Monday, August 24, 2020

Costco Haul

Hi friends, it's been a while!!! I didn't mean to stop blogging, but my Google Photo storage was full. I mean, I probably deleted 5,000 pictures and I still had no room. Sigh. I have a hard time letting go even though I have photos backed up on Facebook and Shutterfly, I just couldn't delete all of my google photos too. That basically led me in to a discussion with myself whether the 2.00 a month fee for google was worth it, so my pictures would be backed up and I could blog again. So, after I finally sucked it up and realized I could create zero more space, I paid the fee and we're back- yay! 

We all know I love Costco, and I love sharing my Costco haul's with y'all! So, we're kicking my blogging return off with our recent Costco haul. It's a lot of randoms because we were only low on a few things.


The girls love these gummy bears. I love that they don't have artificial dye in them :) DJ loves them too. I'll occasionally find him snacking on them after the girls have gone to bed. 

This sausage is yummy. You can slice it and throw it in your slow cooker, or bake it in the oven with a ton of veggies. The girls eat it up. 

I bought Gretchen this Ramen the last time I was at Costco, and she loves it. She'll fix it herself for lunches. I haven't tried it, but she eats it every day when we have it, so I'm guessing it's pretty darn good. 
And we all love their Chicken Cordon Bleu. It's seriously the best for a quick week night meal, which is basically all I've been cooking lately. 

Gee bought the girls Lemonade this Summer, so of course, they ask for it when we go to Costco too. They dilute it with water, so the two lasts us for a while, and since they're not going back to school I figured I'd grab lemonade over juice boxes. 
I bought these for DJ to take to work or eat on late nights when he gets home (and I haven't cooked; whoops) He enjoys them and Gretchen has even tried them too. DJ is a big cheesesteak sandwich guy, and I think it's gross, but you know, a little something for the hubby :). And yes, you just pop it in the microwave. 

Yum! Hands down, my favorite for a quick lunch or a side dish with Costco's Orange Chicken. Gretchen will heat up a bag for her lunch or if we're all out of what I usually take for lunch or if I'm running late, I'll grab a bag of fried rice and eat it at work. 

I haven't bought these in a while! I don't think I had found them the last few times I looked, but these are a great source of protein that I'll take for work with left over veggies, or I'll cut it up and eat the chicken in a wrap. Adalyn loves these too! 

I bought us Mochi the last time I went to Costco, so of course I had to buy it again. I love that it's just one piece, and the girls are satisfied and think it's a treat. In fact, Adalyn is doing her school work, and I'll let her choose what she's working for, and she's been telling me mochi! So, it's a perfect little "bribe" for after school. 

We love these cinnamon rolls.

Y'all, over the last few months we've had some bad chicken. It's been tough, hard to cut, and just not any good. Costcos' organic chicken is our favorite, but we've had a hard time finding it during COVID. Thankfully, it was in stock, so I grabbed a pack! 

Addy is our guac girl! I bought her these for lunches. 

Also, if you have these- can you freeze them? There's 16 and she's the only one that eats it, but I think she also forgets she has it as an option, so the 16 lasts forever.... I think if I could freeze them it would help them last longer but I also think the avacados might turn brownish if frozen? Someone help! 

The last time I was at Costco, I bought a Cilantro Lime Rice that we're now obsessed with, but they were sold out :( I figured this street corn would be yummy and it is! We buy Costco's Street Tacos, and I've heated up this corn as a side dish and it was good! I also ate it with one of the chicken patties for lunch and enjoyed it. So, this will now be in regular rotation. 

The girls love baby cucumbers.

Um, and we all love these. A bag doesn't last very long around here, so we usually grab two. ;)

I love these muffins. This is a typical breakfast for me on days that I work.... I'll usually grab a muffin, sausage, and fruit and heat it up when I get to work, or I eat Costco's little egg quiche's with one of these muffins. If you need something quick and good, these are perfect. 
The girls wanted to try these instead of the Costco applesauce, and both Megan and Adalyn said they were good. 

DJ's favorite body wash (second to Young Living's) is Every Man Jack. For the most part it's a "clean" brand, but does have fragrance in it. He goes through them pretty fast, so I bought this 3 pack as a back up, or he can take it to work and put in his locker. I just thought it was a good bye, so I grabbed it. 

Yum! And if your kiddo is picky, you can leave the sauce off, and they basically have chicken nuggets. 

Tiny tomatoes are a favorite treat around here. 

As are strawberries- yum! 

Megan asked for apples, so I was happy to find this organic Fuji apple brand. Fuji apples are my favorite ;) And the girls love them with peanut butter. 

So, there ya go, our most recent Costco Haul!!!!!

If you shop at Costco, share your finds in the comments!

 

Tuesday, August 11, 2020

Welte RVentures: Waco

DJ ended up having Monday off, so he wanted to get away for one more camping weekend before we put the camper away for the Fall. With football season happening, there's no way we will use the camper in the Fall months :( He had to work Saturday morning, so on Friday afternoon, we loaded the camper, and Saturday morning, he went to work while the girls and I drove to Waco, Tx which is just an hour and a half north of Austin. 
Even though we don't drink soda, I thought it would be fun to take the girls to the Dr. Pepper Museum. Dr. Pepper was founded by a pharmacist in Waco in the early 1900s. 
There were lots of pieces from the original building, and even a well that had once been used to gather the spring water. It's funny that when soda was first developed, it was believed to have healing abilities and was drank for health! 

We explored the museum, learned all about soda and the Dr. Pepper brand, and I let the girls sample it at the end of the tour. Megan and Addy both tried 7Up, but Gretchen wanted the Dr. Pepper- she loved it! I told her to enjoy because she wouldn't be having it again- ha! 
After we toured the museum, we met DJ at the campsite and hit the pool. 
The girls had a blast swimming and jumping in and having a diving competition. 


