Back Home Again

A Whirlwind Summer

noreply@blogger.com (Holly) — Wed, 31 Jul 2019 01:49:00 +0000

I just looked at my blog and realized that the last time I posted was almost five months ago. SO much has happened since then! If you follow me on Instagram, and in particular pay attention to my stories, then you already know, but we have moved from Southwest Indiana to the Lansing, Michigan area! As of last Friday, we are officially Michiganders.

Alan accepted a new job with the Michigan State Historic Preservation Office and we sold our house in Evansville and found and bought a house in Michigan, all within the span of a little over a month. It has been a crazy crazy summer for sure. While the kids are sad to leave their school and friends in Indiana (as am I), they are loving the fact that they get an extra 2.5 weeks of summer because of when school starts up here.

Even though we have been crazy busy selling our house, moving and now unpacking, we have been able to do a few things. This all happened so quickly that I had signed the kids up for several camps and they did dance camp, basketball camp, spy camp, arts and music camp and Cub Scout camp. We went to the Children's Museum of Evansville, farmer's market, library, pool, zoo...I'm sure I'm forgetting some things. We also made sure we had plenty of time to hang out with friends that we won't see for awhile.

I know a lot of schools start back next week, including Evansville, so for some summer is over. I hope it's been a good one!

Sidelined

noreply@blogger.com (Holly) — Mon, 08 Apr 2019 13:17:00 +0000

I have three races coming up starting in two weeks. The River City Ten Miler, Kentucky Derby Festival Mini Marathon and the Peace, Run and Harmony Half Marathon. I have been so excited and pumped for these races for months. I have been determined to crush my current half marathon PR of 3:01:09 and FINALLY get under three hours. In January I started going to BodyPump at the Y. something I have wanted to do for ages but was too afraid to do because I didn't want to be the fattest person in the class. I wound up absolutely loving it and made it a part of my weekly routine. I even had Alan in on it. He was planning on running the Derby Mini with me.

Then this past Wednesday I woke up feeling a little stuffy, thinking I was getting Cameron's cold. By Wednesday evening I had realized that it wasn't a cold, it was the flu. I was feeling really run down, had a fever, chills, body aches, all the symptoms. But in the middle of the night I woke up completely drenched in sweat and screaming because of this stabbing pain in my shoulder and side. It was so bad that I was debating whether or not to tell Alan to take me to the ER. I eventually figured out that if I slept sitting up the pain turned into a dull ache so that's what I did. Thursday I still felt the same and that crazy pain was just a dull ache so I tried to rest as much as I could even though I did have a few obligations that I couldn't reschedule.

By Friday I was feeling far far worse. I couldn't take a deep breath and everything, even talking meant I couldn't breathe. I was going back and forth on going to Urgent Care when Alan got off work because part of me was like maybe I just have a really bad case of the flu and I have to deal with it and part of me was like no, this is something else because I have never been this sick in my life. I'm glad that I listened to my gut and went in because I have "quite the case" of pneumonia. The doctor told me that if I had tried to wait it out I would've been in the ER over the weekend, it was that bad.

Unfortunately this means that all three races are out, and my dreams of crushing my PR right now are out too. Unless you're a runner, you probably won't understand, but I'm more mad about the races than I am about being sick. I know that there are always other races but to work so hard and be this close only to have it taken away just really really sucks. Someone told me that I could probably do one of the races since it's four weeks away. Um, I can't go up or down the stairs without having to take a break right now because any sort of exertion takes my breath away. I spent all weekend in bed or on the couch because that's all I could do. Even if I am feeling back to normal by then, I'm not going to risk it because I don't want this ever again. Unless you've had pneumonia before, you don't get it.

A friend of mine who had pneumonia last year told me that it took her months before she felt back to normal and could do stairs or any sort of hills and even now she says she's not where she was before she came down with it. My hope is that this time next year that's not me.

Mystery Race 2019

noreply@blogger.com (Holly) — Sat, 30 Mar 2019 15:11:00 +0000

Long time, no see! I haven't checked in and posted in months, since NYE 2018, in fact. Sorry about that, I just haven't really had a whole lot to say. My life basically consists of running, going to the local YMCA for BodyPump or Athletic Stretch and playing taxi driver to the kids for all their various activities. Pretty boring stuff day to day. I've been posting on Insta Stories a lot so feel free to follow me there.

However, I am training for half marathons #6 and #7 this spring and I even convinced Alan to run one of them with me. When I started running long distances again last spring when Cameron was still an infant, I did it on my own, but I've been making it to running group on Saturday mornings because I am determined to PR my half time and finally finish in under three hours. I know most people do that already, but when you're slow, it's a big deal.

Last weekend, I ran the Mystery Race here in Evansville. It's a new race this year where you choose either the short or the long distance and you don't know how long it is until you finish. Depending on your distance, it could be anywhere from 4-11k, or roughly 2.5-7 miles. I originally signed up for the long distance because I was planning on using it as a training run.

But the morning of I felt off and wasn't entire sure I would make it since the only bathrooms were at the start and finish. So I made the decision to run the short distance and just go all out to see what I could do. I turned off the run/walk alarm and just ran.

Well, I sure surprised myself! I've been running around the 13 minute mile range doing intervals, which will hopefully ensure relatively even splits to get me my PR at the end of April. Well, Mile 1 was 11:29, Mile 2 was 11:31 and Mile 2.4 was 11:02. I honestly didn't think I could sustain 11 minute miles for very long but I guess I was wrong.

A former blogger turned Instagrammer I follow posted once that it's gonna hurt to get you where you want to go and I just kept telling myself that the entire time. I was definitely feeling it but I'm also so so proud of myself for really pushing. I haven't done intervals since and have been pleasantly surprised at my times over the last week. I'm running nine miles with my group tomorrow so I think I'm gonna just see what happens. One thing I do know though is that I will crush that PR at the end of the month!

