We woke up to a slightly gloomy morning and a dusting of snow. I was trying to decide where to go for a Wednesday adventure, when a friend posted about visiting the Butterfly Pavilion. It seemed like a great idea so we got tickets and headed south.

You must purchase tickets in advance because they limit how many people are allowed in. Also you have to wear a mask while visiting. I am so glad that Emmy will now wear a mask without complaint.

The kids LOVED the exhibits with all the spiders, scorpions and bees.

There was a touch pool area with Sea Stars and Horseshoe Crabs

A favorite part was the area where you can walk in with the butterflies. Both Cannon and Emerald were so excited about having butterflies land on them.

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Before leaving they each chose a cause to donate to.

They also have an outdoor garden that would be gorgeous in the spring/summer.

Emmy and Cannon loved exploring the area even if the plants weren’t blooming.

We had a great morning, I love these days that I have with both kids, spending time together. I can feel just how limited they are.

In the afternoon we had to get to Costco because we are still on storm watch.

Weather Underground is saying 27 inches, but I keep hearing 3-5 feet for the weekend, so we shall see. I just wish we were getting more in the mountains because that is what fills our reservoirs and fights off drought.

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Had and great adventures lately?

Do you get spring snow where you live? March is one of our heaviest snow months.

Things are starting to look up after our country song of a day. Cannon did have to stay home for another day from school, luckily he was feeling great so we just got to enjoy the day together.

We had to take Humphry into to the hospital to get his ultrasound in the morning. We were nervous to drop him off so we distracted ourselves with a trip to the library.

Then we spent some time at a playground. We were delighted when we ran into a good friend at the playground. friends make everything better.

When we got home we got a call that Humphry was done with his ultrasound and had a slight flare up of pancreatitis. We should be able to tread this with medications that will allow him to recover. We are so relieved because we were certain he was headed for surgery. This was the best news we could get and we are very relieved to have our little guy home.

After picking up Humphry we spent the afternoon playing in the backyard.

The kids even helped Cory prep for dinner outside.

It was a teaching night so I prepped for class. We are enjoying the nice weather while we can and also enjoying watching our snow totals change each day.

I completely broke my streak of getting up at 4 AM and running at least 5k, I knew I wasn’t going to get up and run on my own when we went camping but then when we got home I stayed up all night making sue Cannon was breathing. While I won’t make my goal of getting up every day for a month I plan to get right back on the horse now that things are calming down a bit.

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Please wish me luck for my 4AM wake up call!

Anyone training for big race this summer?

You know the country songs where everything goes wrong? Truck broke down, dog died, woman left, etc. We had one of those days. It started early Monday morning with Cannon woke up panicking and struggling to breathe. It was scary and we narrowly avoided a trip to the ER but were instructed to go see his doctor in the morning.

Luckily everything looked good for Cannon and he ended up with a negative covid test. It was a very scary ordeal but all seems to work out for the best.

Then we got word the Cory’s grandmother had passed. We were expecting this news sometime soon but we were hoping she would be able to go home. My hope is that we can all gather safely this summer and celebrate the life of this loving, wonderful woman.

Cory’s Aunt who was there when she passed reminded us that family is everything and not to waste a minute.

During our stressful day, Humphry began throwing up and couldn’t keep anything down, we have seen this before when he struggled with Pancreatitis. He seemed to be suffering so we ran him to the emergency veterinary hospital to be checked out.

We were lucky that we were able to bring Humphry home for the evening and then take him back in for an ultrasound tomorrow to check his pancreas. When we took him in for this in September his heart stopped and we almost lost him so it is very difficult to leave him at the hospital.

All in all it was a rough day, but we are happy to have each other and we get to start over again tomorrow.

Hug your loved ones when you can.

On Friday we decided that we needed a quick get away to test out our trailer off grid before our trip to Utah for spring break. We decided a quick trip to see the Royal Gorge would be a fun adventure.

We took Friday to get ready, we still had to install our load level hitch with sway bars.

