Happy 2nd Birthday Leo!

Leo's birthday was very low key this year.  The Jurbalas were in town so we took him out for pizza.  I then attempted an ice cream sandwich cake.  I am no cake decorator but it tasted good.  We gave Leo a little basketball hoop, that will grow with him.  He absolutely loves it.  He has quite the athletic ability, so it's fun to watch him make baskets.  I am thinking the adults may have had just as much fun with it.  Gwen got him a "Big Hugs Elmo".  Leo's eyes lit up HUGE when he saw it.  He loves hugging and so now he has Elmo that does too. 

The real only shocking part of the entire day, was when we were talking to Gwen and telling her that her birthday was next.  That was the moment I realized my big girl is going to be 5.  Talk about a moment that takes one's breath away........................speaking of taking one's breath away.  Do you think Leo can breathe in the below pictures where Gwen is squeezing him?  Poor Elmo too.  You can only see an arm.

NY Trip Part 5: Fun In Pictures

NY Trip Part 4: Happy Birthday Papa & Leo

As you all may know, Gwen's birthday is 5 days after my mom's and Leo's is 5 days after my dad's.  Crazy how all the math works out.  We were lucky enough to be in NY at a time where we could celebrate Dad/Leo's birthday.  Christine put on yet another wonderful party.  I got to see cousins and my aunt that I haven't seen since December.  My sister has a ton of land so the kids rode a 4 wheeler (I think Mike may have had more fun) and got to drive a mower.  That mixed with a delicious ice cream cake birthday cake made for a great time.

NY Trip Part 3: Blueberry Picking

I have never picked blueberries.  I loved every minute of it.  I may have eaten a pint or more when I was supposed to be picking them for Christine.  Leo ate probably about the same and his poop showed it a day later.

NY Part 2: Enchanted Forest

When I was a kid I used to go to Enchanted Forest.  I was there even before there were water rides.  It was so special and wonderful to take my kids there too.  They sat on the same wiener dog that I did.  We even have our picture next to the giant Paul Bunyan.   I think that is about where the similarities ended.  I did reminisce while going through the museum they had there, with how Enchanted Forest used to be.  I closed my eyes and it brought me back to a time when I didn't have to worry about bills, my children, work.........etc.  It made remember how fun it was to be innocent and free.

Enchanted Forest is now considered Water Safari.  It is now focused on the water slides and the land/story book part are very small.  They have kept it really nice, but the people going there are definitely a site to see.  Most of them are extremely overweight (and not dressed appropriately) and covered in tattoos (not that I judge as I love tattoos).

All that I can say is that Gwen had a blast.  She went down all of the water slides that I would never do.  She went non-stop.  I have no idea how she mustered up the energy. She had to have gone down 40+ times.  She was even disappointed when she was too short to do one of the tube slides.  She is officially braver than me.  Leo hated it.  He loved the land part, but was miserable the rest of the time.  He even took a 2.5 hour nap on one of the chairs.  Probably the only kid there that didn't use any swim diapers.  Needless to say, Mike/Gwen had so much fun.  It sucked for me.

NY Trip Part 1

We traveled to Utica so that I could run the Boilermaker.  We turned it into a 10 day vacation which was a complete blast.  It was so wonderful watching Gwen/Leo have so much fun with their cousins.  It was also so great to see how much my kiddos love their grandparents.  As always it was great to catch up with friends and family.  It's nice to see that even after being gone 12 years, I still have friendships that have lasted 20+ years.

The race was good.   I finished in 1 hour and 32 minutes.  It was a couple minutes shy of my goal, which was extremely disappointing, because it was of no fault of my own.  The race was very unorganized.  There were only a few waves, so I was stuck in general admission.   There were a lot of people there who had no business running in the race. They were health hazards to themselves and to others.  I didn't want to waste all of my energy weaving in and out of people, so I went with the flow.  People walked at the 3 mile "hill".  Once I hit 5 miles I really hit my stride and was running about 9 minute miles.  I definitely underestimated running in humidity as it is no joke.  Once I finished I definitely didn't feel well as it was extremely hot and humid.  Overall I am really proud of myself for doing this.  I learned that I can accomplish anything I put my mind to.  I also learned that I have no desire to ever do it again......

Once the race was over it was smooth sailing the rest of the week.  We hung out at the pool, went to Enchanted Forest, rented a boat, went blueberry picking and ate.........and then ate some more.  The food was amazing, but not so good for the waist line. 

All in all, it was a great trip. I look forward to making it a yearly vacation.

Where Does She Get This Stuff?

This morning, Gwen told Leo, that he was "cuter than a pile of babies." 

Too Much Fun on the 4th of July

4th Of July

We rented a house with our neighbors (the McSwains) for the 4th of July.  As like last year the guys golfed and the girls hit the spa.  This year we had the added bonus of a hot tub, which the kids loved.  I personally find them disgusting, but if it entertains the kids for a while I am good.  It's always crazy in a house when you have 2 families with a total of 4 kids, so it was definitely less than relaxing!!