Galveston Beach Trip!

 Already knocked one off the summer bucket list!

On Saturday we took a quick trip to Galveston before Barry left for Georgia. I can't quite take the boys to the beach by myself yet, so we decided that since Barry is going to be gone for most of the summer we would go ahead and take them to the beach while we had the chance. Galveston State Park is still getting renovated, so we went to Stewart Beach. It is so worth the little fee to be able to rinse off before getting back in your car!

We actually got a family photo! Thank goodness for this mom who came up to us while we were trying to take a selfie photo and offered to take a photo of us. There are so few photos of us all together, I'm so so thankful for this wonderful woman!

The boys absolutely love the beach! It is definitely a busy day for me and Barry but it is so worth it!

We only spent about two hours at the beach, and about two hours driving but it was worth getting to spend that special time with Barry.

 

Summer Bucket List - 2022

Wanna hear a funny story? This is the post I was going to post last year, and never did. 😂 My favorite is the second paragraph where I say I'll stick to a bucket list and post it. Bless my little 2021 heart. So I'm just gonna post it for this year and call it good. 

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Ok. I know I do this every year. But this is the year damnit. 

This is the year I make a bucket list and stick to it AND actually do posts! Because I want to preserve these memories. 

So here goes. We will start with the goals and school stuff and then move on to the actual bucket list. 

Goals:

Make a schedule and stick to it. Operation Summer Sanity is a go!

Continue schoolwork for the boys. General ideas like working on handwriting, cutting, reading 100 books in conjunction with 1000 minutes of reading for Bear and book reports (and writing in complete sentences), math for the twins along with vocab and speech. This will be a post on its own. We have a lot to accomplish, and I feel like I finally have the knowledge to move forward!

Date Nights with the boys one on one: mini golf, go to the movies, etc.

Stick with the idea of weekly themes  I don’t need to go all out, just use the weekly themes to come up with fun ideas for things to do

Try to do at least two instagramable things a week  not because I need the likes, but because I love looking back on my Instagram at all the fun things we do! Also, the boys’ family needs to get to know them better. We stay pretty isolated and that’s our choice but I’d love for the family to have some kind of bond with the boys  

Now for the actual bucket list!!! ( I so wish there was a way I could do multiple columns for this, its sooooooooo long!)

Outside Ideas:

Watch Fireworks

Draw with Chalk

Bubble Guns or rent a bubble machine

Go get sno-cones

Watch a sunrise

Watch a sunset

Catch Fireflies (GA idea)

Go on a picnic

Pick Fresh Fruit (Froberg Farm)

Read outside

Water Balloon Fight

Ride Bikes

Lay in a hammock

Stargaze

Wash the Car

Fly a kite

Play Frisbee

Plant a garden

Picture Scavenger Hunt

Water gun fight

Slip and Slide

Play Catch

Rent a bouncy house

Sidewalk Chalk & Hopscotch

Ice block with toys

Giant Bubbles

Sponge Ball War

Melt Ice Cubes

Walk the Plank/Ninja Warrior Course

Bury a Time Capsule

Fourth of July Family Field Day

Shaving Cream on Trampoline

Buy an Above Ground Pool and do all the swimming!

Inside Ideas:

Morning Invitationals a la Days with Grey

Make Play Doh plate things

Finger paint

Color Big Pages

Read Lots of Books

Singe Lots of Songs

Make a Paper Bag Puppet

Make Popsicles

Make a Fort

Make Ice Cream

Make Jam

Make Lemonade

Make cheerio necklaces

Play with Lego Blocks

Marshmallow Shooters

Make Ice Cream Sandwiches

Make Sno Cones

Make Paper Wind Sock

Make Jello Jigglers

Crafternoon

Make suckers

Home made Root Beer

Do a science project

Banana Splits

Nerf Sword Fights

Obstacle Course

Paint Rocks

Journaling

All the baking

Adventures:

San Antonio with Mom

Peach Creek!

Visit 10 different city parks

Moody Gardens

-Whole Family

-Bear Bear

-Palm Beach

Zoo

Observation Tower

Children’s Museum

Galveston Beach

-Dolphin Tour

-Build a sandcastle

-Feed the seagulls

-Ride the Ferry

-Visit the Board Walk

Surfside Beach

Baseball Game/Sporting Event

Visit 5 Splash Pads

George Ranch

Frobergs Farm

Alvin Animal Safari

Visit Farmer’s Markets

Arboretum

Visit a lake

Go to the Library

Free tour of the Ship Channel

Aquarium

Visit Dad at Work

Visit the police horses

Feed the ducks at a pond

Amusement Park

Visit a historical site

Tour a fire station

Tour a factory (Maybe Blue Bell?)