I also had an appointment to take Cannon swimming and he had an amazing time!

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The kids were very helpful running errands to get us ready for our adventure.

They were very supportive of a Starbucks stop, I tried the iced Irish Cream and it was amazing.

On Saturday we drove south towards Cañon City where we were going to camp. The original place we planned to camp was very busy with OHV vehicles so we went in search of somewhere more peaceful.

We found a little campground near the mouth of the Royal Gorge. While there were designated camp sites there weren’t any amenities so it was good practice for boondocking in Moab.

I love that the kids love just playing in the dirt and exploring. We don’t need to entertain them at all, they just want some shovels and time outside.

We had some pretty great views from the trailer and we all slept soundly.

The sunrise was incredible!

We even had some deer wonder through the campsite.

On Sunday morning we went to go visit the Royal Gorge. We decided to not go to the actual park where can cross the bridge because so much was closed for maintenance or Covid. We would love to visit and explore more when more is open, luckily it’s only 2.5 hours from home so we will be back!

We did find a nice overlook trail to hike, with beautiful views of the bridge and gorge.

Both Emmy and Cannon loved checking out the local plants.

The views were amazing!

The kids loved running on the trails.

They also enjoyed a snack before heading back to our camp site.

We were able to pack up quickly and drive home. I am so excited that winter is slowly coming to an end and we are able to get out more on these adventures.

We are coming home to this forecast so I am glad we got out while we could!

We had a wonderful weekend testing out our trailer off grid.

We hiked and played in the dirt. We made deposits in our goals for both 1000 hours outside and 52 kid hikes.

I am buried under a mountain of laundry, we are low on groceries and the house is a mess but it’s all worth it to make these family memories.

It’s also nice to get home, back to a routines and back to the 4 AM wake up.

We found our adventure for the weekend. Quick check in here before we are off, full recap tomorrow.

We hope you are having a wonderful weekend!

Hooray for Friday! I am so looking forward to this weekend, I am not sure what we are going to do but the weather is nice, Cory has a long weekend and we will be together. One of my goals for this weekend is to prep to run outside more, although we have daylight savings coming up so that might throw a wrench in things.

Yesterday I started out with a very easy run on the treadmill, getting up early has become so easy now.

After getting the kids up we got ready for school. Emmy had something in her eye we cleared it up with eye drops but she wasn’t feeling up to walking Cannon to school. Emmy stayed home to cuddle with Cory while I took Cannon to school. It’s nice to have just Cannon to hang out with sometimes, he is just the sweetest, silliest, funniest kid. His heart is gold and I really don’t know how we got so lucky.

After dropping Cannon off Emmy and I got ready to go to the pool. They have limited how many people can be in the pool at a time so we were happy to grab a reservation for just the two of us.

I threw it way back to 2012 with my Ironman CDA back pack, this thing is seriously the best gear bag!

Emmy was so excited to go swimming, she has missed it so much.

Her face must have hurt from smiling so much the entire time we were there.

After swimming we picked up Cannon from school and came home for lunch and nap. Emmy has been tired and has napped the last couple days.

It was a grey, cold rainy day so we stayed inside to play for the rest of the afternoon.

I had a class to teach in the evening, and I was pretty happy to get to wear my clogs under the desk.

Something that Cannon has really gotten into lately is yoga, he loves Cosmic Yoga on YouTube.

Emmy likes it too, but Cannon has been LOVING it.

I found these kids yoga mats in the dollar spot at Target:

You can get them individually in store or all four online I got Emmy the cat and Cannon the frog. They are going to be so excited to do yoga on them!

I was also SO excited to find this active set for Emerald, I feel like running shorts are hard to find for toddler girls. I scooped up both designs and I can’t wait for it to be warm enough for her to wear!

I got Cannon this Puma set from Costco I am excited for him to get to wear these to soccer this spring.

This weekend I am going to be putting together the kids’ St. Patricks Day baskets and I am loving these rainbow baskets!

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What are you loving lately?