Addy meets friends wherever she goes. She isn't shy of anyone and we laughed because she had told one man her entire life story! 
After swimming well in to the evening, we had dinner, smores, and called it an early night. 
Sunday morning we decided to head to Waco's water park and ended up meeting up with friends we worked with at Tulsa who had recently moved back to Waco. It's been a few years since we've seen them, but the older girls remembered each other and ran off to have a blast. Us mommas enjoyed each other's company while all of the kids and husband's went off to have some fun. Let me tell you, it did my heart good to sit and talk with a friend and catch up. Football families are pretty special people. 
After lunch, we played and explored the waterpark some more. Adalyn loved playing in this area.
Megan was all about the smaller tunnel slides. 
Gretchen and DJ spent most of their time racing down slides. 

We stayed at the water park until 3, and then headed back to the camper to shower and get ready for dinner. 
We tried out a steakhouse in Waco and DJ ordered the girliest drink ever! He thought it was frozen; I thought it was hilarious. 
This sweet girl was my dinner buddy. The food was yummy and there was a little shop inside, so I came home with a few new goodies. Since we had an early dinner, we headed back to the campground so the girls could swim a little more. 
After swimming, it was time for s'mores and fun drinks. DJ mixed orange juice, pineapple juice, and passionfruit juice together for the girls and they loved it! 
The girls stayed up well past bedtime, and Megan and Adalyn decided they would sleep together on the top bunk, which was great because then I didn't have to put the table bed up for her. 

Three little girls all cozy in their beds. Lots of giggles too.
And I realized DJ and I didn't have a picture together at all, so I snapped one of us, just because. 

We've had so much fun camping together this Summer. It's definitely helped to have some slow and relaxed weekends. Right now, the camper is put away in storage, but we can't wait to break it out as soon as we can again! 

Tuesday, August 4, 2020

Favorites

Happy Tuesday Friends. 

Last week was busy. We've had evening activities every single day of the week, and then we headed off on another little camping trip, before getting right back in to the grind of this week. We have really enjoyed having slow months. Our family has needed it. But, we're also so ready for a normal, whatever that might look like, and right now, life looks fairly normal for us. 
I'm sharing a few random favorites with y'all today. 
Like when we left a restaurant and the girls were hugging each other and walking down the side walk just because. 
This girl stole my favorite sunnies. Curling up and sucking her thumb are still her favorites. 
When Megan got back from my parents house, she had learned all about Smokey the Bear. She was watching YouTube videos about Smokey and turned her Build-A-Bear in to Smokey. 
Young Living released a new skincare system in June and it's my new favorite. I love that I have products that are safe, plant based, and don't contain any harmful chemicals or additives. This is a 3 step cleansing trio and it's done wonders for my skin already. 
The girls were playing one afternoon, and made a "person" using clothes, a chair, and a balloon as a head. The next day, half of the person ended up under the garage, and we all thought it was hilarious. 
Last weekend, I decided that it was time to take back my kitchen table after DJ's birthday, and I was really feeling the black and white from his birthday decorations. So, I found all the black and white things I could and ran with it. 
A distressed pine cone, a piece of coral rock we found in the ocean, a tray from Magnolia Silos, a candle and candlestick, a little succulent, and a block that I had my mom make for me inspired by Rae Dunn. 
Redecorating the center piece, meant that I also had to change out our tiered tray in the living room and our sideboard. 
Since the sideboard is close to the dining area, I tried to stick with the black and white theme as much as I could.  Anytime I feel like the house needs an update, I just change around some of the accessories and decor and it feels like an easy, instant update. 
This cutie has decided to teach herself Latin and learn sword fighting thanks to the world wide web. We are really still up in the air about school this Fall, but we've talked about homeschooling and I've told her she could learn whatever she wants, so she ran with it and started learning Latin and eventually incorporated sword fighting in to her days at home. 
Bucees is Adalyn's favorite, so when I picked her up from her week at my mom's house, she asked if we could stop. She wanted to buy her babysitter some chips, and then take a picture with the Bucee statue, and friends, if you haven't been to a Bucees in Texas, then you're really missing out. 
One of my favorite dinners is all this random stuff thrown on a cookie sheet and baked in the oven. Friends, if you don't cook all your dinner on a sheet pan, you're doing it wrong. 
I'm not sure about y'all, but I was in a kick butt routine of working back in the Spring and in June. Then vacation happened, football started up again, my workout routine has been anything but steady. The girls were in gymnastics, and I had about 30 minutes which was the perfect time to squeeze in a run. I ended up getting caught in a downpour and was soaked through and through!
I found these flashcard boxes at our Target's Dollar Spot, and I thought they'd be perfect mask holders. I've seen videos floating around of masks on a lanyard, and the thought of them hanging down, made me want to hurl. I've thrown our masks in these boxes, and keep them clean in my purse. When I get home, the masks come out and go in the wash, but I love that this little box holds several (i've put up to 4 in one box) and I can wipe out the inside as well or even run it through the dishwasher. 
I was also thinking of having my mom put the girls name on a box for each of them, for when they go to gymnastics, and have to wear a mask... they only wear them in and out of the building and take them off, but Megan said they just lay them on their shoes. #gross
The other day, I was cutting a bell pepper and decided to try to sprout the seeds to regrow. I have a ton of baby sprouts, but I have no ideas what to do next! Help! I think I can plant them, but I don't know if I need to plant them in cardboard cartons first or just throw them in a planter. If you garden or grow veggies, please help me out! 

Alright, that's it for our Favorites!!! I'll be back sharing our camping recap soon!