I love to share about our family travels! Big or small, they are all adventures and a fun way for us to be together as a family and hopefully reconnect and disconnect from so many electronics 😉
Our kiddos go to year-round school, so they are currently on their Spring track break for 3 weeks and then Spring Break, so they’ll be at home for a full month without school. We’re not planning an out of town trip this year, like we have in the past, so we want to be sure to have lots of fun activities and nearby adventures!
On their first weekend of track break, we decided to go on a little day trip to Death Valley. Death Valley National Park is having a super bloom this spring. The conditions were just right with the perfect amount of rainfall and light winds so what is normally a few spring flowers popping up here and there became into a field of yellow wildflowers blooming all over the desert! Apparently this is a pretty rare occurrence, so we packed up our car with lots of water and a picnic lunch and took the 2 hour drive from Las Vegas to check it out. We were not the only ones with this idea! The park was full with people wanting to take a look and photograph this phenomenon!
We had a great time and we’re so glad we got to see a different side of Death Valley than we had before. If you’re in the area and have some time to go out there, check it out. It’s not like a full field of wildflowers to run through or anything like that, but it is pretty neat to see so many flowers blooming in the desert!
Whenever I register for a race that’s away from home, I always debate if we should bring the kids or not. Most times, it just comes down to if there’s anything fun for them to do there or not. With the L.A. Marathon being in Los Angeles and it also being my first full marathon, I thought it’d be great to bring the kids and make a trip out of it, a little race-cation 😉
WIth a little planning, it is totally feasible to run a great race and have a fun time as a family together. I think it’s important for the kids to see all your hard work pay off in the end. My kiddos are there when I get home from an early morning run, they see me hobble up the stairs if I’m sore from a long run, they know all about epsom salt baths and icy hot, so why not have them their for the reward after too! They are my biggest supporters and rather than leave them behind, I try to take them along for most races for all the race day fun and more!
After packet pickup on Saturday, we were all super excited to go eat at Seoul Sausage, since they were previous winners of The Great Food Truck Race on The Food Network. It originally aired a few years ago, but we just recently saw it on Netflix as a family. I knew they were from L.A., so I looked them up and saw they had 2 actual restaurants, plus the food truck. Turns out, their newest location in Little Tokyo was about 2 miles from the convention center where we’d be for packet pickup. I wanted it to be a surprise, but I blurted something out to Jason while driving one day and they caught on quickly! So much for the surprise!
Before we left Vegas, I jokingly asked the kids if they thought we’d see the guys from the show and of course, they both said we wouldn’t see them. Well, to their surprise (and mine) 2 of the 3 owners showed up right as we finished our late lunch. They were super nice guys and took a picture with the kids. This really made their day.
After lunch, we went to check into our AirBnB condo and relax a bit. My nephew really wanted to go check out the Urban Lights exhibit at LACMA once it got dark soo, before grabbing some dinner, we went to check it out. It was packed, but the kids had fun walking through and playing among all the light posts!
After the marathon, we walked to the Santa Monica Pier and grabbed some food at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. Although the food isn’t anything to brag about, it’s a fun atmosphere and super kid friendly. After lunch we walked down the pier so the kids could ride the roller coaster before heading back to our condo to crash for the day! We could easily have spent hours at the pier riding rides and playing games, but I was just too exhausted for that this time. The Santa Monica Pier is a great place to go and spend a few hours enjoying the sights and attractions, plus have fun on the beach! It’s definitely a must-visit for any Los Angeles trip, with our without kids.
The next day started out a little rocky with cranky kiddos, but thankfully we were able to turn it around and enjoy our morning walking around the grounds of the La Brea Tar Pits and L.A. County Museum of Art. The weather was perfect for being outdoors and it was exactly what we needed to unwind and relax a bit before driving back home. The grounds are free to walk around and explore. We spent about an hour and a half there and could have easily spent another hour there. Next time we go, we’ll actually go inside the museum and check out those exhibits and IMAX movies. But this time around, the outdoor exhibits and sculptures were just enough to keep them interested in the art and science without getting bored. Plus, there is plenty of room to run and be kids! I highly recommend going!
It was a jam-packed 3 day trip full of fun memories for sure! Getting away to sunny California, running a marathon, and spending quality time with the family is always the best!
So, I’d love to know, do you take your kiddos or family when you travel for a race?
