Half Marathon weekend!

I DID IT! Thanks to all who supported me, without you I would have never made it. It was an amazing adventure and I hope I get to do it again next year.

We arrived on Friday at our hotel at 9am. Luckily they had a room available and we were checked right in (a happy surprise!). We unpacked and then headed over to California Adventure to ride on Savannah's favorite ride- Little Mermaid. We rode it twice and then headed over to another favorite, Monsters, Inc. After that we picked up lunch at Flo's Cafe- BBQ pork plates for us and mac n cheese with apple slices for Savannah.

 

We then headed over to the health expo to pick up all my race goodies and to see the vendors. It was crazy crowded but Disney did a pretty good job with crowd control... until it came to buying race merchandise. All the dumbo race stuff was already sold out. So I grabbed an "I did it" half marathon shirt and a 13.1 magnet for my car. Then it was time to wait again. My hubby waited in the line to buy my 2 items for almost an hour and half!!!  A short time later it was time to meet some friends that I was running with at Jazz Kitchen for dinner and then off to bed to prepare for the 10k at 6:15am.

Playing with the new cool towels!

Soon it was time to run the 10k which fortunately passed right in front of our hotel. So hubby packed up Savannah in the hiking backpack and waited for us to run by. After we ran by the hotel we headed into the parks to run the next 4 miles of our race that morning. Hubby had then made it to the finish line so Savannah could watch us run by again. It was very hot and humid but it was also a lot of fun! We then headed for breakfast reservations at Rainforest Cafe. After a great breakfast we headed back to the hotel for a VERY needed shower and a nap... I should have known everything was going far too easy at this point of the trip! We walked into our room and the toilets had backed up into the showers. There was lots of nasty stuff floating in the tub. (no other details needed trust me!) After some wrangling we were moved into a new room with a nice clean shower. 

Later in the afternoon we wandered around Downtown Disney and then met with friends again at Tortilla Jo's for dinner. After dinner we stopped by the chocolate shop for some desserts and then back to the hotel room so I could go to bed for my 3am wake up time in the morning!

Yummy cake pop... It was delish!

After about 2 hours of sleep, it was time to get up and get ready. I put on my best red pixie duds and headed out the door. I met up with the rest of my pixie friends and we headed to the corrals. It was less humid but still hot. We got started on the course at about 5:30am. It was hot enough that my goal of running a fast half marathon was thrown right out of the window at about mile 2! I decided that I would rather focus on having fun and not getting heat stroke. So we stopped and used the bathrooms and took some pictures inside the parks. After that we headed out to the streets of Anaheim for the next 9 miles. The course took us past high school marching bands, hoards of cheerleaders, luau dancers and miles of classic cars. They did a good job of trying to keep us entertained. The only problem was that the sun was relentless. It was right in our eyes most of the time and it was hot. At about mile 9 we headed into Angels' stadium. It was really cool and we were all shown running on the jumbo-tron.

Worth the wait for the pic. The storm troopers had just came out too!

If I could have smuggled the baby cow home I would have!

Running on the field at Angel stadium.

A little over three hours later and we were heading into the final stretch. We had finished!!! It was an awesome feeling that brought me briefly to tears. I am so happy I did it. If you would have told me I was going to run a half marathon a year ago, I would have told you that you were out of your mind. (let alone doing a 10k the day before!)

We did it!

We had breakfast at Steakhouse55 at Disneyland hotel after the race and then wished friends good bye as they were headed home after the race. Hubby, Sav and I all headed back to the hotel for a shower and another nap. After that we headed back into Downtown Disney for dinner at Earl of Sandwich and to wander around the grounds at the hotels. We found a nice lawn area at Disneyland hotel and sat down while Savannah ran laps for a while. After that we headed over to Grand Californian. In Savannah's usual happy style she was saying "hi!" to everyone she saw. At one point in one of the more private areas an employee was sitting on a bench. She said hi to him too as we passed. On the way back he approached us. He wanted to reward Savannah for a being such a polite and friendly little girl. He showed her a panel of pins and let her pick one. She of course picked the Cheshire cat (one of her favorites). It was definitely a magical Disney moment. Savannah then watched cartoons for a little while in the lobby while we enjoyed the air conditioning.

Lady bug balloon during Earl of Sandwich dinner

Then next morning we got up early and packed up our room and headed into Disneyland right at opening. Surprisingly I wasn't even that sore from the two previous days of running. We rode Dumbo, Small World, and Pirates. We then headed to Blue Bayou for surprise lunch reservations.

Blue Bayou!