Disney 2018: Epcot

noreply@blogger.com (Holly) — Tue, 01 Jan 2019 02:46:00 +0000

Our final day at Disney was spent at Epcot. If you've been around awhile and remember from our last trip, I got norovirus at Epcot and threw up on Living with the Land and all through our dinner at Marrakesh. It was horrible. So, you could say that I was a little nervous about spending another day here. We were there during the International Food and Wine Festival so I wanted to try some of the goodies, but was seriously afraid of getting sick again.

We had Fast Passes for Mission Space: Green, Spaceship Earth and Frozen Ever After. Alan and the kids did Mission Space while Cameron and I waited for them. I was afraid that I would freak out on the ride because of how close quarters it is. From what Alan described, it was a good decision!

We then rode Spaceship Earth, which of course made Cameron take a nap. Pretty much anything dark made him fall asleep.

On the way to the World Showcase we stopped so Ewan could meet Baymax. Big Hero 6 is one of his favorite Disney movies so we wouldn't skip it. He also wanted to meet Joy and Sadness from Inside Out but the line was super long so we decided to come back later. Unfortunately we forgot.

Epcot is also the only place at Disney World that has any Phineas and Ferb stuff left. You used to be able to meet them and Perry the Platypus but since the show is no longer being produced they aren't available to meet now. Cecily LOVES Perry so we were going to try to do a couple of the missions from Agent P's Word Showcase Adventure. However when we got there it was closed and the only want to do it now is via an app so Cecily didn't want to.

After attempting Phineas and Ferb we decided to explore the World Showcase and try some of the food from the festival for lunch. Some of the goodies that we tried include a mango lassi, beef brisket poutine (my favorite!), paella, and a croissant donut. We walked around the showcase until we got to Norway to ride Frozen Ever After. I liked the ride but I am so glad we had a Fast Pass because it was a 90 minute wait otherwise. No way!

We of course had to make a stop in Japan so Ewan and Cecily could buy Pokemon toys. That was Ewan's favorite part about Epcot both this time as well as in 2016. Before heading back up towards the entrance, we also rode the Grand Fiesta Tour with the Three Caballeros. I didn't even know there was a ride in the Mexico pyramid until a fellow blogger posted about her trip. I'm glad she said something because I enjoyed it!

We had originally intended on staying for the evening show, but we were all exhausted so we decided to skip it and go back and hang out at the resort for the night because we were leaving early the next morning. But before we left I wanted to make it through Living with the Land without puking. So we rode that and Journey into Imagination with Figment.

Epcot is so much more enjoyable when you're not sick!

Disney 2018: Hollywood Studios

noreply@blogger.com (Holly) — Tue, 01 Jan 2019 02:06:00 +0000

Our third day at Disney World was spent at Hollywood Studios. Alan was able to get us a Fast Pass for the Alien Swirling Saucers in Toy Story Land, but we weren't able to get one for Slinky Dog Dash so we were going to run there at rope drop in the hopes that we wouldn't have to wait forever.

Of course, everyone else also had that plan and the way there bottlenecks so that was fun. But, surprisingly when we got in line, far from the ride entrance, the wait said 40 minutes. We did rider swap and Cecily and I waited in line while Alan, Ewan and Cameron wandered around and met Jessie and Woody. Surprisingly we only waited about 25 minutes instead of the 40 we thought we were going to. That was awesome because Cecily was so over it by the time we got on the ride.

For a kids roller coaster, it was more intense than I thought it would be. I loved it, but she was terrified and said she never wanted to ride it again. Ewan and Alan both loved it.

Cecily and I explored the area while we waited for the boys to finish Slinky Dog Sash then use our Fast Pass for the Alien Saucers. The attention to detail is really cool and I was taking photos like crazy. You could also see the Star Wars area under construction so that will be another really neat thing to see at some point.

Probably one of my favorite things that we saw all day was the Green Army Men drum corps perform right in front of us. I wanted to stay for the whole performance but Cecily was ready to ride the saucers.

We opted not to do Toy Story Mania since we had done Buzz Lightyear's Ranger Spin at Magic Kingdom so we left Toy Story Land to find lunch at this point.

After lunch we wandered over to use our second Fast Pass for Muppet Vision 3D. The last time we were here, I had wanted to see the show, but the kids didn't know who the Muppets are so we opted not to. This time however, I wasn't going to miss it because who knows how long it will still be there in the future. My favorites have always been the grumpy old guys in the audience and of course they were there. The show is cute and I definitely recommend it.

At this point Cecily, Cameron and I went in search of Sorcerer Mickey while Alan and Ewan rode Star Tours. When we went in 2016 Cecily got to spend a long time with Sorcerer Mickey and he is her favorite so we couldn't miss seeing him again. The line was for him and Minnie but we also got to see Goofy while waiting in line.

One of the things I for sure wanted to do was the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular because I wanted to see him get chased by the giant ball. However, Cameron was so done and I wound up having to get up in the middle of the show. But, to be honest, I thought it was kind of lame, so I'm not too sad about it. I think part of it was because it started raining so they couldn't do some of the stunts.

At this point, Cecily was also kind of over it so they waited with Alan while Ewan and I went and met the Star Wars characters in the Launch Bay. I thought it would be Darth Vader, some Stormtroopers, Chewbacca and maybe someone from one of the newer films. When a cast member told me it was the baddest guy of them all I was so confused when I guessed Darth Vader and he was like no, Kylo Ren. I was like Kylo who? I had to Google who he is LOL. I must be super old now because I'm totally a fan of the original trilogy.

Kylo Ren actually kicked us out because I told him to come back to the good side like his parents! What I thought was pretty funny though is that Ewan doesn't really like Star Wars but he was all about it this trip. He was too cool for pretty much everything else but Hollywood Studios was his favorite because of Star Wars.

While we were waiting to meet characters, Alan luckily had found somewhere to sit that was under cover because it had started pouring while we were inside. This was the day that Hurricane Michael passed by Orlando and while it didn't rain the whole time, the clouds were crazy and we had to deal with rain in the afternoon/evening. Our last Fast Pass was for Fantasmic that evening but we decided to call it a day at this point. While Fantasmic is an awesome show, we didn't really want to wait around for several hours with the possibility that it could be cancelled due to the rain coming through. We wound up waiting around for several hours the last time we were there too. I think that once the Star Wars area opens it will be an all day park but for us at least, it definitely is a half or short day.