It took me a few days to figure out what I was going to say about this marathon. I’ve had such mixed emotions about my performance, but either way, I set out to complete the L.A. Marathon and I did it! I ran 26.2 miles through some of the most famous streets in the world. That in itself was surreal and amazing and emotional to me. I grew up on the east coast and I never thought I’d live near the west coast. Los Angeles, Hollywood, Beverly Hills, these were all such cool and glamorous places I always said I’d love to visit some day. Moving to Las Vegas 7 years ago, made visiting those places a reality. But, never in a million years did I ever think/wish/dream/ that I would run through those places. So yeah, it was definitely an amazing experience.
Packet pickup was being held at the Convention Center, which was right at the U.S. Olympic Marathon trials finish line. We arrived Saturday morning just in time to watch the last lap!! It was so cool to see these elite athletes and to catch a glimpse of Meb and Desi Linden!! Being short myself, these are 2 of my favorite runners because they aren’t the typically tall, long-legged runners we associate with running 😉 So excited they made the team and will be heading to Rio this summer!
Since my sister and nephew came to support me (huge, massive thank you to them!!!), that meant we could leave the kiddos sleeping with them while Jason drove me to Dodger Stadium at 5am. The race started at 7am, but I don’t think I crossed the start line until 7:20 or so. The energy at the start line was typical. You could feel everyones anxiety, nervousness, and excitement all rolled up together. I know I was definitely feeling it. Once I crossed the start line, I had my first issue after 3 minutes. My playlist ended up on shuffle somehow and Jason had just updated my phone, so I couldn’t figure out how to get it off shuffle. We’d worked for hours to get my playlist just right and we had specific songs that were set to come on at various landmarks, so I was upset this was happening. I pulled off to the side and called Jason in a panic, eventually after about 3-4 minutes I figured it out and started to relax. I was going way faster than I intended too, but with my lost time due to technical difficulties and the wave of runners practically pushing me forward, it was hard to slow down. I did eventually get back to my groove but I was happy to be running about 5 minutes ahead of my goal. I saw Jason again between mile 5-6 and that was a nice surprise. He ran alongside me for a minute or so and then went back to meet up with the rest of the family 🙂
Seeing my family at mile 11 was perfect! I was feeling so good then and we were right in the middle of Hollywood Blvd. It was a great boost for the next 5-6 miles. After that point, I was feeling the heat and getting a bit nauseous. I was losing my mojo fast and not even listening to Weezer’s Beverly Hills song whilst running through Beverly Hills was working for me. I was trying to work through it and get back on track but then I started cramping. My right calf and toes cramped up and I had to pull over and stretch for a bit. After that, it was just a matter of moving forward and not stopping. I knew I was nowhere near finishing at my goal time. From there, it was a very slow 6 miles with lots of walking and stopping to stretch. I was feeling defeated and the tears were starting to flow freely. Around mile 23 I started to dig deep. No more feeling sorry for myself, I had to finish. I picked up the pace as best I could and cried some more. Then I told myself I would not slow down or walk the last 2 miles. Thank goodness they were downhill miles! Finally, I turned the corner and was on Ocean Drive. I could see the finish line. It took me FOREVE to get to the finish line, but I didn’t stop “running” or maybe a better term would be trotting or shuffling! I have never felt more relieved in my life than when I crossed that finish line. More tears. I still had about 2 blocks to walk to find my peeps, but when I did see them well, you know, more tears and there may have even been some sobs. The first thing I said was, “Don’t ever let me do that again”.
Yup, ugly crying was in full effect.
I gotta say the people of LA rock!!! Seriously, I cannot get over how many spectators were out there cheering us on. The streets were always lined up with people, not just volunteers, but folks from the communities we ran through. They cheered, they handed out snacks from orange slices to ice pops to pretzels. I especially enjoyed seeing the “vasaline” poster boards. Yup, there were globs of vasaline all over poster boards so runners could just grab and dab where needed. It was pretty warm, so some people were handing out wet paper towels, others were spraying runners with water, and even better yet there were some water hydrants open to run through! The people of LA hold a special place in my heart. The support was beyond anything I’ve ever seen or had at any race! Thank you, thank you, thank you.
