Visit with the Slatterys

This visit was pretty much concluding our busy stretch!  Like I mentioned before it was raining cats and dogs on the way to their house so a lot of the outdoor stuff we were planning on doing didn't really happy because everything was under water!

It was awesome to see them and I was glad that they were so understanding about me needing to take a shower haha.  I wasn't actually that hot but it was humid from the upcoming rain so I felt sticky.  The kids are getting older and they are more able to play with each other which is awesome.  Its nice being able to let them play in a different room and we can actually visit and hang out with DJ and Hannah.  Scarlett is walking already!  It was nice to visit so quickly again because I had her race stuff from the Riverbank and some girl clothes for Scarlett.  I always like giving away that stuff because I know how helpful it is and they always seem to really be appreciative.










It was another chill visit and we ended up walking to the playground that is close to their house.  A lot of it had HUGE puddles but the kids seemed to enjoy that.  Before long we went and got some ice cream from the shop that is right by the playground and then walked back to their house for dinner.  I felt a bit like a chump because we didn't have anything to bring or contribute to dinner, since we hadn't been home in a week, but they were gracious hosts and didn't care at all.

The kids did end up going in their pool for a little bit but the water was so cold they didn't stay in long.  We pretty much just hung out and played until it was very obvious that all the kiddos needed to get ready for bed.  I was very impressed that our kids held their crap together for as long as they did because they had a big week before this and had been in the car a lot.  They definitely passed out on the car ride home (I probably did too haha).  It was a good visit and good week.

JVG

Ludington Lakestride Half Marathon

The next morning came early... I had trouble falling asleep the night before even though I exhausted so I only ended up getting a few hours of sleep.  I have never done the morning of packet pick up so I was little anxious about that too.  I wasn't worried about the actual run, even though I probably should've trained more.  I was thinking no matter what I was going to finish and Holly reassured me that we weren't going to be getting our PR's this race, so I was in it for a nice relaxing run.  I had never met her friend Elizabeth before but had heard a lot about her.  They met in WV and kept in touch after she and Holly both moved away.  She's great!  Full of personality and energy!






We got to Ludington with time to spare and the weather was COLD.  Poor Elizabeth was freezing because she definitely wasn't used to this kind of weather.  I was happy that it was a bit colder as I do not like running in the hot and humid.  We did a bit of a warm up out to a lighthouse because this was Elizabeth's first time seeing Lake Michigan!  We met up with Jason before the race as he was watching them while we ran.  Unfortunately we took too long on our warm up and we didn't get a chance to hit the bathrooms before the race, as the line was outrageously long so I didn't get to go before the race started... I was hoping that I could make it to the first porta potty!





These smaller runs are nice and not at the same time.  There are obviously less people to have to try and dodge in the smaller ones but the bigger ones have more support and somehow it feels more official.  This one was so spread out that I don't know how they were going to have any more volunteers than they did!




The course itself was much more hilly than I was anticipating.  Holly and Elizabeth kept a pretty easy pace and it was fun to hear them talk to each other and catch up on life.  My favorite part of the whole course was the trails though.  Maybe it was because of where it was in the race but I felt great through there!  The trails were wide enough also so that you could pass people if you needed too.  Holly took off and was flying through the woods!  It was intense!  But when we came out of the trails we were on a huge sand dune and I didn't love having all that sand in my shoe and we still have 7 miles to go.  So, we stopped at the bottom of the hill to empty our shoes and wait for Elizabeth.  When we got to the bottom of the dune we saw this family from Mars that have kids the same age as us... it was kinda funny to see!

The rest of the run we didn't see Elizabeth.. she wasn't feeling the greatest and she was taking her time taking pictures of Lake Michigan and the scenery.  The last probably 5 miles were all along the beach and the view was breath taking, but it also meant that it was pretty windy. Holly and I powered through and talked the whole way which was fun :)

At the end we found Jason and the kiddos and got ready to go.  G wasn't there yet so he was gonna meet us there but then I figured why have him drive all the way up to go back?  We were gonna go and visit with the Slattery's who live between Grand Rapids and Ludington, so we met up with G and the kiddos at an Arby's.  It was raining cats and dogs by the time we got there and that meant I got a little bit of lunch too.  Everything worked out well!  This was the first race I'd ever run with Holly... we had done several races but we never ran together.  It was fun!  I'm hoping we can do some more :)  And it was really great to meet Elizabeth.  Now, off to the Slattery's!

