Visit to the Shedd Aquarium
For the long Family Day weekend Matt and I visisted my sister Vicki and brother-in-law Sean in Illinois. It’s been about six months since the last time visited.
We brought Bagigis with us to play with her little doggie cousin, Ruxin. In retrospect, that might have been a mistake. Aside from one night when my sister fell asleep on the floor with the pups beside her, the dogs were terrors in the middle of the night– chasing each other and fighting in the middle of the night and scratching at our doors keeping us awake. Lesson learned: sleep on the floor next time. Or, ya know, bring the crate.
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We spent the better part of the weekend watching almost all of Season 1 of the Game of Thrones. I read the book last year and thought they did a really good job with the casting and the settings, keeping it true to the book (for the most part). The books are long though so I’m not sure if I’ll read the rest or just watch the series.
Saturday afternoon the four of us went to the gym. Vicki teaches group exercise classes and she set up a circuit of 8 exercises in the aerobics room:
We followed up by playing a bit of basketball (which I haven’t done since I was 14) and stayed at the gym until it closed.
Sunday afternoon involved heading into Chicago, eating Jimmy John’s subs, and visiting the Shedd Aquarium.
Vicki and Sean in front of the Shedd Aquarium
It’s member appreciation month and since Vicki is a member she got to bring Matt and I for $5 each. A steal! We had to cut our visit short though since Sean got a call halfway through our visit from his landlord complaining about the dogs crying. That was all Bagigis, I’m sure. She’s a big suck that cries whenever we leave her somewhere.
Matt and I in front of the Shed Aquarium
At least we got to see most of the exhibits- the jellies and the sea otters were my favourites- though we missed out on the sharks and the coral reef.
(Click for Larger Pictures)
Happy Mardi Gras everyone!
In typical Fat Tuesday fashion, tonight’s dinner included oatmeal pancakes with maple syrup :-d
I used a combination of oats, oat bran, and flour in these pancakes.
Every Lent I practice some form of self denial. This year I’m giving up sugar starting tomorrow.
It’s going to be tough. I always always have cravings for sweets and I think those cravings will be tough to quash. Here’s hoping I can make it through all forty days : /
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- e-mail: samanthaamenzies@gmail.com
- Samantha Menzies is a food and workout fanatic who loves pumping serious iron and baking loaves of bread.
really pretty pictures of marine life. looks like you had a fantastic day.
Is it a rule that all lent “give-ups” must be food related? I’m really curious. I had this discussion yesterday with someone else who didn’t know the answer. I feel like everyone gives up some type of food…..but I don’t know much about lent so maybe I’m the only idiot who doesn’t know that’s what you are supposed to do!
Glad you had a nice weekend in Illinois. That workout sounds AWESOME! I might just have to do that, but first I have to look up Turkish get-ups.
Oh, and I love your new blog header!!!!
Lent is about Jesus’ 40 day fast in the desert while being tempted by the devil, so traditionally people sacrifice food to experience a type of fast and temptation in the same way Jesus did (but obviously on a lesser scale). But I know a lot of Catholics who don’t observe Lent at all and I know some Catholics who will make resolutions to be a better person in one way or another. So really there’s no hard and fast rule on it (like Ramadan’s sunrise to sundown fast, for example). Though a common one is No Meat on Fridays during Lent.
Ahhh, I originally from IL so you are making me miss it (kinda!). Good luck giving up sugar! I should do the same thing … I have went on sugar detox’s in the past and it does make me feel better. Your pancakes look really good!
I’ve been without sugar (except for fruit) for 2.5 weeks now with my cleanse. I’m loving it! It’s totally broken my addiction and I’ve found some fun ways to get my “sweet” fix for dessert. good luck!
Good luck with the sugar! Or without sugar, I should say. Sugar and I get a little too friendly from time to time … so 40 days without sounds difficult