2018 in Review

noreply@blogger.com (Holly) — Tue, 01 Jan 2019 00:57:00 +0000

Since it's New Year's Eve, I thought I'd leave you with my annual year in review post. Happy New Year Everyone!

January:
Ewan turned 7.

We got a rare chance to play in the snow.

February:

We honestly didn't do much in February but I started working on training for the spring race season. Alan went to Donuts with Dad at Cecily's pre-k.

March:

We went to Washington D.C. for the kids' spring break and I ran the Anthem 5k with my friend Mary Rose.

April:

We celebrated Easter at my in-laws on the way back from our spring break trip.

I ran THREE big races this month. The Papa John's 10 Miler, River City 10 Miler and the Backside Trail Half Marathon.

May:

Cecily graduated Pre-k and I ran the Peace, Run and Harmony Half Marathon.

June:

Cameron celebrated his first birthday and Ewan and I ran a 5k together with friends. I also ran a trail 5k right down the road. The kids went to a summer Hogwarts program and a music and arts camp. We spent a week in Northeast Indiana to go to my cousin's wedding and hang out at the lake house.

July:

We spent July by going to the park, zoo, library, swim lessons and Cecily did dance camp at the YMCA. Fourth of July was spent along the riverfront in Evansville.

I also figured out Instagram stories and filters. Finally.

August:

Back to school! Ewan started second grade and Cecily started Kindergarten.

September:

Alan spent most of the month on the road while I held the house together. I ran when I could to prepare for the fall race season.

October: We went to Disney World and Harry Potter! Which I still haven't completely blogged about... Alan and Cecily celebrated their birthdays and we celebrated our ninth wedding anniversary.

I ran the LBL 10k at the end of the month.

November:

We were supposed to go visit my mom over Thanksgiving but she wound up sick and in the hospital a few days later so we wound up going to Louisville to my in-laws instead. The Christmas craziness started with Cecily walking in the Christmas Parade with her Girl Scout troop.

December: I turned 37! We did lots of Christmas stuff including pony rides, Kindermusik Jingle Jam, our annual drive through the Carnival of Lights and seeing Santa. We had our Christmas here on Christmas Eve before going to Louisville to spend Christmas with my in-laws.

Here's hoping 2019 is a good one!

2018 Holiday Home Tour

noreply@blogger.com (Holly) — Wed, 12 Dec 2018 06:00:00 +0000

I cannot believe it's already mid-December! This month always flys by and before I know it, it's January and Ewan's birthday is upon us. So, I thought I'd give you all a little tour of some of our holiday decorations.

I love wreaths and found this one on sale a few years ago. Then, when you enter into the foyer, you see our holiday decorations on the table just inside the door. These change out from season to season.

Our family room is where we hang our stockings over the fireplace. Excuse the family photo minus Cameron...we desperately need to update! Third child syndrome...

In our kitchen we have this Melissa & Doug Christmas Countdown tree I found last year. We used to have a Mickey cling set but after using it since Ewan was a baby, it was starting to get gross. I'm glad I found this to reuse for years to come.

These Christmas decorations sit on our end table in the living room. The little tree lights up, but I forgot to plug it in when I took this photo. The lantern came from Target's dollar spot and I made a printable to put in the frame. My latest addition is the little ceramic tree that I painted at a local paint your own pottery place a few weeks ago while Cecily was at a birthday party.

Finally, our tree! We normally have two trees, this one, and a smaller tree decorated with the Holly Hobbie dolls my grandma made for me when I was a baby. I used to have a little tree of my own growing up since I have a December birthday and I have continued the tradition in my own house. When we were putting up our Christmas stuff, it somehow got overlooked and wasn't put up this year, unfortunately. I have written more in depth about this tree here.

I'm linking up with a few ladies to share my holiday decorations with you, Feel free to join us!

Leftover Mashed Potato Soup

noreply@blogger.com (Holly) — Sun, 02 Dec 2018 20:16:00 +0000

I know Thanksgiving seems like it was forever ago now that it's December and the holiday season is in full swing, but I posted in my Instagram stories about this amazing soup I made with the leftover mashed potatoes my mother-in-law sent home with us so I wanted to actually post the recipe.

It's super easy to make and so so good. I made probably two servings, but I ate it all at once because it was fantastic on the super cold days we have had. So, here it is. I hope you enjoy as much as I did!

1 1/2 cups mashed potatoes

1/4 of an onion, chopped

1 cup milk

2 tablespoons butter

2 slices bacon, cooked crisp

salt, pepper, garlic powder and celery seed to taste

I also threw in one of those Laughing Cow cheese triangles for extra goodness.

Cook the onions until translucent then add everything else and heat through.

See? Super easy!

Disney 2018: Magic Kingdom

noreply@blogger.com (Holly) — Sat, 24 Nov 2018 21:19:00 +0000

Our second day at Disney was spent at Magic Kingdom. The park opening has changed since we were there last, and you can actually get into the park, up Main Street and to the castle before it actually opens now. Since we didn't do a character breakfast super early we got there not too long before it opened and waited what felt like forever to have a family photo taken in front of the castle. As we started walking closer, we realized that the lines were much shorter the closer you get, so we kept that in mind for when we went to Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party later in the week. I personally loved seeing Main Street all decked out in Halloween and fall decorations.

I'm not entirely sure of the order of what we did things, but I think the kids rode the carousel first, then we went and saw Mickey's PhilharMagic before riding It's a Small World. We had a fast pass for Peter Pan's Flight since we never rode it the last time because the line was always crazy. It was ok, but there are so many other rides I'd rather wait in line for. We had another fast pass to meet Cinderella and Elena of Avalor since we didn't get to meet Cinderella last time - I was the only one who would talk to Elena - I felt so bad because Cecily wanted nothing to do with her and only wanted to see Cinderella.

