4th of July Weekend 2017

Happy almost 4th of July! I hope everyone had a great weekend and had a chance to celebrate in some form or fashion!

We had a busy but fun weekend and I got to spend a ton of time with my little man!

My Saturday morning plans included a long run around my house. My running group wasn't meeting up and my running buddy was going out of town, so it was just Brayden and I. He actually woke up early that morning (unusual for him), but it worked for me! We were out the door and running by 7:30 a.m. 

I'd hoped to start our run no later than 8 a.m. so we could beat as much heat/sun as possible. The humidity was already in the mid 90's and the temps were in the high 80's. Oy. Hello July 1st!

I decided to listen to the latest episode of the Fit Mouse Podcast while running and the title struck me as funny - I was seriously on the STRUGGLE bus on Saturday morning, so this episode was fitting!

It's not easy to run in the middle of summer - add a 27 pound toddler to the mix and yep, my legs felt like cement by mile 2!

My super cute watch and adorable running partner made it worth my while, though!

Brayden LOVES going outside and on runs with me and he did amazing during our entire 5 mile run! I never heard a peep from him!

My goal for this run was to stay under 10 minute miles. Even though I had to walk a little during the last mile, I still reached my goal (barely)! Seriously though, by the end of it all...I.Was.Wiped.Out!

After cleaning myself up then making breakfast for both myself and Brayden, it was almost his nap time once again. He fell asleep around 11 a.m. and so did I! My head hit the pillow and I do not remember a thing until I heard him stirring about two and a half hours later. BEST NAP EVER!

After nap time, we were I was bored, so we headed to town to do a little shopping! We stopped at both Bath & Body Works and Maurice's, then went to a local juicery for a smoothie!

This time, I tried the Tropikale - it was a delicious blend of kale, pineapple, coconut water, and honey. I really liked it!

While I drank my smoothie, Brayden enjoyed a little vanilla FroYo! :)

 

On Sunday morning, we dressed in our red, white, and blue and headed to church for our Sunday morning's patriotic service!

How crazy is this comparison? The 2016 photo was from this same church service last year! It almost doesn't even look like the same kid! CRAZY!

I LOVE how they line the street with flags for this service! :)

I had two favorite parts to this service - the first was where they honored each branch of the military by singing the Armed Forces Medley (Veterans in attendance stood with their respective flags) and the second was when they honored the Vietnam vets at the end of the service (each vet in attendance stood at the front and received a memorial pin...it was very touching)!

On Sunday night, our little coffee shop group went bowling for family night!

Brayden even tried his hand at a little bowling! Fun times!

Oddly enough, I won (which NEVER happens)! My name is #2 on the list above! :)

My puppies also got groomed last week with fresh summer cuts!

I'm back at work today and will have the day off of work on Tuesday. I'm debating on running a 4 mile race on Tuesday morning (solo) - I've run it several years in the past but am not sure about this year. Honestly, I'll probably end up running the race because otherwise, I would still have to get up and run some time on Tuesday morning anyway! Might as well make it worth my while! :)

I hope you all have a great and happy and safe 4th of July! Happy Birthday, America!

What are your 4th of July plans? What did you do this weekend? Any racing?

4th of July Weekend 2016

Happy 4th of July! I just love this holiday...it makes my patriotic heart happy! Thank you to the men and women who have put their lives on hold and given their lives for our freedom. I can't say it enough...your sacrifice is appreciated and doesn't go unnoticed!

Source

My little family really enjoyed spending our 4th of July weekend together! It began on Friday with a visit to the home of one of my longest and best friends, Jane!

If you remember, we were pregnant together and our babies are only six weeks apart. It's fun getting them together and watching them grow!

I think they are going to be great friends! Well, they kinda don't have a choice! Hah!

This was one of three 4th of July outfits Brayden owned...and he had to wear them all throughout the weekend, of course!

Even the rice crispy treats were patriotic!

On Saturday morning, I went for a run (more on that in my Fitness Friday post) and Jason made breakfast for us after I returned home!

We had delicious Mickey waffles with Joffrey's coffee...in a Disney mug, of course!

Do you know you can purchase coffee like they sell in the Disney parks online? Well, you can! Head over to Joffrey's website to check it all out!

Saturday afternoon brought about a long awaited treat - a crab and crawfish boil! My dad always does an excellent job with these and they didn't disappoint!
 

This was my first time to have crawfish this season and probably last. Unfortunately, we are on the very tail end (no pun intended) of crawfish season here.

After crawfish, we stopped by TCBY for dessert! Yum!

On Sunday morning, Brayden got all spiffed up for our church's Patriotic Service.

I just love his outfit! (This is outfit number 2! Number 3 will be worn today.)

