We decided to have a ‘tourist in our own city’ day and used Lay’s Chip Trips for the Paul’s Boatlines Cruise of the Rideau Canal.  I have lived here (almost) my whole life and I have not been since the mid ’80s.  Hubby has lived here his whole life and never taken the tour.  So that was settled.

I cashed in some Lay’s Chip Trips for a two for one coupon and we headed downtown.  We thought we picked a perfectly cool day and even brought sweaters for the kids, but Mother Nature has been playing havoc on us this summer and we were melting before we left the docks.

We travel Colonel By Drive all the time, but for this ride we got to see it from the water, so lovely and so green this year.

Our tour guide was funny and resourceful and we met some very nice folks from New York, so it really was like being a tourist in our own city. We passed this beautiful walking bridge and J yelled, “Hey that is where we skate in the Winter!”  to which we replied, “we skate down this whole canal.”  J was so amused and thought it was pretty cool that we were now boating on the same place that we usually only skate.

The cruise down the canal took just over an hour and we were hot and hungry so we had a lovely brunch on the Market.

Whether you are playing tourist in your own city or taking a trip somewhere else in Canada, Lay’s Chip Trips has a large variety of discounts available for you to use. It’s not too late to sign up and enjoy the benefits.

Disclosure I am participating in the Lay’s Chip Trips program by Mom Central on behalf of Frito Lay and PepsiCo. I received Lay’s Chip Trip points and a gift card to offset my trip costs to facilitate this post. The opinions on this blog are my own.

Not sure about all of you, but when we go on vacation we not only enjoy our favorite beach and the wonderful ocean, but we also enjoy all our favorite treats.  And by treats I mean we had two weeks of all our favorite foods and then some.  We ate pizza, ice cream, frozen yogurt, beer, french fries, chocolate, chips … and the list could go on and on and on…

I also realized this year that when you walk with small children that aren’t in a stroller you don’t burn off as many calories as you do when you can walk as fast as you want.  Apparently our years of walking the boards fast and burning off all our treats are gone for now.

When we returned home, I was not happy with myself at all.  I hate to admit it, but I was feeling a little chubby and after working so hard all Spring to decrease the chub I was pretty mad. The good news is that I had been chosen to participate in the Mom Central Under-Way blog tour.  Mom Central seems to know what I need when I need it and a week after coming home from the beach a box arrived at the door.

In it were samples of the underWAY supplement drink.  I was quite excited to try these out as they are infused with HeroFiber and heart-healthy vitamins, works naturally to suppress your appetite and quench your thirst. And boy did I need help suppressing my appetite.  In two short weeks I became very accustom to extra snacks, well extra, ha,  I snacked pretty much all day long. underWay is great!  I received four bottles of grape and four of acai-pomegranate and you wouldn’t know by taste that they were healthy supplement drinks. At just 20 calories per bottle I didn’t mind having a bottle in between my glasses of water.  And since they are great for rehydration I made sure to have one after my run.

Here are a few extra benefits of underWay drinks:

• there are no preservatives, sodium or caffeine
• one serving delivers almost a third of your daily recommended intake of fibre
• only has 10 calories and 2 grams of carbs per 8oz serving (each bottle is two servings)

In addition to the eight bottles of underWay, I also received a case of samples of Smart for Life products.  There were cookies, cupcakes, crunch, cereal, soup, bagels and shakes.  And WOW!  I was only asked to try the product and let you know what I thought.   But, I went one step further.  In my case I had enough product for five days of the Smart for Life Cookie Diet so I decided to give it a try and see what the results would be. In five days I lost 7lbs.

Now, I know that a couple (ok three) of those pounds were from the beach but the other four were ones that I wanted gone before I left for the beach. But, that was enough for me to tell that it is certainly worth a try.  In addition to losing 7lbs, I felt fantastic.  I chose to not be too strict on myself for my dinners, so I ate the Smart for Life products (with lots of water) all day long as directed then I ate dinner with the family.  I tried not to eat many carbs but didn’t make it super strict. Fabulous.  The cookies and cupcakes were great, they are moist and tasty and I was totally surprised.  So surprised that I went to Costco on Saturday and bought a case of cookies and a case of drinks so I could keep it up for the next week and see what happened.  Either way they are a great meal replacement or low-calorie dessert at only 90 calories for a cookie or muffin.

And as an added bonus, I get to give TEN of my readers a case, courtesy of Mom Central,  just like the one I received (which apparently I forgot to take a picture of) so you too could try out underWAY and Smart for Life.  All you have to do is leave a comment and tell me why you would like to try underWAY or Smart for Life products and you will be entered to win. Contest open to Canadian residents only (sorry to my friends from the South).Readers may enter the contest on multiple blogs but are only eligible to win once as part of the underWAY blog tour contest. Contest closes August 4th.

Disclosure - I am participating in the underWAY program by Mom Central on behalf of Better Health Beverage, LLC. I received a gift card as a thank you for my participation.  The opinions on this blog are my own.

