Whiskey Row Marathon 2014

I've written about the Whiskey Row Marathon here before- my cousin ran it two years ago, and Hank ran the 10K last year- but I've never actually run it myself! The moment Hank crossed the finish line last year though, he said that he wanted to do the half marathon next time around. So this year, we did! The Barnas came up from Phoenix to run with us, and the guys ran the half while Shirley and I ran the 10K pushing the boys.

The half-marathon started at 8am, so the guys went off and did that, and Shirley and spent the next 20 minutes (the 10K started at 8:20) getting the kids ready- nursing, changing diapers, etc. I had to laugh for a minute because running together for us used to be simple- just strapping on our shoes and hitting the trail, but now there's quite a bit more planning involved with the addition of three kids between us. Ha! Both of us use BOB Revolutions to run though, and they make it easier. They're my favorite strollers- I used the single with Henry and now use the double for both boys. Super smooth ride and comfortable for little ones too.

So 8:20am arrived and we lined up in the back with the other stroller-pushing people, and off we went. I love that adrenaline rush before you start and when you finish something like this. I don't get that feeling often so it's a welcome sensation to actually get nervous about something- it totally takes me back to playing sports, and especially track, lining up in the blocks and waiting for the gun to sound. The Whiskey Row course is notoriously hilly- actually INSANELY hilly- and it was definitely rough at points pushing almost 100 pounds between the stroller and the two boys up those steep, steep inclines, but I did it, and it was so nice having one of my best friends doing it right alongside me. A "quick" 6.2 miles later we were done...already sore and in need of a huge lunch, nap, and massage...but done!

The whole day was awesome- our dear friend Mike actually won the entire marathon so that was super exciting. And Henry was SO excited to actually be in the race, and can't wait to do the Fun Run as soon as he's old enough. To me, that's priceless. I can tell them all day long, "moving your body is important," but having him see it in action and then seeing him feel inspired and excited...that's the best. Hank finished the half soon after we went through the finish line and the look on Henry's face watching his Daddy run through the end was absolutely amazing.

Here are some photos from the day-

Weekend Wrap-Up

1 // Charlie already has his two bottom teeth but is working on more, and we are in the thick of teething all day, everyday. Like Henry, his major symptom is a stuffy, very runny nose so it's been uncomfortable for him to eat too. Poor baby. It's so hard seeing him in pain.

2 // On Friday we had a little (cauliflower crust) pizza party with my friend Jana and her two boys. I'll share the recipe we used later this week, but I will say that it turned out SO well. I was expecting it to be good, but I was surprised with how delicious it actually was.

3 // The end of the weekend always leaves us with leftover produce from the week before. I'm still getting the hang of figuring out exactly what to get each week, and although meal planning does help with that sometimes we just aren't in the mood for something we planned for. So in the past things have gone to waste. Lately though we've been using almost everything, and on Sunday we'll cook up some random things to use up the last of our perishable stash. Delicious and fun, too.

4 // Our weekend started off with ThaiFoon takeout on Friday night. We haven't gone out to eat or ordered out in what feels like forever so it was a nice treat to get dinner from one of our favorite places. Hank and I are such homebodies that the perfect date night for us is curling up with good food and a new movie on the couch while the babies sleep. So fun.

5 // On Sunday I woke up at 9am (!!!) to the sound of everyone playing in the front room. Charlie had woken up at 6am and ate, and I put him back down to sleep. When he woke up again at 7 Hank got him and ended up taking care of the boys until I woke up. It was SO nice to get some extra sleep. It's crazy though- Charlie has been waking up in the night (usually 1 and 4) due to teething so no matter what I always feel like a zombie. Even with the extra sleep I still don't even feel close to caught up.

6 // Yesterday we headed out on a little walk. It was a beautiful day- not a cloud in the sky and the sun was shining. It definitely got me in the mood for spring. I can't wait!

I hope you had a great weekend too. I'm excited for this next week- SPRING BREAK!

xoxo

Weekend Wrap-Up (on a Wednesday)

1 // Veronica hosted the cutest little Valentine's party for little ones. We had a blast, and left in a total sugar coma. This was the cake she served- SO good. It was a triple layer, fruit infused masterpiece and it made me happy that days like this don't come around too often. I eat healthy a lot of the time, but I will never (and can't ever) say no to something like this!