Splashtown

Pirates Bay Area Waterpark

Discovery Green Concert

Discovery Green Movie Night

Drive In Movie

Kemah Boardwalk

Go to a Festival

Demolition Derby

Go to a Carnival

San Jacinto State Park

Mom and Dad Date:

Summer nights fire pits

Go bowling

Ropes Date at Moody Gardens

Mini Golf

River Trip

Tour historic home

Habanero Hundred Training - Week 3

 

Yesterday's run was brought to you by wind and cloud cover. 

Its actually the only run I did this week although I did manage some strength training. 

Barry was working so I was on my own for crewing this run and instead of getting everything ready ahead of time I pulled a "It'll be fiiiiiiiine" approach and regretted it almost immediately. 

As of right now the boys are still in school so Fridays are my long run days and it works out really well except I'm a slow runner and sometimes I come right up against the deadline of needed to go pick them up. Which is almost what happened yesterday.

I have approached the last couple of runs that way I would Habanero, walk the first half and do running intervals during the second half. The reasoning for this is that HH starts at noon. It starts at noon so you are fresh when you hit the hottest part of the day and as you start getting tired, it starts moving into the evening and cooling down. This is a great plan except that my training long runs have to start at 8am so I can finish before I have to go pick up the boys. Meaning I start when its cool and it gets hotter as I get higher in my mileage.

I decided to do this run backwards and run intervals from miles 1-8 so I could bank time to be able to walk the hottest part of my run and it worked great! I was able to run my tiny little intervals and add a little length to the interval with each mile. I was able to maintain those intervals all the way until the last three miles where I ran out of ice and water. I still felt surprisingly good, not perfect, but really good considering this was my longest run in a really, really long time. 

I will say that miles 11-14 were incredibly difficult. It was hot. I knew that when I ran out of my current ice there was no more. I worried that if I pushed too hard and got woozy there was no one near (that I knew) that could come help me. I was worried that even if I could finish the distance I would be putting myself and my boys at risk when I went to go pick them up from school. If I pushed too hard because I felt good during the run would that hold up and allow me to get home safely?

And then I worried that I was worrying too much and making up ridiculous situations because other than being hot and tired I really was fine. 

Welcome to my brain. 

In the end everything worked out great! I was able to hit an awesome pace considering I included all of my potty breaks and time I spent refilling my pack. The potty breaks wont take as long during the race because I will just use the porta potties and not have to let myself back into the house, go to the bathroom, then lock everything back up again. And Barry/my crew will have my packs ready for me so that will save time during the race as well. So I'm REALLY happy with my pace for this run.

That being said, my run took so long that in the time it took me to finish it, two guys built a shed in their backyard.  

This was also an important run because my last two long runs I had to cut short because of time or because I was ill-equipped for the run and had to quit for safety reasons. I needed to finish this run or I wouldn't be able to gradually increase my mileage over the summer. As it is I'm up against the wire. This is my current plan (highlighted workouts are ones I've completed):

I have my long runs set up to increase two miles each long run and I alternate weeks between long runs and shorter recovery runs (those 8 milers). If I miss a long run or two the increase from week to week will be too much to do safely. But I am DETERMINED to get this race done. A 50K has been on my list for years now and its starting to give me an eye twitch that I haven't finished one. 

I really feel like this is my year to do it.  My mom can watch the boys for my long runs and I can run my shorter runs on the treadmill. I have almost finished my first 12 week Sweat program. I completed 30 days of 75 Hard. I'm starting to get my discipline back and realizing that I can do hard things. And that those hard things, aren't as hard as I thought they were. 

-Ri

A Day with Bear

 

On Monday Bear and I played hooky and had the BEST day. 

It was Monday and I was supposed to be enjoying my "recovery" day from the weekend. I was supposed to get out the house and run errands then come home and cozy up with a book and a snack and enjoy my "me time".  I was supposed to be enjoying my quiet time. But, it felt empty. And lonely. 

I was sitting in a parking lot trying to figure out my next move when I looked up. I saw an IHop and remembered how much fun I had with Bear introducing him to sprinkle pancakes one day after a doctor's visit. I smiled and my chest kind of filled with warmth. So I started thinking about how cool it would be to go pick up Bear from school and take him to IHop, and then it went further. How cool would it be to go pick him up from school and play video games with him (something he loves). And as I was driving out of the parking lot I argued with myself the whole way to his school. I didn't actually make the decision to go get him until I was in the parking lot of his school. 