JVG

Columbus Day 4

This was travel day, and we were tired!  I took a little snoozer for the first part of the trip but then we got stopped in the middle of the boonies by a train.  And, by looking at the road maps there was no way to turn around and get around it either.  I'm not sure why Maps took us a different way home than they how they took us there, but they did and this way was much less awesome.  It was a lot of 'highways', by which I mean two lane roads in the middle of nowhere.  We weren't on expressways so there weren't exits or places to eat or anything.  We wanted to stop and get some food but then were in the middle of a HUGE rain storm.  It was intense.  We finally got around to stopping and we thought we'd try a Cracker Barrel.  A lot of people I know rave about how amazing it is and the only time I ever had it I got sick after (now, I don't know if it was motion sickness or the food so I was willing to give it another shot).  Needless to say, I will not be dining there again.  I think that most people must like the store that is in the front of the restaurant but the actual restaurant itself is overpriced and the food isn't that great.  Now, I know I like to eat a lot of food but even their portion sizes were tiny.  I was grumpy from being in the car and then we paid a lot of money for not good food, and I left hungry.









Back on the road we had to stop in Kalamazoo because we had signed Lucy up for the mud run months ago but then realized that it was the same day as the Half Marathon that Holly, her friend Elizabeth and I were running.  So, we just went and picked up her packet which had her shirt in it and her bib.  She was pretty thrilled about that!

Back on the road to GR because I was going to stay overnight at Mom and Dad's as Holly was picking me up at o dark thirty the next morning to get to the race.  G and the kids were headed home so that they could get a good nights rest and meet us up in Ludington afterwards.  I was exhausted and pretty happy to be not in the car.  It was a long day, but the kids did really well!  On to the next adventure...

JVG

Columbus Day 3

This was probably our busiest day yet.  Luckily, G didn't have to go in to the conference anymore so we hit up the zoo in the morning.  They had a continental breakfast at the hotel but it closed at 9... so I usually got up grabbed some breakfast for myself with Norah (who was awake before the others) and then came back to wake the others so they could eat too.  For being a continental breakfast it was pretty extensive, which was good for a horker like me!
















The zoo in Columbus is MASSIVE.  It's also attached to a water park which was quite large as well.  We probably, and I'm not even joking spent the whole week just looking through all their stuff!  As it is we were there for a couple of solid hours and didn't even make it through half way of a quarter of their zoo.  The set their zoo up in four parts and we didn't get through half of one... it was ridiculous. It was also really hot that day so I wanted to make sure that the kids didn't overheat.  Norah LOVED the reptile house.  She was fascinated with the snakes and even got to touch a Kenyan boa.  I didn't mind staying in the reptile house because it was air conditioned and out of the sun... I always get a little worried when the girls cheeks so bright red.  The lady who was holding the snake gave instructions on the best way to touch the snake and Norah and Lucy did such a great job.  Eventually Dude touched the snake but he was more apprehensive.









































In the zoo they had aquarium stuff too which the kids liked.  There were beluga whales and sting rays which were awesome!  There was a nice play area, similar to structures at like Jungle Joe's that they played awhile at but it got a little hard when Norah would find herself in the corner somewhere stuck... We eventually had to quick make it back because we were meeting a friend to hang out for the rest of the day!





















I know that its silly that we keep meeting up with people that we've met off an app, but in large numbers I feel like we are safe.  Kat brought her husband and son as well, so it was a nice family outing.  We swam for quite a bit and then decided to get some ice cream at the place that I wanted to take the kids the day before.  This place was awesome because they make all their ice cream right there so we can watch their process!  They also had an indoor play area so the adults could enjoy their lovely treats and they could burn off some of that sugar energy.  The place is called Graeter's, and they're around more in different parts of the US just not in MI :(












We hung out until she had to drive home since she still lived a few hours away and the kiddos were exhausted from all their fun.  We really didn't have any trouble with them going to sleep at the end of the days because we would swim until the pool closed which was around 10... and I think that they understood that they were getting to stay up late so they were good and tired.
















We didn't have any plans for the next day because we had to check out and drive home.  All in all I had a fantastic time... the kiddos were so good and the things that we did was a lot of fun.  We found out that there is a train that goes to Columbus and we didn't get a chance to see other things like the COSI and the rest of the zoo.  We liked the hotel that we stayed at too, and the price was decent so we would probably go back there again!  Yippee!  Even though it was fun I was definitely ready to be back home and in our own space :)

JVG