Family Vacation 2015 PICTURE HEAVY!

Hello Little Loves!  We spent our annual family vacation in Port Clinton, OH.  Its such a nice little place with some many things to do. I didn't take pictures of everything but I will share as much as I can!

This is the beach where we stay.  So beautiful!

Miss V was in a picture taking mood so the next couple are her pictures.  I think she did pretty good with this one!

She also took this one and I love it!

There are my littles! 

We stumbled upon this winery!

They had the best little area to sit and the tastes they give you were very generous! I'm not a red fan but I thought all of these were  pretty good! The setting made this is fantastic place for me! 

We went out to Marblehead lighthouse for a little while.  It is really beautiful and I could have sat there all day watching the waves and exploring the rocks.  

(I stole this pic! sshhhh)

One day we went to Monsoon Lagoon . I'm not big on water parks but I wanted to be a good sport because everyone else wanted to go!  This place turned out to be the best kept secret!  It wasn't very big which worked to our advantage but you got so much for your money.  We went on a weekday so the price was $20 per person but that got us the water park, unlimited putt putt, bumper boats, & go karts.  We could also go out to our car any time so we packed a lunch and sat in our van to eat.  The park was small enough that we didn't have to mother hen our kids the whole time.  They could play and run and enjoy and so could we!  It even had a swim up bar with daily specials that we may have enjoyed!  Highly Highly Highly recommend if you are in the Port Clinton  or north /west of Sandusky go check them out!! Well worth it!

Mr. J and I snuck out for a date one night while my sweet mother watched the kids.  After a lovely dinner at a winery (Mon Ami Winery) we decided to find the sunset and found a lovely little pier to walk out on.  This was right after the sun set and it was one of the most gorgeous skies! God was definitely showing off his painting skills all week!  We were treated to so many gorgeous views! 

Until this happened on Thursday!  That's algae bloom.  It basically turns the water into pea soup and you can't go near it.  It disgusting! So we decided to leave after breakfast on Friday morning and do some more exploring on the way home!

I'm glad we did because we found this place right out side of Toledo in a town called Perrysburg.  If you haven't been here (and you live in the area) you need to go!!  It was SO neat!  We are already planning our return trip for this winter.  Lots to see and great prices on clothes and gear! We loved it!

I met a new friend! You know that moment when you question if it's really dead and trustworthy? this was that moment.  My face was as close to his mouth as it could get without touching.  PHEW!

And I found my new favorite brand!  Ok it might not be my absolute favorite but I'm loving the name!

All in all this was the best vacation we have had as a family.  Usually we deal with rain, sickness, moodiness, & bad listening skills.  But this one was smooth sailing from start to finish.  I still can't believe how good it was.  It was a vacation to remember and one that went far too fast.  We are already planning our return for next year with lots of adventures in between! 

Love, Lacey

Two week round up! End of April 2015

Hello Loves!  Its been a few weeks since I talked to you.  If you missed why you can go read it here. But I haven't been MIA with my workouts.  Like a lot of people my workouts, especially my runs, are my time with God and the time that I pray continually about those I love or issues I'm facing.  So I thought I would give you a little update on the last 2 weeks.  I'll save my weekly round up for the weekend or next week.  But  here is what my last 2 weeks have looked like!

The week of 4/20
Mon - Run 3
Tue - Speed Work
Wed - ZUMBA!
Thur - Rest
Fri - Swim 15 laps
Sat. - LSD - 6.2 miles
Sun - REST

My marathon Monday miles!

This guy loves to try to kill me with speed work!

Long Slow Miles! 6.2 to be exact!

The Week of 4/27

Mon - Run 3

Tues - ZUMBA

Wed - Speed Work

Thur - Swim

Fri - REST

Sat - LSD 6

Sun - REST

Some nice easy Monday Miles with my favorite running partner!

Then these 2 tried to kill me with 6 x .25 speed!  YES!

Then I did some Long Slow Distance alone!  6 miles!

Then to reward myself (or at least this was my motivation) Mr. J and I had a business dinner to go to on Saturday Eve.  I was trying to earn my food and drinks that night.  But I'm so happy with this picture.  I love spending time with this guy and being able to be all dressed up is a bonus!

So there ya go!  That's my last two weeks.  This week is going well too!  So I can't wait to share that with you! 

Love, Lacey

Spring Break Part 2

If you missed Part 1 you can go read it here.  Otherwise let's get on with what else we did on our Tennessee adventure.

The kids really wanted to visit Ripley Aquarium in Gatlinburg.   If you haven't been there I would highly recommend it.  I would also highly recommend you print or find coupons before you go.  This is NOT a cheap place to visit.  But it is really neat!  They have a glass tunnel that you walk through (or ride the moving sidewalk) and at times its hard to see the glass and it looks like the sharks are just swimming overhead.  VERY cool!!

