Green Smoothies - Fast Food for on the Road

Two weeks ago we purchased a Blendtec Blender - it was a hefty investment but Green Smoothies are such a huge part of our life and we have been through 4 blenders in the past 5 years. None of them have stood up to our daily use and when we decided to make Green Smoothies three times a day we knew we would have to purchase a blender that could keep up. After much research we chose the Blendtec and have thus far been thrilled with its performance.

We have used this blender at least 3 times a day for the past 2 weeks and it has surpassed our expectations. 

It efficiently blends everything to a drinkable consistency - full length carrots, kale, whole apples, flax seeds - we've tried many other various fruits, vegetables and seeds too and they have all been blended into a smooth, drinkable consistency.

It is so simple to clean - the Blendtec has a wide base making it a breeze to clean, unlike traditionally shaped blenders where things get caught in the narrow base. We rinse under hot water and then put a bit of water in it and pulse and it's clean - this was especially helpful over the past weekend when we took our blender with us on our trip. 

Paul blending at our campsite on Grand Isle

Paul told me he'd like to bring the blender along with us on our anniversary trip and while I initially thought it a bit weird I am so glad we had it - it helped us maintain a healthy, regular diet which made the trip so much more enjoyable!

We kept a cooler full of greens, carrots, fruit, eggs and ice. Our initial plan was to simply use our power converter in our car, but it wasn't strong enough to power the blender so our backup plan was to seek out truck stops along our way to use the outlets in the trucker lounges. 

While there are signs up saying "Truckers Only" we were welcomed into all of them, if you try this yourself I would advise making certain that you aren't disturbing or annoying anyone by your non-trucker presence. :)

Traveling with the Blendtec made for inexpensive, convenient and nutritious meals and we have decided we won't be traveling without it. While we did end up paying more for fruits and vegetables as we picked up exactly what we wanted on the go (as opposed to purchasing them in bulk and on sale) and we occasionally picked up overpriced convenience produce (pre washed greens or cored pineapple) none of the smoothies rang up at over $5 for a blender-full that was more than enough for Paul and myself to share.

That is $2.50 per person for breakfast, lunch or snack! You can't beat that price and you'd be hard pressed to beat the nutrient packed meal at any price from a restaurant.

I am working on writing down exactly what goes into our smoothies so I can share recipes - it's hard to do as Paul and I both have a tendency to throw things together, hold our breath and hope it works.

Both our boys adore these smoothies - in fact Wesley woke up hungry in the middle of the night and when I brought him into the kitchen and asked him what he'd like to eat he asked me for a smoothie. The boys have no idea that they are eating about 4oz of Kale or Spinach, 1-2 carrots and various other fruits and vegetables each day - they just love their "Smoovies".

And we love them too.

Our Fifth

 

 Grand Isle, LA

We are happy to be back home with our boys now.

Our 4 day anniversary trip isn't one we'll soon forget.

Early morning exercise

We drove 1,600 miles.

Each night sleeping in a different state.

Two nights camped out in the back of our car, mere feet from the Gulf of Mexico. 

Listening to the waves crash and feeling the wind gently swaying our car as we drifted off to sleep.

 Dauphin Island, AL

We saw things we will never forget.

Breath taking beauty of early morning sunrises over the Gulf.

And tragic remnants of hurricane flooding.

 

 Flooded truck on Grand Isle, LA

While we missed our boys they were in the best of care with my sister and the time away together was just what we needed.

Celebrating our marriage, cultivating our friendship and experiencing new things together made for the most delightful of long weekends.

 

 Oxford, AL

Friendship isn't a big thing - it's a million little things.  ~Author Unknown
 

Our First Anniversary Remembered and Plans for the Fifth

April 23 will mark our 5 year anniversary. FIVE years! It's hard to believe how fast the last five years have gone by and at the same time how much has fit into 5 years!

For our first anniversary we were practically broke. We had free flying vouchers we'd been given for giving up our seats on a flight we'd taken earlier on that year and we'd saved those free vouchers to use for our anniversary. We didn't know where we wanted to go other than somewhere hot. 

