This adventure is brought to you by Love with Food. Love with Food is a subscription snack box that starts as low as $7.99 a month, and helps you discover guilt-free organic and all natural non-GMO snacks delivered to your door! For every box sold, they donate a meal to a food bank –No Kid Hungry! Join us to help end child hunger one meal at a time!
Thank you for supporting our sponsors that help keep Armelle Blog up and running, all thoughts and opinions are my own.
The kids have been out of school for Fall Break, so as we do, we decided to head out for an adventure!
We love a good adventure, and Antelope Island is always one of our favorite places to hike, run around, and discover! We packed up our Love with Food Snack Box and headed out for some fun!
We decided to mess around at the salty beach, and then hike to Buffalo Point! We took a little break at the top to lay down a blanket and have some snacks from our Love with Food box. Something my kids were really looking forward to when I told them we had some special Love with Food snacks!
My kids of course loved all of the snacks, and it was fun for me to discover new snacks for my kids and enjoy some we are already familiar with and love! I also was happy to see some coupons in the box so we can buy some of our new favorite snacks next time we make a grocery store run.
My kids love the large rocks at the top to climb and explore. My little Thomas was a lion, a lizard, and a cheetah all within minutes! I love to watch them imagine and play! Like I always say, nature is the BEST babysitter!
The views of the top are just picturesque and it felt like we were at the real ocean, and not the Great Salt Lake!
We also saw some Buffalo and Antelope grazing around the island, always a big highlight for my kids. Of course they always have to observe with their binoculars!
We just love that we live in such a beautiful state, and are able to discover and explore such beautiful places in our own backyard!
We are getting ready for Halloween over at our house, and when I asked my four year old what he would like to be for Halloween this year, he immediately replied, “A Skeleton!!” I was happy to oblige! I just love a classic Halloween Costume!
I’m the type of mom that loves a good DIY project, and while I know you can purchase a skeleton costume, a handmade touch to my kids’ costumes is always SO much fun for me! I love that you can add a little bit of a unique touch with a few modern looking skeleton bones, and my kids get so excited to help with the project! It only took me about an hour or so start to finish to get a cute homemade Skeleton costume!
I found a black top and bottom at Walmart for only $3.88 each, and I bought some Tulip Fabric Paint in white and glow in the dark (affiliate)! A pretty cute costume to put together for around $20 or less!
For the full step by step instructions and skeleton bone templates, be sure to head on over to HelloBee where I am sharing this full tutorial!
My little guy couldn’t be more excited for Halloween! He thinks his costume is just the coolest, and he has told me so several times! That made it all worth it!
He was also so thrilled that it actually glowed in the dark! I think he’s going to scare a lot of people this Halloween! Wink.
I added a black beanie and skeleton gloves (You could totally DIY black gloves with the fabric paint) that I found in a set at Walmart, and his classic Chuck Taylor Converse shoes! You can also paint their face to look like a fun skeleton!
This is a sponsored post by iFit. iFit gives a whole new perspective on fitness with wearable fit bands, iFit powered exercise equipment, and daily workout videos, that help motivate and inspire giving you a brighter outlook on your own unique fitness journey. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting our sponsors that help keep Armelle Blog up and running!
Be sure to checkout the details at the bottom of this post on a Giveaway for an iFit Vue!
Now that I’ve approached my, ahem mid thirties, it feels like staying fit is getting harder and harder. Things that used to work for me before seem to take longer, or not work at all. Getting older is no fun! Ha!
I’ve recently changed some of my workout routines, and I’m hoping to get into better shape! As I talked about it in this post, I used to do the whole running for exercise thing over the past several years, which is an amazing workout, but I recently decided that I also need to switch things up and add some strength training and other things to the mix.
I recently got an iFit Vue to help track my calories in and out, how many steps/miles, workouts and sleep easily on my wrist with their new bright touchscreen display. Seeing all the information right on my wrist has really helped me to stay motivated!