Mr. D also got to hold a horseshoe crab.  He was very excited to see it up close and personal.  I touched it and the other 2 didn't want anything to do with it.  It was a very odd creature. But kind of neat at the same time. 

This picture and the next one sum up how Miss V felt about the aquarium.  Like I said in the previous blog she wasn't feeling well the whole trip and I have a feeling at this point her fever was coming back and she was pretty much over the crowd of people and being there.  So these are how she felt! 

"I'm going to stand there but I'm NOT happy about it!" - from the mind of Miss V.

We got to see so many cool sea creatures here but one of my favorites was this sea turtle.  I don't think this picture does him justice of how big he is! He was huge and so majestic!  He just glides through the water. Mr. J and I had the pleasure of snorkeling with one in Mexico on our honeymoon so it was neat to see one again in person. 

The next day we decided the weather was going to be perfect for hiking. Before we left home I had looked up a few different hikes and talked to a few different people and the hike to Laurel Falls seemed to be the perfect beginners trail for the kids.  Although this hike was 1.25 miles to the falls and obviously 1.25 miles back out it was paved and fairly flat the whole way up.  This was a great easy trail.  Lots of places to stop and look over the edge.  The signs that say "Caution people have died here" didn't put Mr. J at ease or the sheer drop off on the side but I wasn't too worried.  We warned the kids about getting close to the edge and asked them to stay on the inside.  We did see people with strollers going up this trail.  I would definitely recommend this hike to anyone! Here is a GREAT website for hiking in the smokeys and about the falls.

The falls! It was even more beautiful in person!

My girly and I at the falls! Even though she didn't feel great she was a trooper and hiked all the way up!! 

You crossed this bridge to see the falls.  But this little pool also had a waterfall coming off of it! So beautiful!

This pictures makes me happy in a way I can't explain. When Mr. J & I met I was the ultimate girly girl.  The thought of hiking or not wearing makeup and heels was just outrageous. And now (almost) 12 years later? I run long distance for fun! In these pictures I hadn't done my hair and have my absolute bare minimum make up on (mascara only). I was EXCITED to hike and I wanted to do more! I looked at some trails that were labeled "Technical" and I wanted to do them! I'm so thankful that Mr. J has loved me through the process of becoming the person that I am.  And maybe pushing & challenging me a little along the way. I still absolutely LOVE heels and make up and dressing up.  But there is a completely different love and feeling of freedom for things like this. I can't wait to hike again! 

Thank you to the lady that took this picture for us!  Come to find out she was from our hometown! It is a very small world!  Travel 9 hours from home to find someone doing the same!

After our hike to the falls it was lunch time.  We stopped at the local rangers station (which I would HIGHLY recommend!)  to ask where a great spot to eat was and he pointed us in the direction of Chimney picnic area. The actual picnic area itself was nothing too special.  Nice picnic tables and places to park but what made this THE place to stop was the river that ran beside it.  It was beautiful but what was even better was that you could jump around and play on the giant rocks! The rocks were big enough and close enough together that even the kids could get out there with us and explore!

The loves of my life!

We are on a rock nearly in the middle of the river with a waterfall behind us!  How's THAT for romance?

As you can imagine we took a TON of pictures.  But this one is one of my favorites.  It shows me just how far I have come. I only got nervous and anxious one time when Mr. D was jumping to a rather far away rock (thank goodness he made it!).  But I jumped rocks, I climbed around and looked at the water.  If you would have told me I would do this a few years ago I would have laughed at you!  My anxiety would have never let me get anywhere CLOSE to the edge of the river let alone go jumping around on the rocks. I still deal with anxiety don't get me wrong. But for some reason God has answered my prayers and taken so much of it away. I sat on this rock, scooted as far forward as I could, and took a picture. Those are rapids going down to a waterfall.  And you know what?  I wasn't scared!  I wasn't anxious!  I wanted to stay there all day and play! Another picture that makes me so happy and proud of myself. 

On our way to Clingmans dome we passed in North Carolina.  You sort of snake back and forth across the boarder several times.  But this little look out and pull off had this awesome sign! That means that on our spring break we went through 5 states! I'm pretty excited about that!

And to finish up the day we went to Clingmans Dome. We were told it was a half mile paved trail up to the dome and that the views would be amazing! Well they didn't lie AT ALL!  The views were to die for!  What they didn't say was that the half mile paved trail was basically UP the whole time. And poor Miss V was NOT feeling well so I'll give you 1 guess who got to carry 40 extra pounds up and down? It's ok though!  It was worth the sweat and stopping every .10 of a mile to sit down to rest.  The views were AMAZING!  I could make an entire separate post on the views and pictures we took up there.  The dome was just awesome!  Another place I would highly recommend!  As we went down the trail there was one couple who were walking slowly and looking like it was a trek for them.  They asked me if it was worth it.  I said YES!!!  I said it's a hike but use the benches to rest and get up there!  You will NOT regret it!

