Frogs and Fairytales at the zoo.

A few weeks ago, Cora and I needed some time to ourselves. I found this activity at the zoo that seemed super cute. So one Saturday morning we went!

Cora had messed up two of her three dresses already that week, and the one that was left was Moana which seemed too cold. So thankfully I had this Rapunzel dress from Christmas that we had never given her.

She was excited to see the princesses, but got a little bit shy at first.

 Then she started to hit her stride about the third princess in. (Apparently this princess company requires them to buy their own dresses, which is why this Cinderella doesn't look like the classic one. I think she looks like the live action version?)

 JUST as we got to Rapunzel she started to leave for her break. So I ran after her yelling "WAIT! SHE HAS A RAPUNZEL DRESS ON!" She was nice enough to take a picture. Look at Cora's face!

 She also really liked Snow White.

 But the person she was the most excited to meet?? The frog. She was a little shy when we got up there... But I mean really, they couldn't have found a Tiana princess?

 After meeting the princesses, we went around and did the usual zoo things. Thank goodness she didn't know about the beauty makeovers, because I didn't feel like standing in line again.

 She walked around the whole way! Which was over 2 miles. So she got tuckered out and fell asleep about 1/4 of the drive home. What you don't see is the half a quesadilla in her hand.

Life with a toddler is hard. You try to do a lot of fun things with them and usually don't feel like it's noticed (based on how they're acting). But then you once in a while find something like this that makes everything better, even just for a day. 

And to all you people who say "Those princesses aren't even real looking!" I will gladly do that a hundred times over to avoid the crowds and cost of Disneyland!

Sanger Blossom Trail 10k

I signed up for a 10k to run with my friend who is training for the Yosemite half as her first half marathon. But then her back hurt, so I figured I'd run it since I already paid.

It was the same place that we went to last year to see the Blossom Trail.

Remember this? So cute.

So the 10K starts the blossom festival that we attended, and since it was a cheap run it was good since everything went wrong. Everyone has been praying for rain, and every one of those prayers was answered between Thursday and Saturday morning. The mountains supposedly got 5 or 6 FEET of snow. Which is great, except when you're trying to drive. I don't know how we drove in 6 Rexburg winters without getting in an accident.

So once I got there, I got my packet and dropped it off at the car. Which I hoped wouldn't be towed (the race director said I was fine parked where I was buuuuuut you never know). I decided to leave my phone in the car since it was raining so much. As I was getting ready, I heard an air horn blast. I booked it over there, and thankfully I didn't miss the start. The rain slowed down, and I realized I wouldn't need my jacket but it was too late to bring it back. So i tried to start my headphones... dead. The portable charger I should have been using the whole drive up was in the car. So, that was the longest I've run without music!

At first I thought the Blossom Trail was going to be in name only, since we kept moving through these neighborhoods with big barking dogs. But we finally made it out to the fields. It smells AMAZING. Almond trees, apple trees, orange trees, etc. But all the rain came with a ton of mud. I almost lost a shoe in it. Thankfully not! 

As we went around a turn, I saw flashing lights behind me. There was a police car that seemed to be picking up the people who were falling too far behind. (The walkers started earlier) I had a handful of people behind me, but every time I looked back there were fewer people behind me and the car was getting closer. So I tried to run a little faster, just ahead of the car. By the time I finished, there were only 2 other people behind me. But I didn't get picked up by the street sweeper!

My time was 1:21:30. 10k is a struggle distance for me, because since the groups are always so small I am usually one of the last few people to come in. It makes it hard to stay motivated.

Now it's time to get ready for the Yosemite half! My goal is to beat my best time of 2:49.

8 Months of James Murphy.

Since it's February 30 (haha), today James is 8 months old!

James has grown SO much the last month. He is now scooting around everywhere, and he got FIVE new teeth this month. Holy cow. Needless to say, it was rough for a while there. But we made it through, and now he's sleeping great again!

(Girl look at that body!)

He eats SO SO SO much. Like 28 ounces of food a day. Plus nursing a few times a day still. I'm actually trying to help him learn that he doesn't need to eat so much, because he'll eat eat eat then spew a few minutes later.

