Rowen's swim lessons 2014

We put Rowen in swim lessons this summer for the first time.

 They were 2 weeks ago and lasted for 4 days. The lessons included getting comfortable with the water, learning how to get in and out of the pool using the stairs and ladder, using a kickboard, going under the water, blowing bubbles, and holding arms out in front while floating on tummy. 

The first day Rowen pretty much cried the whole time while doing all the exercises. It was definitely because this was something new and a little scary for him. The first day the instructor, Mr Lynn, had them going under water. Rowen wasn't a fan of that! He wanted to cling onto me the whole time. 

The second day was totally different than the first. There were no tears and he had fun. They did the same things everyday. The repetition was good for him and the other 3 kids in the class. He got comfortable with all the activities and the last day, he didn't want to leave! He did great when he would go under water and he loved the basketball game that they played. He even jumped into the pool from the side a couple times. He ended up loving the lessons and I'm glad he is comfortable with the water. We will be putting him in the lessons again next year. 

After the last lesson, the kids got a popsicle and a swimming certificate!

Our weekend...

Our weekend was pretty low key. We had lots of family time which I love especially on the weekends! Friday afternoon Brent and I headed to Cheekwood with the kids! That is Rowen's all time favorite place right now. For those that don't know, Cheekwood is a local botanical garden that is very kid friendly. It is so pretty! They always have beautiful plants and flowers in bloom and have different things around that peak kids interests as well. They have an amazing outdoor train track and one of the main trains that runs on the track is Thomas. They also have a treehouse for kids to climb up in and right now they have a Big Bugs exhibit. It's super cool and I happen to have a little 2 and a 1/2 year old that LOVES bugs! 

(from last Wednesday)

The boys

One gigantic spider/spiderweb

**If you want to read about the exhibit, go HERE

Saturday morning my mom took me early birthday shopping! It was so fun to spend time with her. Sweet Isla came too! We were gone for 5 hours! ha. We hit up Opry Mills and went in a lot of stores. Here are some of the items I got...

We even picked up Isla and Rowen a few things...

And I snagged Brent a pair of yellow pants from JCrew for $16!!

That night we had ribs that Brent had been cooking while I was gone. They were delicious!! Anyone been to the famous barbeque joint in Memphis called Rendezvous? He used their rib seasoning! They sell it at Publix. 

On Sunday afternoon we headed to a local park where a snocone food truck was parked! I love doing random fun things like that!! They don't sell those gross snocones that are red and blue and come in a paper cone shaped cup...no no, their snocones are amazing! And they don't call them snocones but snoballs. 

It was definitely a fun filled weekend! 

Quick & Easy Lemon Vinaigrette Dressing

Monday night I made an orzo pasta salad with cucumbers, olives, and feta. I got all of that mixed up well together and realized that I didn't have a dressing to put on it! I immediately thought that a lemon vinaigrette sounding yummy and would probably be easy to make. It was..both easy to make and yummy. So I thought I would share the recipe! 

What you need:

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons minced fresh oregano (or 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper (to taste)
1/8 teaspoon salt (to taste)

Mix all that up well and pour over your dish. It was so good on our pasta. And it would probably be good on a salad of greens as well. 

**original recipe found HERE

{Birthday Wish List:clothing!}

My birthday is coming up( June 14th )and I have put together a little list of clothing items that I would love to get for my birthday! My mom is taking me birthday shopping this weekend and I am planning on picking up the cute shorts below when I am with her. 

1:: HELLO floral grey t-shirt

2:: American Flag turban headband

3:: Anthropologie Caloundra Tank

4:: J. Crew chino shorts

5:: Sam Edelman Genette Sandal

6:: Colorblock dress

7:: "I run this town..." tank

8:: Breezy Fedora

9:: Mint turban headband

10:: J. Crew chino shorts

Work It Out! {my past 2 workouts}

I'm really loving high intensity workouts right now. I did a lot of running leading up to the half marathon but after the 1/2, I switched gears a little and began doing more strength training. I have been incorporating short bursts of cardio into my strength workouts. I thought I would share my past 2 workouts with y'all. Basically just to show what I am currently doing and maybe give those of you who might be stuck in a rut or just looking for something new to try, some ideas! 

**For those of you who didn't know, I'm a personal trainer and have been for 9 years now! So making up workouts is my job!! I love it.**

Here's a workout I did a few days ago:

(that's me in the background)

I did 20 of each exercise 3 times. I was dead at the end!! It was definitely a great workout. 

I did this next one on Sunday night and I'll definitely be doing it again soon. It was killer! 

(this was all done in my garage!)

I started with fast front punches. 20 of those. Then I jumped around( high jumps )clockwise until I got to my starting point. Repeat that 5 times. After the punches, 10 meter sprints 10 times. 5 rounds! 

Toddler Fine Motor Activity

I try to think of new fun activities to do with Rowen each week. My husband sent me a link a couple weeks ago that had different types of cool activities for kids to try out. I saw one that looked fun and not to mention there were only 2 things I needed for the activity. We had both things in the cabinet!

What you need:

Pipe Cleaners

A Colander 

I just showed Rowen what to do with the pipe cleaner and turned a handful of pipe cleaners over to him and let him go! He thought it was so fun and bonus...he was working on his fine motor skills! He was occupied with this for about 20 minutes.

He has asked to do his "pipe cleaner game" several times in the past week. Give it a try if you have a little one!!