Even though Miss V's smile is fake the rest of us are SUPER happy to be up here. I'm so thankful for this vacation and the time together as a family.  God is growing our family together to be closer and stronger. This vacation is one that we will all look back on and treasure.  Something tells me this isn't our last trip to Tennessee!  I have a feeling we will go back many times.  I'd love to go down with just Mr. J and do lots of hiking but we will see!  Right now I'm just savoring the way our family is and how blessed I feel to have spent this time with them. 

Love, Lacey

Super Fun Birthday!

As you may or may not know, yesterday was my birthday!! Make sure you follow me on instagram (LoveLacey365) so you can keep up on all my fun day to day things!!!! Usually Mr. J & I go out to dinner on the weekend and call it good.  But this year he had some vacation days he didn't plan on using and asked if I had any ideas.  Well after a family vacation was planned, I said what if you took my birthday off and we just spent the day together.  So that's what we did!  There was an antique store about an hr and a half from our house that I have wanted to check out so we loaded up early in the morning and went for it.  A HUGE thanks to my mom (who I hope reads my blog) for helping out with the kids! We couldn't have done it without you!

At the antique store we found an amazing table!  I took some pictures so that I could recreate the table with our 'need of update' kitchen table.  It's hard to tell in this picture but the top is a grey/brown type color.  And the bottom is an off white.  SO gorgeous! We found lots of fun things and had a good time. 

Next up I was starving (that is not surprising!) so we started to check out local restaurants. When visiting a city we love to try to find local places to eat.  You know those little hole in the walls tend to be the best! Well when I looked at the map I found a place called "Slappy's rib shack".  We HAD to go! I said we could at least drive by and see what it looked like since it was kind of on the outskirts of town.  Well it was a little tiny building (no seating inside) with 2 HUGE smokers out front with smoke pouring out.  We both said THAT'S IT! We went in and Slappy himself helped us order, was very very nice & helpful, and can I just say that there is no picture of the food for one reason.  It was SO good and I was SO hungry that it was gone before I thought of a picture.  I"M SORRY!  But if you are ever in Rochester, IN RUN do not walk to Slappy's! I personally liked the pulled pork better than the ribs (and yes we ordered both) but they had so many amazing choices.  They even had fries that had pulled pork & nacho cheese on them.  OH goodness!

After lunch we walked around Big R which is like a tractor/farm supply store.  They had baby chicks and ducks in so I was in heaven just watching them and dreaming of the day we can get our own chickens.  After Big R, I spotted a winery on the map! I HAD to go!  So we stopped at Schnabeltier and did a wine tasting!  They make their own wine and cheese to go with it.  The girl in the shop (sorry I didn't get your name) was SUPER friendly and told us lots about the winery and the wines and how they came up with the unusual name and mascot! I ended up buying a bottle of wine to bring home and got to keep that adorable tasting glass! Love to find these little gems!

After the winery we had NO plans and a long drive home.  Most of the drive was through the country which led to lots of fun talks and just general enjoyment of being together and the amazing sunshine!  Soon we found ourselves pretty close to the next town so I started to look to see what was there.  Not much to be honest but they did have a local coffee shop (another favorite of mine) so we swung in.  Can I just say how AMAZING the house was? I literally walked through the downstairs (which was the sitting area of the coffee shop) saying "Oh my gosh!", "Oh look at that!", "OH how beautiful".  I wish I could have gotten a picture to show you how amazing the woodwork and walls and just the general beauty of this old house!  If you ever find your self in North Manchester, IN go directly to KenapocoMocha!  The lady that works there was very very sweet and the coffee was AMAZING!  

We stopped a few more places on the way home.  Nothing too exciting just general pop in and wander around types before getting Chipotle and heading home.  I had the best day with Mr. J and felt so special that he took the whole day to spend with me.  It was a great birthday!

Love, Lacey

Running Recap 7/21 - 7/26

Yep!  That is pretty much how my week went!  As you will see in this coming week's blogs our family took a big Clark W. Griswold style family vacation. Ok, maybe we didn't drive all the way to Wallyworld but we did have a pretty awesome week! The problem was that it felt like I was taking time away from our family to go running.  I had some pretty hefty miles on the schedule and I just couldn't find time to run. If I went in the am I missed out on time with the kids.  If I went during the day I would have died (it was hot & HUMID!). And if I went in the eve after the kids went to bed I was missing time with Mr. J.  I felt like I couldn't win.  I decided that a week off of running wouldn't hurt me and it would be good for our family. It was also good for me mentally.  I was able to unplug and just relax! When I'm training my mind is constantly thinking about running and pace and times and what is next. I think not running this week was good all the way around.  And I'm even more excited to get back to running and start my half marathon training!

