulina (etc) powder for breakfast.
• Morning tea of rice crackers with vegemite and peanut butter ( not mixed together, separate!).
• Peanut butter and jam toast for lunch! Until 2 weeks ago this would have horrified me but I tried one of Archie's floor scraps and quite liked it!
• Rice crackers and vegemite for afternoon tea.
• Chilli, rice, re fried beans and tacos for dinner (yes the same as last night, what can I say we're creatures of habit).

Drink Less (Alcohol, More Water)

• Zero alcohol despite Lovely Hubbies best efforts! I mentioned I fancied a glass of wine so he kept offering me one but I will just have my bedtime cup of tea instead.
• 2.5 litres of water.

Have Fun With The Kids


The Cherubs were at home with Daddy today while I was at work so they would have had all sorts of fun doing things I won't let them! For example Maisie had her playdoh out! It terrifies me, it gets everywhere so she's not had it out for ages but she must have been a good girl for Daddy to let her have it! Daddy also got her a DVD to watch! He had little Archie practicing his walking all day! Not sure he would find that fun but it sure has tired him out!

We managed to squeeze in some family fun (and exercise as mentioned above) with another family run thought the park (same as we did on Tuesday) Maisie loves it but she gives a running (pardon the pun) commentary but its really hard to talk back when you barely have any breath to breathe never mind to talk! Archie just chills out in the back of the buggy peeking out every no and again to see where we are!

So tomorrow's Friday. My rest day! I was going to squeeze something in in the morning but ill be doing my last buts of lacking for my weekend trip so maybe a bit too much! I was ready for a lazy Saturday in Auckland too but my friend I'm visiting is keen to do something on Saturday too otherwise I will get back on it on Sunday ...

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Kapiti Island Today 23/1/13

6pm ...

Taken from good old Queen Elizabeth Park on the Kapiti Coast again! Another family run though the dunes tonight! Great stuff!

There won't be any 'Kapiti Island Today' for a couple of days! The Cherubs and I are off up to Auckland to visit chums for the weekend! We'll have to find a beautiful view to post about up there!

Man it's getting windy, hope it dies down for our flight out of here! It's going to be crazy enough flying solo with The cherubs. Glad it's a short flight! Hopefully the excitement will distract them both and we'll be there before we know it and we'll have lovely chums to be reunited with at the other end ... Then when we get back its one sleep until Mummy and Ian arrive! Woo hoo! They are making their way to OZ as we speak. Heathrow got their act together and they made it out of the country despite the SNOW!!!!!! First stop Oz for a wedding and to see my little brother then on to NZ to see us lot of hoodlums! Yaaaassssss!!!!!!!

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... get fitter, eat healthier, drink less, have fun with the kids... DAY 22

Get Fitter

• Squeezed in an early swim this morning. 1km, 40 laps. Lovely Hubby has a bike ride planned with a chum at 7am so I had to get out early. We had to be super organised and work as a team to get ourselves, the kids and the packed lunches done and out the door or time! We did it though and were actually a teeny tiny bit early!
• I learned a lot at work today! Imagine if how hard you worked your brain burned calories!

Eat Healthier

• I tried oats and protein powder with water in the microwave for Brekkie! Think it may be an acquired taste!
• 2 rice crackers with peanut butter and 2 with vegemite for morning tea and afternoon tea.
• Tuna mayo sandwich for lunch.
• Chilli con carne, rice and tacos for dinner.

Drink Less (Alcohol, More Water)

• Zero alcohol.
• 2 litres of water.

Have Fun With The Kids

• Usually Lovely Hubby does most of the work with the kids in the morning but it was all up to me today as he was out galavanting on his bike. Archie and I had great fun. I sang and danced for him while he ate some cereal and I tidied the kitchen. He thought it was hilarious and burbled away with me! Maisie wasn't in the mood for fun this morning, I don't blame her, mornings are hideous!
• Maisie and I packed the bags for our trip at the weekend. I have a little flowery suitcase called Maisie (it's got a name badge in the front, I don't call it Maisie!). She doesn't know it says that but she knows its her case!
• Maisie picked her own dinner and helped me make it and tidy up. Clever girl picked fish, potatoes and broccoli! So out of character this good eating might not last long but i'll take it while I can get it!

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Kapiti Island Today 23/1/13

5.55 am ...

Not the best quality picture! Its was the crack of dawn! Not great for iphone pictures! It looks like I will have to take my real (held together by a thread) camera if I'm to get decent early morning pictures! It won't be long and it will be pitch black first thing and I won't be able to even see Kapiti Island!

Today's picture was taken from Raumati Beach while I was waiting for the swimming pool to open! Nothing like an early morning swim to wake you up! Only problem with this early morning exercise is that I'm ready for my bed once the 'get the kids to daycare' routine is finished!

I always imagine I will be the only one crazy enough to be doing something like swimming, running or going to the gym at stupid o'clock but no there always seem to be an annoyingly large amount of people in the pool, at the beach or in the gym with me!

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Wordless Wednesday 23/1/13

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