We have returned from the land of Sun, Sand, Surf and temperatures that were tipping the scale at 40C (104F).  We are happy to be home, but missing the ocean badly. Thankfully our two weeks away were so fabulous we have agreed to continue with at least two weeks and maybe three for next year.  I had hopes of blogging so much more, but our internet was so intermittent that I would get frustrated and we were having so much fun we just fell into bed each night.  I owe you guys about 20 posts, but I must start off with one for Lay’s Chip Trips.

Our first Lay’s Chip Trip that we took as part of the Mom Central Blog Tour in conjunction with Frito Lay, was of the restaurant kind.  In early June, I had cashed in some Lay’s points to get started on our Summer. And after a great Saturday of having fun when we asked the kids what they wanted to do for supper they both yelled, “Boston Pizza!” Hubby and I looked at the Lay’s Chip Trip’s I had printed out the day before and saw that we had two kids meals at Boston Pizza, which cost only 10 points each or one big bag of Lay’s Chips.  We packed the kids into the car and headed out.

The kids were sporting their new sunglasses we got for the beach and colouring up a storm while waiting for their food.

Hubby ordered the Jambalaya Fettucini, which was spicy and delicious.

And I got the Chipotle Chicken and Bacon Salad.  Again spicy and delicious. The kids both ordered chicken fingers and were so happy that we took their suggestion for dinner.

 Our first Lay’s Chip Trip was fun and fulfilling and we have a few more adventures waiting for us, a boat cruise, mini-putt and some fun at a Provincial Park. You can sign up for Lay’s Chip Trips too and start cashing in on some fun in your area.

Disclosure I am participating in the Lay’s Chip Trips program by Mom Central on behalf of Frito Lay and PepsiCo. I received Lay’s Chip Trip points and a gift card to offset my trip costs to facilitate this post. The opinions on this blog are my own.

When I was contacted by Mom Central to participate in the Lay’s Chip Trips blog tour, I was more than happy to jump in on the action.  Lay’s has been a family favorite for both Hubby and I since we were kids.  As much as we would love to say that we only eat vegetables for a snack,  the truth is we don’t.  We love chips.  Chips are a weekend treat in our house and a BBQ just isn’t a BBQ without a bag of Lay’s as a side dish to your burger.  Hubby even puts in his special ‘Salt and Vinegar with homemade dip’ order when we head over to his Mom’s and she always has it ready for him.

Lay’s Chip Trips is program where you can earn points from your bags of chips and use them towards discounts for food, lodging, car rentals, museums and many other tourist attractions all across Canada. Whether you are staying home for the summer or you are planning a weekend away in Toronto or a week away in Nova Scotia you can use your Lay’s Chip Trips to save money.

How does Lay’s Chip Trips work?

•  Simply pick up a specially marked bag of Lay’s Chips. Each bag is worth between 3‐15 points depending on the bag size. The most popular bag size is worth 10 points.
• Of note, the two new flavours, BBQ RIB and CHEDDAR AND SOUR CREAM are worth double points!
• Visit Lays.ca to create an account and then enter the unique code that you’ll find on the back of the bag. You can enter as many codes as you want and start to bank your points.
• Use your points to claim great discounts on fun things to do with your family and friends all summer long.

As a reader of my blog you can use this unique code BEACH-MAMA1 when you register on the site before May 31st, 2010 - be sure to enter the code and bank the points when you sign up so you can start adding up points right away.  10 points will allow you to start getting discounts immediately.
I look forward to sharing our adventures this summer using our Lay’s Chip Trips.  I have already cashed in a few points to get us started.

Disclosure I am participating in the Lay’s Chip Trips program by Mom Central on behalf of Frito Lay. I received Lay’s Chip Trip points and a gift card to offset my trip costs to facilitate this post. The opinions on this blog are my own.

Today we marked another Earth Day. We each do our own thing to do our part.  And in our little corner of the world we made a few changes lately to help us do a little more.

With help from Mom Central and the Majesta blog tour we have changed a few of our everyday products and become a little more ‘green’ around here.  To be honest when I signed up for the Majesta blog tour I wasn’t expecting to decide to switch brands.  I figured we would get to try some new products, see how they fared and carry on.

When the package arrived from Majesta we were blown away by the quantity of samples.  When you get to try things, usually you get a small amount to sample, not always enough for you to make a decision on whether you would make a switch or not.  And when it comes to  paper products in our house we are pretty picky.

This is what arrived in our box from Majesta.  A 12 pack of toilet tissue, a two pack of paper towel and three boxes of tissues. The water bottles were for a shake test we did, where we get to see the toilet paper break down in the water almost immediately. Take a look at J doing the shake test.  He kept trying to get the other brand to break down, when all it did was sit in the bottle like a glob.

And the folder has information from Majesta about their products.  Amazing. Majesta plants three trees for every one that is used in the making of their products.

