Ted's Princesses Take Over Disney...Part 2: The 10K Chronicles

Before I dive in to the 10k, I would like to follow up on the platter of meat Lorren had at tea, or as I have renamed it, the 96 ouncer. Behold:

Now compare that to our dainty tea sandwiches...

Oh, and prior to having tea, Lorren hopped up on this statue (Scott you did not read that):

The dismount was glorious.

Now, back to the 10k... The 10k route follows some of the 5k route, but adds the EPCOT resort path. I LOVE this route. It honestly is one of my favorites, especially when we run across the Boardwalk and sound like a herd of elephants.

We decided to stick with our theme from last year and go as Alice in Wonderland characters. Cathy was the only one to change her character. This year she went as the Mad Hatter in her pretty Wonderland skirt from Sparkle Skirts. Melissa obviously dressed for warmth.

The 10k route was a hard one for our cheering section because there are really only two spots you can actually make it to, the start and the finish.

Lorren and I ran this race together and I was told by Lorren at the halfway point she would never run this with me ever again because I am too gd fast. I will admit there were a couple of points on the course I really stretched my legs and hit some awesome paces. She was not amused.

For the most part though we took it easy on the course because we did have a half marathon to run the next day. Lorren and I finished in 1:21:49 and 1:21:54. Cathy was not too far behind us and we were able to catch up with our cheering section.

After the race we grabbed some delicious breakfast from Captain Cook's at the Polynesian and then headed over to Hollywood Studios.

 Obviously we needed popcorn and a churro. I mean, what else are you supposed to eat there? The parks were actually pretty crowded so we did not get on a lot of the rides, not that the Studios has a lot of rides anymore. We did manage to get on Tower of Terror though. Apparently Melissa has never been on this ride, so naturally we scored the front row. Fun fact, Melissa likes to death grip both handles and there was only one grip for me and Cathy. I had to grab the "oh shit" bar which resulted in this classic photo:

After we returned from the Twilight Zone we walked around the soon-to-be-gone Streets of America. On our stroll we found the glass slipper. We had to stop, I mean we were running the glass slipper challenge after all. We decided we were going to take two photos, a nice one and a not so nice one, because...well because. Our photographer was not a good sport. We scored this nice photo:

However, when you take a not so nice photo it is apparently frowned upon to look like you are pulling hair and kicking, so we settled on this:

I mean, whatever...our idea was better but oh well.

After the Studios we headed over to the Boardwalk for our dinner at Trattoria del Forno. Cathy and Lorren ate here when they first opened and were not super impressed but wanted to give it a second chance. They changed chefs and Cathy said it was so much better than the first time. The entire meal was amazing and we had the most fabulous waitress. She made every item on the menu sound delicious. The chef even stopped by to make sure everything was good. It was an all around great experience. 

After dinner we headed back to the hotel for our early bedtime. The half marathon was the next day and we all needed our rest. 

Check back for the final post!

Thanksgiving Part 2

Let's continue the family Thanksgiving trip, shall we? (Sorry for the HUGE delay)

My brother and his family arrived on Saturday evening and we were able to spend Sunday in the parks together. While the big kids rode roller coasters, my Dad, Scott and Aaron rode Star Wars (Dad was the rebel spy!) and Jill, Mom and I went on our favorite, The Great Movie Ride.

After a few more rides we headed to Prime Time Cafe for lunch. They were slammed and running behind on reservations, so we spent a bit of time just hanging out in front of the restaurant. I was able to snag this great photo of my Dad, just smiling and living in the moment. This trip was a huge highlight for him and something that he talked about for months. He was so excited to spend time with the kids and grandkids.

Lunch had a bumpy start, but we had an amazing server who made up for the bumps. After our lunch we all headed over to Toy Story, where Scott dominated, and then made our way for the lights.

This is the last year for the Osbourne Family Lights, so it was packed. Some of my favorite holiday memories are in this area and I was thrilled we had one more chance to see them.