The iFit Vue syncs up to the iFit app on my phone to be able to set goals, and track everything and add the calories you have consumed. It even has a reminder to get up and move with a little buzz to the wrist, and the screen says MOVE! If you’ve been idle too long during the non-sleeping hours. It has helped me to stay aware of how active I am being, and I am trying to hit a goal of at least 10,000 steps a day. I never realized that just doing some of my daily tasks like grocery shopping, climbing up and down the stairs to chase my kids, and cleaning up my house all day long was logging so many steps, even miles worth! Kind of motivating!
So, back to the staying active part! I have had a good routine and healthy outlook on staying active since I was a teen, I talked a little bit about it in this post. But, I didn’t realize that as I was getting older, I was staying active, but feel like I was letting myself get a little “soft” for lack of a better term. Now, I don’t want to be a ripped muscle head, but healthy lean toned muscle, and maybe a little definition would be nice.
I try my best not to compare myself to others, and maintain a healthy outlook on my body image. I’ve always been lucky be able to have a healthy body image about myself, not in a I think I have the best body or that I’m in shape way. But, in a I don’t think it’s healthy to be down on ourselves too much about our bodies and what we think may be the perfect body kind of way. I know that I have flaws, and sometimes it does get to me and I get down on myself, especially when you see an unflattering photo of yourself, or see yourself from a new angle and wonder, if that is really you? But, I try not to let that eat away at me, and focus on what is in my control. My hips, thighs, stomach, arms, back won’t be just like someone else’s, and all body types are different. So, even if we’d like what they have, sometimes it’s just unattainable! I guess I am more realistic when it comes to my body type, and at 5 foot 5 inches, I have to deal with what I have. And, really I have a healthy body, so what more can I ask for?! That is a miracle in itself that I thank God for everyday!!
Another reason it is important for me to stay in shape is for my kids. I want to be able to run around with them, hike with them, swim with them, and be an example to them of how to take care of these amazing bodies we have. And, for my daughter especially, I want her to have a healthy attitude about her body, and love it for what it is, and keep it healthy and strong. I want them to establish routines, and lifestyles that involve staying active and healthy.
So, back to working out.
The past few months I have been trying something new with my workout routine. I joined a gym, what?!! I haven’t had a gym membership in over 9 years!
But, I found that I’ve really enjoyed some of the group fitness classes. It has been more motivating for me to have a trainer in your face telling you to push harder! I have been working out and changing things up in ways I haven’t ever done, which has been really great! I’ve been working hard, and trying new things. And, frankly I haven’t lost a pound. In fact, I’ve gained weight (10lbs to be exact), which I am hoping is my body gaining some muscle and shedding the fat! I think we all get in a fitness rut sometimes, and it is nice to change things up and challenge your body. I still haven’t completely found the mix I’d like, and I’m hoping to add a little more weight training into my routines, but frankly that scares me to death! But, it’s always a work in progress!
It’s been fun tracking my workouts on the iFit Vue and seeing how many calories I’m burning and steps I’ve taken. I’d also like to get the iFit Smartbeat heart rate monitor to add to the iFit app and the wristband to get an even more accurate idea of how many calories I’m burning, and see what is working for me.
I am the worst about counting calories, but the iFit app and the ifit Vue wrist band sure makes it easier. It has been eye opening for me to see how little things I am blindly eating are adding up. So, while I’m not a huge fan of counting calories, I generally eat healthy, I think it’s nice to check yourself every now and then to get a realistic view of what you are actually consuming and adjust your intake to some healthier options.
So, here’s to making goals, and improving ourselves bit by bit. I know I always can improve, and hope to continue to work hard toward my goals and feel great about myself and continue to feel healthy!
I am also so excited to giveaway an iFit Vue to one of my lucky readers!!
GIVEAWAY DETAILS!!
Be sure to head over to my Instagram and follow me, @armelle_blog and @ifit and tag three friends to enter!!