2 // On Friday afternoon Jana and I took the boys to Lappert's, a little custard spot that just opened in the next town over. It was a fun treat and I was actually pleasantly surprised by the grilled chicken salad I ordered. I didn't try the custard (still over-sugared from that cake!) but Henry really loved it.

3 // Sisters and babies. It's very cool to have my best friend home with her babies doing the same stuff I'm doing, at the same time. Now if only we lived in the same place. We took this photo Sunday after while at the park at my parents' house. It was 75 and sunny- best weather ever.

4 // Speaking of best friends, on Saturday I got to have brunch with two of my oldest friends to celebrate Erin's birthday. We went to Luci's Healthy Martketplace in Phoenix I was pleasantly surprised. Great, healthy food and a cute atmosphere. Plus, I had the best company. You know those people that know you- really know you- and remember all of the stages and phases you've been through? Hold onto them. These are those people for me.

5 // Lucy and Charlie at breakfast on Sunday morning. They were born just 7 months apart and I love watching them together. And can we talk about sassy little Lucy for a minute?! She kills me.

6 // Sunday dinner at my parents' house. I live for it. This plate was chock full of goodness- filet, shrimp, kale salad, and some more veggies.

I hope you had a great weekend too...although we're already halfway to the next one!

1st Birthdays and Big, Scary Dinosaurs

The title says it all- Lucy turned the big ONE, and we took Henry to see Erth's Dinosaur Zoo Live at the Mesa Arts Center on Sunday evening. Then there was a whole lot of hanging out and eating lots of food in between, but those were the main events that kept us busy. It's Wednesday and I'm only just getting around to writing about it, so it's safe to say it was a wild one that kind of just rolled into this week.

I feel like there's so much to say I'm not sure where to begin. Today's been a weird day and I'm feeling slightly brain dead, which is partially to blame for me staring at this little blog box for longer than normal before even starting to write. Normally easy-going Charlie has been having a rough couple of days due to some teething and it breaks my heart to see him so, so sad. It also makes me feel a little wacky to revert back to the early days of newborn sleep and waking up every few hours after getting used to having little mini breaks at naptimes, and getting some nice longer blocks of sleep at night.

However, I could not let another day go by without talking about sweet Lucy and her special day! It's hard to believe my baby niece is already a year old. It's equally hard to believe that Charlie is almost halfway to that milestone. It's neat they're so close in age, but I don't think I realized just how close until this past weekend.  The party was so lovely too- all family and close friends, pink cupcakes and pink decorations; pink everything. Lucy's grin during the birthday song said it all, and I think she had a great day.

On Sunday we took Henry to the Mesa Arts Center (one of my favorite places!), and thanks to our friend Erin we were able to not only see the dinosaur show, but go backstage as well. The whole show is about the evolution of dinosaurs- where they came from, what life was like during their time on Earth, and what ended up happening to them. The cast is made up of puppeteers who maneuver these incredibly huge dinosaur puppets. The whole show was amazing and I found it to be super informative. Henry was so into it for the entire hour and didn't look away from the stage once, which is pretty crazy considering he's a wild 3-year-old boy who doesn't always have the longest attention span. We all really enjoyed it, and will absolutely be checking the MAC calendar for upcoming family-friendly shows.

On a side note, one plus to writing about your weekend on a Wednesday is that the next weekend doesn't seem so far away. Friday, I'm coming for ya...

Here are some photos, courtesy of my ever-useful iPhone.

A Birthday and a Baby Shower and an Early Thanksgiving

Last weekend was the best, and I think it's because it included almost every single thing that makes me happy- family, seeing my best friends, and lots and lots of good food. Because we have three different sides of our family, we always have to do a bit of a shuffling act during the holidays. This year we decided to do an early Thanksgiving at my parents' house so we could stay up at home on the actual holiday and spend time with Hank's two sides. It gets pretty insane trying to make everybody happy (it's truly impossible), and last year we decided we just weren't going to get stressed about in anymore. So now we don't! :)

We started off the weekend celebrating Henry's 3rd birthday at home- it was a rainy day full of donuts and watching Planes a million times. The night before Hank and I had the best time filling up Henry's room with balloons and talking about the morning I gave birth, and of course I cried thinking about how quickly it's all going by. It's so weird- it feels just like yesterday, but also so far away. Once Hank got home from work we headed to Phoenix for Thanksgiving #1 with all of my Mom's delicious home-cooking and I swear, I could eat that meal every weekend for the rest of my life and be happy. On Saturday we also went to Shirley and Nate's co-ed baby shower to celebrate baby Carson, who should be arriving next month, and I got to reunite with my best college friends. The next day we took some family photos with our friend Emily Snitzer (she's amazing- if you're in Arizona and need photos check her out!) and then hightailed it back to Prescott after Hank went to the Cardinals game. It was a whirlwind, but a fun whirlwind for sure.