 It was hubby's birthday and I wanted to thank him for sacrificing his weekend to come support me. We were immediately sat at a waterside table. I loved the ambiance. Lunch was wonderful and hubby got a bonus chocolate cake for his birthday. That little chocolate cake was the best dessert of the trip! After that we headed to one last ride on Winnie the Pooh and then out of the park to head home. Which was good since it was starting to get REALLY crowded at that point. It was Labor day after all. So with the small exception of the hotel room problem it was a perfect weekend and couldn't have asked for anything more! Thanks again to all of my family and friends for supporting me so I could make my first half marathon goal a reality!

In front of the castle with all my race bling.

Posing with Dumbo and my Dumbo Double Dare medal.

A friend inspired me to do this as my goal this year and I hope I can inspire others with my journey. I am proof positive that if you really want something, there is nothing that you cannot do! Just get out there and put one foot in front of the other!!! It really is easier than it seems at first.

Summer time!

Summer is just swimming along here. We haven't had any doctors appointments in months and it has been wonderful. Savannah is doing great and her speech is getting better by the day. We will have another evaluation in a few weeks to see where she falls on the speech development scale. Meanwhile she is spending lots of time in Grandpa and Grandma's pool. She has come a long way from last year and is now able to swim from one end of the pool to the other on her own.

Del Mar Fair

It is that time of year again! I had no entries in this year's fair and we had decided we were only going once this year. So we picked opening weekend hoping it wouldn't be too crowded. We had already decided that we were going to try preferred parking this year and we were happy we did because we parked about three rows up from the entrance in the main lot. As soon as we went in we went straight to the pony ride. I promised her last year that she could ride this year.  As expected she loved it. She had no fear and kept patting him on the neck. It was so cute!

 

We then walked through the barns so she could see all of the animals. She happily greeted every goat and sheep but a year later she is still very apprehensive of pigs. I finally got her to pet a sleeping pig on the back but she jumped a mile when it started to move. I think her favorite is the pygmy goats since they are more her size.

 

Next we had a cinnamon roll and then head to the garden show and sales area. Then on to woodworking, crafts, hobbies, photography and art. I was so inspired by all of the exhibits that I am already plotting for next year! We then grabbed some lunch. BBQ pork sandwiches for us and a hot dog for Savannah. Next we headed infield to see the horse exhibit and look around. Then back to the midway for a funnel cake. (Yes, we like fair food and since we were here for only one day I needed to try all my favorites!) After that I headed back to the garden area to take a few more photos.

Then we decided to go to the barns for one last look at the animals (Sav's favorite part). On the way we decided to see the "giant" horse and alligator. The horse is impressive and the alligator was okay. I miss the steer that used to be there. He is really impressive! I guess this year they only had two spots and they choose the alligator. Apparently the steer is still on the property but not on display.

 

We then finished the day with some Tasti-chips and a bag of kettle corn to take home. We had a great time again and can't wait for the fair next year. I will definitely be doing some crafting and photography through the year to enter in next year! (and yes, I ran my buns off today trying to burn some of those pesky fair calories off! 7 miles total.)

Road trip! Part #2

On our way to Yellowstone we stopped in Missoula, MT. It was a long drive between northern Idaho and Yellowstone so we decided to break up the drive for Savannah. It also allowed us to do grocery shopping before we headed to the small tourist town of West Yellowstone, MT. We went to Costco and Albertsons and bought enough groceries and ready made meals to last the five nights that we were going to be there. It was still the off season and some restaurants in town would not be open and the others could be quite pricey. It ended up being a life saver. We only ate one lunch in town and the total for only 2 sandwiches was $45! They rest of the trip we ate most of our meals for less than $100 total inside our hotel room!

While driving to West Yellowstone we saw all kinds of wildlife including bald eagles, a golden eagle, bison, elk, pronghorn, and even had a herd of bighorn sheep pass right in front of our truck! It was pretty amazing since we hadn't even made it to the park yet.

 We also drove past a very frozen Lake Hebgen. It was so peaceful and beautiful! Shortly after than we made it to our hotel room at the Abbey Inn and checked in. We have stayed here once before in 2008 and liked it so much we returned. Our room had two king beds, a nice sized table we used to eat at, microwave and fridge.  It also had two doors, one to the inside of the hotel and another to the parking lot. Which means we could park right outside our hotel door! Much easier when hauling everything in and out everyday!

The next day we slept in and decided to we would head down to the Old Faithful area to see how the weather and road conditions were. We also decided to visit the Grizzly Bear and Wolf Discovery Center before we headed into the park. We had never been there before and it was literally right across the street from our hotel. It was very cool to see the grizzlies and wolves close up. The naturalists were very educational and friendly too. I would highly recommend this stop to anyone passing through. The admission is also good for two days!

