Its a Hero

travel

‘Tucky.

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Well, it may have taken us 7 hours to make a 5 and a half hour trip, but we finally made it to Kentucky — or ‘Tucky, as Ari so lovingly refers to it — last night.

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It turns out traveling with two kids, both of which refuse to sleep in the car, is about as fun as you might imagine.

Chad had the pleasure of navigating construction and rush hour traffic with a screaming — practically hyperventilating baby — in the car.

And I was ‘snuggled’ between the kids car seats in the back — in a desperate attempt to calm Remy down (newsflash — it didn’t work).

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But such is life. We survived. And our travels were safe! That’s all that matters.

However, we’re all kinda in ‘recovery’ mode this morning. Groggy. Sleepy. Sore.

Now bring on the fun! Catch ya on the flip side, friends! xo

hello, weekend //

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I’m going to be MIA for the next couple of days as I travel to Columbus for my sister’s baby shower! In reality, I’ve been MIA for much of this week, thanks to party-prep!

Also? Remy Bea has ANOTHER UTI. For. serious. Ugh! So before we head to Columbus for the weekend, we’ll be going to the pediatrician’s office… again. Sigh.

But can we just talk for a second about how my ONLY sister is about to have her FIRST baby!? In, like, a month!? Time flies, friends!

So enjoy your weekend. I’ll be soaking up family time and enjoying some delicious food! xo

Life Lately // June 2016

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This post originally started as a “weekend wrap up” … OVER A MONTH AGO! Like, I’m talking APRIL. But life just got extra busy and the sleep started to get even harder to come by. So I was failing at putting words into sentences. Heck, most of the time I’m still struggling to put logical sentences together!

I swear, in between the Remy Bea drama (yes, I’m calling her newborn nonsense “drama”), we have had a bunch of fun(ish) things going on, too!

I have, like, 300 things on my to-do list. At least half of which are action-items for this here blog. But last weekend I ditched my to-do list — and my email, twitter feed, and online presence — and I lived in the moment!

Our First Baby-Free Date //

My mom has been up to visit several times over the last month. And one of the days she was visiting, Chad and I took full advantage of “Mimi!” We went on our first date without the kiddos! Yes, I realize that it should be obvious that a date doesn’t include kids; but that’s rarely the case. Seriously.

On our “Big Date Adventure” we went to Choolaah Indian Barbeque in Beachwood. Choolaah is a Chipotle-ish, fast-casual, Indian restaurant. We’ve been meaning to try it for a while, but kids. Always those darn kiddos! Ha!

 

We swore that since we were childless for a meal we would slow down and actually enjoy our food; but of course we inhaled it, as per usual. But we absolutely freaking LOVED our lunch! We both left satisfied and eager to come back to try it again! Next time we’ll even bring the kiddos!

Post-lunch we headed over to Trader Joe’s for some serious shopping. We had just gotten our chest freezer the previous week and we were aching to fill it up with some frozen goodies! We’ve been avoiding the TJ’s frozen section for a couple of years now since we’ve been without a chest freezer (’cause we will seriously buy all of the things!).

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We seriously ended up with a giant cart full of goodies… but somehow we made it out of the store in what seemed like record time. … But that’s what happens when you are shopping with kids! It’s too easy! Ha! When all was said and done, our date ‘day’ ended up being a date ‘three hours.’ And that includes about 60 minutes of drive time. Ha! Pathetic! 🙂

But, ohhh, what a lovely three hours it was! ♥

Playdates in the Park  //

We are so lucky to have a park right behind our house (literally. right behind our house. we frequently find children wandering onto our deck because they want to play with ari’s toys and can see them from the park.). It has a full playground and a wading pool for small kids!

And every single day, Ari asks “Mommy, can we go to the park behind our house?” And it’s hard to say no when he can look out the window and say “I see my friends in the park!”

So we go. Even if it’s just for ten minutes. We go.

Columbus Weekend Trip  //

While I wish my mom and my sister lived closer, it’s nice being able to take a whole weekend away to go to Columbus and visit. My mom will drive up from Kentucky to Columbus (about a 2.5 hour drive), and I’ll drive from Akron to Columbus (about a 2 hour drive), and we’ll all spend the weekend together.

Well recently my brother-in-law had to go out of town for the whole weekend so my mom and I drove to see my sister and have a girls (plus kids) weekend!

 

We enjoyed many a-fun-things while in Columbus! We ate lots of yummy food, went to dinner at the Rusty Bucket, played board games, sipped CBC Bodhi, and helped my sissy register for her must-have baby items!

Also? Donuts from the Lil’ Donut Factory! I saw them years ago on the Food Network and ever since, I make it a point to get a donut on every Columbus trip!

It was a fantastic weekend! It was a fairly ‘normal’ weekend; but it was awesome because I spent it with my family!

LEGO Americana Exhibit  //

The LEGO Americana exhibit toured our area mall recently and I was so eager to take Ari to see it! First of all, historical sites for the win! But also? Legos. All. the LEGOS. Ari freakin’ loves Legos. In a big way.

We walked around Beachwood Place for over TWO HOURS. Ari held his “treasure map” and kept saying “Mommy – let’s go see more legos!”

Be still my Mommy heart! ♥ ♥ But seriously. It was totally, totally, awesome.

Workshops Galore!  //

Home Depot, Art Museum, Legos, and Lowes — OH MY! I absolutely LOVE the kids workshops that are available to us. And I’m surprised how many families don’t even know about them. FRIENDS. If you have kids, register them for as many of these workshops as possible. They are FREE!

Making all the things  //

I’ve been trying my hand at a few recipes. (Related: I hate those “tasty” videos you see on Facebook). They are YUM!

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So yeah. We’ve been busy. A good busy!

PS. Other things have suffered. Mostly cleaning, laundry, etc. But these are the moments, people!! These are THE moments!

 

weekend wrap up //

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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.

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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!

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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!

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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.

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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!

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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

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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.

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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

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

Road Trip Must-Haves

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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!?