Here are some (not the best quality iPhone) photos:

Feeling Like An Adult & Disasters In Coffee Shops

This weekend Hank, the boys and I were walking downtown to dinner when we passed a group of giggling teenagers. As we walked by, one of the girls squealed something like "oh my god, that family is soo cute!" And there was this weird moment, where I felt this divide. There they are, these young kids, not a care really in the world, and then there was us. Grown-ups. Honest to goodness grown-ups. And I don't know if it's the norm, but if I'm not thinking about it I still think of myself as one of those teenagers. Well maybe not a teenager per say, but it's still hard for me to wrap my brain around the fact that I am 31, a wife and mother of two. I still feel like I'm in the "them" camp, and all those adults over there are in their own. Half the time I feel like I'm just masquerading as an grown-up, anyway. I pay bills and I still giggle to myself thinking, "this is so adult." I get both boys ready and get out the door on time and I think "oh my god, these are my two kids! Crazy!" When I was a teacher I had this feeling a lot less, and never at school, because being surrounded by teenagers all day I was fully aware of the THEM and ME (impossible not to be). But now, I am feeling those "whoa" moments again. I think this may be kind of weird (do chime in if you can relate!), and I'm not sure if this is something that a lot of twenty-something, early-thirties people experience, but then again, maybe it is? Through all of it though, there are moments like the squealing teenagers where I'm snapped back to reality from the little bubble I live in, and I am hyper aware of how it really is.

The point of this whole post though, was to write about our weekend, and as soon as I started to I got on that tangent. So let's focus. This weekend was a GOOD one. So good, because Hank had off Thursday and Friday, so we got to enjoy a rare four day weekend. And oh, was it enjoyable. How I wish we could both be at home, everyday. And like clockwork, at the end of the weekend, Hank said (like he always does after a few days at home), "I don't know how you do it! Your job is HARD." And then (like clockwork), I smiled to myself and said something back like "oh, it's not so bad." Even though I'm always secretly pleased because I feel like on occasion I feel like people think being a full-time Mom isn't hard at all. And truth be told, it is.

We did a few different things this weekend, between spending time in Flagstaff (see our previous Flag trips here), and spending time adventuring around our own town, and by the end of Sunday evening we were all exhausted and ready for an early bedtime. I think any weekend that includes good food, time spent outdoors AND the first day of a new season is a good one...so by definition, this one was amazing. Sunday was the first day of Fall, my favorite season, and I got to spend it with the three people I love the most.

This bit below though, makes me laugh because you'd NEVER know it from the photos (and isn't that the funny part about blogging?):

Our first stop when we got to Flagstaff was Macy's, our favorite coffee shop that we go to every time we're in town. It's always such a fun time, between their delicious vegan treats and great people watching. Silly us, we assumed it would be just as fun this time, but we kiiiind of forgot we'd have two kids with us. I knew right away it would be a slight disaster when there wasn't any room to maneuver the stroller, resulting in Hank getting stuck between some chairs and kind of causing a scene. Then we ordered our food and Hank's coffee (I didn't get his in a to-go cup, a move I now know is imperative when dining with two little ones at a place like this), and the only table we could find was smack dab in the middle of the place, with little to no room for the carseat, let alone the stroller, let alone two children and two adults. This is where I usually start getting really hot and sweaty- I overheat in situations like this- anyone else? So I'm overheating, Henry starts to have a serious meltdown over his lemon tart getting all over his hands (his only freakout of the day, so I have to give our sweet boy some credit), and of course...Charlie wakes up and starts to cry. A total (excuse my language) clusterfuck. We hightailed it out of there, Hank chugging his coffee, me inhaling my eggs, and as we pushed the stroller as fast as we could from Macy's Hank and I just started laughing. Hard. THAT was a moment we probably won't forget for awhile- our first attempt at navigating a very child-unfriendly place with both of the boys quite unsuccessfully. Check that one off the list, although I'm sure it won't be the last time.

And now, some photos! I hope your weekend was just as fun and eventful...although I'm hoping you managed to avoid any coffee shop disasters yourself!

xoxo