Yesterday was a good day. I woke up, had coffee and breakfast (Trader Joe's granola w/almond cereal), did yoga for an hour, straightened up the house, and had some lunch (Thai chicken spring rolls). It was such a nice day out I decided to take the kids on a hike. I packed some snacks (strawberries, green grapes, protein bars, water...) and we headed out to China Camp beach where they have several beautiful trails. China Camp isn't my favorite place to hike but it was the closest. By the time we left the house it was already 2:30p, and I didn't want to spend an hour finding another place to hike online and then driving out there.
My older daughter did not want to go hiking. She is 13 years old and all she wants to do is stray home playing on her phone or computer. She complained while getting ready and tried to bargain with me by promising to not have any more screen time got for the whole rest of the day if i let her stay home. My younger daughter is the exact opposite. She is 7 and hates staying indoors. She loves being out and about even if we're doing something boring like errands.
It took us about ten minutes to drive to China Camp and, once there, we had a little trouble finding parking. My iPad weather app said it was 73 degrees out, a beautiful day for the beach. We found a parking spot down the road which actually worked out quite well since there was a trail two feet from our car. The first few minutes of our hike was spent making our way to the main trail. There wasn't much shade on this trail and the path was thin and rocky. My older daughter complained about the heat. I told her to just enjoy the fresh air. I also explained that the sunlight and fresh air is good for her, something that she started to realize.
Once we were on the main path my older daughter did a 180. The path was gorgeous and shady with a fresh breeze. The plants were beautiful shades of green and there were small colorful flowers sprinkled throughout. The air was amazing! It smelled so fresh and refreshing. I stopped to take a few deep breaths of air. The kids felt it too. My older daughter went from being grumpy and quite to excited and extremely chatty. We saw some hummingbirds, a large black beetle, and every few steps we took we saw lizards darting under some bushes or leaves. My younger daughter kept trying to catch a lizard but they were too quick.
We took a side path that led up to the top of a hill over looking the bay. There was little shade at the top of the hill so we made our way down back to the main path where we found a bench and sat down to have a snack. My older daughter and I had fresh strawberries while my younger daughter had a kid's Cliff bar called a "Z Bar".
After our snack we kept going on the trail for a little while longer before turning back and heading down. On the way back to the car the kids wanted to stop at the water and dip their feet in but we didn't have anything to dry them with and we still needed to walk the five minute hike back to the car. It's such a rocky terrain that going barefoot wasn't an option. We decided to hold off on going down to the beach and instead decided to get frozen yogurt on our way back into town. Unfortunately, while driving back I missed top he turn and we passed the market that sells frozen yogurt. By the time I noticed we had gone too far to turn back. My older daughter wanted a Slurpee from 7-11 so that's what we did. I got a rainbow sherbert fat-free push-up pop and my younger daughter got a glazed donut. Not the healthiest treat but since we don't do this very often I figured it was fine.
The rest of the day is not very exciting. We went to TJ-Maxx because my grandma suggested I go there to buy some canvas storage baskets. We then went to Ulta to buy some makeup but they wee closed (since it was Sunday and 6:30pm). The kids had been so good i decided to take them to Toys R Us where I let them each pick out a toy. They both opted for stuffed animals. The older one picked a German Sheppard and the younger one picked a jaguar. The last stop was Whole Foods where I bought a sirloin steak for dinner.
At home I barbeque the sirloin steak and served it with brown rice and green peas. Dinner was excellent. After dinner I was craving sugar so I ate a Sponge Bob push-up pop and then, when that didn't satisfy my craving, I ate a bowl of cereal. By the time I was done I was stuffed, too stuffed and I regretted eating the cereal. I have been over indulging with sugar lately and the cravings have started to get stronger again. I am going to have to dial it back down of else it will probably become a problem.
On a side note, an old friend of mine asked me for drinks next Saturday night. I've known him for over fifteen years so it should be really fun catching up. He lives 45 minutes away though so I'm not sure what his plan will be. I haven't been out in over a year so it should be fun. :)
-Marie
