Feelin’ Crabby

Yesterday was the definition of compromise.  I wanted to go to the beach and relax by the pool, while Philip wanted to go fishing and crabbing. All in all, my very smart parents decided to spend half of the day at the beach and pool and the rest of the day fishing and crabbing. (If they had chosen one thing over the other it would have been an all-out war between Philip and I.)

We decided to go to the pool first. You wanna know why? Because the ocean looked like this ↓

Everyone out of the water!

No one knew what was going on! We had a few guesses as to what was happening, including:

• SHARKS!
• A rescue
• Lightning (Unlikely, it was blue skies!)
• Jellyfish
• Rip currents
• Crabs
• Someone got sick
• Fish

We had a hunch it was the last one after we saw this in the water. ↓

Do you see the U-shaped formation of bubbles in the water? We figured it was a school of fish, but who knows? (I don’t that’s for sure. *wink-wink*)

Anyways…

We swam for a bit in the hotel pools (Yes, pools they actually have 5!) and once we saw everyone was back  in the ocean we headed over.

The waves were huge – we were jumping over them, dunking under them, and wiping out…a lot! It was so much fun! (Although, once we went out too far and could really feel the current – it was dragging us out!)  Eventually, the beach fun had to end and the crab fun had to begin, so we packed up, got changed, and headed out to the fishing spots.

Mom and Dad

Philip

A crab that was too small.

After going a while without catching any ”keepers” we decided to start fishing. (And by that I mean Philip fishing, giving up, me fishing, then him wanting his pole back.)

I caught a flounder on the first cast!

Me and My Flounder

I had to throw the flounder back because it was only 12 inches and the minimum length to keep them is 14 inches. I was still pretty proud because I was the only one in our family to catch any fish.

At the end of the day we left with two 5-inch crabs which we boiled up and had for a snack. I’ll admit I wasn’t exactly looking forward to fishing and crabbing, but once we got started I didn’t want to leave! What a great decision by Mom and Dad!

Greetings From Myrtle Beach!

I really wish I could stay in Myrtle Beach forever! There is so much to do and so many sights to see! Yesterday we checked out possible fishing and crabbing locations.

Even fishing holes in Myrtle Beach are beautiful! ↓

He must be Mr. Seagull’s cousin!

In addition to beautiful sights, we also saw some beautiful critters…

↑Some blue claw crabs – over 5 inches from tip to tip. (In NJ the minimum length is 4.5 inches, but in SC it is 5 inches.)

You should have seen the crowd of 10 adults playing around with this baby crab. You also should have seen how many people (like me) were giving this crablet a photo shoot.

↑ My Mom poking the baby crab.

↑ A very sick pelican. It kept eating (and…um…upchucking…) various types of bait. I got away from him ASAP.

↑ Little sand crabs. I saw them at a bait shop – I guess some people use crabs for bait? For what, I have no idea.

_____

There are still a lot  more places to be and more sights too see! Now I am going out to breakfast with the family, then to  the beach, and then we are going fishing and crabbing. Woohoo!

Questions of the Day:

1. Have you ever been to Myrtle Beach? Any good restaurants/shops you have been to?
2. Have you ever been sea fishing?

A Trip To The Corral

Hey Bloggies!

Not that I am making excuses or anything, but the WiFi at our hotel sucks is really bad. Of course, it probably doesn’t help that we are on the 8th floor.

Anyways…Here’s what my first full day of vacation looked like:

Breakfast was an Arnold‘s Sandwich Thin smeared with SunButter.

This was the first time I ever had SunButter. Overall, I would say the SunButter is good, but it’s not taking the place of peanut butter anytime soon.

I also got a tall iced coffee from the Starbucks across the street from our hotel. I even got two pumps of sugar free vanilla syrup in it! ← YUM!

After breakfast we were going to go to the beach, but it was filled with jellyfish so we stuck to the pool. Our cousins from Canada are also staying at the hotel so there was never a dull moment.

After a while we went back to the room for lunch. I made myself a grilled chicken sandwich with swiss cheese topped with salsa. I also had a side of baby carrots.

After lunch we (the kids) returned to the pool and swam while the adults tried to decide on a place to meet up for dinner.

The adults couldn’t have decided on a better place for dinner…GOLDEN CORRAL!

(I first discovered Golden Corral last September while we were in Maryland for one of Philip’s baseball tournaments and I loved it! I just have a small problem with portion control…)

In order to help with my portion control problem I decided to set a limit of many plates I would take I told myself I would stick to 3 plates including dessert.

Plate #1

Plate #2

and last but not least Plate #3

(Note: I usually try to take a few bites of each thing on my plate and then go back up – that way I don’t get too full but I still get to try everything.)

I am proud to say that after that meal I was full but not ready-to-explode stuffed like usual.

After dinner we went grocery shopping and then for a short walk on the beach. Ahhhh, what a day!

Frozen Peanut Butter Apricots

Have you ever felt like there is this one blogger that is a foodie genius? Well I have, and the blogger I am talking about is Gracie at Girl Meets Health.

This girl is a freaking genius! She comes up with things I would have never dreamed of doing. Some of my favorite ideas of hers are:

• Vitatop French Toast
• Solo Cookie
• Sweet Banana-Date Dog

But the other day when I checked her blog I found another new idea of hers: Frozen Peanut Butter Dates!

I thought it looked so good - I mean, I love frozen nut butter, the only thing I didn’t really like was the dates. So I decided to make a slightly tweaked version of Gracie’s Frozen Peanut Butter Dates.

