Cleveland Browns Uniform Reveal

The players were so kind when we jumped in the picture - what a great evening!

As soon as she saw Pumpkinhead, B asked for a picture.  He was so sweet to immediately pose with her.  Thank you, Pumpkinhead!

Happy Birthday to the Hubs

To celebrate his birthday in style, B and I treated Greg to the Butcher & the Brewer for dinner and great seats at the Cavs game.  Happy birthday, sweetheart!

Vancouver Aquarium

On our final full day, we visited the Vancouver Aquarium as our little treat to B.  She had been such a good sport going to a cold location for her Spring break.  We must have heard it twenty times, "Everyone is going to the beach on their Spring break, but MY parents think that skiing and being cold is our Spring break."  I'm pretty sure that seeing the whales, jelly fish, octopus, fish, and other sea life made up for the "cold" weather vacation location!

Vancouver Aquarium where the jelly fish were electric!

Even the fish were sad that Megan wasn't with us :(

Peak2Peak Daytripping

Day three in Whistler and our first adventure took us on the Peak2Peak Gondola Ride connecting Whistler and Blackcomb Mountains.  The views were simply breathtaking.  We even enjoyed lunch at the top, which was a nice little break.

Next, we decided to check out the Olympic Center to see the skeleton and bobsled in action.  This was on Greg's list - no way would I be traveling on my back at 90+kph!  Unfortunately, the center was booked for a private party, but we were still allowed to go up to the top and watch.  Wow, so cool.

Olympic village and winning the gold!

Amazing views from the Peak2Peak gondola ride - a must do on this trip!

My fun "pair" on the mountain during our gondola stop.

Learning the skeleton at the Olympic Center.

Capilano Suspension Bridge - Oh My!

It was Greg's idea to visit the Capilano  Suspension Bridge Park.  I was a bit nervous, but figured it was worth a visit.  I am so glad to did.  Amazing views and breathtaking scenery - great day for a hike, an easy way to add up those steps for my Fitbit, and a wonderful afternoon of family fun.  Highly recommend stopping here for families - Bridget had no trouble navigating around the suspension bridge or the tree house walkways.  If you're afraid of heights, this will be tough for you, but very rewarding!

I think Greg had a wing span larger than Canadian Geese!

Bridget was a Raven!

I'm a Great Horned Owl - I'm sure it's because I am so wise (and nocturnal)!

Scared to death to cross the suspension bridge and even more nervous climbing from one tree house to the other.  After the second tree house, I was fine....but phew! It was a great afternoon and I'm so glad included this on our trip!

The best part of the day was Howe Sound Brewing in Squamish - great afternoon sitting outside on the patio enjoying a good IPA. 

Vancouver White Caps Game

After an exhausting, but fun, day at the Granville Island Public Market, Greg was able to score tickets to the Vancouver Whitecaps FC soccer game.  They played the LA Galaxy and we were treated to a tense match in which Vancouver won.  So much energy at this game!

Never knew how much fun a soccer game could be!

Vancouver - Day 1 at the Granville Island Public Market

We landed late Friday night in Vancouver.  Being on West Coast time, we woke up way too early.  With the entire day ahead of us, we decided to start off at the Granville Island Public Market.  What a great choice!  The market reminded us of our own Westside Market or Philly's Reading Market. So many interesting stands filled with delicious foods.  I think the pasta stand was my favorite because each pasta was crafted like art.

While at the Granville Island Brewing Company, this was a "stag" or bachelor party.  The groom is dressed up as a girl with pigtails (reminded me of the Foo Fighters video) - too cute of a picture to pass up!

I love trying out a new or different Bloody Mary while traveling.  This one didn't disappoint, but my favorite is still in Austin!

Such a good picture of them outside the Granville Island Public Market

How cute is this? Old silos.

Loved the Granville Island Public Market.  Just look at how delicious everything is - pasta, baked goods, fruits and veggies.  Yum!

Virginia Beach Family Visit

Love visiting my brother and his family and wish our visits weren't so spaced apart. Even though it was unseasonably cold at the beach, we were still thrilled to spend time with family.

Where's Waldo? Having fun at Cloud 9!

Cousins

Wish these visits lasted longer!

Learning to Knit

Rather than engage in "resolutions", we decided to challenge ourselves with learning one new thing every month and to tackle it together. For the month of January, we learned to knit.