And to Students Run L.A., I send you all a virtual hug and high five! This organization is amazing. I didn’t know anything about them prior to seeing them on Sunday. They all wore matching neon yellow tank tops and were everywhere. You couldn’t miss them. Seeing these 12,000 or so kids from 7th-12th grade out there running and giving it their all was so inspiring. At mile 18, a kid about 14 years old patted me on the back while my calf was cramping and said, you got this! Well, you guessed it, more tears. I googled Students Run L.A. when I got home and here’s part of their mission statement, “to challenge at-risk secondary students to experience the benefits of goal-setting, character development, adult mentoring and improved health by providing them with a truly life-changing experience: The training for and completion of the Skechers Performance Los Angeles Marathon.” Each year, more than 95% of the students who start the marathon, finish the full 26.2 mile course. In June 2015, 99% of the 740 seniors who completed the LA Marathon with SRLA graduated from high school, and 95% of them planned to go to college. This organization and it’s volunteers are doing some worthwhile work. Congrats and kudos to them!
Once I calmed down and stopped crying, I sat down for a bit. Then we continued our walk to the Santa Monica Pier and grabbed some food at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. After my burger and beer, we walked down the pier so the kids could ride a ride before heading back to our condo in Hollywood. We were all too tired to go out to eat dinner like we had originally planned, so we ordered some chinese food, popped open our celebratory bottle of Perrier Jouet and called it a day!
It’s way too soon for me to say if I’ll ever run another marathon. I may be ok with one and done. But, I gotta say, if there was one marathon for me, it was this one. The L.A. Marathon delivered on it’s promise of a fun, mostly flat and downhill course. The support on the course was unmatched and the people were the best! If you want to run a marathon, run the L.A. Marathon.
With just a couple of days left in the year, I thought it would be fun to revisit 2015 today. The year started off rough and we had lots to deal with as it went on with Jason’s injury and following surgeries. There were days that we just could not see the light. But, we aren’t the type to let our lives be dictated by our circumstance. Sure, things were not ideal, but we knew they could be much worse. So, we made the best with what we had. We kept positive and moving forward with our lives.
Even with the ups and downs, we had such a full year. We got to travel to some fun places with our family and Jason and I even got away without the kiddos to San Francisco+Sonoma County. We took the kids camping in Utah for the first time. We spent a super fun weekend with our family in Huntington Beach, CA! The kids and I hiked to the Colorado River. We got to go boating in Lake Mead. I ran my first trail half marathon in Red Rock Canyon and my 3rd Tough Mudder. I won a free registration from Pace Per Mile to Walt Disney World’s Wine & Dine Half Marathon, so we all went to Florida for 8 days! The kiddos ran the Disney Kid 1 mile race. We visited all 4 Disney parks and visited with friends that are like family. I also ran the Disneyland Half Marathon to complete the Coast to Coast Challenge. I ran 3 Spartan races (2 with the hubs) and got my 2nd Trifecta. The kids ran the Spartan Kid race too. Lastly, I won another free registration to the Run Laughlin Half Marathon in December, which turned out to be a great race.
I’m looking forward to starting 2016 with new goals and plans. I’m looking forward to fun adventures with my family and taking on new challenges. But, for now, I’m happy to look back and reflect on all the good things that have taken place and not to dwell on what could have been or feel bad for the huge curve ball life threw our way. Today I choose to be grateful for all the wonderful things and places I’ve been. I’m grateful for my family’s constant support. I’m happy to be where I am in life. It may not be exactly where I want to be, but it is a lot closer than I was before. And for that, I am grateful.
What’s your favorite memory of 2015? Are you looking forward to 2016? What goals do you have for the new year?
Woohoo!! I’m so happy to say, I finished my last race of the year strong! Per usual, I was nervous before this race. Again, I didn’t get all my training runs in and I was not feeling too confident about how I’d do. However, I was determined to have a great race, since Disney’s Wine & Dine was such a disappointment with it being cut short and all.
I won the race entry from an instagram giveaway from Clarinda over at Enjoying the Course. This was the inaugural race, so it was a small race in Laughlin, NV. I believe there were a little over 500 runners, including the 5K. I felt the race was well organized and managed. Packet pick-up was quick and easy. The tech shirt that was included in the race swag, was really nice and fit well. I love it when they have both ladies and mens sizes for shirts!
Jason and I left the kiddos with my parents to spend the night (Thanks Mom & Dad!) and we took off Friday afternoon to Laughlin. It’s about 1.5 hr away, not too bad of a drive, just a little boring. This was our first visit to Laughlin. It’s a small town right on the Colorado River and Arizona border. There are a few hotel and casinos along the river and an outlet mall along the main street, which is all we saw. I’m sure there are some nice hiking trails too and of course, in the summer there are lots of water activities on the river.