Our next fast pass was for Dumbo and as we made our way over to it, we saw that the line for Journey of the Little Mermaid wasn't very long, so Ewan, Cecily and I rode it. When we got to Dumbo, the line for the Barnstormer wasn't long at all, so Alan rode it with the big kids while I fed Cameron before riding Dumbo.

I think after that we grabbed lunch then went and got our spot for the parade. I waited with Cameron while Alan and the kids browsed the shops on Main Street.

After the parade, we headed over to Tomorrowland and the kids met Stitch. Cecily loves him and we didn't tell her she could meet him so she was super excited. The kids rode the Astro Orbiter and we all rode the People Mover before Alan and I took turns staying with Cameron while we used a fast pass for Buzz Lightyear's Ranger Spin. After Cecily and I finished, those lovely rain bands from Hurricane Michael were coming through and it started pouring. So, we hung out under an overhang for a bit until it died down a little.

Alan got the kids a fast pass for the teacups so he rode it with them while I waited with Cameron. I get horrible motion sickness so there was no way I was getting on that ride!

Since MNSHP was that night, we had to be out of the park by 6, but we saw that the line for Haunted Mansion wasn't too long so we decided to ride it before leaving. As we were walking over there, the sky kept getting darker and darker and right as we parked the stroller the sky opened up again. Luckily, we had umbrellas and were able to wait almost the entire time under the covered portion of the line. We didn't ride it the last time we were there and I was sure that we never did when we went in 2010 as part of the Higgins Family Vacation. But, once we got on the ride, I realized that we actually had been on it.

All the parks were somewhat crowded because of all the fall breaks going on at the time, but we still got to do a ton of stuff. I know a lot of people go to the Halloween party after spending all day at Magic Kingdom, but since you can just go at 4PM with your MNSHP ticket, we did that on another day. So, stay tuned for more of our trip!

Disney 2018: Animal Kingdom

noreply@blogger.com (Holly) — Tue, 20 Nov 2018 02:50:00 +0000

Like our last Disney trip back in 2016, our first day at Disney World was spent at Animal Kingdom. We were there the week Hurricane Michael was coming through and while the Orlando area didn't get directly hit, we did have to deal with rain bands the first few days we were there, yay. The day we were at Animal Kingdom happened to be the day it was open for extra magic hours, but we didn't get there right as they opened so it was already a little crazy.

Our fast passes were later in the day so we first headed to Dinosaurland so the kids could ride Triceratop Spin. Then Ewan and I waited for what seemed like forever to ride Primeval Whirl while Alan took Cecily and Cameron to play in The Boneyard, which is a playground. Once we all met back up, we did rider swap for Dinosaur, although the line was still pretty long so I waited with Cameron for probably an hour then rode it with Ewan since Cecily didn't like it that much. Ewan loved it. I can't remember if it was before Dinosaur or after, but we saw that Launchpad from Duck Tales was out so we met him. Scrooge was also out but the line was crazy and our fast pass for Kilamangaro Safaris was ready so we couldn't really wait.

Animal Kingdom is my favorite park because it's basically a zoo and theme park all in one and my favorite ride here is the safari. It started raining while we were in the truck and we got to see all kinds of animals. My favorite was the baby elephants swimming. So cute!

We were on our way to get some lunch when we saw that Timon was out and Ewan wanted to meet him.

After lunch we went over to check out Pandora and use our fast pass for the Na'vi River Cruise. It was really cool, but there was no way I would wait over two hours in line, which was the standard wait when we rode it. Nope, nope, nope!

Pandora was a really cool place to wander around. It was early October and still super hot so the kids and I all enjoyed a glowing frozen drink to cool off and rested our tired legs for a bit before we walked over to Adventures Outpost to meet Mickey and Minnie.

We weren't sure how Cameron would do meeting the characters but he loved Mickey and just wanted to boop his nose. I figured he would cry so it was a nice surprise! Afterwards, we caught the last Festival of the Lion King show of the day. The last time we were here, we saw the Finding Nemo show and Lion King is SO much better. I will admit that I was a little teary-eyed at it all.

After the show we just wandered around the shops, killing time until we could use our last fast pass for the Rivers of Light evening show. I was really excited that Animal Kingdom has an evening show since it wasn't around when we went before. However, I was a little disappointed. I don't know if it was because we had grumpy kids or what but it just didn't live up to the extravagance of Disney in my opinion.

When we were walking back to the park entrance afterwards, it started thundering. And before we could get the stroller cover on and get to an overhang, woosh! the sky opened up. Alan and Ewan ran for cover and I gave Cecily my phone and told her to keep it dry while I finished getting the cover on the stroller for her and Cameron. I got totally soaked. It was kind of comical, like the park was like ok, get out!

There are a lot of characters you can meet at Animal Kingdom and more things to do, but we focused on the things we didn't do and characters we didn't meet last time. It's probably still my favorite park but I can see how once you've done everything at least once why people say it's a half day park. Still great though!

Run LBL 10k

noreply@blogger.com (Holly) — Sun, 11 Nov 2018 04:28:00 +0000

At the end of October I ran the Run LBL 10k. It was supposed to be my sixth half marathon, but I decided to drop down to the 10k the morning of the race. I still feel like I let myself down for doing so, but I wasn't really trained to run 13.1 miles and had gotten maybe four hours of sleep the night before thanks to a crappy hotel room and a 16 month old who didn't sleep. I knew that in my heart of hearts it wasn't happening that day.

However, it was a really good race for me. I felt good the entire time and ended strong, not feeling like I was going to die. It took place at Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area, which is located between Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley in Kentucky and Tennessee. It's a really beautiful area and in the fall with the leaves changing it was awesome.

And HILLY. Holy cow the hills. It's pretty flat where I live but I did incorporate some hills into the training I did do leading up to the race so I thought I would be somewhat prepared. Ha! Once we got off the highway and onto the roads in the recreation area, I gave up the timing on my intervals and just ran the flats and downhills and walked uphill.

