Jurassic Forest

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 We went to Jurassic Forest today. It was a long awaited trip because both the girls love dinos! (Ella has been talking about in for almost a year now) It is a pretty cool place with boarded walkways and animatronic dinosaurs along the way. We also learned about Alberta's plant and wildlife as there was information about different species along the paths as well. We packed a lunch and spent the whole day there. Ella's favourite dinosaur is the T-Rex and Lily's favourite are the "long necks."

The only drawback is that the park is basically built around a swamp so there a like a gazillion mosquitoes! (Which are also huge!) But thankfully I was prepared with a homemade bug spray and Purification oil :)

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For more info visit... https://jurassicforest.com/

Happy Birthday Canada!

This past weekend we went camping at our auntie and uncle's lake lot at Alberta Beach. It was quite the adventure! In some good ways and some not so good lol. It was absolutely beautiful and there's just something about waking up in the early hours of the day to bird's chirping, fresh, crisp air, and quiet. Absolute silence. For the two mornings, both Justin and I woke up before everyone else and it was so lovely.

The girls had a blast, and I think Theo did too. He doesn't complain too much at all. In fact, you can say that he's a ... happy camper...

Auntie and Uncle have kayaks so we were able to ride those on the lake and the girls had so much fun. We went on lots of walks, went to the playground, went to a garage sale, and of course went to the beach. (Which was packed!)

There was a bunch of things going on in town for Canada Day and of course they had some fireworks! We got to watch them after the kiddos were asleep.

I love camping and the adventure, but holy man there was a ton of packing! Our van was strategically stacked like Tetris (thanks to Mister- he's so clever). Next time, we will probably go somewhere for a little longer, like 3 or 4 nights to make all the packing worth while.

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<3

Silly girls

Theo successfully fell asleep

Morning in the tent

Our happy little camper

WARM WEATHER!

We spent a lot of time outside this week because it's been a whopping average of 24 degrees! Okay, I don't exactly know the average, it's been hot though- yesterday was 25. I'm pretty sure we skipped spring! I AM NOT COMPLAINING THOUGH!

Last Monday, I texted Justin if he wanted to look for frogs for FHE, and I think he was more excited than Ella was because on the way home from work he made the extra trip to Walmart to purchase a "real" frog net (because apparently the dollar store one we have is "no good") Seriously, this guy doesn't often make extra trips on the way home from work, let alone to WALMART! Anyway, after supper, we gathered up some jars and nets (yes, even the dollar store one...) and went to a nearby ponddle (That's what I'm going to call those huge puddles that appear in the spring but aren't here for long...) to attempt to catch frogs that have been loudly singing everyday. We unfortunately didn't catch one because that ponddle was surprisingly DEEP! and I swear those frogs were mocking us as we had to turn back before the water rushed into the tops of our rubber boots. Justin and Ella did manage to catch a bug or two so it wasn't a complete unsuccessful excursion. The girls loved it that's for sure.

I also finally took the kid's bikes and scooters out and they've been riding those a lot. I'm going to attempt (again, for the third time) to teach Ella how to ride a bike.... I bought her a new helmet this week so maybe it will motivate her? We will see....

Justin had Friday off so he built some more garden boxes so we can start planting soon! And then we managed to get some spring cleaning done. And by "spring cleaning" I really mean "catch up with the housework" and also pack up the winter clothes. I really hope we don't have to bring those up until November now...

She was so excited to find some frogs

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Ella posing with her new helmet. Note the T-Rex fingers

Building one of the garden boxes

I love babywearing outside! Theo is knocked right out

And that's a wrap! (a week late...)

Last week, Justin and I completed the Whole30 challenge. For the most part, we were actually pretty "compliant." Was it hard? Heck yes. I found almost everything has some form of sugar added to it. I'm a snacker and  I have a huge sweet tooth so the lack of sugar was the hardest part for me. Popcorn became one of my best friends....

But we did eat lots of veggies and fruits and had fun exploring with different ways to cook. One night I even made butter chicken with grain-free naan bread! It was delicious!

One of my favourite things to make to accompany my lunches was cucumber and grape salad. Recipe: Cucumbers, grapes and then I squeezed orange juice on it. Oooh my, so fresh and perfect for summer!

A managed to get a quick pic of it once (before I gobbled it up) Although this pic looks like i was running out of ingredients haha

I also made some yummy cherry/date/nut bites. I tried to replicate these yummy snacks I found at Costco. I will make again so I can record the recipe. Oh ya, and Bulk Barn is like the WORST as well as BEST place to go when you're doing this challenge lol

So conclusion/outcome: Physically, I came out feeling better thats for sure. I slept better and I had, ahem, "regularity" (if you know what I mean...) I even had the desire to start working out so I've been participating in Beachbody's PiYo workouts for the past few weeks now. (Although, this week, I injured my foot so I've been resting for a bit but I'm excited to start up again tomorrow!)