We signed up for Knitting 101 at Birds of a Feather and had the most kind, patient teacher, Steven. He managed to teach all three of us, help us through our mistakes, and encouraged us to enjoy this new skill. 

So much fun!

24 Days of Christmas

This year was hit or skip for the 24 Days of Christmas activities.  I had everything laid out and organized, but the holiday season was so hectic with my work, B’s activities, and Meg being at school.  My accuracy rate was probably 75% this year (although Meg would argue it's closer to 50%).  We still managed to hit all our Friday Night Family Activities.  The first Friday was watching Elf.  Second Friday was spent enjoying pizza from Angelos (another tradition).  But the most exciting family activity was our Lolly the Trolley tour, which included visiting the Christmas Story House.  I would highly recommend this tour for everyone who is a fan of The Christmas Story or just enjoys a tour of Cleveland and looking at the pretty lights.

Playing Around at Target

Sometimes, the best memories and most fun can be had in a spontaneous way....in the aisles at Target!

Sipping at Southern Tier

This has become one of our favorite go-to places when we’re in Chautauqua.  We stumbled across the Southern Tier brewery a few years ago and have marveled at their continuous expansion.  This Thanksgiving weekend, Greg and Megan treated themselves to Southern Tier ski hats.  So stinking cute those two!

Browns Game and Family Traditions

My husband has been a Browns season ticket holder for a few years now and we love going as a family.  The first year, we only had two season passes, so we would take turns for who went each game.  Then we upgraded to three seats, which ups the odds of who gets to go and who sits at home.  During this game, it was just us girls and we had so much fun.  Great weather, great view, great time with my girls. And lots of sun - as you can see from B squinting!

Father-Daughter Cedar Point Field Trip

The last day before school began, Greg whisked B away for a fun day at Cedar Point.  And thank goodness, I didn't go.  They rode rollercoasters! Plural! She was terrified, but my brave little 7-year-old hopped back on and managed to ride at least four times!  They had a great day together!

And as father and daughter, they checked off #19 on the Summer Bucket List!

Edgewater Live at Edgewater Park

Thank you, Cleveland Metroparks, for taking over stewardship of Edgewater Park.  We had another fun outdoor activity in Cleveland.  Yummy dinner thanks for the food trucks.  Beautiful views of Lake Erie, including the Nalu stand-up paddleboards.  Some seriously good people watching and an overall fun evening as a family.

Best of all, we checked off #1 on our Summer Bucket List.

 

Fun at the Farm

Every Summer Bucket List should include a trip to Szalay's for their sweet corn and fresh fruits and vegetables.  We loaded up with some of the best farm produce in Northern Ohio and were even treated to a visit by our friend, Karen and her daughter.  What a great afternoon!

We scored the best seat, which is a family table that swings and had a canopy keeping the brutal summer sun off of us! Look at those two girls digging into their sweet corn!

50 States Completed

All 50 are done.  What started out as a conversation on a bar napkin in 2008 soon turned out to be a wonderful, yet daunting, challenge.  And we did it.  As a family.  Since completing Hawaii in June, we've had several conversations regarding which race we liked the most - which was more challenging or family-friendly or had the best medal or the best finish line food.  It's hard to answer these questions because we had so much fun tackling the distances and races and providing the girls with educational opportunities that you can only achieve through travel.

So here's a few of my favorite categories:

• Best race with husband.  Hands down it would the Arkansas adventure race.  Scared the holy hell out of me.  I had never been mountain biking.  I hadn't been canoeing since I was 16 (don't even think about doing the math!).  And I most certainly was impaired when it came to reading a compass and actually finding my way in and out of a forest.  But Little Rock was awesome.  We visited the world's biggest nacho cheese festival, watched the Arkansas Razorbacks football game at a local bar listening to everyone say "Woo pig sooey" over and over.  And we had fun as a couple.
• Best race with Megan.  This is a tough one.  I loved running side by side with her in the University of Notre Dame Sunburst 5k race where she complained the whole time until hearing the band playing on the field, sprinted, and beat me by 4-5 seconds! It was also awesome to see her finish 3rd in her age group at the Savannah Halloween 5k race.  A beautiful course, but the best part was she wore he medal the entire weekend, except when she showered! Finally, it could have been the Rhode Island 6-hour Ultra race, where she sat in the car between my 2.5 mile laps, came over to cheer me as I came around the corner, and then be greeted by me at the finish line where I said, "Ive had enough of this running. Let's go shopping at Nordstrom's."  And that's exactly what we did.  She was always my biggest cheerleader, regardless of the race distance or how boring the day would eventually become.
• Best race with Bridget.  Along the way, Bridget and I started the tradition of running a Halloween race.  We would dress up and, in the beginning, I would push her in the jogging stroller.  Our race in New Mexico, the stroller didn't show up in time for the race (no thanks to United!).  Greg got on the web, found a jogging stroller rental place, and had a replacement stroller delivered to my hotel.  He did all this from Cleveland!  In Seattle, she ran her first kids race, which was a 1-mile fun run.  We were dressed up as two Draculas and she kicked ass! We've run 3 more races since then and she even completed her first 5k locally and, of course, it was a Halloween race. For race experience, it melted my heart that after I won 3rd place in my age group, I received a trophy for the Alice in Wonderland Little Ruell 10k race in Oklahoma.  Bridget carried my trophy around the entire weekend - she even held on to it while sleeping in her car seat!
• Best family vacation.  This is a tough one.  Hawaii for obvious reasons.  Alaska was pretty cool, too, especially being greeted by Bridget at the finish line holding a bouquet of the longest-stemmed dandelions I've ever laid my eyes on. But the funnest of the all was at the most magical place on earth - Disneyworld.  I ran the Disney Princess Half Marathon in 2009. I wasn't trained properly and that was reflected in my horrible 2:40 finish.  But the race opened up the MGM Studio Park for the runners and their families only.  We got to meet ALL the princesses, take tons of Disney character pictures, enjoy the rides and eat some of the most unhealthy food on the planet.  It was a wonderful family vacation had by all of us.
• Best finish line food.  Another tough question.  The Ann Arbor 10k had fresh fruit by Whole Foods, which was such a delight, and fresh-baked breads from Zingerman's.  Yum!  The Des Moines, Iowa half marathon had an amazing smorgasbord of deliciousness as well, but the Prairie Fire half marathon in Kansas had piping hot Krispie Kreme donuts and fresh, locally roasted coffee at the finish line.  Now that's why I run.
• Best schwag.  Hands down, I loved the Portland, Oregon Freshwater Trust Triathlon for the schwag.  Each finisher received a hat (that I still wear everywhere), a stainless steel water bottle, and a pint of Descheutes.  Second place would go to the Ironman 70.3 Honu triathlon in Hawaii, where we received hat, shirt, and the best tasting Maui potato chips made on this earth!
• Best scenery. The Crazy Horse half marathon and the Park City Half Marathon tie for this category.  Both races took my breath away.  We loved Mount Rushmore and Rapid City, South Dakota.  Would even go there again! In Park City, I got to watch the Tour of Utah and meet Bob Roll (swoon - if you're a cycling/Bobke fan).  They were both had outstanding organization, race volunteers, and amenities.  I would run both of these races again and highly recommend others enter as well.  
• My favorite race experiences.  It wasn't the distance that made the race special.  And I've run big races and really small races.  I definitely like the small, hometown races the best, without a doubt.  I loved the Bill Luti 5-Miler. I ran cross country in high school so this race was even more neat.  Bill Luti was the high school cross country coach for 4 decades.  He stood at the 2-mile mark and yelled out the time.  I heard so many people yell out "Thanks, Coach Luti" that it truly made the race experience wonderful.  I also loved the Jerry Zucker Metric Century Plus Ride, where I met George Hincapie.  I rode for 69 miles with two wonderful women, who were 20 years older than me and could kick my ass in cycling.  Truly humbling and rewarding experience.  But I will never forget my first marathon - the PF Chang's Marathon in Phoenix, Arizona.  I had no idea what to expect and yet I was nervous and excited at the start line and overjoyed at the finish line.  Greg and Megan greeted me and he gave me a beautiful Tiffany necklace to congratulate me.

It's been a wonderful challenge and I count my blessings that I was able to do this with my family and in good health (good health is an arbitrary phrase, you know).  

Fun Around Maui

We arrived safely on our little 8-seater plane.  Holy crap, I had never been in a puddle hopper before and was surprised over how low we flew.  I could see the water VERY WELL.  I had to be brave and hold Bridget's hand, who sat across from me and not let her know that I was freaking out as well.  But our pilots were fantastic and got us there just fine.  Phew!

