Tag Archives: vacation

Does Your Toddler Need A Weight Lifting Rest Week?

Only 20 months old and Avery has plenty of weight lifting experience under her belt. Literally….

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She is a master with the kettlebell, does plenty of squats, and even acts as our personal trainer sometimes. I follow a 4 day per week lifting routine and normally do some form of HIIT on my “off” days, and Avery is there with me, ready to workout too.

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Well, sometimes. She also enjoys reading, which is perfectly fine. Just recently she figured out how to loop my weight belt and now she must wear it at all times. She’s a little reluctant to hand it over when I have my own heavy lifting to do, but as long as I promise to give it right back, she’ll allow me to use it. Because she has heavy lifting reading to do too.

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As a bonafide exercise addict myself, I can tell when things are getting too excessive. I’m still struggling with the whole less is more ideology when it comes to gaining strength even though I know it’s true. The last thing I want is for Avery to develop the same tendency to need to workout out all the time, so it’s good for both of us that we’re going on vacation soon.

I can tell Avery is already a tad obsessive when it comes to working out just from her constant desire to have the belt on just in case she needs to pull a couple sets of doubles on deadlift or push for a new 5 rep max on back squat. Or maybe just push the boundaries of all things cute!

Whatever the case, I knew a break from it all was imminent. First she started having trouble with getting her belt on.

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Then her interest in other activities, like reading, began to wane.

Read.....or LIFT!!!
Read…..or LIFT!!!

A big indicator was when she started to take frequent rests and appeared lethargic. A classic sign of fatigue.

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But the ultimate sign for a weight lifting rest week came about when she began getting clumsy in her movements and very, very irritable.

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Trikes and belts just don’t mix, but she wouldn’t listen to Daddy.

Luckily, our whole Going Family is getting a rest week in 2 days. My training routine even has a scheduled rest week that fits perfectly for our vacation. Of course, it’ll be active rest as I plan on hiking and kayaking with my wife every day! We’re going to Colorado to stay with Nana and Papa which will be interesting since this is Avery’s first time to be on a plane. Yikes!

That said, I need to get back to perusing Pinterest for clever ways to make the trip as easy as possible. I found this blogger who created a great list for Air Travel Under 2; she says It’s not that bad. We’ll be the judge of that………or, Avery will that is.

Thanks to those of you who left me tips the other day, I’ll be using those for sure! I’m counting on her love of popcorn to make it a great snack to keep her occupied, one kernel at a time. I’m air-popping a big batch of this Tiny But Mighty organic popcorn to bring along. If you haven’t tried, pick some up and enjoy, it’s delicious! Better get back to it, we still have lots of packing to do!

Are you a fitness fanatic who never gives yourself a break, or the opposite and need more motivation to get going?

Do you find family vacations are more stressful than they should be, or have you had a great experience every time?

Birthday Brunch at Brewed

My little brother, Uncle Preston, and I took our Mom, G-Ma, out for a birthday brunch at Brewed last weekend. She’s been celebrating the big 6-0 for a couple weeks now, starting when my Aunt Tammy, Uncle Paul, and Grandma came down from PA.

But there’s nothing like a little quality time with her two grown boys to top off her birthday fun, right? Preston and I planned to meet at Brewed with him bringing mom there and me meeting them without her knowing. I contacted the place earlier and their GM, Chris, kindly responded saying they’d help make our little outing special.

I arrived before mom and Preston, and although there was a long wait, they had a room cut off from all the noise just for us.

Our Table at Brewed for Mom's 60th

This place is small but extremely popular. And for good reason, the serve top notch local fare and, as the name implies, delicious brews in form of both coffee and beer. Being brunch, I could’ve gone either route, but as I’ve stated before, I choose coffee over beer any day. I went with a cold brew that they have kegged from a place in Oregon and it did not disappoint!

Cold Brew Coffee from Brewed

The equivalent of 3 cups of coffee and served in a Belgian style beer glass made me a happy diner! I also had to pee a lot. I never thought of coffee being in a keg, but definitely need to look into this for a home setup!