We randomly decided to fly to Phoenix, Arizona for no reason other than there were flights available on the weekend we had free.

At that point we were so broke we could pretty much only afford to fly - on our free vouchers - from the Cleveland airport to the Phoenix airport and do nothing else. Had it not been for our tax return that year that is all we would have done! We budgeted enough money to cover a 3 day car rental, gas and $25 for food for our weekend trip.

When we landed in Phoenix we went to pick up our car rental - the smallest, cheapest car they had available. By a beautiful turn of events, which we fully credit God for, the small cars had all been rented out and they upgraded us and included a few extra perks for free.

This jeep was our abode for the next three days:

We had no money to spend on a hotel or restaurant meals but our 1st anniversary trip to Arizona is one of our most favorite memories. 

We slept in the car, ate food from the grocery store and had an incredible time together.

In the three days we were there we drove over 1,500 miles.

We started in Phoenix, AZ and then drove through a bit of California then went to Las Vegas, Nevada and then drove back - stopping at various sites along the way and randomly driving through neighborhoods to look at the beautiful homes. 

It was so much fun.

We didn't buy any souvenirs. We didn't take in any shows. We didn't eat anywhere that required a tip. We spent less on that whole trip than most people would spend on two nights at a hotel.

That trip inspired an idea we have built on each year since then - to celebrate each anniversary in a different state, or in several different states. 

Our second anniversary was spent in Georgia.

Our third in South Carolina.

Our forth in Tennessee.

And now that our fifth is upon us we tried to think up something special and memorable to do. And we kept thinking of our first anniversary. We have a lot more money now than we did that first year. But not having money that first year is, in large, what made the time together so memorable and fun. To this day thinking of my 6'4 husband squished inside the Jeep sleeping still makes me laugh.

 

A month or so ago our plan started to take shape.

We are going to drive through Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana and camp on a couple of beaches. Some of the camp sites are free and the others are about $10/night. We are going to spend money on some of the local attractions that have been raved about on tripadvisor.com and indulge in the local food as we're big foodies - but we're sticking to a budget and are going to try to spend even less then than amount. We want to purposefully spend as little as we can, while doing a few key things that we have researched ahead of time.

I am so excited! We plan to spend the first night at Dauphin Island. The second day drive through New Orleans and spend the second night in Grand Isle State Park. The third day we'll go back to New Orleans and then head up through Mississippi. We haven't figured out what to do in Mississippi or the finer points of each day. If anyone has been to any of those places I'd love suggestions on things to see or do!

Tips for Traveling with Littles

Having recently done a rather lengthy drive with the boys (6 months and 23 months) I thought I would share some of the tips that made our trip easier.
The trip up to my parents took 18 hours, and the one back south took us 28 hours. The extra 10 hours were taken up with stopping for a last minute visit with a couple friends, sleeping in the car and getting lost.

We started both trips with a prayer for safety and harmony. God was gracious in answering - on the trip home we came within a couple of inches of hitting a deer (and then saw about 8 more walking on the side of the road!) and there was another stretch of highway where there were about 8 serious looking car accidents in the span of 5 miles. We also all got along and liked each other at the end of both driving times ;)

Preparing for the Trip
In preparation for the trip I bought/made some 'special' non-sugary treats for Judah. This included crackers, cheese, sausage mini quiches, fruit leathers and apple juice. I cut the sausage and cheese into little cubes, perfect for his little fingers. I had a special little dish for his food to go into and I would put small servings into the dish and then pass it back to him. He was always free to ask for more, but I tried to not put too much in it to avoid having too much food fall on the seat/floor.