It was a great week and I will be sure to flood you with pictures and stories and places to go this week!

Question of the day!
Have you ever had to take a break from running? How did you feel?

Love, Lacey

11th Anniversary Vacation - Part 2

Welcome to Part 2 of our anniversary weekend vacation.  READY?!  Let's GO!

Day 2 starts off with that amazing breakfast at the Real Food Cafe.  After that Mr. J and I headed into town. He had decided to take a brewery tour and the brewery that he chose only did 2 tours on Saturdays and it was limited to how many people could go. Well by the time he found out and looked online they only had 1 opening. I told him to go anyways and that I would find my way into the city and have some alone time! We parked at the brewery and it was less than half a mile to town so I had a nice walk.  We didn't realize that there was a bike race in town that weekend. A lot of the streets were blocked off and it was a little hard to get around but that also meant there were a lot of people around so I never felt lonely or unsafe. 

Since we had visited the GRBC the night before we had asked out waitress about where to go in town. She mentioned that they had a $4 bloody mary bar on Saturdays. Well I knew how to get to GRBC so back there I went for my alone time and a little drink!

So the premise is that you get to pick your spirits then they send you over to the bar to doctor up your cup of ice & liquor. There were 2 kinds of bloody mary mix (spicy & regular) and then about 20 different things to put in it! This one I choose jalapeno clilanto vodka, a spicy bloody mix, and then started in with the toppings. Blue cheese olives, a pickle, chunks of cheese, a stalk of celery, a strip of bacon, and a splash of olive juice! Sounds crazy but it was DELICIOUS!

I sat right near the window and enjoyed watching the cyclists go by. The bartender was an awesome girl and we chatted about life and kids several times. I also enjoyed being alone and taking thoughtful selfies. 

After our afternoon in town we went back to our hotel to rest and take a soak in the hot tub. We also called and made a reservation for dinner for 8 pm.  Yes I said 8 PM! We got real wild and crazy! We decided to go to a very nice restaurant as a treat since we didn't do presents other than the trip. We chose Ruth's Chris because Jason had heard good things and we knew we would love it. We got there early and decided to sit at the bar to have a drink until our table was ready. I had a wonderful gin martini and we took a few selfies.

For dinner I had the filet mignon with shrimp and we shared some garlic mashed potatoes. Both were VERY good.  I also had a Cesar salad that I am STILL dreaming about! It was insanely good salad! Our waiter, Kyle, was very nice and very helpful in choosing our dinner. I have to give Ruth's Chris a big thank you because they had an entire page of gf options, including dessert, in their menu!  That was very very helpful in knowing what I could & couldn't have. 

After our meal they brought us out this gorgeous dessert plate!  It was a great night to talk and reminisce and just appreciate how far we have come in 11 years and how thankful we are to God for bringing us together and keeping us that way! 

On Sunday it was time to check out and head home but not before breakfast.  Here is where my story is going to get a bit crazy.  I am not gluten free because it's trendy or fun or will help you lose weight.  I'm gf because I have an intolerance and will get sick if I eat it. But I have found a digestive aid pill that you can take when you are going to knowingly eat gluten or after you accidentally eaten gluten that will help your body digest it better.  I keep these pills in purse for the times that I get accidentally glutened.  I don't usually take them before and knowingly eat gluten. BUT on this day I took 4 (yes it takes my body 4 pills to feel ok) and ate most of this cinnamon roll.  Yes we went to Real Food Cafe two days in row.  And Yes we waited nearly an hour on Sunday because the place was packed! And yes it was worth it because the food was AMAZING! So while I don't condone taking pills so you can eat gluten because it still isn't good for my belly, on the rare occasion that I find something I'm going to eat it! We left Real Food cafe so stuffed we could barely walk!  It's a MUST for anyone living or visiting Grand Rapids!

On the way home we also stopped at Cabela's and they had these creepy looking wolves right inside the front door.  These were right about my eye level and it creeps me out to think about being that close to a real wolf. After we walked around Cabela's we headed towards home. 

We had a REALLY awesome weekend away.  It's so nice to get away just the two of us and recharge our batteries. It's important to make our marriage a priority and this is a great way to do that.  A HUGE thank you to everyone who watched our kids so we could do this.  It was a GREAT weekend!

Love, Lacey