Discovering

Whew!  Today was a day, and I am pooped.  Probably not as much as my friend Carolyn though, who is 28 weeks pregnant and was kind enough to get us into Port Discovery in Baltimore on her membership.  I have been feeling like a lame mom who never does anything special with her kids the past couple days, and even went so far as to write down some fun local things to try and do over the next couple months.  I am realizing that although I am pretty limited as to what I can do with the girls while Emily's mornings are filled with preschool and Charlotte naps in the afternoon, next fall it will be all but impossible to do anything during the week since Emily will be at all-day Kindergarten.  I don't want to sacrifice Charlotte's naps often, if at all (I NEED her to still be napping this fall so I can once again enjoy an hour or two of peace every day) but I really do want to do fun stuff while I can still take advantage of being able to do it during the year when most other kids are in school.  Lo and behold, Emily's preschool was unexpectedly cancelled today and I got my opportunity!

I didn't do nearly as much prep last night as I should've so when Carolyn and Abigail arrived this morning I was still scurrying around eating the last of my breakfast

Strawberry blueberry oatmeal with chia seeds, scrambled egg, a tiny bit of Kona Coffee

 and trying to get the girls ready.  Eventually we were all properly secured in my van and we set out.  First stop, of course, was Baltimore Tea and Coffee for my free coffee of the day.  I got the creme brulee flavor, which definitely beat Common Grounds coffee from yesterday.

Then we were off!  Actually, I also had to stop for gas.  THEN we were off!

The girls love Port Discovery, and I love it too...all except for the fact that it is SO HARD to keep track of Emily in the huge 3-story playground that has entrances and exits on all 3 floors of the museum.  Luckily Charlotte doesn't really like going into the playground much yet, so I kind of just try to interest Charlotte in activities in the main area and try to make sure I get a glimpse of Emily every 5 minutes or so while I follow Charlotte around.

The girls and I were especially excited to see the Clifford playground since Emily is such a big fan (her name IS Emily Elizabeth after all) and it wasn't there yet the last time we visited.

Clifford!

Charlotte, not quite excited enough about Clifford to actually go interact with him

I don't remember this from last time, but it was really cool

Toddler Alligator

Interactive "water"...so neat

Emily specifically requested this picture

 I scarfed a Babybel Light somewhere during the morning, then hastily snapped this extreme close-up of my even more hastily assembled salad.

Greens, leftover quinoa, blue cheese, hummus blob, balsamic vinegar

 It was pretty crowded due to the presence of quite a few school groups, so we had to plop down on the floor to eat our lunch.  It worked.

She's eating it the lunch I packed!

 After lunch we went up to the water area, and THIS time I utilized the jackets and Crocs provided by the museum that I didn't realize were there until the girls were already sopping wet last time.

When Charlotte started to get tired of being in the water room she just went over and luxuriated in the sheer number of Crocs.  The girl is obsessed.  She kept wanting to put on different colors though that didn't fit her.

So many choices

 After changing the girls into dry clothes we went back through the Clifford area one last time...

Worn out

 ...then we headed for home.  The girls helped Carolyn push Abigail in her stroller.

Once we got home I ate a Tanka Buffalo Jerky Stick (I didn't take a picture) and then made myself a smoothie.

Orange, banana, greek yogurt, milk, vanilla extract, nutmeg, ice

It was almost 4 by then, so I decided not to try and make Charlotte nap.  I sat down and started messing with pictures on the computer, then noticed Charlotte had been quiet for awhile.  She reappeared about 10 minutes after she disappeared calmly pushing the frame of her stroller and casually wearing my hat she had apparently dug out of the hat box in the front hall along with some of my lip gloss from the drawer judging by the smears on her teeth.  I got up to snap a picture of her, and she went NUTS running around  like a crazy girl.  I blame the hat.   Does this look like a girl who has missed her nap for 2 consecutive days to you?

Will had a beer club meeting tonight so I had to have dinner ready right at 5 so he could scarf and run back out.  It was fine with me, because I was hungry by then anyway!  I bought a big bag of frozen veggie mix at Costco last weekend and that was the inspiration upon which dinner formed in my head tonight.

3/4 cup sweet brown rice, veggies and salmon in a soy/rice vinegar/oyster/maple/garlic sauce

 I was stuffed after dinner, but I still went back and finished the girls' leftover veggies.  And rice (about another 1/2 cup).  And an oz or so of salmon :-(  Controlling my eating would be SO much easier if the girls didn't constantly leave full plates of perfectly good food sitting on the table, and also if I had any self-control at all.

Then I even  made my dessert tonight.  I was feeling worn out from the day I guess and I tend to eat when I feel that way, like I "deserve" to be able to eat whatever I want after a tiring day.

Once

And again

 In order to stop myself from continuing to eat until my stomach exploded (and in order to keep Charlotte awake but not whining until her bedtime) I took the girls out on a "Full Moon Walk".  I put them in their PJs and we took a turn about the block while admiring the full moon.

When we got home and I had put both girls to bed Will was back home, so I ate the mango he had cut up for me,

then had a barley wine he had brought home.  Apparently I didn't feel like I had indulged enough yet tonight.

So good though

So yeah, not really proud of my eating tonight, but I did my best to document it so I could own up to it.  That's something, I suppose.  I am having such trouble getting back in control of my eating...but I have to keep trying because the alternative is definitely not what I want.  Well in the short term I absolutely did want all that food and a beer, but long-term I don't want to live with the results of eating like that.