Maui is stunning.  I was not prepared for all the natural beauty.  While the Big Island is a bit barren and full of lava rock, Maui is lush with foliage and greenery.  Every day was a calm 80-85 degree day with sun and a clear sky.  A tropical paradise.

We checked into our hotel and I would soon realize that the Fairmont chain would compete for my love and affection with Kimpton.  The Fairmont Kea Lani was amazing from every single vantage point.  Just look at this.

Top left: view from lobby. Top right: view from our room.
Bottom left: great action shot of B enjoying the pool. Bottom right: Me & pumpkin sporting our beautiful leis.

For our first night in Maui, Greg had booked us for the Old Lahani Luau.  What a treat! There were several kid-friendly activities for Bridget, learning to dance for me, and other little activities to enjoy before dinner.  We even were greeted with mai tais to drink when we arrived!

One of our first sightseeing activities during the day was our trip to the Maui Plantation Farm.  The best part was sampling fresh pineapple in the fields and learning about the 3 different types of sweetness.  Even better was receiving 4 large pineapples to take back to CLE!

Sunset ocean cruise would have to rank toward the top on this trip.  Beautiful views of Maui from the ocean, a great little ukulele performer, and talking to the captain made this excursion so much fun!

Not everyone was happy about the boat ride!

And now I would have to get ready for the biggest surprise of the entire trip!

Two Islands, One Big Race, 50 States

We did it.  We hit 50.  50 states, that is.  And just like that, a goal was reached!

Hawaii was amazing and was everything we thought it would be and more.  We arrived mid day in Kona to one of the most beautiful sights we have seen.  Just look at the view from our hotel.

For the first 5 days we stayed in Kona at the Fairmont Orchid.  Absolutely beautiful with friendly, attentive staff.  Highly recommend this hotel, if you're planning a trip to the Big Island.  First thing we did when we landed late Wednesday was check-in to the hotel which, by the time we landed, was well after our bed time.  Dinner, relax and take in the scenery was all that we planned to do.  And sleep.

The girls enjoying one of the many cool activities at the Fairmont Orchid - lei making!

Thursday, we headed over to Kona to pick up our bikes we had reserved.  I got a sweet Cervelo named Gino and Greg found a Cannondale that would be his ride for the race. We brought our own pedals, but never thought about bringing our own seats.  We would soon learn the importance of that mistake!  Rest of there day was spent poolside and relaxing while squeezing in a little scuba and light open water swim.

Friday, was packet pick-up and athlete check-in.  If we weren't nervous before, we would be now.  We grabbed our packets, ankle timing chip, swim caps, signed our waivers, and drank lots of water.  The race would be hot, hilly and humid.  Hydration was necessary.  Oh, and we hit the expo shop and found a couple cool shirts with all the racers names on the back.  What a great keepsake!


Friday evening, we took our bikes to mandatory bike check-in.  The Ironman 70.3 Honu race was unlike any other triathlon I had raced.  Normally, you check in your bike the morning of the race and lay out your towel, organize your transition area, and then head down to the water.  Not this Half Ironman.  We had to drop off our "T2 Run" bag during check-in.  No room for mistakes at this point.  Then, early Friday evening, we rode our bikes to the bike checkin, which was about 7 miles from the hotel.  Holy crosswinds, batman.  What the hell was I thinking when I decided to enter this race?! I know, I thought "Go big or go home." Now this was suddenly feeling like a super crazy, super insane choice!  We found our assigned rack, checked-in our bikes, and took the bus back to the hotel....in silence...freaking out inside.  We don't get CROSSWINDS in Cleveland.  My right hand and shoulder blades were already aching from the death grip that I had trying to prevent myself from tipping over on the bike from the forceful direction of the winds.  This was after a 7-mile ride.  I had to come out of the water, hop on to the bike, and cycle 56 miles! Uh oh.

The rest of the evening was light and easy.  Early dinner, early to bed.

It's 5am? How can it be 5am? Holy crap, we're doing this.  And off to the Athlete Bus we went with all the other racers at our hotel.

