I can't believe that the last time I wrote a post was in late May. My older kid was home, having survived a semester away at school but taking online classes, but the younger one was still in the final (painful) weeks of online school. I honestly don't think I'd given that much as a parent since my kids were newborns. Not surprisingly, when something had to fall off my plate, this blog was it. As we head back towards another school year and a life still heavily influenced by Covid, I make no promises that I won't fall silent again. (But follow me on Instagram - I do manage to post there regularly!) Today I'm joining Deb and Coco (who both are local to me but I haven't seen in person since before the pandemic!) for some virtual … [Read more...]
How is it already Friday again?
This week has just flown by. But time spent at my parents' house always does. I've been so busy that I realized today that I'd completely forgotten to blog this week. I guess that's a good sign - I've been too busy with real life to write. And thankfully, it's all good busy. So today, you get five random things... Today Jones and I fly home to Virginia. I'm looking forward to being home, but I also always wish I was staying here. It's been awesome spending two weeks with only one child. I haven't gotten to do this since he was 4! We got to check out the International Crane Foundation, the Minnesota Zoo, and the National Eagle Center. He's a good kid and he's starting to explore college options (GAH!) and we both survived him taking econ … [Read more...]
A different kind of race: NASCAR
A couple of weeks ago, I got contacted by the marketing department of the Richmond Raceway, asking if I'd like to attend a race. They offered me free tickets to suite, a pit pass, and a parking pass. Once I ascertained that I could take my 12 year old as my guest, I was on board. Shoo and I headed down on Friday evening and stayed with friends and then I snuck in a quick half marathon on Saturday before we headed over. Short story: NASCAR at Richmond Raceway was a ton of fun! Here are 5 highlights from the event: The race itself. Shoo used to be a NASCAR fan when he was little, but we didn't really know any of the drivers or cars anymore. So, he and his buddy just picked a car to cheer on and had a blast … [Read more...]
Tips for road tripping alone with kids
Our spring break adventure is drawing to a close. We've had a fabulous time checking out some fun stuff in Ohio and Missouri and we have just a couple more fun stops planned for the trip home. I've traveled with the boys alone before, but never for this amount of time and never with this much driving. I'm happy to say that thus far we've had a great time (I've probably just jinxed our drive home.) Want to know how I survived? (Rule number 1 - don't forget the beer!) OK, here are the real tips... Be flexible. I had a list of possible places to stop on the drive, as well as back up hotel options. (Make sure you know your cancellation times.) I was able to push the boys a little farther one day, but barely made it to the first hotel … [Read more...]
Spring Break Road Trip: From DC to???
Saturday morning the boys and I loaded up the family truckster, I mean, Honda Pilot and hit the road. It's spring break and Beer Geek has to work, so the boys and I decided to take a road trip and see the the sights America has to offer. The first day we hit the Good Zoo in Wheeling, WV. The Good Zoo is a small part of the Oglebay Resort which includes a couple of museums, the zoo, a golf course, and gorgeous views. It's surrounded by mansions on huge estates, but for some reason, my GPS took us the back way on barely more two lane roads through the holler. Apparently that was faster??? The boys loved the zoo and the museums and it was a nice break in the driving. It was also prom night, so we were surrounded by tons of kids … [Read more...]
Duckpin Bowling and Love the Run 5K
It's Monday, mmmm, Monday. Hmm, that doesn't quite have the same feel as "It's Friday, frfrfr, Friday" does... We have a busy, but fun weekend this weekend. On Saturday, Beer Geek wanted to try out something new to us - duckpin bowling. What, you ask, is duckpin bowling? Well, it's bowling with small balls (3.5-5 pounds) and smaller pins. While it looks a lot like regular bowling, the different weight and sizes make the pins act differently. And I'll be the first to admit that we kept the bumpers up for the whole time we bowled. It would have been a depressing game otherwise LOL. I also found that I actually had a preference of which ball to use, even though they all looked basically the same. Certain balls just seemed to slip … [Read more...]
