road trip

Kentucky Round Up!

August 23, 2016 by Rachel 1 Comment

Hey! Did you know we went to Kentucky (or as Ari calls it ‘Tucky) three weeks ago!? Yep! We did! And honestly, the last two-plus weeks haven’t been hard. We’ve just been busy. And I’ve had a hard time concentrating on pretty much everything (helloooooo, three different to-do lists that need to be condensed!).

But Kentucky was our first real/kind of vacation as a family of four.

It took us EIGHT HOURS to make a 5.5 hour trip (#ThanksRemy). But we made it.

We had to stop about an hour from home because Remy had pooped and wanted to eat. Yayyyy infants. 🙁

She seriously screamed the entire drive… which was super fun and not at all anxiety-inducing… Sigh.

But we made it. And when we got there we settled in and ate (a very late for us) dinner! To be honest, the whole sleeping situation was even more rough. Not because it was uncomfortable; but because our children are sleep demons. Ari and Chad slept in a queen bed and I slept in a room with Remy. She, of course, hated sleeping in the pack and play. And woke up frequently.

Thursday morning my mom and Ari made pancakes for everyone — and it was totally cute. The pancakes were very heavy on the blueberries! Ha! 😛

After our delicious breakfast, Mimi and I went to get pedicures! I’ll admit – I’ve had very few (if any?) indulgences since Remy was born; but Mimi wanted to treat me and my little piggies to some pampering! A little girls time was just what the doctor ordered!

We ended up spending the rest of our day relaxing before grabbing some dinner at this incredible Ethiopian restaurant, Queen of Sheba.

Traditional Ethiopian food is served ‘family style,’ and without utensils! The spongey-bread is the only utensil you need! Surprisingly, the kiddos did awesome. Not surprisingly, we l-o-v-e-d our amazing meal. Seriously. We need to find an Ethiopian restaurant nearby in Ohio!

Other items of note during our trip — Ari got to play with Legos. Like, a lot. I mean, I know that’s business as usual for him. But we ended up finding this Lego resale shop that specializes in minifigures. It was totally cool. They even do birthday parties! If we were local we would totally be having his fourth birthday party there.

Oh! Chad and I got out for a date day without the kiddos! Okay, so it was really like three hours. But still! It was fabulous!

We went to a neighborhood in Louisville called NuLu — which is very Ohio City-esque (if we’re comparing Cleveland to L-ville!). They happened to be having a neighborhood block party.

We wandered around, in and out of little boutiques. Being in bourbon country almost made me want to drink bourbon. Almost. 😛

We ventured into a crazy antique store that was… trippy, to say the least. But there were fun-house mirrors! :O

How fun! Post-fun-house/little shop of horrors, we grabbed some (Nashville) Hot Chicken. Add grits, slaw, and potatoes to the mix? Hea-ven.

For reals. We LOVE this food. Love it.

Later that night we all — meaning me, Chad, Mimi, Poppy, Ari and Remy — all went to downtown Louisville to walk the bridge over to Indiana! It was HOT. And our kids were straight-up losing it. But the views were incredible (even if we did bribe Ari with ice cream — real talk, friends).

To be honest, the rest of our trip was spent just lounging around. It was really nice to visit. And I’m seriously surprised I was able to post this update before our next trip to ‘Tucky! :p :p

weekend wrap up //

September 29, 2015 by Rachel 1 Comment

This weekend my sister-in-law and her family came into town from Denver for a quick visit. The unfortunate part about this is that I was still very much sick; but I made the best of it (and luckily just spent my nights throwing up, not my days). We haven’t seen them in what seems like ages. My niece and nephew were so excited to play with Ari — it’s been nearly a year since Chad took him out to Denver for a visit.

As much as it was a chance to visit with out-of-town family, this weekend was a chance for us to reconnect, too! Chad + I spent some serious snuggle time with Moosh. I took him for coffee + donuts at the Lil’ Donut Factory (where he requested a “red” donut… I’m not quite sure what that meant, but he seemed to enjoy his sprinkle donut all the same!) before we went to a family cookout — complete with the biggest bonfire I’ve ever seen.

On Saturday, Chad had plans to go with his sister + her family to the Ohio State football game against Western Michigan. He was beyond excited; and I was just as happy to not be going! [Pregnant + around a lot of drunk people = no bueno]. My job for the day was to hang with Moosh, my niece Grace, and their Grammy [my MIL]. We had big plans of our own!

First stop, the North Market! It was definitely busy, but not too busy to swing by my favorite stands + grab some goodies! Moosh seemed to enjoy the Belgian waffles (from Taste of Belgium). I would only let him eat a few bites because we had lunch plans for the Hot Chicken Takeover popup shop.