Our view from the hotel
Once we got to Laughlin, we went straight to race registration at the Colorado Belle Hotel & Casino. The Edgewater Hotel and the Colorado Belle Hotel were both race sponsors so they offered runners a really great (read: Cheap!) hotel rate for either of the two properties. I made the reservation for the Edgewater Hotel. At check-in, we were given a cute welcome gift from the race directors. I thought it was a very nice and personalized gesture 😉 After dinner, it was an early bedtime for us, as we had to be up early for my 7am race start.
The race was across the street from the hotel, so we just walked to the start line. I met up with 2 other runners I knew from a facebook running group and we took a quick photo before heading to the start line. It was a chilly morning, but I chose to run without a jacket, as I figured it would warm up as I started running. I’m glad I didn’t take the jacked, the weather temps were perfect. It was a bit windy for most of the race, but nothing too crazy. Once the race started, I was prepared for the big hill they warned us about at packet pickup. They weren’t joking, it was a steady uphill climb for the first 2 miles or so. But, what comes up must come down and that downhill felt great. I made up for the slow pace and took off. I was really enjoying the run and the view of the dam and mountains when we were directed left for the trail portion of the race. I enjoy trail running, so it was a nice change of pace. I’m assuming it was added to get the full 13.1. The trail section, was an out and back. I don’t particularly like, out and backs, but I knew it was not going to be for the entire race, so it wasn’t too bad. The trail was soft sand/gravel, so going uphill on that felt like forever! Once we were out of the desert trail, it was back to road running and another steady and steep uphill to cross the dam into Arizona. I took a quick break to stop and take a photo of the view at this point 😉
Thanks Emily for the photo! I sure was happy to be running down this trail!
When we got to our turn-around, I spotted Jason! We hadn’t planned a meeting spot along the course, so it was a very welcomed surprise! He ran along side me for a bit, then took off to meet me at the finish line. It was a quick run down the dam until it evened out at the river. It was nice running on the paved trail that went along the river. The views were a nice distraction from my aching feet. Once I crossed a bridge, it was a nice downhill run to the main street, where the end was so close! I hadn’t really been paying too much attention to my pace, but when I saw the clock at the finish, I gave it my all to barely come in under 2:30. My official time was 2:28. I was so happy with my time! I’m no speed lightning, but that course was pretty brutal and I was sure I was going to end up with a time of 2:45 or so. It had more ups and downs than I was expecting, but it kept it interesting and the downhill runs were my favorite.
I saw Jason soon after crossing the finish line and I even met Clarinda, whom I’d won the race from! YAY for meeting new runner friends 🙂 We got a free beer and a nice post-race snack tray, with a bagel, banana, orange slices, and granola bar. All and all, I really enjoyed this race. It had a little bit for everyone. Some trails, some challenging uphills, followed by fun downhills, pretty scenery, and a great atmosphere for a small grass-roots race. The race directors did a great job and I’m sure this will turn into an even more awesome race in the years to come!
Showing off my swag!!
So, how is your year coming to an end? Any fun races? Are you making plans for next year already? I know I am!
Our last day at Disney World was at my favorite park, Epcot! The World Showcase is really my favorite because I love to travel and I remember being 10 years old on our first visit to Epcot and imagining I was really traveling to those countries. Heck, I still like to pretend we’re in the real countries 😉
We arrived at 9am to Epcot and the kids were anxious to get on a ride. I tried explaining that Epcot didn’t have the kind of rides found at Magic Kingdom so they wouldn’t be disappointed. However, they were just as excited to ride Spaceship Earth as they were to ride Space Mountain! After Spaceship Earth we let the kids play around with some of the hands-on exhibits before heading to the Mission Space ride where afterwards the kids also enjoyed the hands-on exhibits and games as we exited the ride.
We purchased the kids each a kit (map & stickers) for a new game that was debuting for the Food and Wine festival called, Remy’s Ratatouille Hide & Squeak. It was basically a scavenger hunt to find a Remy statue at each country then placing the corresponding sticker on the map to represent that location. At the end, you redeem your map for your choice of Remy pin. They were excited to get started and we were excited to get started at the Food & Wine Festival! The plan was to do the 1st half of the World Showcase countries and visit the Food & Wine Festival kiosks as we went, then ride the ferry from Germany back to Future World to use our fast passes for Soaring and Turtle Talk with Crush, and FastTrack. Afterwards, we’d go back and work our way around the other half of the countries, have dinner at Chefs De France, and finish the night watching Illuminations.