We spent a good chunk of the time in the lights looking for a hidden image. It was pretty cool really looking at all of the lights, we found so many hidden lights (like Nemo and the Incredibles) that we probably would have never noticed had we not just stopped to look.

More memories from the trip to come and I promise I will not take as long to post the rest.

Cool Summer Weekends

Is it just me or are the weekends getting shorter? Seriously, they just fly by faster and faster.

Friday night, Scott and I headed out to pick up our race packets, new running shoes for me and then dinner. It was a much welcomed date night. 

We had our second race in the summer series on Saturday, so it was an early (and slightly humid) morning. I broke in my new shoes on the course and loved every minute of it. I finished the course in 35:58 and Scott was not far behind me at 39:19. 

I cannot even fully express how proud of Scott I am. He set his mind to this fitness journey back in January and is just killing it on the course. He said at one point he was coming over a hill and saw me in the distance and was trying to will me into a walk break so he could pass me.

 I know the day is coming soon when he will be running right next to me and then in front of me. I am so looking forward to the day we cross side by side. 

We each were able to take the kiddos on a lunch date and then spent a good chunk of the afternoon in the pool. It was the perfect ending to a pretty awesome day.

Sunday, Jillian had the bright idea to go to Disney. Originally, she wanted to go to Magic Kingdom, but I was definitely not in the mood for the crowds, so we agreed upon Hollywood Studios. I had completely forgotten about the Frozen Summer party that they had going on. It was perfect.

We were able to see the parade with all of the characters and then we headed over to Wandering Oakens Trading Post to check out the ice skating. 

The kiddos loved all of the Frozen activities! I have to admit, we did, too. We even indulged in an Olaf cupcake.

We spent a good chunk of our day there and as soon as the weather alert went off on Scott's phone (perk of having an EM as a husband), we booked it out of there. 

I'm wishing we had another day to just relax, but it was an awesome weekend. I'm already looking forward to the upcoming weekend :)

Ants, Jedi's and Mulch.

What a weekend, kids! Our weekend started early with a phone call from the school telling us that Jill found herself in a pile of red ants. The poor Jill has at least 10 bites on her hands. They didn't look too bad when we went to the doctor, but the next morning was a different story. Her hands were splotchy and swollen.

Today, thankfully, they were much better. I feel awful for her. I know how bad it hurts when a red ant bites you, I can't imagine ten on my hands.

The bonus of the whole experience was that I was able to do my grocery shopping on Friday night, you know when nobody is there. It was amazing.

Saturday we went to Star Wars Weekend. I know, I'm crazy. It was the first weekend of the event and it was packed. But, since Aaron is really into Star Wars right now, we thought it was worth it.

We didn't plan on actually riding any rides because of the crowds, but we were able to go on The Great Movie Ride (well, Jill and I), Muppets 3D (Aaron and Scott) and the Beauty and the Beast show. Why do we ride separate rides you ask? Aaron for the life of him will not go on The Great Movie Ride (maybe it's the Alien section?), so Jill and I always ride it together. It's a fun time for us, we get to ooh and ahh over the famous green muslin dress from Gone with the Wind in the lobby and talk about all of the movies playing in the cue line. I love these moments with her.

We did some of the Stars Wars things, too. On the way back from Muppets, Aaron was high-fived by Chewy. I think he almost died. Of course, we had to buy a light saber shortly after. Just call him Jedi Aaron. We also checked out some of the characters on the stage, but for the most part didn't venture too far into the Star Wars area. Maybe we will head back and go a little earlier to actually see more of the event.

Today I had every intention of deep cleaning the inside of the house, then I stepped outside. It was GORGEOUS outside! Translation: yard work. Scott and I headed to Lowe's, loaded up the back of the car with fresh mulch and some new plants. While he mowed the lawn, I dumped 10 bags (yes, 10 bags) of mulch in the flower beds and planted our new flowers. I was a hot stinky mess, but loved every second of it. Sometimes there is nothing better than stepping back and seeing all of your hard work.

I hope all of you had a great weekend as well!