Day 4 & 5

So I promised a picture of the yummy Udo's oil we've been drinking 3x a day.  I absolutely plan to start incorporating this into my days.  I'm not sure I'll keeping doing shots of it (downing straight oil gets rough after 18 of those things! thank god for pineapple) but it will be part of my daily diet. 

This is late the evening of our 4th day. They made us yummy (and some not so yummy) drinks. But when that's all you get every 2-3 hours, it's heaven. 

Ahhhhhhh...good morning! This was breakfast on day 5. Lettuce has never tasted so amazing. In all truth, I was never hungry. I think it was the mere act of chewing that I missed. The sensation in my mouth. This wasn't my first cleanse but this was definitely the easiest. I think the oil helped because of the fats.

After breakfast we had a breakout session about time management and doing things that keep you in allienment with your goals and purpose. 

It's somewhat hard to see from the picture but this is one of the lodges we are staying in and in front is "The Big Tree".  This is where we meet for morning hikes, meditation and yoga. I'll try and get a daytime photo, it's just that it's very beautiful in the evenings. 

The dining room...

I must say, the Fijian people are some of the nicest, kindest, warmest people I've ever met. We get sweet notes from the ladies who come clean our room. 

Enjoying our trip immensely. Breathing in the air, learning new things, letting go of old things, getting energized and finding peace. 

Day 3

This has been my primary food source for the past 2 days.  We have wheatgrass shots 3 times a day. You would not believe how sweet it is. Almost too sweet. They say it is because they compost and add lime to the soil. We also get Udo oil shots 3x a day as well. Picture to come...

Went to Methodist church this morning. The service was nice (a little boring if you ask me).  I would have preferred some rip roaring singing and some bible beating. The church was a gazillion degrees and I had to have my knees and shoulders covered so I actually thought I might fall asleep or pass out. But hey, it's all part of the experience. Trying to soak it all in. Yesterday was a day focused on relationships. Actually very interesting. Ok, off to the shower to start my week (it's Monday morning here). 

Day 2

Yesterday started with a hike to the waterfalls. Reminded me of PA but a bit more tropical. The smell was incredible.

At times I need to remind myself to just look up.

 

Day 2 of the cleanse. No solid food. Lots of wheatgrass :) Learned lots about food. Food and disease. Essential oils. Posture and alignment. Very peaceful place to learn. 

Arrive

After 55 hours we finally arrived. This is Savusavu Bay where we will be spending the next 11 days. 

These are special for you dad. I'm not sure if you can see, but they take a coconut shell and attach it to the tree stumps and harvest these amazing orchids. They are everywhere.

Glad to finally be here. Happy that the travel is over for awhile. Now the real journey begins. This place is not fancy by any means but extremely beautiful. We started our cleanse today. Raw lunch. Dinner was an avocado, almond & ginger smoothie followed by Udo's oil and wheat grass shots. Dessert was a carrot celery juice followed by another shot of Udo's oil. Tomorrow we meet at 7am to hike to the waterfalls. Right now I am gazing longingly at the bed. And dying to take off these clothes that I've been wearing for 30+ hours. 

Los Angeles

Farmers Market in Los Angeles.  If one must be stuck in California for the day, a stroll through this beautiful market and then a walk on the beach was a perfect way to spend the day. When you are traveling to the other side of the world, I figure one must be patient, go with the flow and make the best of all mishaps and delays. Trip will take us 55 hours total but hey, I got to take a picture of those amazing carrots right? 

Diary of a Saturday

   
          View of autumn from our new deck.

          Duncan playing alone (which he does so well).  He actually made fake blood with those berries and
          came inside pretending to have cut himself.

          Off to my parents to watch the boys build a new fence for the orchard.

          My favorite brother.

          Seany hard at work.

          Break time.

           Us.

          Tia had a porcupine quill in her tongue that we tried repeatedly to remove.  Suffice to say, she was not
          crazy about our attempts.  In the end we all held her down and Natalie pulled out the quill.    

          Butchie digging the holes for the fence posts.

          Pears in the orchard.  Now safe from deer.

          My father lovingt his new fence.

   
          Duncan in motion.  Love this.

          Cooper and Duncan at my mom's kitchen counter.  It's blury. I don't mind.  This is a famous spot in
          my mother's kitchen.  I have sat there hundreds of times...nice to now see my children sit there.

     

          My mother's hands.  Strawberries and apples from the garden.

          After a long day, curled up in front of the bonfire.

          Light.

          Butchie and Mathew hosing down the fire.

Annual Trip

Every year we take a trip to Pittsburgh.  My father has family in Pittsburgh and went to Pitt Dental School. He also happens to be a  HUGE Pittsburgh sports fan.  And so it's no surprise that the boys and I have have become rather fond of the Three River teams as well.  First and foremost would undoubtedly be the Pirates. We have always loved the Pirates (even when they sucked), so the past two years have been rather exciting for us.  And as you can see, has made my dad pretty happy!

Mom and dad at the game.

 Love love love PNC Park.

This year we splurged and stayed right across the bridge (walking distance) from the game at The iconic Renaissance Hotel.  It was SO nice to leave the game and not have to fight traffic!

Die hard fans.

Every year we head down to the Strip District and hit Penzeys and stock up on our spices for the year.  This year we hit one of the Pittsburgh memorabilia shops so that Coop could get his Just Cutch It shirt and Mom got her Abso Buck'n Lutely shirt.  I'm really wishing I had got the Bucktober shirt... And it seems to have become a new tradition (2nd year) to stop and get Bloody Mary's for brunch!!   

Repeat

Yesterday was so much fun...he decided he wanted to do the exact same thing again today.  No arguments here :)  Love you Duncan ~ Mom

Special Day with Mom

Today was Cooper's first day at his new school and since Duncan doesn't start until next week, that meant special time for Dunc to hang with Mom.  He got to choose what he wanted to do (my only stipulation was that it had to be something outdoors since it was such a beautiful day).  He chose going downtown, stopping at my office, going to the bookstore and then the Brickyard for lunch...

We both love wandering around our local bookstore.  And I LOVE when I turn a corner and find this...

Duncan: book on Minecraft

Mom: Williams-Sonoma cookbook

    Wonderful afternoon.

   Next we learned what the line is like at pick up time.
   Make note: must arrive 15 minutes early.

Perfectly Lovely

My it's been awhile hasn't it?  I see the blog needs some work.  Things are a bit different here at blogger.com.  I've taken the weekend to reacquaint myself.  I need to fix the header, I need to fix spacing, I need to update the links and information on the side.  I'll get to all that.  Maybe.  But for now I need to say hello.  I'm still here - WE are still here.  Growing up, learning, experiencing, laughing, crying, playing and living.

So much going on, so much has happened and so much to come. Cooper starts 5th grade today. PUBLIC school for the first time.  25 kids in his class vs. in the entire school (slight exaggeration but not by much). Duncan starts 4th grade but not until after Labor Day.  We head to Pittsburgh this weekend for our annual trip and Pirates game.

My plan is to get to know my blog again.  If for no one else but my boys.  This was the place that I documented their lives.  Our lives.  I want them to know (through my words and my photographs) how we lived.  They will have their own memories, but I want them to also have mine.  I want them to know what we ate for dinner, what we talked about, what we struggled with and what made us laugh so hard we fell off our chairs.

So that is my goal.  My goal for tomorrow and next week.  Maybe even my goal for later today.

My goal right this very second is to go snuggle Duncan (who just got dropped off) and kiss him way too many times.  That, I believe is a perfectly lovely way to start a day...