He is starting to get a sense of humor. If we make a funny sound, he will turn around and smile super big at us.

He is now obsessed with dogs and balloons. So we're going to have an Up themed birthday party at this rate (HOW IS THAT COMING UP SO FAST?!)

Brandon got him a balloon for Valentine's Day, and he dragged that thing around with him for a week.

James is developing a very nice little dinosaur screech. It's pretty funny. He has also started saying "Da da", and thinks it's funny when I try to convince him to say "Mama" instead.

Now that his teeth are through, he's starting to sleep better. THANK GOODNESS. He has not been a happy camper the last few weeks.

His cheeks are UNREAL. I can tell if he's starting to smile even when he isn't looking in my direction, because I can see his cheeks!

He sure loves his dad and Cora. He loves his mom, but more so when he realizes that someone else is holding him.

After months of screaming when he was on his stomach, James has finally embraced it and even sleeps on his stomach now. And he LOVES his big boy crib!

Buddy, I love how busy you are. It's exhausting and I'm always running over to save you from what you found, but I love it. You're the sweetest little addition to our family!

Tiny Dancers, round 2.

Cora got to do her second dance class the past 2 months. She missed a few classes due to sickness, but it was hilarious nonetheless. I love the class, and it is worth the small fee considering how much she actually does. And she LOVES it!

Her first day, she stood in the back and cried until her friend Annie came over and hugged her. It was SO cute!

 Yeah she was paying attention.

 A few weeks before the recital, she would NOT stop crying during class. She clearly was just recovering from some sickness. But look at how cute she was!

 The recital was SO funny. Here are some of the still shots that I got.

 This one looks like she's doing the chicken dance. I laughed so hard when I saw it.

Unfortunately the videos are bigger than what I can put on the blog. But she loved dance class, and I think she'll do another one in the fall!

End of the Trail Half Marathon

Completed half marathon 3 today!

In order to explain how it was training, you need to realize what has happened since I started attempting to train in October. We had: sinus infections, colds, traveling, teething, pink eye, chronic ear infections, sleep training, potty training, enterovirus, many many nights of waking up too many times with sick kids, fevers, a flu scare, etc. The kids and I have been sick no less than 15 times. Soooo, needless to say it's been rough!

I did not prepare enough for this. Not at all. But there was nothing I could do about it. So when race day came around I just wanted to finish in less time than my running playlist, and to finish without injury. A secondary goal was to finish in under 3 hours.

The course was pretty flat. The best part was when we ran past a giant apple orchard which is blossoming, because it smelled amazing. The worst part was when we immediately ran past a dairy farm afterwards and it smelled HORRIBLE. I was about to throw up.

Since I just used my Apple watch, I had to pick my playlist carefully. I picked "From Now On" and "This is Me" from Greatest Showman to be the last songs to get me through the finish line. It was pretty inspiring.

 I had the cutest cheering section! 

 I was so happy that Amanda came too, that was so nice of her! Here they are playing Ring around the Rosie with Cora waiting for me to show up.

 

 This melted my heart! 

 Yeesh.

 

Brandon came up to me and the first thing he said is "Man, you look rough!" Yup!

 Meg and Ash brought me flowers, and Cora pulled one out to give to me. 

  

 

 "Oh Mom, can I have an orange?? Oh thank you Mom!"

 

 I've been trying to French braid my hair before long runs since it doesn't fall out as fast as a ponytail, but clearly I need to work on it. 

  

 

  

    

   

 Glad Meg and Ash (and baby Charlotte!) came down early this morning for this! 

My official time is 3:02:49. So close to my secondary goal! But I didn't injure myself and I got to skip 3 songs on my playlist. So there's that!

We have another half marathon in mid May, in Yosemite. So I need to strength train and do some speed workouts. Hopefully since we have an ENT appointment for Cora's ears, and since it's not the dead of winter and flu season, we will not have so much sickness. But I was grateful to everyone who came out and supported me! It feels good to be a three time half marathoner!