I had my phone on me, but I didn't take many photos since I was, you know, running. Once I reached the road to the finish, it was downhill and I ran all out to the end. I had texted Alan to let him know where I was and didn't see him until right at the end and almost missed the chute. If they people at the finish hadn't called me over I would've kept on going oops! Oh and when I took my shoes off to change afterwards, I discovered that my shoes had eaten holes in the heels of my socks. They were my favorite running shoes and needed replacing so I'm taking it as a sign that I was not supposed to run that half. Can you imagine how much my feet would hurt running another 7 miles?

I've run faster 10k's as part of another distance, but this was my fastest 10k race. I'll take it!

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter

noreply@blogger.com (Holly) — Fri, 19 Oct 2018 17:00:00 +0000

Over the kids' school fall break we took a trip to Florida to visit Disney World...but first Alan surprised me with a trip to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal!!! This was my third trip to Disney since Harry Potter opened and it was going to be the third time I wasn't going because of the expense of buying multi-park tickets for the family. Well, as Alan said "You're not going to Disney three times and not going to Harry Potter." And let me tell you, it was amazing. As we walked into Diagon Alley, I was teary-eyed. It looks JUST like the films.

Diagon Alley is at Universal Studios Florida and Hogwarts and Hogsmeade are at Island of Adventure. If you get the multi-park ticket, you can take the Hogwarts Express between the two. There aren't a lot of rides in each, in fact only Escape from Gringotts is in Diagon Alley, but it's so worth it to just walk around and pay attention to the details. From the Howler, to the Firebolt to Gilderoy Lockhart's book, it's spot on.

We got our wands (Bellatrix for me) and some butterbeer and just explored Diagon Alley before taking the Hogwarts Express. Cecily got an interactive wand so at certain places throughout, you can make various things happen, like water spout out of an umbrella or frogs to come to life. Very Cool.

Once we got to Hogsmeade, Cecily and I rode Flight of the Hippogriff and got to see Hagrid's Hut. Unfortunately for us it started pouring right as we got on so we got soaked!

We had read that you could do a walking tour of the castle and not ride the ride so we decided to do that since the rain wasn't stopping anytime soon. Unfortunately they got rid of the touring line so we had to wait through the huge line to see the castle. At that point I should've just have ridden The Forbidden Journey but the kids were over it so I didn't and we went on to explore the Dr. Seuss stuff. Waiting so we could see the castle was so worth grouchy kids though. You got to see Dumbledore's office, the stairwell, Defense Against the Dark Arts, the Fat Lady, The Gryffindor Common Room, Herbology...too much to name. It. Was. Awesome!!!

If you are a Harry Potter fan and have not yet been here, this is a must when you come to Florida. I am so glad I finally got the chance!

Have you been to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter? If so, what did you think?

Western Kentucky Botanical Garden

noreply@blogger.com (Holly) — Wed, 03 Oct 2018 16:53:00 +0000

Back in August we went to Owensboro to go to the Western Kentucky Botanical Garden. When Alan and I lived outside Philadelphia we had a garden pass to Longwood Gardens and I loved it. Flowers and gardens and my thing and it was so nice to be able to visit an amazing one 20 minutes down the road from us whenever I wanted. So, when we moved back to Indiana I was hoping we would be able to find something similar relatively close. I have been wanting to visit garden in Owensboro for years and finally made it happen.

It's not a big garden, in fact we only spent about an hour there, but it was nice. I think it's maintained mainly by volunteers so parts of it weren't planted or were in transition.

I really like that it had different types of gardens, from a formal rose garden, to an herb garden to a children's garden. Plus all sorts of sculptures and a few water features.

It's definitely no Longwood, but it's nice to know that there is something similar nearby. Now if only Evansville would create a garden like this!

Hogwarts 2018

noreply@blogger.com (Holly) — Thu, 16 Aug 2018 05:00:00 +0000

Back in June, the kids participated in a Hogwarts camp for the third year in a row. I'm a huge Harry Potter fan and they have become fans themselves. We love this camp because they get to do a lot of things such as go on a nature hike, learn about astronomy and animals, make all sorts of really cool crafts and of course play quidditch! This year one of Ewan's friends from Cub Scouts was there so it was extra fun. Here are a few things they did.

The last night we got to come watch the quidditch tournament. Cameron couldn't get enough watermelon!

I love that we have this sort of thing in our area. I wish there was a grown up version!

Summer 2018 Photo Dump

noreply@blogger.com (Holly) — Tue, 14 Aug 2018 18:15:00 +0000

I had plans to write about what we've been up to this summer but we've been busy living life. So now that it's August and the kids are back in school, here are some of the things we've been up to.

We had many park picnics.

We finally shot off Ewan's rocket he got for his fifth birthday.

We had several zoo days.

We spent a week visiting my family and the lake in Northeast Indiana.

We spent a lot of time in the pool and rode bikes.

We went to several summer library programs and the Evansville Museum.

Stay tuned for a few more in depth posts about some of our adventures!

Back to School 2018

noreply@blogger.com (Holly) — Fri, 10 Aug 2018 20:32:00 +0000

I'm a few days late, but the kids went back to school on Wednesday. Ewan loves school and has been asking to go back since the end of May but we weren't sure how Cecily would do. She was insisting that she was going to the Catholic elementary school associated with her preschool (she's not) and we weren't entirely sure we were going to be able to get her in the building come back to school night. Even though she was a little shy at first, luckily she went in no problems! On the second day of school she insisted on being dropped off and walking by herself to her classroom. We had Ewan watch behind her to make sure she made it, which of course she did. How is my Kindergartener this independent already?!

I always take photos and ask them the same questions before the new school year to see how much they've changed. Ewan wasn't really having it but Cecily was all about photos this year. Here they are!

Here's to a great 2018-2019 school year!

YMCA Storybook 5k

noreply@blogger.com (Holly) — Fri, 06 Jul 2018 14:56:00 +0000

Last weekend Ewan and I ran his first race, the Storybook 5k. It was a race geared toward families and we did it with a friend of mine and her son. Ewan ran a mile in gym class this past year and ever since he's been asking to do a race with me where he gets to wear a number. So when I saw this, I knew it was perfect.

