Saturday, October 31, 2015

You've Been PUMPK'D.

The day after we were out at the gardens for the fall festival, I received an e-mail from the gardens (we are members because we go so often... highly recommend it) stating that they would be a hosting a "Great Pumpkin Sale". There were what felt like millions of pumpkins while we were at the festival... and I thought it would be fun to snatch a bunch of them up, and drop them on random porches in our neighborhood. So we took off one late morning, and made our way back to the gardens. For $5.00, we could pick ANY 10 pumpkins that we wanted to walk out of there. It was the perfect way for them to clean up the gardens after the festival, and help us have a little fun with our neighbors. The double BOB stroller, totally came in good use. We picked up a bunch of different sizes/colors of pumpkins... but picking which 10 to take, was tough. I could have brought them all home. Once we got home, we created little tags, "You've been PUMPK'D... happy "almost" halloween" and attached them onto the pumpkins. During our evening walk, we dropped off all the pumpkins onto random front porches... and still have 2 to carve out for ourselves. I'm always trying to find ways in which to "have fun" for Halloween. So many people have their reservations about this holiday, but there are ways to have such clean fun.






































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Friday, October 30, 2015

With Smiles

When Fall comes around, so do all the harvest festivals. I love seeing all the pumpkins... tons of different sizes, colors, shapes... the very best. We don't have apple orchards near us here in Oklahoma. It's all about the pumpkins, gourds, mums, and cold weather crops. We made our way to the gardens, for a family outing. When you have little ones, it's all about these experiences... and being that they arrived and left with smiles on their faces, there's not much more I could ask for.














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Saturday, October 24, 2015

Pounding Pavement

I had one goal... and it was to cross the finish line, without walking... leaving it all on the pavement.

For the last few weeks I've decided to "pick up" running again. It was something I found enjoyment in, before I was pregnant with Marley. I trained for a 5k in Korea, and just as I completed it, I found out I was pregnant with Marley. Throughout my pregnancy, I was super sick, and anytime I even tried to get out to go running, I felt like I had to pee all the time, or like I was going to puke. I gave up... I put away my shoes, and decided to give it a try again after I had a baby... well, then I had another baby... so another year flew by without tying those shoe laces.

I finally mustered up the courage to "get back at it" after Finn turned 1. In my heart of hearts, I knew it wasn't going to feel the greatest... so I would push it off here, and push it off there. Finally, I took the plunge, and signed up for a 5k race. Let me tell you, there's nothing that pushes you more than knowing you signed up for something. Somehow along the way, I roped my sister-in-law, Courtney, into running with me. She held me accountable, and was just a constant source of motivation.

Today, I ran. To most, it's a "walk in the park". I assure you, it was not for me. We got there about 20 minutes before line up, and it was beyond cold outside. We've been training in the 70/80's, and with the wind whipping at our face, it was definitely in the 40's this morning. My muscles had a difficult time warming up... just before the race we made it to the front of the line at the porto potties to get out one last tinkle. Just as I was finishing up, I heard "Runner's get ready, get set..." I immediately pulled up my pants, slammed open the door, and started charging towards the START line as fast as I could. The race started in such a frenzy... being that it started 13 minutes before it was supposed to. I didn't have time to start up my music right away. I took off running, and for the first 1.25 miles, I ran listening to just my feet hitting the pavement. There was a rhythm, and my muscles started to warm up... and I crossed that finish line, without walking. Goal accomplished.





















Dare I say that I actually enjoyed it? ... I did. Bring on more races.

(I drew an arrow where I was in that group shot! We were pretty much the last ones to get through the starting line.)
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Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Colorful Colorado { Day 7 & 8 }

We spent two afternoons (one on our last full day in Colorado and the other in the afternoon the day we visited Focus on the Family) at a playground in Manitou Springs... Soda Springs Park. It was the playground that the littles wanted to revisit, because they liked it that much. For anyone visiting the Springs area with kids, this playground is a MUST visit. Since we knew our 8th day we'd be heading home, a grueling 9.5 hours in the van... we decided to let them "play their hearts out" the day before. I'm fairly certain that my kids could swing forever, if they were allowed. We also, did a little last walk around the downtown area, and fell in love with the chocolate at Anna's Apothecary. It's REAL DEAL chocolate... the kind that comes with a cold pack, because it would melt if it's not eaten right away. It was amazing, and they give out free samples. My littles gobbled it up, and I am still dreaming about that chocolate, to this day.

Colorado for sure stole our hearts, and it's safe to say, it won't be the last time we visit.










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Monday, October 19, 2015

Colorful Colorado { Day 6 }

When I asked social media where we should visit while spending time in "The Springs", a large majority of answers said that we needed to check out the zoo. I'm not quite sure why we waited until the weekend to check it out, but we did. If we had to do it over, I probably wouldn't have gone on the weekend... we would have switched it with something we did during the week. The crowds were ridiculous. As in, ridiculously ridiculous.

The Cheyenne Mountain Zoo is nestled right into the Cheyenne Mountain. There are switchbacks that lead you up and down the mountain to get to all the different parts of the zoo... as well as elevators for those moments when stairs are the only option. It was a tight zoo, compared to ours in Oklahoma City that feels so expansive. But, they had quite a few animals that we don't have at our zoo, which made it fun. One section specifically was for Australian animals... and of course we all melted over the wallabies.













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