Since we were leaving on Christmas day we decided that we wouldn't give him a stocking that morning, and would instead give him little presents -one at a time- in the car. Most of the 'little presents' I used were items he already owned. Things like sunglasses, little cars, books, binoculars and a toy phone.
I think the only thing I actually bought for him for the trip was a set of mini glow sticks (from the Dollar Store.) Since we were driving through the night I thought he would have such fun with it, and he really did! He was fascinated with the 'light' and occupied himself for almost two hours straight with them. At the two hour mark he got oddly silent and I turned around to look at him and he had somehow managed to bite through the stick and had the green glowing stuff all over himself and the seat and door. The Glow Sticks are non toxic, but I think we'll wait til he's a bit older to give him those again.

On top of those items I had a few "Emergency" tools too - items that I knew would instantly cheer Judah up and pull him out of an oncoming bad attitude. These items included hand lotion (Judah adores having lotion rubbed on his hands!), gummy Dinosaur candy and lip gloss (shh! Don't tell Paul I am telling the world that his son loves lip gloss.) These items were used only a handful of times to retain their 'specialness' and they really did do their job!

As far as preparing and packing stuff for Wesley there really wasn't anything to do for him (6 months) I had a couple of car seat toys hanging for him and a pacifier, which he doesn't really use. He was rather simple to plan for in the car.

Including the Boys in Conversation and Songs.
We spent a lot of time talking with the boys and singing them songs. On the way up we drove through the night and it had been our hope that Judah would sleep through the night but that was not to be. Our social child slept for an hour or two max for the entire car ride. During the 4 hour stretch that I drove going up there Judah chattered with me almost nonstop while Paul slept.
We mooed and counted and worked on his letters and sang and were just goofy together. I think that making him feel included and important helped keep him cheerful and good natured when it came to sitting for so long.

Burning Some Energy.
We stopped every 3-4 hours for Wesley to nurse. While I sat in the (nice, warm) car with the baby Paul took Judah out and walked and ran and jumped with him in the parking lot of wherever we were stopped. Having that little bit of freedom, and the opportunity to use up some energy, was really good for Judah.

Keeping up with Judah's normal eating time and serving him hot meals.
To help keep things normal we stopped around meal times to eat - I know it would have been much cheaper to have just packed everything in the car that we wanted to eat, but to us, it was worthwhile to buy. Most places were closed on both days of our trip (Christmas and New Years Day) but to be totally honest our favorite place to buy food while on the road is Sheetz Gas Station. The food is fresh, hot and delicious.
We made one stop at a Japanese place and got sushi to go, but otherwise the rest of our meals came from Sheetz.

Diaper Changes and Dirty Clothes.
Keeping on top of clean diapers isn't so fun while in the car! There isn't ever a doubt when a diaper has been dirtied, but actually changing the diaper is a rather large task. I cannot bring myself to change the boys on the handy changing 'tables' located in most gas station and fast food bathrooms. It makes me cringe to think of it, and it is just not an option.
A friend gave me a fold up changing mat that holds diapers, wipes and anti bacterial hand gel. It folds up to the size of a large pocket book. I kept in the car door and when the boys needed to be changed we would do it on the passenger seat. We kept bags close by to put the diapers in and disposed of it as soon as we were able. The colder it got the more difficult it was to stand outside the car and change a dirty diaper, but that is how we did it for all the diapers we encountered.

We didn't do it this trip, however in the past we have 'lined' the car seats with a towel to catch any explosions that might leak through the clothes. I would highly recommend this!


A Few Other Things.
Once or twice we had to change an outfit because of a diaper mess or food mess. This was anticipated and an extra change of clothes was within easy reach for each boy.

We had a few other things for the boys that we kept within easy reach from the front seat. The snacks, toys and diapers were all kept close by, as well as Childrens Tylenol, Ora gel, bags for trash and diapers, winter clothes and extra blankets. We didn't bother with layering clothes for Judah while he was in his car seat. We dressed him in a long sleeved t-shirt and put blankets on him. When we took him out of the car we had his winter clothes right near by. It worked well for us.

I think the biggest thing about traveling with babies and/or toddlers is anticipating the various situations that could arise (exploding diapers, boredom, etc.) and preparing for those situations. Also, try to maintain as normal of a diet as possible while traveling