We all started out together but very quickly my friend's son and Ewan took off. I could see them ahead of us and we had both told them to make sure they get water at the water stops so we were hoping they did. I had been doing a run/walk with my friend but around 1.5 miles I saw Ewan standing off to the side with a water bottle. I ran up to him and made sure he was ok, but I knew he was probably done at that point. I told my friend to go ahead and I would see her at the finish.

It was SO HOT already at 7AM and even though I told him to make sure to get water, he didn't stop. While I knew we would be walking most of the race, I was concerned about him getting heat stroke so we leisurely walked the rest of the race. Except for when we could see the finish. I told him he could run ahead of me to the finish and that he did. I was pushing it to keep up with him. The girl taking photos at the end said he was going so fast that she wasn't able to get his picture.

Alan jokes that that was the beginning and end of his running career, but I hope he decides to do another race with me sometime. I'm so proud of him for getting out there and doing it!

Howl Rising 5k

noreply@blogger.com (Holly) — Tue, 19 Jun 2018 05:00:00 +0000

Last weekend I ran the Howl Rising 5k at Angel Mounds, literally five minutes from my house. Even though it's a state historic site, the majority of the trails are open to the public and I run them sometimes since it's literally a mile from my house. This 5k was part of a series called Howl at the Moon, where you could run a night time 5 or 50k the night before then run a 5, 10 or 15k or half marathon the next morning. Even though I'm not a big fan of trails, I had been debating running the series because it's so close, the entry fees were super cheap and they're trails I run semi-frequently.

Unfortunately the night time race got cancelled because of all the rain and flooding we've had recently. I had ran over there right before the Peace, Run and Harmony Half and several of the trails were super muddy and/or underwater so I completely understood why!

I wasn't expecting much out of this race because you usually run trails slower than your road pace, it was super hot and humid at 7AM and I figured we would be slogging through the mud. I decided I wasn't going to look at my watch the entire race and felt like I was going super slow. But I was pleasantly surprised when I finished in 39:12 with a 12:37 per mile pace.

And it was super awesome to roll out of bed at 6AM, feed Cameron, get ready and show up for the race 10 minutes before start since I live so close. I might investigate more races there in the future!

Cameron One Year

noreply@blogger.com (Holly) — Sun, 17 Jun 2018 16:44:00 +0000

This guy turned ONE YEAR OLD on Friday.

If I'm completely honest, it was a bittersweet day for me. He's my last baby, so it was my last first birthday. Not only that, but his birth was really rough so that was on my mind as well. Add to it that we should've been celebrating two babies and let's just say that there were some tears leading up to and including the day. Not to mention that Cecily had a rough day because it wasn't her birthday.

I tried really hard to focus on getting ready for his party and focus on spending the day with my super happy kid. We had a chill day and celebrated with some cupcakes we had gotten once Alan and Ewan came home from Cub Scout camp.

I said this about Cecily but he might also be my destructive, rough and tumble kid too. He loves to just crawl right through and over things and probably his favorite thing to do right now is throw and bang on things. He's currently cutting all four one year molars and nursing is suffering as a result. Considering I wasn't sure I was going to make it to six months when he was born I'll take getting to a year. He also says Mama and up and I'm pretty sure I've heard him say more a couple times, when he's eating.

Speaking of eating, this kid is a disposal. He LOVES food. As such, his birthday theme was A Very Hungry Cameron aka The Very Hungry Caterpillar. We just had a small party with family and a few close friends. It was super simple to do too. I made the caterpillar cake out of cupcakes and the head was Cam's smash cake.

All the food was food from the book.

It was a great time all around and it was so nice not to be super stressed out and fighting with Alan before the party, which is what always happens when we have a party at our house. I'm so glad everything turned out well. Happy First Birthday my sweet little man!

Peace, Run and Harmony Half Marathon

noreply@blogger.com (Holly) — Sun, 20 May 2018 17:07:00 +0000

Yesterday I ran the Peace, Run and Harmony Half Marathon in New Harmony, Indiana. It was the first year for this race, which replaced the River Run because the bridge across the Ohio River it goes across is under construction for the next few years. New Harmony is a small town about 25 miles from Evansville and was founded by the Harmonists, a German utopian community in 1814. Alan and I have actually done a lot of work at the state historic site that's out there in grad school and through my old job, so I've been there a bunch of times, but never really to enjoy the sights. I should've taken some photos while out there but I didn't think about it until I got home.

I honestly wasn't feeling the race at all and was thisclose to not going. I really wanted to watch the Royal Wedding and am getting over a cold. Plus Cameron was not happy that I was leaving. However, I knew that if I didn't go I would be mad at myself for not showing up. So I dragged myself away from the wedding and drove the 45 minutes out there.

Mile 1: 13:39

Mile 2: 13:55

Mile 3: 13:33

I knew it was going to be hot and humid but I wasn't prepared for how nasty it really was. I'm so glad I bought a handheld water bottle a few weeks ago because I would've died without it. I didn't really have a goal for the race other than to finish, but I was hoping to finish around three hours. I lined up with the three hour pacer thinking that since I have been doing intervals I should be able to keep up for some if not most of the race. Except once we started going she said that she was running the whole way and maybe walking a few of the hills. Yeah, I knew there was no way I was going to be able to keep pace so I decided to stick with her for as long as I could then keep her in my sights, which I did for about half the race.

Mile 4: 14:28

Mile 5: 12:31

Mile 6: 13:44

While there were definitely some hills during the first half of the race, I was doing fairly well. I needed to average a 13:44 pace to finish under three hours. I didn't really think I was going to do it but I was hopeful and so far so good. The race was an out and back through the town to the state park and I was flying downhill in the state park. Until the turnaround when I had to go back up.

Mile 7: 14:03

Mile 8: 14:09

Mile 9: 15:29

I had been walking uphill and running the rest and adopted a walk/run back up the hills out of the park but I was running out of water and super hot. I finally got to a water stop and one of the volunteers refilled my bottle for me. He was a lifesaver. I started running with a woman from Louisville around mile 9 and we had a really good conversation and helped each other through the race.