My two favorite guys!

The road in front of our church was lined with flags and it was a beautiful sight as always!

I also helped out in the coffee shop and we had shirts made for the holiday! I just love it!

This year's patriotic service was hands down one of our best yet. Although we are still in our kids building due to a recent flood, they still managed to make this service a memorable one.

At the end, they played the Armed Forces Medley and members of each branch walked up to the front with their respective flags as their song was being played. Afterward, they lined the back driveway and we had the chance to shake their hands and thank them for their service to our country. I LOVED IT!

My red, white, and blue fam!

 After lunch on Sunday, Jason and I made last minute plans to catch an afternoon showing of Finding Dory! We hadn't been on a "date" in...gosh...at least two months so this was a nice little getaway!

Our town recently opened a Movie Bistro and it has been all the rage! We LOVED it and I'm pretty spoiled to the super nice comfortable and reclining seats!

Now THIS is how you watch a movie!

I hope you all had a great weekend, too! There's not much going on here today, I'm just going to enjoy my day at home with my baby! 

Have a wonderful and safe 4th! 

Any special plans today?

Virtual 4th of July 4 Miler (Gone For A Run)

On Friday, I completed Gone For A Run's All 4 Run Virtual 4th of July race! Since I was off of work on Friday, I decided to wake up early (hah) and run before the temperatures became too warm outside.

My plan for this run was to take it easy since I had another 4 mile race the following day. I also planned to run around the same time as my race the following day, to get a feel for the temperature/humidity.

Ugh. It was hot and incredibly humid. 

I managed to keep a pace just below a 10 minute mile. In addition to the heat, my legs were incredibly sore from the Tone It Up Kettlebell workout I did on TUESDAY. Y'all - I thought I was doing enough squats and lunges on my own and hello...apparently not. I see more kettlebells in my future!

Look who I spotted during my run! He decided to eat breakfast early to avoid the crazy heat of the day, too! :)

After returning home, I awarded myself with this lovely medal and called it a day! :) Overall I had a fun race and enjoyed the experience!

Gone For A Run puts on many great events throughout the year - check out their Virtual Race Series here. Be sure to follow them on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for all the latest and greatest product/race information!

As a Gone For A Run Ambassador, I received free entry into this virtual race. All opinions expressed are my own. :)

Did your weekend plans include a 4th of July race/run?

Weekend Madness

So, I woke up this morning to the incredibly sad news that One Man's Dream is closing at HS in July (here). Say what?! I sure hope this isn't a permanent closure. I loved that they included a tribute to the man who made it all happen - it took a man to start it all, the mouse didn't create himself!

Now that I got that off my chest.......on to my weekend! :)

Yesterday, I shared about our 5K that was held this past weekend. Well, despite the craziness of Saturday morning, my weekend consisted of so much more!

I spent Friday night blowing up balloons for the 5K with a friend...thankfully, I was able to go to bed a little earlier than normal!

My 5K morning began at 4 a.m. We began setup around 5 a.m. and thankfully we had a ton of help!

After the race, we showered then drove to Texas with friends to meet up with my brother and his wife. We had two plans for the day: girls shopping and boys golfing!

We ended up in Katy, Texas at the outlet mall there. Our shopping trip was a success, too!

I've been eyeing  a Kate Spade bag in this color for a while now - I saw they had one, so I texted my husband and he said yes! 

I was an innocent bystander....I promise!

Melissa and Kayla also purchased shoes! It was a great day overall if I do say so myself! :)

Our mid-afternoon snack included pretzels from Wetzels. I had no idea that asking for an "Almond Pretzel with Caramel Dipping Sauce" actually meant pretzel bites in a bag. Oh well, it was delicious but definitely not what I wanted or asked for. The girl behind the counter argued with me, so I just let it go. (Great, now the song is stuck in my head....)

On a positive note, it was delicious!! I ate half and saved the rest for another day - and they rewarmed in the oven just right! :)

Oh Blue Bell. Come back to us, please....

While we shopped, the boys spent time at a Top Golf range in Katy. They had a blast and didn't stop talking about their experience the rest of the afternoon! 

We had dinner in Katy at the Cheesecake Factory and it was delicious! 

After dinner, Jason and I split a slice of Turtle Cheesecake!

Sunday was our patriotic service at church where we paid tribute to the men and women who helped pave our path for Freedom. We also celebrated our country's birthday - it was awesome!

Somewhere in all of that madness, I also spent time playing with my two favorite little girls! 

I didn't even have a chance to "run" on Saturday but managed 10,000 steps by 10 a.m.! At the end of the day, I was around 20,000 steps! Boy was I tired and definitely enjoyed a Sunday afternoon nap!

How was your weekend? Do you like to shop?