The Weekly Chase #73!

First of all...Happy Memorial Day! I am so grateful for all the men and women who sacrificed their lives for our country. Be sure to remember them as you enjoy your day today.

Well it's officially summer here on the Gulf Coast! And it definitely FEELS like summer too! ;-) This weekend was hot! We've had a busy weekend! Friday and Saturday my hubby was out of town hanging with some of his high school friends so it was just me and the boys! Friday afternoon, after they got off the bus for the last time this school year, we went shopping. I was in desperate need of some clothes that fit! All of my shorts from last summer (that were tight on me last summer) are way too big! :-) So I got some new shorts...and I am happy to say that I had to buy them 2 sizes down!!! I also got several new tops for the summer! After I shopped I took the boys to a store of their choice so they could spend some of their report card money. Then it was pizza and movie night!

The boys were definitely entertained in Old Navy while I shopped lol!

Saturday I got to sleep in since I ran my long run Friday morning. We hung around the house that morning. That afternoon we met my sister and took the boys for ice cream. Then I ventured into the world of swim suit shopping since once again mine from last year is falling off of me. Luckily I found one!

Sunday was a family day with the hubby since we missed him so much this weekend! We went with his parents to Pensacola to the Naval Air Museum! We also went to the Pensacola Lighthouse and climbed up the 177 steps to get to the top! This is the second time we've done this and it never gets old!

Now it's time for another Weekly Chase! I'm ready to tell you all about my goals for this week! I hope you will link up your own goals with me too! And feel free to use the badge below in your post too! You can grab the badge HERE! :-)

Here are last week's goals!

• Goal #1: Run 3 times this week. Yes! I ran 4 times this week! I ran 3 short ones and a long one on Friday!
• Goal #2: Roll and stretch daily. 75%. I missed a few days. 
• Goal #3: Log and stay under all my calories this week. Oh yes! And even though I ate out a lot more for lunch this week the scale has been down. I can't wait to see the official number on weigh day!
• Goal #4: Cook most of our meals at home this week. We ate at home every night but Thursday and Friday. Thursday night my in-laws took us out to dinner after Sawyer's gymnastics end of the year show. And Friday was pizza night like always. 
• Goal #5: Spend time with friends this week. Yes! I had a blast this week! I ate lunch with 4 of my friends this week! :-)

Here are the goals I will be chasing this week!

Goal #1: Run every day! Yes that's right...every day! Today starts the Runner's World Summer Run Streak! I do this every summer and love it! The requirement is to run at least one mile every day from Memorial Day to July 4th! That makes 40 days of consecutive running! I plan to still run at least 2 short runs (2-3 miles) and a long run. All the other days I will just run a mile! :-)

Goal #2: Roll and stretch daily. This will be very important now that I'm streaking!

Goal #3: Log and stay under all my calories this week. I only have about 10 more pounds to go to be at my goal weight!!!

Goal #4: Cook most of our meals at home this week. This really helps me eat healthier foods when I prepare them myself. 

Goal #5: Take the boys swimming at least once this week. The boys have been begging me to go swimming. I plan to have them do at least one activity this week that involves water! 

So that's the plan for this week! Hope your week goes great as well!

QOTD: What are your goals this week?

Father's Day Fun Day Part 2

Just in case you missed it, you may want to read Father's Day Fun Day Part 1 first!

After the museum, we headed to the Pensacola Lighthouse!  Andy and I have always wanted to do this...climb up to the top of the lighthouse.  I remember us talking about doing it when we were dating but we never got around to it.  So I was super excited!  And a little nervous about the boys being able to do it.  We decided to attempt it anyway!

Here's a little history about the lighthouse:

We got to tour the keeper's quarters of the lighthouse first.  That was pretty neat.  And supposedly this lighthouse is one of America's most haunted lighthouses!  It was even featured on the show "Ghost Hunters!"  Watch the episode below.



We couldn't wait to climb to the top!  Admission wasn't bad...$5.00 for adults and $3.00 for children.  There was a rule...you could not wear flip flops or any shoes with an open back.  The boys were good...they had on tennis shoes...but Andy and I had on flip flops.  We were getting sdisappointed until they said we could climb barefooted.  So that's what we did! 

Here we go!  It was 177 steps (equivalent to 15 flights of stairs) to get to the top!  Now remember...I had run 6 miles that morning.  But I was determined to do this!  Another rule...people coming down had the right of way so when we were going up we had to move all the way over to the right side of the stair to let them through.  This was a little challenging with a 4 and 6 year old but they did great!  There were several windows going up the tower and you could step off the stairs into the window to take a break or look out. 

Going up actually wasn't that hard.  The stairs were not steep at all.  The most difficulty we had was moving over to let the people coming down come through.  We finally made it to the top...and what a view we had!!!  It was gorgeous!!! 

In the far distance we could see Fort Pickens.  I zoomed in with my camera to get a better view.

And yes I just had to have a picture of me and Andy's bare feet lol!

We stayed at the top of the tower about 15 minutes.  We talked to one of the lighthouse's workers.  He told us that you could reserve the top of the tower to watch the Blue Angels practice.  He said one of them even flew right next to the tower and you could get great pictures of the planes from above.  This is a definite must for me and Andy to do one day!!!  I think it would be too loud for the boys though.  Andy is afraid of heights so he was a little uncomfortable at the top...and it was super windy so that worried him even more.  But the boys and I LOVED it and weren't scared a bit! 

Coming down from the tower was a little more tricky.  You would think it would be harder to go up but it was really harder coming down.  I think it was because of the spiral staircase.  But we made it and felt very accomplished after!!!  I was so proud of the boys for doing this!!!

Another beautiful view of the lighthouse and keepers quarters!

The boys loved this pelican and insisted on a picture with it!

Do I recommend going to this lighthouse???  Absolutely!!!!!

After this, we headed towards home...the scenic way.  We ended up stopping for dinner at the beach in Gulf Shores at an awesome place called The Hangout.  This is a pretty popular restaurant in our area...there are tons of family friendly things AND adult things too.  They have live music and a huge hill of sand for the kids to play on.  The boys had a blast!  And the food is pretty good too!  We were pretty hungry after climbing 177 steps so we got their homemade chips, salsa, and queso dip appetizer.  Very yummy!

I ordered the "Shaka-Shaka"Chicken Wrap...it had chicken, lettuce, tomatoes, and monterey jack and cheddar cheese in the tortilla.  The "Shaka-Shaka" sauce was really good...it had an almost sweet taste at first and then ended in a mild spicy flavor.  And the french fries were pretty good too although I didn't eat many of them. 

After we ate, of course we let the boys play in the sand hill!  And I got some cute shots of them too! 

This concluded our Father's Day Fun Day!!!  Results...completely worn out kids AND parents!!!  That means we had a GREAT day!  :-)