Although, technically, we did stick to that plan we had a major scare when visiting our first kiosk of the Food & Wine Festival. I was excited to visit the champagne kiosk and was ready to enjoy a glass of fancy bubbly. We ordered Diego a yummy chocolate dessert and Elysse some chocolate truffles. I asked if they had nuts, since she is allergic to all tree nuts and peanuts and was told by the Disney cast member that the truffles were prepackaged and did not have nuts, although they could not account for cross-contamination in the factory. Now, here’s where the problem began. I should have checked the packaging before giving her the chocolates. I feel terrible for trusting the young cast member. Regardless of how sure she sounded, it was my responsibility as her parent to ensure there were no nuts before handing it to her. The instant she took a bite, she said she was full, mind you, she is never full where there is chocolate involved! She never said how it made her feel and we assumed she was just being fussy. With the heat and humidity, we knew the chocolate would melt immediately and Jason just told her to eat the chocolate, it was small, and we’d save the other half. I noticed she was not acting right and finally it started to dawn on me that there may have been nuts in the chocolate. Sure enough, the second ingredient were hazelnuts. We were right next to a store and I ran in asking if they had benadryl, which they did not but I was told to go to First Aid. By this point, she threw it all up and was complaining her throat was hurting. We ran to First Aid, which was not far from where we were. They gave her the benadryl and at that point, I knew she’d be ok. I asked if she wanted to go back to the hotel, but she didn’t want to leave, so we waited it out until she was finally feeling a well enough to continue our day. Of course, she refused to eat much the rest of the day and was kinda blah. We tried to make the best of it and she was such a trooper!
We really did learn our lesson and will definitely be more prepared next time. We’d never had any issues while traveling before and she hadn’t had an allergic reaction for years, so we we’ve been pretty relaxed about her allergies. But, this was definitely a wake up call for us. We already have a much better plan in place for traveling.
Although we had this very scary incident happen, we were fortunate it wasn’t any worse and she was ok. We did the best we could to enjoy the rest of our time at Epcot. We had an amazing 3 days of non-stop Disney World theme park fun. I think our kids were just the right ages (7 & 10) for enjoying everything the parks have to offer! I’m so glad we were able to go on this trip for them and experience a different kind of vacation! I’m ready for another adventure with my crazies! Where shall we go to next?
Our day at Animal Kingdom & Hollywood Studios was a ton of fun and exhausting. You can catch up HERE and even read a few tips to start planning your vacation to Disney World. Next up is the Magic Kingdom. This is the park that mostly resembles the original Disneyland theme park and although they do share some of the same classic rides, such as It’s a Small World, Space Mountain, and Pirates of the Caribbean, Magic Kingdom is way bigger and you seriously would need 2-3 days to see and do it all! Unfortunately, we only had one day to tour Magic Kingdom. We chose to go on a Tuesday, where the park was scheduled to close early due to Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas party scheduled from 8pm-midnight. We were hoping this would mean less crowds and shorter lines, since there were not going to be any fireworks either. Plus, Jason and I figured it would be ok to end the day at 7pm and not push the kids too much more into exhaustion 😉 The park was crowded of course, but it wasn’t cramped and the wait times for most rides were moderate to short. Although it wasn’t a very long day, we were able to see and do just about everything we wanted to. I’d asked my kids if they wanted to meet any of the characters or princesses and they said no. They both preferred to ride the rides! YAY for me! This of course, saved us a ton of time. The only character they wanted to meet was Mickey Mouse and only because before we left, my dad had told them he wanted to see a picture of them with Mickey Mouse!
My son, being the inquisitive boy that he is, had been asking how they figured out the wait times for the rides. Jason explained they handed out these red cards to a random person in line. Once they have the card, it starts to count how long the person is waiting until the person gets to the station, hands the card to a cast member for them to put it a machine that then tells them the length of their wait time and then this considered the wait time at the front of the ride. You can imagine how excited he was (he’s 10) when he got the red card while waiting in line for the Jungle Cruise Ride. You can also imagine how upset he was when we all realized he forgot to give the card to the cast member before getting on the ride! OOPS…
Remember, the My Disney Experience app I mentioned was so helpful in my last blog post? Yup, it has the hours of the parks for each day, so be sure to check it out while planning your trip so you know what day for each park will work better for your family. Another thing we found helpful, was to stop and eat a good meal for either lunch or dinner inside the park. I made reservations for a different restaurant in each park (except Hollywood Studios) and it worked out great. It gave us time to chill out and relax. At Magic Kingdom we ate a late lunch at The Plaza Restaurant. It’s a small restaurant tucked in a corner of Main Street that offers sandwiches, salads, wraps, etc. The quick service restaurants inside the parks can get super busy and hectic during peak hours, and I am not one for crowds or stressing out. I remember too many trips to Disney World walking or standing around with a tray of food waiting for a table to be unoccupied, only to lose it to a kid who’s family was in line ordering and he was sent to save the table. For my sanity, I chose to splurge a little more on our meals and it worked out really well for us. There was no stress during lunch/dinner and it was a nice reset before going back out into the park.