Mile 10: 15:05

Mile 11: 16:00

Mile 12: 16:13

Once we got on the paved trail from the park back to the town, about mile 10, I was hoping to run the rest of the way but I could tell she was struggling so I decided to stick with her to the end. It was almost completely shaded in the state park, which helped with the heat but we were in the sun for a couple miles at the end and it was awful. They were handing out water bottles at some point and instead of drinking it I just dumped the entire thing on my head.

Mile 13: 14:18

We had been doing a walk/run for the last four or so miles and the last half mile of the race was in town so we ran the rest of the way and sprinted to the finish. The race was short the 0.1 so as I walked to the car I got my 0.1 to make it a true half marathon on my watch. I thought I had finished in 3:04 and some change but my official time is 3:08:11.

The sub-three hour half marathon remains elusive but I'm glad I went and finished. I even got to watch the Royal Wedding in its entirety when I got back.

Cameron 11 Months

noreply@blogger.com (Holly) — Wed, 16 May 2018 21:30:00 +0000

How did my baby boy turn 11 months old yesterday?! His first birthday is almost here for real and I purchased some decorations for it yesterday. Blows my mind.

He's not pulling up or cruising yet, although he is definitely trying to pull up to his knees on some things. He's Army crawling all over the place and we had to put the baby gates up about a week ago. He claps all the time and his latest thing is dancing when he hears music. It's so cute!

His sleeping has gone to crap and he wakes up almost every two hours like clockwork. I felt in his mouth a couple days ago and his gums feel swollen on one side where he will get his first year molars so I'm wondering if that's part of it. Since he got six teeth within a month, I wouldn't be surprised if they were already starting to come in.

He signs more and I swear I have heard a few Mama's in there, although Alan thinks I'm nuts. He also shakes his head no when he doesn't want something. Separation anxiety has kicked in big time and he freaks out whenever I leave. We went to the Y this morning and I'm so glad Cecily is already out of school and was with him because he was freaking out, poor kid.

Overall he's a happy boy though and I'm so thankful I've been able to stay home with him this past year. I can't believe my next update will be when he's ONE!

Mother's Day 2018

noreply@blogger.com (Holly) — Sun, 13 May 2018 20:18:00 +0000

I started the day with a 6.5 mile run down to some trails (yes, I know... :-) ) and back. I haven't gotten a lot of miles in since my cray running weekend and since I have yet another half next weekend, I needed to get a longer run in. I knew Alan and the kids had something up their sleeves because Cecily has been hinting all week. That and Alan had left a photo order up on my laptop, Oops!

Even though I got sidelined by some mud and it's super hot out, I had a good run. After doing Backside these trails were a piece of cake. I finally got myself a handheld water bottle with a gift card I forgot I had and tested it out. I'm so glad I had it because I definitely needed the water in the heat. Since it's supposed to be just as hot next weekend I will totally be taking it with me.

Alan had been bugging me about how long I was going to be gone and then I got a text that it was "safe" to come home. When I got here, I found this waiting for me:

I love it! It will go up in the office along with the photos. I have been wanting a medal rack for ages and Alan made this for me. He also went out and grabbed us lunch and has been doing things around the house I have been asking him to do while I hold a sleeping baby in the papasan chair and catch up on my reading. It's been a low key Mother's Day and I love it. Hope all you moms out there are also having a great day!

What did you do for Mother's Day?

Backside Trail Half Marathon

noreply@blogger.com (Holly) — Wed, 02 May 2018 14:55:00 +0000

Sunday I ran the Backside Trail Half Marathon after doing the River City 10 Miler the day before. I wasn't sure how my legs would feel going into this race but they surprisingly didn't feel that bad Sunday morning. The arch in my left foot was sore and that is also the foot that is prone to plantar fasciitis. Other than that, the only issue I had was that it had dipped into the upper 30's and I was freezing! I had capris on this time but short sleeves and no jacket. I knew I would warm up eventually but until then my hands were going numb.

This was my first half since before Cameron and since I wasn't able to do the Disney half I had signed up for, I decided I was wearing the shirt I would've worn for that race. It's the Red Queen from Alice in Wonderland...I'm weird and like the villains :-) I said I didn't have any expectations for either race this weekend and I really meant it for this one. I almost never run trails because I'm a klutz and I have a healthy fear of being hacked to death in the woods by myself. When I do run them, they are pretty flat. This race runs through two parks in Louisville, both of which are hilly. I've ran the Healthcare Classic and Urban Bourbon on the roads through Cherokee so I had an idea of what to expect. Or so I thought, ha! My fastest half was right at three hours so I was hoping to finish between 3.5 and 4 hours.

Mile 1: 15:02

Mile 2: 18:00

Mile 3: 17:38

We started out running through grass to spread out before entering the single track trails. My initial plan was to stick with my friend at first and then go from there but I had lost her within the first mile. She took this picture of all the runners and all I can think is how skinny I look from behind so I thought I would share.

Before I completely lost her, I told her that I could definitely feel it in my legs that I had run the day before and I remember telling myself that it's all a mental game and I would be fine later on. Once we got into the woods everyone really spread out - there was a married couple behind me and a girl in front of me, but those were the only people I saw. I was trying to stay close to the girl in front of me to make sure I was going the right way but within mile 2, I tripped and lost my shoe and got passed by the married couple. We wound up running mostly together through miles 3-6.

Mile 4: 15:22

Mile 5: 16:25

Mile 6: 18:24

I didn't take many pictures of the trails but during the early miles I was thinking that there is something to be said for being out there running in nature. We were running along a creek and it was pretty nice. I had warmed up and the temperature had warmed up and it was perfect running weather. Once we got into the second park I stopped at an aid station and the married couple kept going so while I could see them, we weren't together anymore. I was keeping them in my sights so they could navigate instead of me :-) The route was marked and I good with directions, but you never know. I found out at the finish that a girl I passed had actually missed a marker and wound up running 15 miles instead because she ran a section twice. Oops!