Frozen Peanut Butter Apricots

Step 1:

Spread a layer of peanut butter on a sheet of plastic wrap. (I used Skippy Natural.)

Step 2: (according to Gracie)

Make sure not to leave any peanut butter behind! (No picture, but believe me I never ever waste nut butters!)

Step 3:

Place an apricot in the center of the peanut butter.

Step 4:

 Fold the plastic wrap so that the apricot is completely surrounded by peanut butter (It will be purse-like, with the excess plastic wrap twisted at the base.)

Step 5:

Freeze for at least 15 minutes. (It all depends on your freezer.)

Step 6:

Eat, devour, enjoy, and savor the peanut butter-y goodness! I ate all 3 of the ones that I made in one day – they are so good!

I am already thinking of variations on this recipe. What ideas do you have? I am thinking of one that I think will be a hit, but you will just have to wait and see to find out what it is.

________

On another note… The first day of vacation in Myrtle Beach was awesome. We arrived at 10AM and stopped at a pancake house for breakfast. (I went all healthy and got buckwheat pancakes – so good!) Then we checked in at our hotel, unloaded luggage, explored the premises, swam, and slept. (Well, I didn’t sleep – I went to the workout room and ran!) Then, we went to PF Chang’s for dinner and hung out at the hotel for the rest of the night.

*Yawn* I think I am ready to fall asleep right about now. Goodnight! ♥

When Pigs Fly

 Hey Bloggies!

Sorry I didn’t post yesterday, I came home around 10PM and did not feel like posting. Oops! Let me fill you in…  

…Yesterday I went swimming over my friend’s house and I had a lot of fun. We talked, hung out, and swam for a bit. (You know, while we were trying to avoid being jumped on by all of the 10-year-old “bee exterminators.” It’s a long story.) Lunch was pizza; I had two plain slices and for dessert I had blueberry Rita’s and a mini cupcake. Yum!   As usual my mom was late picking me up, which I wouldn’t have usually minded, but I had to get to Cross Country practice.   

On the way home my mom told me she was planning on taking me out to dinner after Karate and that I should have a snack before Cross Country, so I did. I had a Cookies and Cream Luna bar – I swear I could eat them everyday!  

Don't my dirty sneakers make the bar look SO appetizing?

Cross Country practice was a bit harder than usual: first we did the usual small loop, came back, stretched, and then did the big loop for the first time. (For those of you wondering, the small loop is 1.3 miles and the big loop is 1.8 miles.) The big loop felt so much harder! By the time I was finished I was beet-red and pouring sweat!  

During the last 10 minutes of practice the coaches really surprised us. (Well, maybe only the freshman.) They announced that tomorrow’s “practice” will be a 5K called “The Flying Pig” in Pennington, NJ!  

AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!   I am having some doubts about the 5K, I definitely think I will have to slow to a walk a few times during the race. (The coaches said that we (the freshman) should try our hardest and don’t care when we finish…yeah right.) I’ll talk more about the race after it actually happens.  

Today was Black Belt Training at Karate; we worked on Taegouks 1-4 and then worked on some basic self-defense techniques. In case you were wondering, we have to know 8 Taegouks and 20 Self-Defence techniques (along with a bunch of other material) for Black Belt.  

After working up a sweat both at Cross Country and Karate my mom took me out to dinner at Chili’s. We were pretty hungry so we ordered an appetizer to share. ↓  

Fire-Grilled Corn Guacamole

 

The guac really hit the spot. Yum!  

For my entrée I ordered the Margarita Grilled Chicken with black beans and veggies. I finished it all! ↓   

Margarita Grilled Chicken

 

After dinner (since Philip wasn’t home) my mom and I hung out, talked, and watched TV.  

That brings me to today…  

Today I am Mikey-sitting so I had to get up super early. (for me at least – 8AM) But it was all worth it because I woke up to have a delicious breakfast: PB Finger’s Nectarine Peach-Stuffed English Muffin French Toast! ♥  

  

  

I am impressed with my pictures this time – the lighting is much better than the last time I made this.  

While I was eating breakfast Mikey was looking in the pantry for a snack and asked me if he could have a Peanut Butter Cookie Larabar. I told it what was in it (dates, peanuts, salt) and he still wanted it! What a brave 9-year-old! Phil literally started gagging when he saw me eat one the other day. (Oh well, he’s missing out…)   

Peanut Butter Cookie Larabar

 

Other Pre-Lunch Mikey-sitting activities include: playing school, printing out posters for Phil’s fort, making shelves for Phil’s fort, attaching shelves to Phil’s fort, and taking Fluffy for a short walk.  

I had a tuna melt for lunch, but Mikey (being the tuna hater that he is) opted for a ham and cheese Panini.  

My lunch:  

• 1 Thomas’ Light Multigrain English Muffin
• 1 pouch Bumblebee tuna
• shredded mozzarella
• fruit salad
• Tabasco

My Lunch

 

Mikey’s Lunch:  

• 1 Arnold’s  Whole Wheat Sandwich Thin
• 4 slices deli ham
• 1 slice American cheese
• fruit salad
• 1 pickle

Mikey's Lunch

 

Once lunch was finished Mikey and I hung out for a while. Then my mom came home and took us to the park and then to pick up her car from the auto shop. Afterwards, we came home and made some Chocolate Banana Soft Serve with Dark Chocolate Dreams  Gracie-style. Freezing Dark Chocolate Dreams?! You’re a genius, Gracie! :-D  

Looks like ice cream, taste's like it too, but it's a banana!

 

Soon Mikey will be going home and then I have to go check in for the Flying Pig  at 5:30PM!  

Wish me luck!