Each week during our summer vacation I will be posting a photo summary. I will include photos that capture the mood of our days and how we're spending them.

This week we...

…had a birthday:



…visited the Monterey Bay Aquarium:



…enjoyed the company of mama birds and their babies in our yard:



…picked the first zucchini from our garden:



…planned and hosted our first grilled pizza and s'mores cookout on a very hot summer (almost) evening:



…and enjoyed blooming flowers in the hot valley sunshine:

We are on the countdown to summer vacation here. We have a little bit of busy left with a final baseball game, a preschool graduation, birthdays to celebrate, teachers to thank, etc. I am both looking forward to and bracing myself for a couple months' break from our school year routine. I will spend whole days with my boys. Boys who are more active and more easily bored than they were a year ago. Boys who are loud and curious and messy.

In my usual way, I have created a loose plan for us (summers past: summer manifesto 2012, summer ideas for 2011). Lists of things to do and projects to channel messes into creativity. I have some special things in the works too. Adventures, camping trips, hikes, and even a fun project or two that carry a lesson in kindness to others. I'll share more on that in a couple of weeks.

I haven't been blogging nearly as frequently lately as I have in the past. There are really two reasons for that; one more obvious than than the other. My days have changed in their rhythm. I have more stops to make, more places to go to watch boys throw balls, run, swim, kick, and race things. I also have been thinking a lot about my mission with this space. Not just the topics of posts but the overall direction of my blog. My heart has changed and grown a larger place for things beyond food and healthy eating. I am holding space in my heart for something bigger.

I will turn 40 this summer and, with that, comes a lot of introspection. This summer will be an experiment for me. I am writing to record things for me. Things that I want to remember and things that I want to share with others so that they might add them to their summer plans as well. I have a summer writing calendar that I will attempt to follow. I will be sharing our projects, adventures, joyful things, and some food stuff too. Mostly, I want to capture what I think will be both a great summer and a period of growth for me.

My seven year old wrote a short paragraph and drew a picture to share his summer plans:

Happy summer!

I have been doing a lot of running lately. More than usual because I am training for a St. Patrick's Day half marathon. My long run days are now 8-10 mile runs and, for that distance, I sometimes need a little energy boost in the middle. I have used gel packets (like this) in the past but I get burned out on those really quickly and I'm ready for something new.

For the past few long runs I have been carrying a little ziploc bag of dates in my SPIbelt (yes, I am a hippie freak), but I really wanted to try a new combination of flavors. I am a HUGE fan of lemon desserts and coconut too. Because they are mostly dates and cashews, these balls are similar to Larabars but the flavor is even better! They are so, so good!


Did you know…? Dates contain glucose which makes them a great food for quick energy. Read more here.


Lemon Coconut Energy Balls
Makes about 7 1-inch balls

1/3 cup chopped pitted dates
1/2 cup raw cashews
1/4 cup coconut flakes (the big crunchy ones work great!)
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
A small pinch of salt

Variation: Use lime zest instead of lemon for Key Lime Coconut Energy Balls!

Making popcorn that doesn't come from the microwave is not supposed to be hard. The other day I put a little coconut oil in my stovetop popper and started to make popcorn like I always do. The oil, instead of just getting hot and popping the corn, started smoking like crazy and burned the corn kernels to a crisp. I do not know why. Maybe my coconut oil (a brand I don't normally buy) had more coconut meat in it than usual? I don't know.

After melting a hole through the garbage bag in my kitchen, I ran around the house turning on fans and opening doors and windows to get the smoke out. The house filled up with burnt popcorn smoke and, subsequently, mosquitoes that came in through the open doors. This is not how making popcorn usually goes!

In my desperation to avoid a second smoke bomb, I Googled "pop regular popcorn in the microwave" and learned how ridiculously easy it is to do! No more cleaning the popcorn popper, no more using oil to pop the corn, no more kitchen smoke bombs. No more kids running around the house yelling, "mosquitoooo!!!" PERFECT!

By now we all know that store-bought microwave popcorn is toxic. You know that, right? Even Oprah knows. Please don't eat that stuff! We also know that air-popped is the way to go to avoid excess fat and calories.

Without the oil, popcorn is actually a decent snack that contains 7g of fiber and 4g protein per 120 calorie serving.

Microwave Air-Popped Popcorn
Start with organic popcorn (to avoid GMO, genetically modified, corn) and follow these simple steps for yummy, air-popped popcorn from the microwave!

1. Pour 1/4-1/3 cup organic popcorn kernels into a brown paper lunch sack.

2. Fold down the top of the bag a few times and crease it with your fingernail or the back of a knife.

3. Place in the microwave and press the popcorn button (or cook on high for about 1 1/2 minutes). The bag will puff up, just like microwave popcorn bags do, and the corn will pop. When the popping slows to a couple of seconds between pops, turn off the microwave.

4. Remove the bag and pour the popcorn into a bowl (be careful, it is hot). Top with nutritional yeast, salt, chipotle chile powder, cinnamon and sugar- whatever you like! Enjoy!