GUYS. It was amazing! The spicy chicken with warm maple syrup!? Incredible. So incredible that I had to rub it in Chad’s face that he wasn’t there to enjoy it with me! And the kids seemed to enjoy the mac + cheese! In the words of Ari, “It was really good!” Ha! Kid cracks me up.

Post-market we took the kids to Dave + Busters for some fun. I should have known better. I should have known that these kids didn’t even need any tokens… they just pressed buttons! They did end up finding some games they liked to play… like skeeball. It was adorable.

By the end, I was exhausted and so were the kids — SUCCESS! Before we headed home, we got them their prizes (a sticky hand and a Fun Dip each!) and a treat — Graeters Ice Cream!

Believe it or not, Moosh asked to nap afterwards!! Post-nap the kids were pretty mellow while we waited for everyone to come back from the big game. It’s safe to say that everyone slept well that night. Well, except for me — ha.

Sunday morning we went to the Orchard Co. in Plain City for their Fall Festival. Moosh seemed kinda wiped still. And I certainly was. But he managed to enjoy the “train” ride and playing with his ‘friends,’ aka – his cousins!

By the time we arrived home, I was beyond wiped out. I slept for 11.5 HOURS. No joke. But seriously, busy but great weekend. It’s officially Fall, y’all!

On The Go Snacks with Perfectly Simple

August 29, 2015 by Rachel Leave a Comment

Last week I shared our Road Trip Must-Haves (when travelling with a toddler). And then we travelled. And each and every one of those items was a must-have! Seriously. Well, one thing I didn’t anticipate was (finally) getting my appetite back. So a pregnant mama? hungry in the car? Enter my newest healthy, on-the-go, snack obsession: ZonePerfect Perfectly Simple snack bars.

It’s super difficult to juggle mom-tasks, navigator tasks, and manage my pregnant hanger, and these were delicious to curb my cravings for something sweet but still healthy! Because I’m super into chocolate right now, I packed the Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk. It was super delicious.

The individually wrapped bars, which come in four flavors (Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk, Almond Toffee Crunch, Bing Cherry & Almond, and Roasted Cashew & Dark Chocolate), are high in protein, and simple with the ingredients (less is more, am I right?!). They’re also gluten free (yay for our celiacs!) and each bar is 200 calories or less!

I can’t wait to snack on the rest on our way home! If you want to try them out for yourself, use this $1.00 off coupon! Enjoy, friends!

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by ZonePerfect but, as always, the content and opinions expressed here are my own.

Road Trip Must-Haves

August 25, 2015 by Rachel Leave a Comment

This summer I’ve travelled solo with Moosh a couple of times. Well, guys, I’m a freaking pro these days! And we’re taking one last small trip. And while I’m putting together our travel necessities, I decided to share our go-to road trip list!

1. A LeapPad (and/or iPad). We bring both. Especially on a long trip. Our iPad doesn’t have 3G/4G access, but we do have it loaded up with movies! It seriously makes him a perfect traveller!

2. Beef Jerky (or Pork or Turkey). This is our personal go-to snack (for the parents, not the toddler). It’s high in protein and really helps this mama’s tummy!

3. Tissues. Because, snot. But no seriously. Whenever I have them, I don’t need them; whenever I don’t have them, I desperately need them. So yeah, better to be safe than sorry!

4. Podcasts. I’m obsessed with Podcasts. Obsessed! My favorites are Serial, Undisclosed, This American Life, and Mortified. Road trip or not, if you haven’t checked these out, you must! Must!

5. Toddler-Friendly Drinks. We prefer Honest Kids juice pouches, and so does Moosh!

6. Toddler-Friendly Snacks. Our go-to snacks are Annie’s Cheddar Bunnies and the other cookie offerings they have. Our little dude loves them!

7. Audible. Audiobooks are perfect for longer road trips. I like to have one that is just long enough for our trip, one-way. And I do lots and lots of research on a good book that will keep us entertained for hours in the car. This has worked out very well for us. Also? If you sign up with Audible

8. Potty Seat. Travelling with a newly potty-trained toddler? Potty chair is a MUST. Like, no question about it. I’m not taking this kid into a rest stop. I. just. can’t! Ha.

9. Coffee. Lots and lots and lots of coffee.

10. Plastic Bags. Because you literally never know when you’re going to need a plastic bag. Seriously.

11. Wipes. Just like the plastic bags, you never know when you’re going to need them. And they aren’t just for the toddler! They’re also for spills,

12. Google Maps. Do people use traditional GPS devices anymore? We use Google Maps for EVERYTHING!

13. Hand Sanitizer. I have an aversion to germs. Especially when travelling. I just always feel ‘icky.’ So I keep this on-hand at all times. Yes, I’d prefer to always have clean hands via soap + water; but if that’s not possible, this is a perfect backup.

So there’s our list! It’s not all-inclusive, but it is a handy start! Is there anything I missed that is on your ‘must-have’ travel list!?