Trip to Quito, November 2016- Part 2.

We had to find ways to entertain ourselves while my parents were in Cusco Peru. There was no way I was driving around (even with my Miami driving expereince), so we killed time in Quito ourselves.

The view over the city was just as amazing at night, over their bathtub.

 Cora got a major kick out of Mariana cleaning the balcony. She wanted to go out there SO BAD. 

 We took some walks around the city. To go from such a flat city to a hilly one is exhausting! 

 There was a Swedish park that we visited. It was nearby and up a small hill, and it was beautiful and well-maintained!

  

 Cora made a human (Mateo) and dog friend. It was cute since neither of them spoke, the language barrier didn't matter. I was barely able to communicate with his mom.

 Seriously, look at these hills! Normally I don't strap Cora in to the stroller (since she has the tray to keep her in and she doesn't try to climb out), but here I HAD to strap her in. She was dangling parallel to the ground at some points.

 We tried to find a Subway that was supposedly nearby, but we found an odd local sandwich shop instead. It was a nice little tour of Quito.

"Do you speak Spanish?"

Friday night, we decided to try to walk to Domino's. While we were heading out, it started to rain. We thought it might let up, but it didn't. So I took the pizza and Cole pushed Cora, and we ran as fast as we could home. Poor Cora did NOT like it. Luckily that sidewalk was a little bit more normal than the other ones, but it still took a while. So we got soaked!

 Cora FINALLY made it out to the balcony. As long as she was no more than 6 inches from someone's hands, she was able to check it out.

 Just 2 girls taking the city.

My parents got home early (EARLY) Sunday morning, which was good so we could make it to church.

Trip to Quito, November 2016- Part 1

We had the chance to go to Ecuador for 3 weeks, and talking about it will take a million posts. So here we go!

Originally we were going to fly out for about 2 weeks. My parents had a mission presidents' seminar the second week of November, so I was going to fly out November 3 and then fly back the 17th. But, then we realized that Brandon had the entire week of Thanksgiving off. So why not just extend our trip and have Brandon meet up with us for a week? All I had to do was cancel my half marathon which was supposed to be November 19. But that was a small price to pay (especially since they gave me all of my money minus $10 back) to spend 3.5 weeks with my family in Ecuador.

Flying with Cora was not too bad. It was a redeye flight, which means with customs and everything we got in at about 1:00 AM. We had a porter offer to take our bags through customs for us (which I was prepared for), and when I tried to tip him he grimaced at the amount. Even though it was $3 (about a day's wages) for 5 minutes of help. Ugh.

 The view is AMAZING!

 We got there right about Dia de los Muertos, which is a bigger holiday than Halloween. They have a bread and juice that are only available around Dia de los Muertos. The bread is guagua bread, which is a sweet bread shaped like a swaddled baby (creepy). The juice is colada morada, and it's like a delicious smoothie of all sorts of fruits. The yogurts are also WAY more watery than I was used to, so we needed to improvise a bib.

  

 Look at Cora's first pair of boots! We were worried about her freezing to death, and walking on the sketchy Quito streets in her moccasins so I bought these. She finally fit in them.

 We found a Christmas outlet store, which was like heaven for Cora.

 Since my parents don't have any kid toys at their house (obviously) we went to a toy store to pick up a few for Cora. She went straight to the biggest, fluffiest toy possible. Sorry, kid!

 We tried some barbecue from a new restaurant. My dad says if they have tile floors they're probably safe to eat from. I hope he's right!

 Since they live on the 7th floor of their building, it is stunning. Even if the balcony is terrifying with a not-totally-stable walker (so we just kept the balcony door locked at all times).

 The first trip out of town we took was to the Teleferico. It takes us up into the mountains just outside Quito, which was an even more amazing view.

  It was also nice to have my dad there with us. Even if Cora was ambivalent about Papa.

  

  

 We also got to go to the National Basilica. It was beautiful and terrifying to climb.

  

 We climbed up all the towers, and it was so scary. On the way down, people were yelling "Ya! Ya!" ("Already!") because I was moving so slowly. But there was not even the slightest feeling of security that you have while climbing scary things in the U.S. There were no security lines, and barely handrails. Add that to my somewhat crippling fear of heights and it took a VERY long time to get down.

 A very large KFC. Apparently it's a big deal down here!

 Cora and Grandma got along after church just fine.

 Cora discovered how cool these stools were, which was very scary because she was not very stable on it!

 And to have a personal piano player just for you? Perfect!

Cora showed off her new trick of talking to Siri. Of course Siri didn't understand her.

Miami Halloween Half 2016

I had originally planned my second half marathon to be the Everglades half. However, after I signed up I had the chance to go to Ecuador. Obviously, Ecuador won so I wanted to run a different half. I found the Miami Halloween Half, which was the weekend before I flew to Ecuador.

Training was HOT. I was sweating all through October due to the high humidity and temperatures. It was frustrating to see my times get slower, until it cooled down (a little) and I could see the fruits of my labors.

I found out I was pregnant the Monday before my Saturday race. That made me so nervous. I knew I had bad morning sickness last time, and I was worried about staying hydrated and not letting myself get too hungry on the course.
 I was able to choke down a granola bar (barely) before my race. I had a couple packs of peanut m&m's in my water bottle belt, for some quick sugar fuel.
The first few miles were rough. I felt so sick, and I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to finish. Luckily the biggest bridge was at the beginning of the race, instead of the end like last time.

 We got to run by the giant cruise ships.

 I wanted to film my run the entire time. I was so nostalgic, knowing it was one of my last times running by the beach like this. We got to run on the Miami Beach boardwalk, which is really beautiful.

Once I hit about mile 5, for some reason my body just kicked into gear. I guess this is what they call a "runner's high". I made sure to stop at every drink station, but other than that I didn't walk until mile 12.5.
As I came around the corner to the end, I saw Brandon, Grant and Cora waiting there for me. I almost cried, knowing I had totally killed my other PR time. Luckily, Brandon got a play by play of me coming in and seeing my reaction to my time.

 wait for it...

 wait for it...

 THERE! I ran it in 2:48, which was 39 minutes faster than my other half marathon time. A full half hour faster! I don't think I'll ever get a PR by that margin again, but it sure felt sweet.

 My smallest cheerleader. It was windy and cold.

 Grant got to be there just before his flight.

 We then went to drop Grant off at the airport, and I ate 3 burritos from Taco Bell. I was starving.
The best part? I had a perfect Halloween costume!

I finally got my official pictures. Last time my smiling pictures were fake, but this time it was total happiness.

I'm already planning to run another half... once I can run again.