I picked him up and as we were walking away from his school he asked in this small voice "Is everything ok? What's wrong?" I walked him a little further away and whispered in his ear 

"Nothing. Today, we are going to go have FUN."

He gave me the best little quiet giggle and we got in the car. I started naming off all the things we could do; go gets snacks and play video games, go to the park, go to the aquarium, and then I said the zoo and his eyes lit up! Thats where he wanted to go so that is where we went! No planning, no questioning, we just went!

As we were walking up to the zoo he said "this is so cool! It's just me and you! We never get to do this! I love brothers but its kind of nice to not have to worry about them running off." And that's when I realized he needed this just as much as I did. He was just filled with wonder and amazement and joy at this quiet time together. 

We went in and walked most of the zoo and just had a good time chatting with each other. When we came up to the carousel he asked in that small voice again "Can we do the ride?" I said yes, absolutely! I got him settled on his panda and looked up at him. He had the best smile on his face and he kept giving this little giggle. As the ride started and he started laughing I said to myself "This is it. This is the moment it is all worth it. This is the moment." I soaked it in and luckily caught that moment of wild joy on his face. 

We left a little after that and while its not much of a story, it was such a transformative moment for me. Ashlie said it was a healing day and I think she was right. So often I have to be the parent-in-charge. The one looking out for everything, the one in charge of discipline, the one in charge of head counts, the one in charge of the snacks, the drinks, the tickets, the itinerary, the EVERYTHING.  This couple of hours I got to remind myself that there IS joy in motherhood. And I didn't realize how much I needed it. 

Next week I'm going to pick up Nathaniel and we're going to go to the aquarium. 

After that Im going to take William to Schlitterbahn if their heated park is up.  

2022 Resolutions

 

I'll be honest. 

I'm not entirely sure that 2021 actually happened. 

Somehow, it is already 2022 and I have no clue how we got here.

Last night we celebrated the new year and I am so excited for this opportunity for a fresh start. I've always loved resolutions and lists and habit challenges and whatnot and this year is no different. I have a list a mile long and I'm going to write it down here so I can revisit it throughout the year and link back to it. 

Last night I was going through Facebook and a few friends were listing their accomplishments of the year and I loved reading through them! 2021 was all about surviving and I didn't journal, or blog, or post on social media, or really do anything to chronicle my accomplishments and now it is the end of the year and I'm coming up blank. I know I did stuff, buuuuuut I can't remember any of it (except Ashlie's wedding because it was amaaaaaazing). 

So my first resolution: blog more. Not for followers or anything else, just to have a freaking record of what the hell I did all year! Here is the rest of my list by category (it's going to be long because I love having broken down, tangible items I can actually check off): 

Health and Fitness:

-Be comfortable, joyful, energetic, and powerful in my own skin

-Get healthy for my boys

-Weight Loss

-Complete a full Sweat progression

Post Pregnancy

Low Impact

BBG

-Complete 2022 Run the Year Mileage

-Volunteer at TROT Races

-Bonus: Run 50K Habanero Hundred and/or 50K Brazos Bend

Parenting Goals:

I haven't quite flushed this one out. It is hard to make goals that are based on other people but my big goal is to be more present and stop hiding in the kitchen from my kids ;) 

Institute a Chore Chart 

Teach Bear to tie his shoes

Less screen time (need to figure out)

Teach twins to give themselves baths

Misc Goals:

-Organize Recipes

-Organize Photos

-Master baking a pie

-Read 10 NEW books and keep my weekly streak going 

-Complete 5 crochet/knit projects

Mom's Scarf

Phil's Blanket

A Hat

-Learn how to knit socks

-Blog Weekly

-Go see a doctor and treat my anxiety 

-Clean and organize whole house REDUCE STUFF

-Take a trip...somewhere?

-Date night once a month

-Take the boys out more (goal is once a month)

Financial Goals:

-Set Up Payroll

-Catch up on Taxes

-Pay off debt to a reasonable amount

-Buy House

-Buy second personal vehicle

-Increase our savings for fun stuff!

Company Goals:

-Buy second truck

-Set up Atlanta  

This is just a brain dump. Most of these items will have their own blog posts down the road and I might add to the list as ideas come to me but I wanted to at least get this post started!

So here is to the new year!!!!!!

-Ri