When my mom and Preston arrived, I waved them down and we were immediately waited on by a kind waitress. She even took pictures of us on both of our phones.

Mom tasted some of my coffee and ordered some for herself. Preston thought about it, hesitated, and then just went with water despite my advice to “just get some!” Plus, he had to go into work right after, so coffee would only help increase his productivity. Well, and bathroom trips.

Our food came without delay and we all enjoyed what we ordered. As usual, I made special requests including not cooking the omelette in oil and giving me raw veggies instead of toast. It took them a while since I guess not many people ask for this, but all was right in the end and not once did the waitstaff act annoyed at my requests.

Excellent service and willingness to accommodate my special requests (usually just to do less than normal) are all I need to place a restaurant on my favorites list. As of now, that’s a short list, but Brewed is one of them!

After our meals, they surprised us by offering some of their espresso ice cream. My mom and I quickly declined the ice cream but said espresso would be wonderful. After our waitress left, Preston said he actually wanted the ice cream. Oops, sorry, bud, I spoke for all of us! But, he did get to try espresso for the first time in his life and……he wasn’t a big fan. It’s an acquired taste for sure, and I’m glad he at least finished it.

The staff at Brewed had something special for my mom, though…..

Espresso Art at Brewed

How cool is that? A cappuccino with a little cream artwork! We all had a sip and Preston definitely liked that much better. Maybe we’ll have birthday brunch at Brewed for your 24th, Preston. 😉

We sat around a talked a while as I downed a couple coffee refills and then they had to get on their way so Uncle P could go to work. I’m extremely grateful to everyone at Brewed for their great service and quality food. They even comped my mom’s meal and coffee for her birthday! Thanks, Brewed!!!

Spending time with just my mom and brother is rare, and hopefully we’ll find a time to do it again soon. I love our little family, and it’s always fun to reminisce back to when we all lived under the same roof. I love you, Mom and Preston!

Feeling good about our dining service and fortunate they took good care of us, I figured I’d try and continue the good vibes in the area. Kelley was making spaghetti that night and she has a special sauce she makes. It’s rich with flavor with a vibrant red that screams “Eat me!” Seriously, I heard it myself!

Part of what makes the sauce so tasty is her use of lots and lots of garlic, and I needed to bring some home. Not wanting to go to the store, I ventured to another local eatery called Spiral Diner. It’s a unique diner that serves all organic vegan food that even meat lovers enjoy, me included. I popped in, said I don’t need to be seated, but asked if they had any garlic I could buy.

The hostess kindly slipped away to the kitchen and came back with 8 cloves! I asked how much and she said not to worry about it. Score, the good vibes were swarming that day!

Garlic from Spiral Diner

I proudly returned home where my wife used all of the cloves for this excellent sauce that quickly found its way to all of our bellies a couple hours later.

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Fresh basil from our garden really made it pop! Yum!

We’re getting ready to take Avery on her first flight ever this weekend when we go to Colorado to see Nana and Papa. I’m getting more nervous about how the flight will go every day, so any pointers are well-received. Don’t expect a lot of posts for a while as we try and figure out what all to pack. Too bad the house is not an option…..

How do you feel about Brunch? Better than breakfast and/or lunch, or not a fan?

Do you have a special meal you or your significant other makes?

Flying with babies/toddlers/kids…….is it ever easy?

TreyMark Black-eyed Pea Vodka: Our Private Tour

Having done the Revolver Brewing brewery tour two days before, the next obvious stop with our visiting family was a local craft vodka distillery. This is not just any vodka either, it’s distilled using mainly black-eyed peas, the world’s first!

Before the tour, we met at a cool little joint called Lili’s Bistro for lunch. Any place that is happy to accommodate my request to do or add less is an instant favorite, and they pulled through! Actually, we all enjoyed our meals and the service was good too.

But Avery was on the wild side (no surprise) and we quickly found out highchairs are NOT acceptable. Instead, she switched between my wife or my mom and me as she danced around on the booth. Thankfully, G-Ma’s sunglasses case kept her somewhat preoccupied.