I did take one photo of the trail, immediately after the aid station. We basically were on a "trail" that was on a rock outcropping. Part of it was so scary that I went down on my butt so I didn't fall. If only I knew what was in store for me later...

Mile 7: 17:52

Mile 8: 20:13

Mile 9: 19:22

Between miles 7 and 8 I tripped and fell. Faceplanted. I was so stunned I just kind of laid there for a few minutes. I got up and kept going, but after that I was way more careful and walked a lot more. I got to another aid station and when they asked me how I was I told them I was over it. They told me that I'm now an official trail runner because I fell and that I wasn't the only one that day. I knew I would finish but I was still over it. It was somewhere in here where there were these two guys mountain biking on the trails and passing me over and over again. I know they were just out doing their thing too but they were getting on my nerves because I kept having to move out of the way. I was just like really, you have to choose this particular path out of all the trails out here?!

Mile 10: 20:22

Mile 11: 25:08

Mile 12: 19:53

I had completely lost the couple ahead of me when I fell so aside from the annoying bikers, I was alone and beginning to lose it at this point. My knees had begun hurting around mile 6 and after I fell it got way worse. I just kept telling myself keep moving because if you don't you're gonna get stuck. I was also seriously contemplating texting Alan to tell him to send me an Uber because I was done. I was almost at 11 miles when my friend texted me telling me she was at 10 miles and asking where I was. I told her that she was gonna catch me and that I was never doing this again. I stopped at the final aid station, chugged some Powerade and water and kept going. A large chunk of mile 12 was on the road that connects the parks and I was so excited because I thought we just ran up the road to the finish. Oh no, we had to go back on the trail we had run to get there. I just remember screaming noooooo and that I hate trails.

Mile 13: 17:38

The last mile ran along a golf course, as had mile 5. Trying to distract myself to the finish I thought how funny it would be if my father-in-law was out golfing at this course...I found out later that he was although he didn't see me. By this point I was getting passed by the lead marathoners who had run the course twice. They were all super encouraging, letting me know how close we were to the finish. I finally came out of the woods, asked the person directing traffic where to go and sprinted to the finish. I came in just under my goal of four hours, finishing in 3:58:28, even though the course was short. I knew my friend was probably right behind me so after getting my medal and post race snacks I waited for her to finish. Here I am, barely able to move.

I'm glad I did it but I don't know if I will again. Never say never though, right? Trail running just isn't my thing so I will probably stick to shorter races on trails next time.

River City Ten Miler

noreply@blogger.com (Holly) — Mon, 30 Apr 2018 19:21:00 +0000

Remember a few weeks ago when I ran the Papa John's Ten Miler and I said that I had two races one weekend at the end of the month? Well it was this past weekend and I do believe I was completely crazy!

Saturday I ran the River City Ten Miler here in Evansville. It was designed to be a training run for the Peace, Love and Harmony Half coming up in May and I originally wasn't planning on doing the race. But when I saw the cool medal I decided to go for it.

It was a chilly morning and while I knew I would warm up once we started, I was freezing! I went into both races this weekend with little to no expectations. I'm somewhat undertrained and the last longish run I did started out beautifully then completely fell apart the last half. So basically my goals were to finish and not die. I told Alan to expect me to finish between 2:15 and 2:30.

Mile 1: 12:55

Mile 2: 12:32

Mile 3: 13:09

I;m not where I was before Cameron so I was just going to go out there and see what I could do. As usual, pretty much everyone passed me in the first mile or so but once people start tiring and walking I would pass them because slow and steady finishes the race as I like to say.

Mile 4: 12:49

Mile 5: 12:49

Mile 6: 12:49

Even splits! This almost never happens. It's relatively flat along the Greenway but I was running the flats and downhills and run/walking the inclines and not going out too fast like I normally do paid off. I was playing leapfrog with several groups of women but I finally lost them between miles 4-5. Somewhere around mile 6 I had to pee but I was determined not to stop because I was doing so much better than I anticipated.

Mile 7: 12:54

Mile 8: 12:51

Mile 9: 13:08

I started counting down the miles until I could pee and telling myself each step was closer to the bathroom. The course was two out and backs and up on the levee it was super windy. At one point it felt like I was running in sand but I wasn't going any slower.

Mile 10: 12:34

Once I hit mile 9 I was so happy. Until I saw that instead of crossing back into the park and running the shortest distance to the finish we had to run around the whole thing. I just wanted to be done. I had texted Alan around mile 6 to let him know where I was and was hoping he was there with the kids. Then from across the pond I heard Cecily. I looked over and saw them all in the grass and started crying. I wanted to walk so bad and those kids are what got me to the finish. They are a big part of the reason I run, to show them you can do anything you can put your mind to, that I'm not my mother, that any BODY can run.

I waved as I ran past and finished in 2:08:46. Four minutes off my time from The River Run in 2016.

Cameron Ten Months

noreply@blogger.com (Holly) — Tue, 17 Apr 2018 00:57:00 +0000

Cameron turned TEN MONTHS old on Sunday. Ten months! This kid definitely holds his own in our family and you definitely don't forget he's here. He will start scream-talking to remind you when his big brother and sister are super loud. While he's generally still a happy baby, he will def1initely let you know when he's not. He's also attached to his mama and gets pissed when I go anywhere without him.

He now has seven teeth, five of which cut through in the last three weeks, super fun for us! Especially me because he has started biting me while nursing and it hurts so bad. They other two also bit me, it only happened a couple times. This kid though, it's his way of telling me he doesn't want to nurse right now! In the last couple weeks he's taken off Army crawling and definitely gets around. He can get up on all fours, but just can't coordinate moving like that. I'm glad he finally started really moving and it's how Ewan did so I think it's cute. Ewan and Cecily? They've had to learn that we weren't kidding when we said they have to start putting their things away once he's moving. They're constantly asking me to come get him because he crawled over to them and they can't play.

He absolutely loves food and if you'r eating, you're expected to share or get yelled at. I don't think he's tried a food he hasn't liked yet. Such a big kid, his first birthday is coming up fast. It's hard to believe that the actual planning will begin very soon!