Mentally, it was challenging! I craved them sweets that's for sugar, I mean, for sure.... and the temptations were everywhere... I mean EVERYWHERE!! The second day, we went to a birthday and Justin and I sat there watching everyone stuff their faces with scrumptious (looking) homemade cream filled red velvet cupcakes.

I feel like it was a lot of mental work to overcome those temptations. By the end it was a bit (a BIT) easier to pass up the offers for  cupcakes and cookies.

But now that I've added those things back into my diet, I can tell which foods my body doesn't like. For example, I ate a Caramilk bar the other day, and instantly I regretted it. I also think I have some sort of gluten sensitivity but I'll have to investigate that a little more deeply....

I'm proud of myself for taking this challenge and I've learned what I can achieve if I set my mind in the right place.

Canadian PSK (Premium Starter Kit) Diffuser Blends

When I first got the PSK, I was a bit overwhelmed with ALL the oils! (Seriously, there's 11 in there--SO MUCH TO CHOOSE FROM!)

However, over the past few months I've been able to play with the PSK oils a lot! (and others I've collected too) and I decided to make a nice little graphic (because.... hello! GRAPHICS!) to hopefully help new oily members see how much just this kit can help support their lives!

Please feel free to copy and share the image but please don't crop the logo!

So here it is:

Chocolate Banana Pie

Despite participating in the Whole30 program, I had to make a dessert for Easter. I've been brainstorming this for quite a while and apparently (according to my family testers) it was a success!
(I know, I know, technically not "Whole30 compliant" but, seriously, what's Easter without dessert?!)

And yes, it's dairy, grain and sugar free!

The crust is sweet and crunchy thanks to dates (these have been my sweet tooth go-to this month) and nuts. The filling is soft and chocolately! Then I added strawberries to give it some freshness and extra oomph.

Please excuse the quality of the photos. We were at my parents and there was poor lighting and I also didn't cut the piece very straight!  I will hopefully make it again soon so I can take a better photo with the Mama Camera.


Here's the recipe:

Crust 

Ingredients
1 cup almond & 1 cup walnuts, soaked for an hour or more then drained and dried as best as you can
2/3 cup dates
Pinch cinnamon
Pinch salt
Coconut oil (to grease pan)

Directions
1. Pulse nuts and dates in a food processor until well combined, then add the cinnamon and salt.
2. Transfer to an oiled pie plate, then press gently until it's even and smooth
3. Refrigerate for about an hour

Filling

Ingredients

1 pouch (1 tbsp) of unflavoured gelatine

1 cup of coconut milk (from the can)

5 egg yolks

3-4 ripe bananas (the riper, the sweeter but also the riper, the smaller), pureed 

2 tbsp cocoa powder

3-4 strawberries, washed and sliced

Directions

1. Bring the coconut milk to a simmer in a small saucepan.

2. Whisk the egg yolks and whisk them well into the coconut milk, then add banana puree and mix well. 

3. Add the cocoa powder, then mix some more. Stir over medium-low heat for about 5 minutes, until it coats the back of a spoon. Make sure it doesn't boil.

4. Prepare the gelatine as per package directions. (Pour pouch over 1/4 cup water, add 1/4 boiling water and stir constantly until completely dissolved)

5. Add the gelatine mixture to saucepan and (you guessed it!) mix well.

6. Scrape the filling into a glass bowl and chill in the refrigerator for 30-40 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Putting it together

1. Take the crust and filling out of the fridge

2. Carefully pour filling into the crust and spread evenly.

3. Place back into fridge until set, about 2 hours

4. Strawberry time! Place strawberries over top, slice (hopefully a little straighter then me lol) and serve!

Next time I'm going to try whipping some coconut cream for an added touch...mmmmm....

Before the strawberries

Mmmm!

How'd it turn out for you? I'd love to hear your comments!

Happy Easter!

It's Easter weekend here and our area got hit with a TON of snow! I swear it happens every year   though, because Good Friday always seems to have horrible weather, and then on Easter Sunday, like today, it's a beautiful day. Well, the snow hasn't magically disappeared but it's a clear blue day outside.

For me, this holiday is a reflection of the Saviour and how my relationship with Him is progressing. One of my favourite hymns is #185 "Reverently and Meekly Now." It's a sacrament hymn which words are coming from the Saviour's point of view. I am pretty sure it's the only hymn in the hymnbook that has this perspective. The Atonement was the most powerful, essential part of Heavenly Father's plan. I also love my calling! In sharing time today, we had an Easter lesson today and I was amazed (as usual) by the spirit of children as they participated in the lesson. It was so simple and so beautiful and the Spirit was so strong.

Easter time is one of my favourite times of year. It means that winter is leaving (hopefully, in this part of my world) and springtime is coming and then it will be summer! It's a season for change and growth, quite like how my life is right now.

Like most holidays, Easter has become pretty commercialized but we keep it pretty simple in our home. And amongst our crazy morning, I didn't get any photos of kids in their Easter outfits! But here's a few from our egg hunt at Oma and Opa's on Friday.