One Down, Five To Go!

Well, week 1 of 6 is over, and boy does it feel good! Time is flying by and dragging at the same time. When I think of Dan and the kids and start missing them, time really seems to be dragging its feet. But when I think of the fact that one week is already over and I only have 5 more to get my butt into shape, I start to panic!! Well, the continue to stress here how this is just a first step, and people see real progress after they go home and are able to maintain the "program" of daily exercise, and a very healthy diet that they work on teaching us here. I know it doesn't end when I fly home, but I still want to get back into those Seven for all Mankind jeans sitting in my closet at home sooner rather than later!!

So week 1 was filled with the following activities: Tennis, Body Burn, Zumba, Pi-Yo, Kickboxing, Water Aerobics (including under-water kickboxing), Boogie Boarding, Snorkeling, Kayaking, daily morning beach walks at 6am to wake us up, and running to train for my first 5K I will be participating in in Coranado on the Fourth of July.

I can't wait to see what's in store for me this week!!

A couple of useful websites

We had a speaker today that was a "sucess story" from the 2007 camp, who lost 35 pounds during her stay here, and another 57 pounds after going home, for a total of 92 pounds. She was talking about how to continue being sucessful with weight loss after we leave this handy little "bubble" of a world we're living in right now, and she gave us a few of her favorite webistes. These two are my favorites of those that she listed, I've been browsing around them tonight, and you may want to as well:

www.dietfacts.com - go to the restaurants link to find healthy choices to eat at all your favorite spots.

www.hungry-girl.com - lots of fun discussions to navigate around, and don't forget to look up more info on soy crumbles here!!

Happy surfing! -Karen.

Soy Crumbles

Okay, so today's lunch was a burrito. Wait, don't get too excited, it wasn't of course any cheesy nummy Anita's burrito. This was fat camp burrito!! Whole wheat tortilla, a dash of rice, and your choice of a lot of black beans, a little chicken or a lot of ground-beef-style "soy crumbles" instead of ground beef.

Maybe it's my lack of food with real grease to it for 5 days now, but these soy crumbles sure tasted like the real thing, and it is SO good for you. Go down to whole foods or trader jos, pick up some, and give it a shot! you will be happily surprised! Don't tell your family that you're making the switch and see if they notice!!

There, healthy eating tip of the week! :)
Tootles! -Karen.

Alli's CompEter

Alli received a toddler-geared computer for her birthday, she refers to it with the emphasis on the 'E' - "compEEter". 2 seconds after this picture was taken, she packs it up and walks out the door saying "I'm going to work. My work is out there." as she walks out into the hallway.

Just like Daddy!

underwater kickboxing!

Greetings from Camp La Jolla!
Sorry I haven't sent any updates until now, we just got our computer access all figured out today. A lot of logistics to get figured out the first day or two, but we are in the full swing of things today. One of the most "different" things I have tried so far was underwater kickboxing. Who woulda thought?! Water is 14 times more resistent than air, so you really feel it. Plus you get a good tan while doing it!

Another neat thing is we get to pick a different schedule every week, so you're always doing something fun and you don't have time to get bored with it.

We're limited to 1200 calories/day but somehow the manage to make it tasty and you never feel hungry, I think because you're just running around too much...

Meeting some really fun people in the process, and the counselors and instructors are all awesome and inspiring. Anyway, more later ... just returned from snorkeling and have to get ready for dinner. Going to a Nike Tennis camp from 7-9 tonight.

TTFN! ~Karen.

Pictures from Alli's Birthday Party

Sorry I hadn't gotten to these yet!
Here are some fun pictures from Allison's 3rd birthday party!



Alli's First Guitar!

My Nemo Cake!












Family
Portrait








This Cell phone
doesn't have
very good reception!












Tyler helping
Alli reach her presents!









Charlie, hammin' it up!










The beautiful,
happy, birthday girl!

Domeboro

Poor Charlie. Poor, poor Charlie!

He's having a rough month as far as diaper rash goes. Age old solution passed down through the generations, that my doctor hadn't even heard of, soak him in Domeboro solution 3 times a day for 30 minutes at a time, for a week. UGH! But thankfully it seems to be helping. Here's the boy enjoying his 'Sitz Bath', much like Mommy did after each of her baby deliveries.

TMI!! TMI!!

My Girls

Wow, time flies when you're trying to prepare for leaving your family for 6 weeks! I can't believe it has been almost 2 weeks since my last post, my apologies! A few nights ago the girls and I checked out the new Elephant Bar restaurant to 'celebrate' me leaving for the summer. We had a great night out, though a couple of the squad couldn't make it, and we missed you.

Hana, Nyree, Jen, and Kay -- thanks girls!!

I'll miss you guys so much over the summer, and looking forward to some crazy nights ahead when I get back!

Mr. Personality

Charlie at the park.
Mmmm... maybe
this football will
satisfy my appetite!






Yeah, you see me.
I'm so cool ... I
know you think so
too!







Okay, I'm 8 months,
and I don't want to crawl.
I'm just going to walk.
See, I don't even want to
hold on anymore!

Party Girl

Alli had a fun-filled weekend starting with a BBQ on Friday night with her buddy Kai, followed by birthday parties for her buddies Sean and Jason. Phew! Here are some pics showing how much fun she had!


Running at the playground

Swinging with Kai














"Alone Time"
with Kai. Ahem!







Bubbles!!
Phew! Sean's
party wiped
me out!!

Standing Alone and Matching PJs

Charlie showing off his new
skill of standing alone
(and starting to walk along while
holding onto things like chair,
train table, etc.).

Both of them showing
off their new matching
Tigger PJs!

Breakfast In Bed

Tuesdays are our one unplanned days of the week, so we always enjoy a lazy morning at home in our Jammies. This week, that resulted in breakfast in bed watching Veggie Tales ... Spoiled? Naahhhhh...

First Roller Coaster Ride... !

... okay, so it was simulated, but Kate and Alli had a ball on the Roller Coaster game ride thing-a-ma-bob at the pizza joint tonight. The video screen showed what it would look like going up, down, loop-ti-loop on a roller coaster, and the seat moved and jerked with it. They thought that was the best thing ever. They even raised their hands up in the air when they went down a hill. Look Mom, no hands!! Magic Mountain, here we come!!

Busy weekend!

Alli adds vacuuming to the list of chores she voluntarily does for me. This doesn't break any child labor laws for her to be doing this at age 2, does it?!







She has taken to showers over baths, and
here she is wrapped
up in a towel afterwards,
feeling silly...






The soft football is now Charlie's favorite teething toy ...













And here he is wiping his own nose so
Mommy can literally just sit back and sip on Diet Coke all day long while the children take care of themselves and keep house!! :)









Whatta life!