Costco Haul

I ran to Costco on Sunday afternoon to stock up on a few things we were out of, some quick dinners since this week is VBS, and a few lunch options for the girls that aren't sandwiches ;) 

Lots of you on the 'gram wanted me to share my haul, and I love seeing what other people buy, so here it is! I have to admit, it's a smaller haul with some of our faves! 

Smoked Pulled Pork for either BBQ sandwiches, or to go with the big bag of potatoes I bought. Gretchen also loves eating a baked potato for lunch, and this pulled pork would be so yummy over the top with lots of cheese!

Rao's sauce is our favorite, because it has very little sugar! 

We were running low on strawberry jelly, and the girls have been loving pb& j. 

Baby Bell cheese for myself and Megan. 

I love these Chicken Skewers! I take two for lunch along with some cheese, hummus, veggies, and almond crackers. But, I can also remove the chicken from the skewers and serve over baked potatoes too or use for gyro wraps with taziki sauce. 

I grabbed the packages of ravioli, which I haven't bought in a long time, but I knew we needed quick meals since our nights are going to be filled with VBS fun. I figured that our g-free kid, could eat some g-free mac & cheese or make another quick option when I made these. 

Megan and Adalyn love these mini pizzas for a quick lunch option. 

And we were out of mozzarella cheese. Now, I have to admit, I have never looked at the ingredients of this cheese until I brought it home, and I realized it has canola oil in it, which is something we are trying to cut out of our diets. We don't buy canola oil, but a lot of processed foods have canola oil, sunflower oi, etc, and these oils are inflammatory to our bodies. So, after this cheese is gone, I'll be searching for a new option. 

Gluten free chicken nuggets for lunches. 

Sausage for breakfast. 

These Grass Fed Beef Patties are perfect for a quick dinner. You can throw them on the grill frozen. There are some nights, where I'm all, "you're on your own for dinner." and DJ will grill himself a burger rather than opting for left overs. 

Megan and Gretchen both love these Acai bowls. 

I also bought:
Milk

Orange Juice

Eggs

Baby Tomatoes

Purple Grapes

Hummus Cups

 

Memorial Weekend Camping Trip: Day 2

Day 2 of our Memorial weekend camping trip, started with breakfast and sitting on the beach. Basically, it was a perfect morning. 

DJ and Megan played catch for a while. 

These girls hunted for shells. 

There was also some book reading. 

And ice cream eating. 

The girls jumped in the waves, tried to paddleboard (this never works well in the ocean) and dug in the sand.

Around 2, we headed out to eat at a Texas Bucket List stop. It was a hole in the wall. We ordered calamari, clams, and crawfish queso. 

I ordered fish with sauce and shrimp, rice and veggies. My food was delicious. 

Gretchen ordered a shrimp po'boy. 

And DJ ordered crawfish and shrimp. I had originally said I would share and I'm so glad I opted not to because that food was a lot of work, there was a ton of butter sauce too, and it made him sick that afternoon. 

My brother and sister in law shared a bucket of shrimp, mushrooms, and crabs. 

After lunch, we headed back to the campground so we could paddleboard in the smooth bay waters. 

Gretchen took her cousin out, I took Megan and Adalyn out, and then Gretchen went by herself. The water looks smooth, and it was easy to float out on, but you had to work hard to get back thanks to the wind. 

I could paddleboard all day. It's so relaxing... unless you have two monkeys on the back. 

We opted to skip dinner because lunch was so big, but as soon as it got dark, we went out to hunt crabs. 

I think we ended up catching 10. Our bucket was not the best; note, you don't want holes in your bucket or anything they can grab on to! They kept climbing up the basket and we kept knocking them back down! In the end we let them all go, but I don't think I've ever caught so many crabs before! 

Memorial Weekend Camping Trip: Blue Water RV

The Friday of Memorial day weekend and the day after the last day of school, we loaded up the camper and drove 4 hours to Freeport, Tx. It's just west of Galveston, and I have to admit, I love it way more than Galveston! Galveston is busy and crowded, but Freeport is a little hidden gem of houses and beach. We booked 2 spots at Blue Water RV because my brother's family was joining us for the weekend. 

We drove until the map turned blue, set up the camp site, and hit the pool. 

Priorities. 

Okay, the water was cold, and the campground pool was not huge or deep. It's great for young kids, or just sitting in the water, but definitely not the best size for the size of the campground; it's a good thing there's a beach right across the street! 

They were giving out free snow cones so that was a win. 

After some pool time, we walked over to the beach. Now, I have only been to two other Texas beaches, but I've never seen a Rattlesnake warning on any beach I've ever been to. Thankfully, we didn't see any rattlesnakes are our entire trip. 

There was lots of gymnastics though, lots of girl chats, lots of shell hunting. 

The girls found several shells they wanted to bring back with them, so we walked back to the campground (it was right across the street.)

and we found a crab! We thought somehow it had crawled out of one of the shells, but turns out, they were just all over the campsite!

After beach time and crab spotting, we had burgers for dinner. 

and s'mores for dessert. 

We were ready for bed and day 2! 

 

End of School Awards

I'm not sure about y'all, but May was crazy. The end of the school year was filled with so many activities, awards, and we somehow made it through and summer is here! I'm not sure I've ever been more grateful for a summer than I am right now. 

All of the girls got out of school last week. Each of them had award ceremonies, each of them finished the year strong. 

Adalyn wrapped up 3rd grade. Her teacher gave her an award for Right Hand Woman. I love that she's always so helpful in school. 

DJ and I were both excited to be there for her! We are so proud of how much she's grown in 3rd grade. She reads more. She loves math, and she has made so many friends. She had a little boy in her class with disabilities and she would tell us about him so often and how she would help him. I love that she has a heart for helping her friends. 

After Adalyn's awards, we dashed over to the middle school for Gretchen's 8th grade Bridge Ceremony. Y'all, we did it. We survived middle school for one kid, and I feel like that's worth celebrating! (only 2 more to go!)

Gretchen received her advancement certificate, along with an award for dance, and a school award that was given to only 2 girls and 2 boys. This award was voted on by all of the teachers, and we are so proud that she was one of the girls who earned it! 

I can't believe she will be starting high school in a few months! I feel like I was just dropping her off for kindergarten. 

On Thursday, Megan had her last day of elementary school! I don't remember her first day of school well, but I do remember taking her to meet her teacher and her finding out she had a friend in the class. 

Last day of 3rd grade! 

Last day of middle school! 

Megan's bridge ceremony and award ceremony was on the last day of school. I walked them in, since I had to check in for all the festivities. 

Her bridge ceremony was outside; the 5th graders lined up, and walked across a bridge saying goodbye to elementary school. 

Then she received a class award! 

She received an award for "Most Likely to Cheer You Up." 5th grade was an amazing year for Megan. She made friends and even talked to her teachers!!! In 3rd grade, she went the entire year barely speaking to her teacher; this year, she hung out with one of them at recess, and worked with another in small groups and really opened up. I remember when we moved, she had a few friends in gymnastics, but maybe 1 friend at school, and now she finished the year with 3 great school friends! 

Next year, she goes to middle school!

All of the girls had an amazing year. After COVID, and homeschooling a year, I didn't want to send them back. I loved homeschooling, but these girls love school and seeing friends. We are so thankful our school year got back to "normal" at the end. It was a year that I was dreading; the mask drama, the covid drama, and by the end, all of that was gone (my kids actually didn't have to wear masks after I sent in a letter.); parents were let back in to the building for lunches and award ceremonies were in person. We are just so grateful to have ended the year on a high note.