We were quite surprised when most of the roads were completely void of any snow. Not even old snow. The weather was also quite warm and we didn't even need sweaters most of the time. We did some shopping at the snow lodge, visited the visitor's center, then watched Old Faithful erupt. We took our time driving in and back and stopped occasionally to watch the elk or bison from the road.

So crowded. Could hardly find a spot to watch! HA!

On day two we decided to wake up early, stop by the bear center and then go the Mammoth area.  When we returned to the bear center they were just bringing in a dumpster to bear enclosure. They do bear proof canister testing at the center. If a container can be worked on by a bear for 60 minutes and not be opened then that container is then considered "bear resistant". We didn't stick around long enough to see if this one passed or not. I am also glad we went back for the second day too since the wolf packs were also more active.

 Inside the park the weather was still great cloudy but warm. We first started with the most northern road in the park hoping to find some bears. We didn't find any bears but saw more elk, bison and some pronghorn. We had a relaxing lunch on the side of the road and watched a couple bison with calves as Savannah napped. We then headed to Gardiner, MT go to a gift shop we had been to before and also to take pictures at the iconic north gate.

Look closely. There is a calf lying down on the right side of mama!

Another closed trail! Most were closed.

Our truck (actually Grandpa's truck) at the north gate.

 We then headed back to Mammoth where we shared a couple burgers and some fruit (only $25 compared to in town!) and then hubby put Savannah in her backpack and we hiked around the terraces at Mammoth. After that we got back into the truck and started to head back to the hotel room about an hour away at this point. On the way we also stopped at Gibbon falls so I could snap a few pictures before it was completely dark.

 

 

On day three we decided to head to the Canyon area and Lake Yellowstone areas of the park. On the way there between the Norris Geyser Basin and Canyon we stopped to watch a Coyote on the side of the road to watch a coyote hunting in the snow. We watched as he pounced several times and even came up with a couple of gophers or voles. It was really neat and we could have watched forever. We then headed to Canyon and had lunch at the sports shop. (The ONLY thing open on this side of the park) So we had some self serve hot dogs. There was also more snow on this side of the park and Savannah enjoyed playing in the old snow banks.

 

 

 After lunch we went to Grand Canyon of Yellowstone and Lake Yellowstone. We didn't see much in wildlife but did start raining on an off but it was only heavy for a couple minutes and then it would stop for a while. It was the only weather we saw for the entire trip.

 

 

 

We then headed over to Norris Geyser Basin to hike the 2+ mile loop. It was still raining on and off so we put the rain pod over Savannah's backpack to keep her dry. We didn't get to see any eruptions but it was still a really cool hike. It was one of only a few areas that were still open for hiking. Others were closed due to "bear activity".

 

We had so much planned for our last day. It was the day that Old Faithful Inn was opening for the season and another section of roads would open inside the park. Unfortunately the truck had other ideas. It had a hard start that morning and then the engine light came on and would not go off. Hubby took it to the (only!) mechanic while I stayed with Savannah in the room. I started to get our stuff packed and ready just in case we had to leave early and tow the truck to the next major town in Idaho. Thankfully, the mechanic was able to fix the truck and we were on our way into the park just a couple hours later! Whew! Since it was getting late in the afternoon we headed straight for the Old Faithful Inn dining room for lunch. We had a fantastic dinner here in 2008 and we really wanted some more of their amazing soup. (Roasted pepper and gouda. YUM!) Savannah was being really good so she got some huckleberry ice cream at the end for a reward.

 

 

 

 

 

 

After lunch we walked around the geyser basin, did some more shopping and then started to head out of the park. On the way out we stopped by Grand Prismatic spring. As we pulled into the parking lot we noticed three bison bulls walking through. We pulled right up to them and parked. They were only about 10 feet away and Savannah had a great time watching them graze and rub on the trees and rocks. We also got to watch a bus full of tourists get amazingly close to the bison. At one point a lady was only standing about 5 feet away from a bull. I had my camera ready but thankfully she got her photo without upsetting the bull.

Then next day we sadly said good bye to Yellowstone and headed out. We drove Idaho and down through Utah and finally stayed the night in Lehi, UT (conveniently close to a Cabelas store).The next morning we drove down through the rest of Utah, a slice of Arizona and then into Nevada. We stopped and stayed in Las Vegas. Savannah had never been to Vegas before and we thought she would enjoy seeing all of the lights. She seemed to enjoy herself and we had dinner at Rainforest Cafe in the MGM Grand. She really liked the cafe but was a little too distracted at times to actually eat! I did feel bad because we told she would see some real lions but the display was closed for a remodel. The next morning we had breakfast at the Silverton. After breakfast we went through the Bass Pro Shops and then headed home. It was a great trip overall and Savannah did amazing. She was overwhelmed at times but still handled it well.

Now where should we go next? Nine states down, forty one more to go!