We spent our time waiting in line playing either Rock, Paper, Scissors or this slap game. It helped the time go by and even got other families to play too! What can I say, we were trend setters! LOL
Now, on to the fun stuff! Magic Kingdom was a fully packed day! Since I knew the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train always had the longest wait times and I wasn’t able to secure a FastPass+, we headed over there as soon as the park opened. The line was still 60 minutes long. This was the longest line we waited in, so in retrospect, it wasn’t too bad at all. I tried to plan our day as efficiently as possible and making our way around the park’s 6 themed lands. We spent the most time in Fantasyland and Tomorrowland, since these had the most rides. Of course, we had to get our Dole Whip floats at Adventureland and ride the Jungle Cruise. Those cheezy jokes get me every time 😉 Our last ride of the night, was Peter Pan’s Flight. This ride had the 2nd longest wait times of the day and I honestly was going to skip it. However, right at 6:45pm, the wait time was about 30 minutes and we figured, why not! After the ride, we headed for a gift shop on Main Street to grab the kids their souvenirs from the Magic Kingdom before making our way to the monorail. At this point, Elysse could barely stand up, she was so tired! Somehow, she made it to our car but was asleep before we got to the restaurant for dinner and seriously slept through dinner! I felt terrible she didn’t eat, but I figured she needed her rest!
A selfie with Mickey, because why not. I love this kid!
Ended the day with a little snow 😉
So far, we had 2 really great days at Disney World. The kids behaved pretty good and we didn’t have any major meltdowns or too much attitude from them. Sure, they whined a little here and there, but seriously it was all going much better than I had anticipated. Our last park to visit was Epcot. I’d saved the best for last, as this is my favorite park and I was so ready to head back to the Food & Wine Festival! I’ll be sharing our mishaps and adventures from Epcot on Monday, so be sure to come back then! For now, enjoy the long weekend with family and friends!
After a few days visiting friends and running the Wine & Dine Half Marathon on Saturday, we were ready to hit the theme parks on Monday. 4 Parks in 3 Days. Pretty ambitious plans but I’d planned it all a few weeks in advance and I felt confident we could do it without going crazy! I kept the plans pretty realistic, knowing we couldn’t do every single thing offered at each park. I was able to get FastPasses for pretty much all the rides we wanted, except for the new Seven Dwarfs roller coaster at Magic Kingdom. I also wasn’t able to get reservations for either the Bippity Boppity Boutique or Cinderella’s Royal Table. These reservations must be made many months in advance and I was clueless to the whole Disney thing! Oops! A friend told me about WDW Prep School and thanks to that site, I was able to get some great itineraries for the parks, as well as tons of info on what to expect in regards to crowds, best places to eat, best time for rides, etc. I highly recommend it. I also recommend downloading the Disney World app. It has everything from park hours, wait times, to dining reservations and FastPass+. You can literally plan your entire trip using this app!
Even Domo couldn’t help getting into the Disney spirit! Family Selfie as we walked into the park! Let the fun begin!!
I knew that it would be easy to group Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios together from the years I’d lived in Central Florida and visited the parks. We got to Animal Kingdom right as it was opening and went straight to Kilimanjaro Safari. I asked the kids if they wanted to see a show and they said no, they only wanted to ride the rides! So after riding Expedition Everest, we had an early lunch at Yak & Yeti. I was able to make a reservation, so the wait was minimal. The food was tasty and the cold beer totally hit the spot! Next was, Kali River Rapids, Dinosaur, and TriceraTop Spin before making our way to Hollywood Studios.