Tissue is a big deal here, Hubby uses a lot and we find that certain brands stick to his 5 o’clock shadow.  Majesta passed with flying colours and Hubby was happy to agree to continue to purchase it.  I will also say that Hubby is the paper towel user in our house as well, an old habit he picked up from his Dad.  The Majesta brand held up just as well as our usual brand. The only complaint was that they didn’t come in the half sheet sizes.  And well, I am the toilet tissue connoisseur here and I was a little leery, however, I was not disappointed.  And because Majesta’s toilet tissue breaks down as soon as it hits the water we actually found we had less problems with our low-flush toilets clogging up (which happens a lot here).

Thank you Majesta for helping us make a little difference in our house towards a greener future.

Majesta is also holding a contest where you can win $15,000 to do a green makeover at your own home.   We live in a home that is only five years old, so it is already pretty green as a house goes but, if I won the $15,000 I would certainly have the opportunity to make some green changes around here.  We have three or four appliances that are getting on in years (16 year old!) and I know that they could be replaced with much more energy efficient models.  In addition we would love the opportunity to add some more green to our exterior.  Being in a new neighborhood means that we are short on trees and shrubbery. The kinds of things that help keep your house cool in the summer.  Our home would benefit tremendously from such a generous award. What would you do with $15,000 to make your home greener? You can enter once a day until June 27th, 2010.

Thank you Mom Central and Majesta for helping us make a few changes around here.  Tomorrow I will tell you about your tree planting we did to celebrate today.

I am home and so happy to be with my children again.  My head is still spinning from all the information I received and witnessed in my three days at the Inn.  I thought for sure I would have a little bit of time to blog while I was there, but apparently when they said it would be chalk full, they truly meant it!

I had wanted to post this while I was away, but since I ran out of time, I will have to put it up for you today.

Potty training in our house has been two entirely different experiences.  J was a little slow to show interest in potty training, but once we got the ball rolling he was done.  When he was two years and nine months old we had been to Regina to visit my Sister.  J’s slightly older (by 7mos) cousin had just potty trained, so I made up my mind that he would start when we got home.  I made up a little song about going on the potty that included a reward of a movie he had wanted.  We started on a Tuesday and he was trained on that same Tuesday.  J went on the potty and didn’t look back.  No accidents, no nighttime diapers, nothing. He was done.

Apple on the other had has shown so much more interest than her brother.  Going on the potty, not going on the potty.  Going on the potty, not going on the potty.  Telling us she is going potty in her Pull-up and not sitting on the potty.  It has been a yo-yo.  She is not quite as old as J was when he trained, but in another three months she will be.  And honestly, I would be very happy if she would just go already.

When I was asked to participate in the Huggies Pull-Ups Potty Dance Blog Tour by Mom Central I figured this would be the perfect time.  I would show Apple the videos by Jessica Holmes and Traci Melchor teach her the little dance and we would be good to go.  Well, so far she has watched the dances and danced while going potty in her Pull-Up but, hopefully it will sink in and she will be doing the Potty Dance while going to the potty to go!

If you are in the midst of or getting ready for the potty training to start, it wouldn’t hurt to show your little one the videos give them a little extra tool to help them on their way.

When I was asked by Mom Central to participate in the ‘Moms Fight the Flu Campaign’ I immediately said yes.  There has been so much discussion about the Flu this year, with the H1N1 strain that I felt I should participate in spreading the word.

Back in October when the first round of H1N1 clinics opened, I still wasn’t sure if I should get myself and the kids inoculated.  But, when Hubby asked us to we headed over and had a rather painless experience.  In the end, I was actually in the risk group due to my asthma and Apple was in the risk group due to her age.  They just gave J the shot so we wouldn’t have to come back and do it all again even though he was only three months into the not at risk category.

At the same time we were getting our shots, A, my stepson was at home with H1N1.  His mother was away, but his grandparents took him to the hospital (he didn’t want Apple and J to catch it so thoughtfully called them to take him instead of me, even though I would have done it).  Thankfully all he needed to do was rest and stay away from people and after three very bad days, and some Ibuprofin to bring down his fever, A, was feeling like his old self and ready to get back to his busy teenage schedule.  Me, being the mean Stepmother that I am made him clean the house with disinfectant and wash all his bedding before his Mom got home so as not to spread the germs.  Thankfully he had a couple of warmer days to let in the fresh air into the house as well.

The worst part for him was the not knowing what to do.  Thankfully, there are many resources out there to help you figure out if you might have it and what to do if you do have it.

Here we are now at the second round of shots.  Apple needs a second shot, since she is under three.  But, J doesn’t need another one since it has been decided that healthy children up to age 9 only needed the first half dose. And Hubby, he needs to get his shot now too.  Thankfully there is a new clinic set up here in Barrhaven that he can go to and hopefully take Apple with him so I don’t have to do it again.  To find a clinic near you, you can look it up here.

Are we happy we got the shots?  In a word, yes.  I was quite skeptical about it but, since we have been in contact with quite a few people now that have had H1N1 we are happy that we at least have a little extra help in keeping it away.

“I wrote this post while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central and received a Mom Central gift pack to thank me for taking the time to participate.”