Downhill Kinda Day

Today was a pretty low key Friday. Still chilly, but at least the sun was out. Nora was up super early but we recovered, then she and my dad spent a lot of the morning watching a big tree get cut down in the yard behind us. My mom had a half day today, so once she got home from work we headed over to my Grandma Keaton's to visit. She played with Nora and patiently waited for her to warm up and give her a couple hugs. Nora was beat by the time dinner rolled around and by the time I got her ready for bed, we'd missed our chance - bedtime went anything but smoothly. Between being super tired, super stuffy and cutting yet another molar (second in a week), she wasn't feeling up to sleeping solo. I eventually got Nora settled down and to sleep but the rest of evening involved some mother daughter turmoil of a different variety. Anyway, tomorrow we head to Fremont for the weekend. I know Nora will be excited to see her cousins and Grandma & Pap Myers!

Rainy Day Run

It was kind of a gross day around here today. But, unfortunately, for Cort, rain, clouds and cool temps don't change the fact that it's Thursday - Thursday is hiking day! Well, with creeks on the rise and flooding & mud everywhere I wasn't about to take him out tromping so I put him through a different kind of workout. Yep - he hit the treadmill. 30 minutes of intense focus and running took some of the edge off and another 10 minutes before dinner pretty much did the trick. That took care of today's energy, tomorrow we begin again!

Reunited on an Adventure!

We had a pretty productive and fun day today. We kicked things off with a run/Bay Rec pop-in this morning. Then it was onto the real fun! Since we originally made the plans to stay in Ohio for a couple weeks before the wedding, making sure that Nora and I had an "adventure outing" with Katie was super high on my list of things to do while we were in town. 1) because it's been waaay too long since the two of them have gotten to hang out and 2) because Katie always thinks of fun things to do! Seriously - if she traveled with us on our many road trips we'd have seen soooo many cool things by now - sure we wouldn't get places as quickly but we'd have certainly seen a Worlds Largest something by now! Anyway, we went to the Cleveland Natural History museum this afternoon. It isn't a huge museum and to be honest, I'm pretty sure not much has changed since I went there in grade school, BUT it was a good balance of things to look at and things to touch for Nora. She recognized Katie right away she appeared to really enjoy herself. Aside from watching the other kids that were there, she loved the outdoor animal section, despite the chilly rain. It was a fun outing and great to get together and catch up with Katie a bit! After our journey through time at the museum (and a decent Nora nap on the way home) we were even able to sneak in a Hump Day Happy Hour at Harry's! My mom, Aunt Patty, Amy & Abbey all met us at Close Quarters for a girl's edition of one of my favorite "at home" activities! All and all a fantastic day that tired both me and Nora out!!

Road Warriors!

This tiny human never ceases to amaze me. Over the course of the last 6 days we've spent 26+ hours in the car and visited - not been through, actually stayed in, 4 states and today, arrived in our 5th. Both Nora and Cort have been champs, adjusting to new surroundings, seeing lots of people, having typical schedules thrown waaaay off and have still been total travel rockstars in the car! After a fun day spent in New Jersey, this morning we were up and at 'em (a bit earlier than planned - remember that schedule thing I mentioned?) to get back on the road and before we knew it we were headed to Ohio. At least for this section of the trip, Bay is the home base and I was on a mission to get there and put a temporary end to the driving. We did the 8 hour trip in...8 hours and only made 1 stop. Crazy, I know. But like I said, I had two amazing passengers who were in it to win it with me, they remained content pretty much the entire time and Nora even slept the last hour - leaving her primed for some playtime with Lady & Grumps upon our 4pm arrival. I'm thankful that we've made it so many miles safely with nothing scary or overly adventurous to report - although I had my doubts about the car-top carrier in the wind this afternoon. Props to my team - the Acadia, Nora, Cort, Google Maps, Monster trail mix and even Kyle, who called to check up on us!

Exploring the Ivy

After a low key morning spent eating pancakes, feeding fish and doing some toddling around Jod's we headed over to campus to explore 1/8 of the Ivy League. Cort enjoyed swimming in the lake (with the women's olympic rowing team) and running around on the practice fields.

After that we had lunch overlooking the soccer field, toured campus (while Nora snoozed) then spent some time going up and down a step, chasing an ant and walking in the grass. We capped everything off with a tasty italian dinner. Fabulous!

Look Out Princeton!

Happy Mothers' Day!!!

Today was a busy one! We kicked it off early with breakfast in bed (thank you Kyle and Nora!) and then we went to lunch with everyone who was still around after the wedding festivities. And now, we're HERE!!!! Tack another couple hundred miles on the trip odometer folks, we're in New Jersey! Kyle was running late for his flight out of Baltimore so after a very abridged goodbye the minis and I were on our own to figure out what we were doing on I-95 North towards New York. Some GPS directions, an overtired little girl who couldn't stay asleep, a tired but still anxious dogger and a sticky key later, we've arrived at Jod's! Whoop whoop! Tonight we rest-up (I'm beat!), tomorrow we explore Princeton!

I Dos!!

What a fantastic day and a fabulous wedding! I got up and took Cort for a run/hike, Kyle took him for another run, I got a workout in at the hotel gym while Nora napped, Cort went is having a sleepover with his cousin Gracie and we all got dressed up and went to Nancy & Dana's wedding! Nora was a little ornery during the ceremony - but it was during nap time & snack time so I guess she can have a pass. The reception setting was beautiful, the food was delicious, the band was amazing and the company superb! AND I got a free pass to take TONS of pictures! Which, of course I took advantage of. Nora had a blast and hung out until the end of the reception (I'm sure I'll be paying for that) but all and all, family, music, dancing, lots of love and pictures - PERFECTION! Congratulations Nancy & Dana!!!!!