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Good ol’ Grandma in the background. Isn’t she pretty? I would never believe she was in her 80’s if I didn’t know her. One of my mom’s friends joined us for lunch and took my grandma out shopping afterward since she didn’t care much about trying vodka. I think she was burned out on drinking after this visit!

For the rest of us, good thing we had vodka to look forward to right after because Avery made it necessary! Okay, not really, but it sure does help! The distillery was only a few minutes away and we went right to it after paying our bill.

The name is TreyMark Vodka, and is located in an old fire station in Fort Worth, Texas. The creator, Trey (obviously), put together everything with the help of his business partners/friends and started distilling the world’s first black-eyed pea vodka.

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This used to be where the pole was located for firemen to slide down.

He chose black-eyed peas since his family had a large farm with the legumes and it just wasn’t turning a profit, so why not make alcohol? Check out his story and look out for a bottle near you!

I first spoke with Trey’s mom/manager (how cool is that?) who arranged the meeting for all of us to meet for a private tour. No charge, no hassle, and he opened the doors just for us! The only drawback was having no A/C on when we visited, but I can’t blame him; gotta keep costs low!

Uncle Paul with my mom on the left and Aunt Tammy on the right.
Uncle Paul with my mom on the left and Aunt Tammy on the right.

That’s the distillery behind the lovely ladies and handsome young man.

Trey kindly greeted us at the front and gave us an excellent history of how he got started and gave a great summary on how he produced his one-of-kind vodka. Leave it to me to poke and prod with too many questions that he couldn’t answer due to being a family secret and what sets him apart from other vodkas. Hey, gotta try, right?

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It’s crazy to think just a couple guys were able o put all of this giant equipment together! The entire place smelled heavily of alcohol (duh), but it wasn’t overwhelming. I actually kind of enjoyed the scent. What none of us enjoyed was the very hot, stale air, but we were provided a little relief when we went up stairs for tasting and he opened a window.

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Going Mom is not a big fan of vodka and opted out of the tasting, so she kept watch over Avery as she danced around the wooden floors. She really enjoyed the loud tapping noise her Soft Star Shoes made when tromping around the room.

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She also explored a little and since we’ve never had her up stairs like this before, she was fascinated at the view from below.

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Well, at least for a minute, then Kelley had to give up her phone to keep the peace.

Crisis averted!!
Crisis averted!!

While Kelley was watching over our crazy toddler, we were learning more and more about the vodka world as we tried TreyMark’s vodka alongside another top Texas “handmade” competitor. Holy burn, Batman, the stuff I used to think was good had nothing on the smoothness of TreyMark!

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All of us tried the competitor’s vodka, which Trey ingeniously keeps on hand for comparison, and came to the same conclusion; TreyMark took the trophy, hands down! Check out Paul’s action shot with all of us except our escapee toddler.

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I could hold his vodka in my mouth without a major burn, but the other stuff just lit my mouth up instantly. I never would’ve thought there is so much of a difference, but it’s all in the processing, and Trey has it down pat.

You want this!
You want this!

After feeling the burn of one, lesser vodka, and enjoying TreyMark’s smoothness, we were feeling the family love and posed for a few pics.

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Lucky to have these beautiful ladies in my family! Love you, Mom and Tammy! As G-Ma went to get money to buy a bottle of vodka, I guess Avery thought it might be for her college fund or something….

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I think my mom is saying “Silly girl, this is for vodka, not edu-macation.” Avery remained expressionless, and hardly cracked a smile when I tried to pose with her even as I held the almighty phone.

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Everyone enjoyed the tour and I’m thankful to Trey and his mom for providing a great experience for all of us. This was the last time for us to see Paul, Tammy, and Grandma before they headed back up North to PA, so we said our farewells in the parking lot.

It’s crazy how fast time flies and we never seem to realize it until after the fact. Still, it was great seeing my family and look forward to flying up to PA with Avery when she’s a little older.

Have you ever visited a distillery?

Would you prefer spirits, wine, or beer or something else?

Kids in highchairs. How do your act in restaurants?