The last month has virtually flown by. It’s been a whirlwind of exhaustion, cold, fun, illness, and what was nonstop marathon training.

Here’s a recap of what we’ve been up to as of late:

1. It turns out my kid is afraid of giant plants. A few weeks ago Moosh and I went up to Cleveland to hit up the Cleveland Museum of Natural History… but the parking lot was full. I took that as a sign that we should find another place to explore. So we went to the Cleveland Botanical Gardens. I thought “Hey! This is a great idea!”

And the gardens were absolutely stunning. There was just one teeny problem. Moosh was absolutely petrified of the plants. Heck, even the flowers. I think the size of the leaves and trees was what was scaring him. Either way, I of course, thought it was kinda funny. And then I was kinda frustrated that he didn’t want me to set him down to walk around. In fact, he clung to me so tight that when we got close to a plant, he squeezed his thighs around my hips and wouldn’t budge.

I laughed. All the older people who were there enjoying the gardens probably thought I was a bad mom. Oh well. 🙂

2. Lunch date at Barrio in Lakewood. Post-Botanical Gardens, we headed to Lakewood for some tacos with Grandma Dee (my aunt/Godmother). I was beyond happy to see that Barrio was now open for lunch. If there’s two things that Moosh and I can agree on, it’s fruity drinks (his non-alcoholic, of course) and cheese dip.

Add in an empty restaurant full of staff who thought Moosh was the cutest thing ever? Day. Made. Totally makes up for his fear of gardens.

Also? Tacos. Yummy, yummy, tacos for the win. I’m definitely not mad that Barrio is open for lunch. Just sayin’.

3. Chocolate. Lots of chocolate. While I was in Lakewood I stopped by Sweet Designs (if you recall this is THE chocolatier that changed my views of chocolate forever). I nearly forgot that the next day was Valentine’s Day and that it would be crazy, but this mama was determined to get some (and by some, I mean a pound) of sponge candy! I may have also picked up a handful (or four) of other chocolate goodies for Chad and Moosh. What? It’s a once a year splurge! 😛

4. Play dates galore. Thank you, Café O’Play, for the neverending fun (and exhaustion)! We’ve been meeting up with friends for lunch and playdates as much as possible as of late. The new indoor play place near our house, Café O’Play has been an awesome go-to winter play place.

Also? They had Ari’s hero come in for a visit while we were there — TINKERBELL! (Yes, our sons two heroes are Thomas the Tank and Tinkerbell. But for serious – have you seen the Tink movies!? Awesome!).

5. Tumbling. Ari’s third (or is it fourth?) session of Wee Tumblers is officially over, complete with one final meltdown on the last day. We LOVE tumbling because it complete wears him out on a weeknight. Bonus? He has SO MUCH FUN. Who knew paddy cake would be the coolest thing ever?

6. Family time. Besides playdates, we’ve been soaking up time with each other. Ari has been a mega ham for the camera and, honestly, a little blogging break as of late, has done wonders for my marriage. I’ve been spending more time with Chad in the evenings after work. Just me + him (sure, sometimes me and him and Ari), hanging out on the couch before bed.

Mimi and Poppy have also been up to visit a few times as of late, so we’ve been spending as much time with them as possible before they trek back to Kentucky. Sometimes that even means hanging out on the floor by the fire. LOL. (Hence the picture above).

When Moosh and I have our days off together I try to do fun things with him. When that isn’t visiting the (scary) botanical gardens, that usually means a day of crafts. Recently we went to paint pottery and his little crafty heart was so, SO, full! And so was mine

7. Just keep running. I’ve already announced that I’ve put marathon training on the backburner until Moosh is older; but that hasn’t stopped my aspirations to run and keep training. I will continue to run after a ten day break (doctors orders, per a fairly severe pulled muscle). All the running and (mostly) clean-eating has helped tremendously with my continued (slow, but steady) weight loss.

8. Sickies galore. Thanks to a seemingly extra-long and extra-cold winter, this mama has been fighting off everything under the sun for the last several weeks. And after just getting rid of a nasty stomach bug, I ended up in the ER the other day because I may have accidentally inhaled tiny particles of glass while I was cleaning up the shattered glass door to our entertainment center (#toddlers). Oops.

9. Buh-bye, Mercury in retrograde! I had never bought into the astrology thing before; but while mercury was in retrograde, we had a plethora of less than stellar things happen. In fact, we were overwhelmed. First, I was sick. Then, on my way to work, a tire blew out on my car. Four new tires later, Chad’s car breaks down… no brakes. We got sick again. Pretty much one thing after another after another. It was bad, but thankfully, things got better! Hooray hooray! PS. Right after my car started feeling like a new car (thanks, new tires), we actually bought a new car to replace Chad’s old car!

I’m kind of in love with the new car. I’ve promised to keep this car clean because, well, mine is NOT. Mine is a mess full of stuff from Moosh and food he’s thrown on the floor. It’s just… not pretty. But I’m determined not to get this beauty dirty.

10. We spent our second night EVER away from Ari. Big thanks to Mimi and Poppy for taking Ari for a night. We had our second ever night without him. It was… weird. But wonderful! We had our own little buffet of cheese and meats. And sparkly wine!

I’m grateful that we had that time. But still, it really opened up our eyes that our family is really most complete when there are three of us under one roof. However, we need to make more times for moments like this, even if it’s just after Ari goes to sleep.

11. Yoga night with the MRTT ladies. I went up to Harmony Studios in Willoughby in the middle of a major snowstorm to take a yoga class made for runners with the Moms Run This Town Cleveland Chapter ladies!

 So yeah, we’ve been busy. Very busy. Sure, there are a few things that I would have liked to have not happened over the last couple of months. But honestly? We survived. And just like this weeks’ mantra stated — I’ll continue to survive. <3