Any fun plans for the weekend? We are still working on our plans, hopefully we will find an adventure to go on.

Getting up at 4AM is actually easy now, my body waked up easily with my alarm. I think getting up every day is really key, now I don’t think I could fall back asleep even if I wanted to! I finished Bridgerton while running three progression miles. I am sad that Bridgerton was over so fast and I will have to find something else to watch. The one upside to so many treadmill miles is that it is the only real time that I get to choose whatever I want to watch.

Wednesdays are one of my favorite days of the week, Cannon has the entire day off and we like to plan fun adventures. This week we met some friends to explore a space themed playground.

Cannon loved it and had so much fun. He is at an age where I don’t have to worry as much about him falling off so that makes it more fun for me.

It was so nice out that we ditched our jackets and played until lunch time. I am really looking forward to eating meals outside, unfortunately our backyard is very shady (great for the summer) so we have to wait until it warms up a little more.

After lunch and nap time, Emmy did nap, we walked down to another playground. It’s nice to take advantage of this nice weather while we have it!

They both walked the entire way, I have hight hopes to get Cannon up to 4-5 miles hiking this summer.

Emmy really enjoyed the sun.

When we got home we spent more time in the backyard playing with the drone and dreaming of a new patio. My hope is that we can get one installed this spring.

I asked Emmy to give me her best face so I could take her picture..this is what she gave me. I love how expressive she is!

I was sent this video and it looks AMAZING! Who else wants to go run in the Alps now?

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Anyone else enjoying warm weather? It was in the 60s here =)

4.5 hours outside

It has been so beautiful here lately it really feels like spring is showing up, I really shouldn’t get my hopes up too high.

Yes there is still some snow on the ground but the highs this week are in the 60s!

The day started with a 5k on the treadmill for me, nice and easy. I think my goal is to slowly move these runs more and more outside. I kept to the treadmill because it was easier on my injury and it is just so cold and dark, but it’s time to get outside more! I think tomorrow I will try to get some miles outside with the kids, they love running together!

After running we found the the Leprechauns had visited again, this time leaving chocolate coins.

I can’t wait to give them their St. Patricks day baskets.

After breakfast Emmy and I walked Cannon to school then ran some needed errands. After we picked up Cannon we went to a playground to enjoy the sunshine.

I love that they love playgrounds so much!

We spent the rest of the day playing together and resting a bit. I had a terrible allergy attack and felt pretty bad for a couple hours. I have no idea what I reacted to.

I had class in the evening so Cory got the kids while I went to work.

I loved this article by David Roche:

https://trailrunnermag.com/training/the-science-and-art-of-pacing-easy-runs.html

I love this description of easy.

If you take nothing else away from this article, remember this point: you can go as slow as you freaking want. 

David Roche

So go out there and DON’T get after it 😉

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Do you like easy runs?

Is spring showing up where you live?

It was a great state to March for us. My 4 AM wake up is getting easier, I got 4.8 miles in on the treadmill. Soon I will take more of these runs outside!

Then we were visited by leprechauns who turned our milk green!

We jogged to school then Emmy and I stuck around to play with a couple friends. Then we went to a different playgrounds and saw friends we haven’t seen in a very long time. It was so nice to get outside play and see them!

Emmy rejected her nap again and enjoyed some cuddles with Cannon instead.

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New month new goals! I am so excited about all we have coming up this month. If the weather cooperates, Cannon will start soccer and we will spend 1/3 of the month off in our camper!

March Goals

• At least 84 hours outside, more would be better to get caught up on our 1000 hours outside goal.
• At least 4 Hikes this month to work towards our 52 hikes a year goal. If we get to do our Utah trip we will easily exceed this goal.
• Continue my goal to get up at 4 AM every day and run at least 3 miles until the 19th (not going to continue this while we are on vacation).
• Work on my creation skills by publishing 3 videos in March. One a week with a break while we are on vacation.
• Run/walk at least 125 miles this month

Anyone else enjoying “early spring”? When do you think spring starts?

Any goals for March?