Swim
As soon as we arrived at the T1 Transition Area, I dropped by T1 cycling bag and headed down to the open water swim.  Nerves were on heightened alert.  I knew I could swim the distance.  I even felt comfortable with the open water and channeled my inner Crowie Alexander Got Milk Commercial (The open water is my playground, he says).  I knew I could do this.  But could I do it with nearly 1,000 other athletes, with waves, in salt water, and under 1 hour 15 minutes? And the women were the last wave, so there was no cushion for finishing as the clock started ticking with our group.  Greg and the male group got a 7 minute cushion over the women.

I did.  Made it out of the water in 1:03 and change.  A bit slow, but I'm pretty sure I zigged and I zagged way more than necessary.  My dad always said I ran like a Singer sewing machine on zigzag stitch.  Pretty sure I swim the same way.  But hell, I did it.  But this is where the first of many mistakes began.

I walked across the sandy beach to the showers they had to rinse off the salt.  I piddled.  Seriously, I stood there and enjoyed the rinse.  What was I thinking?! Then I walked the 200+ yard hill to the transition area, thinking I was conserving energy.  No no no.  The (and yes. there's another "then"), I couldn't find things logically in my transition bag, had to dump out the contents, sort through my crap, find my gels (which would NOT slide into my back pockets in my race top because I was soaking wet), and had to insert my gels into my bra.  Mental note, get a bento box and organize your fuel, Robin!  I start to head out of transition and then realize I forgot to apply my hoohah cream.  No way was I going to tackle 56 miles on an uncomfortable seat without the miracle of hoohah cream.  So back to the port potty I went.  By the time I hopped on my bike and exited transition, I spent nearly 20 minutes in transition! Stupid.

Bike
There was a giant hill immediately out of transition.  And this was only the first of MANY hills I would encounter on this fine Saturday morning.  The hills, the headwinds, the crosswinds, and the fact that I was not at a good racing weight, would all challenge me.  I raced a good portion by myself, which also meant I didn't have to worry about drafting concerns!  No penalty tent for this girl.  Since we weren't allowed to have music, it also meant I had a lot of alone time...so I sang.  And I only know the words to a few songs...mostly rap songs.  And my voice is awful!

While the scenery was beautiful, I remember very little about the course other than it was hot, hilly, humid, but filled with breathtaking views of the ocean...and lots of lava rock.  The turn around was in a neat little town called Hawi (pronounced with a "v" instead of "w") and I was so grateful to be able to say I was over halfway!  About 40 miles into the race, I ran into Greg, who was with the medical team due to leg cramps.  I pulled over to check on him and chatted with the medical team to make sure he was ok.  It was a wicked hot day and it got the best of many athletes.

The final 5-mile stretch was through lava fields and I was stunned over just how how my body would soon feel.  I was rounding the last couple miles and a volunteer told me that it was nearly 12:30pm - the cutoff and I better hurry.  As I entered the chute, I was told I missed the cutoff by 4 minutes.  4 lousy minutes! I racked my bike and paced a bit, considering whether I should just dart off on the run anyway.  The run cutoff allowed athletes in the transition area until 12:45pm to get out on the run course.  I still had 10 minutes and only needed to slide my feet into my running shoes, throw on my hat, and head out.  I wanted to do this so bad because I had the legs to do it.  It's my thing, running.  But I'm only a rule follower and that was that.

So I wandered off to the medical tent to see if Greg had checked in.  Afterwards, we grabbed our t-shirts and a couple beers and watched as the finishers came through the run cute.

Amazing experience.  I conquered the swim.  I handled the bike just fine in all the heat.  And I knew I had the legs left for the run.  This could only mean one thing...I just HAD to sign up for another half ironman to prove that I could do this.  I had to have closure.

But first, I needed a shower.  Boy, did I smell!

Oh Henry! And Candlemaking

Bridget and I met Megan in Columbus for a little "girls" time.  We try not to go more than two weeks without seeing each other while Meg's away at school.  We're a pretty tight knit group, you could say.  We decided to do dinner in the short north and wander in and out of their shops during their Gallery Hop weekend.  Bridget came across this little dog who was set on licking off all her leftover butter (from her buttered pasta).  I can still hear her giggling! We had a great dinner, enjoyed all the shops, and stumbled into this great little candlemaking shop.  We even got to make our candles with the owner, who is simply fantastic!

At the Candle Lab, you first spend time smelling all the different scents they offer.  I think there were over 40! You then narrow your favorites down to about 3-5 and the staff help you mix your own scent.  You even get to create your own label! We all left with our own concoctions and they smell quite good (shocking, right?).