I've been a bit negative lately

I went back and read my most recent blogs and I was like, "Wow! I've been really negative lately!" So I think it's time for a happier blog. The good news is that I did actually work out last night. I did a 30 minute video and used my Bosu ball instead of the step to make it a little more challenging. Using the Bosu brought me back to when I first started exercising and it was everything I could do to keep from falling off the step. The Bosu is pretty fun. I should work it into my routine more often. The bad news is that I ate french fries yesterday. I had to get the kids to two concerts at two different schools at the exact same time so I was a little rushed for dinner. We wound up at Burger King. I've got tonight's dinner all planned out so it won't happen again.

In other news.....


You know what I realized I haven't blogged about? For Sean's birthday a few weeks ago, we took a little trip and explored the National Parks of Northern Arizona. It was a blast and a half! Our San Diego friends, Dan and Tracy came out and rented a mini-van so we could all ride together. Friday morning we went to Tonto National Monument. It's really cool because you can hike right up to the cliff dwellings.



After Tonto, we had lunch in Payson, Arizona at the nastiest, grossest, dirtiest Burger King ever.

This sign was on the door:



Yeah, when I think "healthy dining", Burger King is the first place that comes to mind.

That afternoon, we drove out to Petrified Forest National Park. We all did the little Junior Ranger activity books so we could get Petrified Forest Junior Ranger patches and then we drove and hiked all over the park.

Here's a picture of Newspaper Rock:



Here's Emily on a giant petrified log:



Here's Nick:



Here's one of the Pronghorn Antelope we saw:



This petroglyph of a mountain lion was in one of the visitor centers:



We stayed at the park until it closed and one of the rangers started shooing us out. After a fabulous dinner at Taco Bell, we stayed the night in beautiful Holbrook, Arizona.

The next morning, we got up early and drove out to Hubbell Trading Post. It's the oldest continously operating trading post in the United States.

It's right next to this dinky little mormon church:



The picture really doesn't do it justice. It's seriously tiny.

Here's the actual Trading Post:



After that we hopped in the car and drove to Canyon de Chelly. It kind of sucked that you couldn't hike up to the ruins without hiring a Navajo guide but the canyon itself was amazing.



We grabbed some delicious sandwiches at Subway and consumed them in the car while we drove out to Navajo National Monument. We didn't get to hike out to the ruins there either. They do a guided hike with a ranger but they only do it in the morning so we missed out. They looked pretty cool through binoculars though.



That night we drove down to Flagstaff and stayed the night. We had dinner at the Coco's across the street from the hotel and when I sat down in the booth, there was a loose staple under the seat and it cut my leg. Then it took forever to get our food and most of it was cold. And they took forever to get me a bandaid. And then after all of that, the manager was surprised that we didn't think we should pay for our meal. But everything was all better the next morning because we spent it in the Grand Canyon! If you've never been to the Grand Canyon, you seriously need to go, because it's amazing. It doesn't even look real. You're standing there at the edge and you can't even wrap your brain around the sheer vastness of it. It looks like a painting. We did another group Junior Ranger adventure so we could earn patches. Emily now wants to hop a mule and go down to Phantom Ranch at the bottom of the canyon so she can get the special Junior Ranger patch just for kids who make it down there. We're already planning our next trip so we can spend more time there.

We found this sign amusing:



Pictures don't even do this place justice:



We saw like, four California Condors.



I remember when there were only four on the planet and the took them out of the wild and bred them at the San Diego Zoo. Now they're doing so well in the wild that they're considering taking them off the endangered species list. How awesome is that?

After the Grand Canyon (it was sad to leave, we could've stayed there for weeks), we went to Wupatki National Monument. It was totally cool. You get to explore the ruins there so that was cool. One of the really cool things there is this natural blow hole. There's this hole in the ground that has cold air blowing out of it. So the people who lived there (Emily called them "Wikipedians") built a little hut around it and it was like they had air conditioning. The blow hole was totally wild. It was one of the craziest things I've ever seen. It's basically this cavern underground and air gets sucked into it and then cools off and blows back out. It's totally freaky. You put your hand over it and there's seriously cold air blasting out.

Here's a picture of the ruins:



After Wupatki, we went to Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument. It wasn't as amazing as Mt. Saint Helens in Washington or Newberry Volcano in Oregon. But it was pretty neat.

Here's a picture we took:



Last we went to Walnut Canyon National Monument. Unfortunately, the trail to the cliff dwellings was closed. Back in December some giant boulders fell right at the entrance to the trail. They said they won't have it open again until at least September. So we had to be content with looking at them through binoculars. It was kind of a bummer.

Here's a picture:



After that we drove home. Even with Walnut Canyon mostly closed, we had an amazing weekend. It was only three days but it was one of the most fun vacations we've ever had. For our next adventure, we're going to San Diego over Memorial Day weekend.

Okay, here's my food and exercise log for yesterday:

B: oatmeal with blueberries, soymilk and flax seed
S: banana
L: Amy's frozen veggie loaf meal
S: apple
S: 1 slice of whole wheat bread with some leftover chickpea salad on it (chickpea salad was made with mashed chickpeas, onions, shredded carrots, chopped yellow bell peppers, kelp powder, veganaise and mustard, sounds weird but it's delish!)
D: Veggie burger & fries

Workout: Express Cardio using the Bosu Ball