At Hollywood Studios, we split up and the boys went to the Light! Camera! Action! Stunt Show, while Elysse and I went to the the Frozen Sing-Along. We met up afterwards and headed to The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. Elysse had been dying to ride this one and it did not disappoint! She loved it and even got a Tower of Terror sweatshirt as her souvenir. So,while Diego and I rode Rock N Roller Coaster, her and Jason got on Tower of Terror again. Luck for Diego, we did the parent swap and he got to ride the Rock N Roller Coaster again with Jason. Last on the list of rides was Star Tours. We’re all Star Wars fans, so this was one we were all looking forward to riding. It was extra special when Diego got chosen as the ‘rebel spy’ during the ride and his photo was on the screen in front of us. It really made his day! Honestly, I think it really made his whole trip! Of course, like all the rides, you are lead into the gift shop as you exit the ride and we saw a t-shirt that said “I am the Rebel Spy”. Yup, that was his souvenir from that park! We ended the night with the the Fantasmic! Show. We were pretty exhausted and I think the kids were asleep before we made it to our hotel room!
Next up: Magic Kingdom! Come back to read all about our time there and get some ideas for planning your own trip 🙂
I’ve been thinking a lot about this post and how to approach it. I’ll just come out and say it, “I didn’t enjoy the Wine & Dine Half Marathon.” But, there were a lot of factors that went into it, so read on and you’ll see why it just wasn’t the race for me.
Just like the Disneyland Half, packet pickup was easy and very well organized. It was the same setup, grab your bib first then go to the expo to pick up your shirt. I really like the shirt. It’s a long sleeve dry wicking shirt. The expo was fine and my daughter and I picked up some matching running skirts 😉
I loved that the kids got to run their 1 mile races on Saturday morning. It was hot and muggy, but my kiddos gave it their all and I am so proud of them!
Now, on to the half marathon. I will admit that my head was not in it from the start. I stretched myself too thin and was running super late to dinner and then to get on the bus at Epcot. This was definitely not the way I wanted to start the race. I was so stressed out & exhausted by the time I got to Epcot to catch one of the busses transporting runners to ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, where the race was starting! I took the time on the bus to try to relax and get my mind back in the race and try to sum up some excitement from the other runners. Honestly, the late start time really made it rough for me.
The bus arrived to the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at about 9pm. Once off the bus, I went straight to the porta-potty line. I noticed there were no runners in their corrals yet, but didn’t think much of it. I figured we’d all make our way soon. After about 10 minutes in line, it was my turn! YAY! As I came out though, I noticed the huge crowd of runners walking in the opposite direction from the corrals. Now, I was super confused! I asked what was going on and was told we were being evacuated indoors due to lightning in the area. Seriously!?! I gotta give it to us runners, there was no pushing or shoving. Everyone walked orderly towards either the HP Field House or Champion Stadium. I ended up at Champion Stadium, found a place to sit, and listened to runners predictions. Some said we wouldn’t run until at least midnight, others were certain the race would be canceled, while others felt we’d run at some point but the course would be shortened. This clearly did not help me get out of my running funk. I began to feel really down and was sure I’d start crying if they canceled the race. I worked so hard to get us to Florida so I could run this race and get my coast to coast medal!
Well, to make a long story short, the race directors gave us the all clear to run a modified course and by 11pm, we were back outside and to our corrals. They cut 6 miles from the race and what should have been a half marathon became a 10K. There were lots of disappointed runners, but Disney did what they had to do. Obviously, not everyone would be happy with any decision. By cutting the course, we were still able to run and get our medals, including my Coast to Coast medal, and still have enough time for the after-party at Epcot.
Although I was disappointed I didn’t get to run my full 13.1 miles, I think it was for the best. Not just for our safety, but my heart wasn’t into it at all by this point. I just wanted the run to be over and done with. It makes me sad to admit this, since I was so excited about this race a few months ago. I tried to run fast, but the heat and humidity made it difficult. I didn’t stop greet characters or take photos on the course. It was dark and hot, and did I mention, I wanted it to be done.
I didn’t particularly love the course and I don’t think the added 6 miles of Animal Kingdom and Osceola Parkway would have changed my mind. Due to the regular late start time of 10pm, the race didn’t have much in terms of spectators or entertainment. There were some bands on the course and everyone loved running through the Osborn Lights, but that was basically it. We ran through a lot of the back lots of Hollywood Studios and not much through Epcot, where we finished. I enjoyed running on the Disney Boardwalk, but would have enjoyed it much more during the day!
The changing area and line for the beer/wine that was included were orderly and organized. The volunteers rocked! The after-party was ok once we made our way to the World Showcase. It was crowded and there were long lines for some of the kiosks, but nothing that wasn’t expected. I enjoyed being able to have some alone time with the hubby at the Food & Wine festival and we even got to ride a few of the rides before the party was over. I can’t believe we made it till 4am, but I guess only running 7 miles instead of 13.1, gave me the energy to stay up all night!