Some weeks I need a coffee IV
I haven't joined in on the Ultimate Coffee date in a while, so I thought I'd jump back on that bandwagon. However, I don't post on the weekends, so I'm combining Friday Five and Coffee. Sounds like a perfect combination to me. Anyways, I'm joining up with my friends Deborah and Coco for a virtual coffee date (they are both local to me - I should meet up for a real coffee date...) I’m also linking up with Running on Happy and Fairytales and Fitness for Friday Five 2.0. If we were having coffee, I'd tell you that I'm suffering from a huge case of FOMO. I really want to be running the Utah Valley Marathon (half) with some of the other bloggers that are going. I even went so far as to look at plane tickets, but getting to Salt Lake City … [Read more...]
Five fun things to do with kids in Wisconsin
Wisconsin is truly my home away from home. My parents moved back to their hometown in Wisconsin when Jones was a baby. Since then, I've been coming home 2-3 times a year with the kids. Each time we come up, there are always a few things we repeat, but I try to find a couple of new stuff to try. Go to the zoo - There are quite a few zoos in Wisconsin, plus it's possible to make a weekend trip to Chicago or Minneapolis. Jones' favorite is the Milwaukee Zoo, but the Henry Villas Zoo in Madison is free and it's just enough to entertain for a morning or afternoon. (Perfect if one of your kids is not as big a fan as the other. Fly at the EEA Aventure in Oshkosh - My parents took the boys here while Beer Geek and I were having fun at … [Read more...]
White House, racing, and feuds, oh my!
Today I'm wrapping up a busy and epic week. I mean, any week that involves a visit to the White House has to be epic, right? Not only did I get to hear the First Lady Speak, I got to talk with Dominique Dawes! I also got a selfie with a favorite RBF who I don't see often enough. After my day of White House visiting, I had to immediately start getting ready for a weekend away. With everything that I'd been up to (RNR DC expo, Capitol tour, RNR DC, soccer tournament, White House, etc.), we were completely out of clean clothes and we were leaving town on Friday! So, Wednesday became a whirlwind of laundry and trying to get in some work hours. Thankfully the day ended with a run and a beer. Thursday was more of the same … [Read more...]
#LetsMove at the White House
If you follow me on pretty much any form of social media, you know that on Tuesday I got to attend an awesome event at the White House. I was part of a group of about 150 bloggers who were invited to participate in "A Conversation on the Health of our Nation's Children." As you might imagine, I was pretty excited to be invited and spent Monday evening frantically texting a couple of friends for fashion advice because, umm, my usual fitness attire was not going to be appropriate. Once I got the outfit settled, it was time to stress about whether or not the Metro would be running. (Thankfully it was that day and waited to do the big shut down the day after the event. Also, Beer Geek informed me later that it only takes 80 minutes to … [Read more...]
Spring Race Season Kickoff + March into Spring Giveaway
Welcome to everyone stopping by for the March into Spring Giveaway Hop! I hope you'll stick around and become a part of the fun here, but if you are in a hurry, hop on down to the bottom of the post for entry instructions to win an Amazon gift card and links to 20+ other awesome giveaways! This past weekend kicked off my spring racing season, but that was far from the only thing going on! I feel like I was away from home from Thursday morning until Sunday afternoon, despite not actually traveling anywhere. And I hadn't planned quite such a drastic taper (since I'd hardly trained), but apparently that worked for me. But, I'm getting ahead of myself LOL. Thursday Shoo and I went on a field trip to Pamplin Historical Park. Despite … [Read more...]
RNR DC Half Marathon final long run + weekly wrap
Last week was crazy busy and Friday continued the trend. We dropped off the Pilot at the dealership at crazy early and then I spent the rest of the day at Shoo's school. I run a book swap every February in honor of Dr. Seuss's birthday, so I spent the entire day helping kids choose books. I love love love this event as some of the kids at our school have no books at home and it also gives me a chance to interact with the kids and the teachers. This was my last year leading the event as Shoo only has one year left of elementary school. I've been doing this since he was 3! How did that happen??? Friday I also received the call that my new treadmill will arrive on Wednesday! I'll tell you more about it when it arrives, but I'm super … [Read more...]
- 1
- 2
- 3
- …
- 8
- Next Page »