This is what happens when you give someone your camera, blurry photo! LOL
Will I do another Disney race? Probably not. I most definitely will not do the Wine & Dine Half Marathon again. I’m not the biggest Disney fan (don’t hate!). I’m happy I got to experience 2 runDisney races and I really did love the Disneyland Half. I’m grateful I was able to travel for this race and that my kiddos were able to experience all four Walt Disney World theme parks. I’ll be blogging about our days visiting the theme parks throughout the next few days, so come back and check it out 😉
Have you ever ran a Disney race? Love it or hate it? Did you run the Wine & Dine this year? I’d love to hear what you thought! Leave a comment below. XO
As some of you may know already or if you read My Story, I’m a wedding and portrait photographer. I make my living documenting milestone events and moments in the lives of others. It is my dream job. Being able to capture these special moments for people is amazing. As a photographer, I strive to not just tell people where to stand and how to pose, but to capture how they are as a person, as a couple, as a family. I think these photos, with the real smiles, real expressions, and real moments are the ones that tell the story. These photos will tell future generations who we really were. What we were about. What and who we loved. How we lived and what mattered to us most.
So, why am I telling you all of this? Because for the past few years I have gotten away from documenting my own family’s life. Business is going great. I am capturing some great moments for my clients, but when it comes to my own family, I am slacking. I realized I never take out my “fancy” camera unless it’s for work. I got lazy. That’s the bottom line. It’s just so easy to take a snap shot with my iphone, I mean, I carry it with me everywhere I go anyhow. I was also finding that with my pro camera in hand, I missed out on a lot of the fun and I worried about keeping my camera protected too, especially if we were outdoors like at the beach or something. So, a year or so ago we purchased a nice high end digital rangefinder camera that is small and convenient, so we’ve been using that for our trips and leaving our pro cameras at home. And although I love the convenience and ease of the smaller camera, I feel like something is missing. There is something about my professional DSLR camera that I can’t capture in the smaller camera.
The other problem I have with documenting life is that photos rarely live outside of a screen. With sharing on Instagram, facebook, this blog, or my photography blog, I’m not getting photos printed. I remember being a kid and getting so excited when we’d develop a roll of film and eagerly flipping through the photos, careful not to get any fingerprints on them. Or as I got older, making scrapbooks and putting the pictures in albums or small “brag books”. Remember those? I want that for my kids. I want them to be able to sit down and open a book and look through the images and remember all the fun we had on a certain vacation, hiking our favorite trails, or just on a lazy Sunday afternoon.
After giving this much thought, I’ve come up with a plan. Because, come on, you know me, there is always a plan! First of all, I’ve got to be realistic. I know that I won’t carry my pro camera everywhere. It’s just not who I am. So, there will still be lots of documenting with my iphone on instagram. However, I’m excited to check out Chat Books. They are small 6×6 60 page books where every photo you shear to Instagram creats a page in your book series. The best part is that you can easily remove photos and add captions to create perfect book each time. Because come on, I post a lot of photos of food and running that probably don’t need to be printed each time. The best part is that each book is only $6 and they also offer subscription plans. I can’t wait to try them out and let you know how they are!
My days of scrapbooking are over. Who has time for that?!? But, I do love the photo books from My Publisher. I made one for our 2013 summer vacation and the kiddos love looking through it! I know I said I had a plan, but I’m honestly not sure how I want to go about these books, yet. Ideally, I would love to make books for each season of the year or at least from each of our family vacations. Any ideas? Please share them in the comments!
Lastly, like I said, I know I won’t take my pro camera with me everywhere we go. But, I will make it a point to take it on longer vacations and periodically on hikes and stuff. I want to document, not just the special occasions, but pieces of everyday life too. Because it’s the everyday adventures and shenanigans that make up our life. It’s the forts made out of sheets in Elysee’s room, the cool kendama tricks Diego does daily, the family game nights, the bbq’s with friends. It’s these moments that make up our life. It’s these moments that are worth documenting.
Bonus: In an effort to keep up with documenting our lives, I ask that you join me too! I know I am not the only one struggling to take out the camera, be it the point and shoot, camera phone, or DSLR. I challenge you to document your life for the month of August. Let’s see how much we can photograph and document in one month. I’ll be sharing my favorite moments here on my blog and if you are also a blogger, I’d love to have you share your favorite photos on your blog. Maybe this could even become a monthly or weekly blog swap! Who’s in? We may be surprised to see that the ordinary moments are the ones that make life extraordinary.
It's a Messy Life 