Magic

With all the hustle and bustle of last week, I didn't even realize I skipped a blog post. There were school parties, work happy hours, and we needed to get packed for our first real vacation since Clark was born! Sure, we take occasional weekend road trips, but this was Clark's first time on an airplane and he was almost as excited for the flight as he was for the vacation!

For those of you who also follow me on Facebook or Instagram, let me assure you that these will not ALL be repeat photos. As loyal blog readers you get more details AND more content, so read on. We headed out first thing Monday morning for Florida. No, not to visit the folks but for a Wizarding World of Harry Potter vacation package!

I can't tell you how cool it was to ride the Hogwarts Express from park to park, go inside Hogwarts Castle, and stop in all the shops to find broomsticks, robes, chocolate frogs and Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans. We had breakfast at the Leaky Cauldron, lunch at the Three Broomsticks, and even went to Ollivander's for wands. Aurora was specially selected to have her wand choose her, which was a seriously magical experience. She ended up with a wand of ivy with unicorn hair.

As part of our vacation package, we got to go into the park an hour early to get a head start on the biggest rides which normally have the longest lines; the Forbidden Journey and Escape from Gringotts. Both were too big and scary for Clark, but thanks to this thing called Child Swap, we got to wait in line as a family, then Aurora would go on the ride with Chuck while I stayed with Clark in a separate room with benches and Harry Potter playing on the TV, and when they finished I got to go on the ride with Aurora without getting back in line! Brilliant.

A lot of things were a bit too intense for Clark, including the dragon perched atop Gringotts Bank which roared and breathed fire every 10 minutes. But we all enjoyed watching Aurora do magic around the park with her interactive wand, and the whole family had fun making this video. We spent some time in London talking to the Knight Bus driver and the shrunken head (which was hilarious), and drank a LOT of butterbeer. They serve it hot, cold, frozen, and as ice cream - and of course, we tried them all! Hot was by far the best. On the second morning I mixed hot butterbeer with coffee and it was delicious.

With our vacation package we also got express passes, which meant we could skip the long lines on just about any ride in the park. We ended up going on nearly every attraction in Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure (Jurassic Park, ET, Shrek, Minions, Transformers, Spiderman, etc), and just when Clark thought he couldn't handle another scary ride or 3D movie, we found our way to Seuss Landing which was absolutely his favorite part of the whole trip. We went on every Dr. Seuss ride at least 3 times and saw The Grinchmas Who-liday Spectactular (a play).

But alas, it wasn't all fun and games. For those of you who made it to the end of this long post - you get to see the saddest moment of our entire trip, which happened after the very last ride at the end of our very last day. The sun was out and Aurora had loved getting splashed on the Jurassic Park and One Fish Two Fish rides, so Chuck decided to take her on Popeye's river raft ride. She got SOAKED. The poor girl's shoes were sloshing! On the bright side, we were just a short river taxi ride away from our hotel, which had a fantastic pool with an outdoor restaurant and bar, so we just took her swimming afterwards and she felt much better! In fact, within her first few minutes in the pool, she was ACTUALLY SWIMMING!!! Aurora has ALWAYS needed floaties and during this trip she took them off and never looked back.

We got seriously lucky in that all of our shuttles, buses, boats, planes, trains, and rides went as planned and the weather was cool but nice the whole time. At one point Clark was remarking about how a boat we were on was like our very own cruise, and I asked him if we should take a cruise for our next vacation. He said no. Oh well. I do think our kids are big enough for more regular vacations so more adventures are certainly on the horizon. For now, the magic of Harry Potter is about to be replaced with the magic of CHRISTMAS! We have special visitors coming in a few days so look for more updates soon. Happy holidays and love to you all!

Winter Performance

This was a very exciting week. After months of practicing after school 3 days/week, Aurora had her first choir concert! The kids did a great job singing about the snow on what was the coldest night we've had so far this winter. I just shared a short video on my Facebook page. Can you spot our little star on stage? (just right of center).

This was also a week full of holiday parties, including a yearend choir party and our annual LIVESTRONG holiday party.

I helped plan our company party and got to take the lead on a community giving campaign. We held a gift card drive for the Austin Children's Shelter and this weekend Aurora and I got to deliver $700 of gift cards to help local children who are entering the foster care system. Wow!

And today, I had a performance of my own, running the 3rd installment of the Austin Distance Challenge, the Decker Challenge Half Marathon. It was super hilly (as expected), but the weather was cool and perfect and I came in just under a minute faster than my goal time.

We have a few more holiday parties (and half marathons) coming up, and Aurora wants to register for choir again in the spring so there will be more performances to come!

Zilker Tree

It officially feels like winter in Austin! For the past week or so it's been overcast and rainy with temps in the 40's and 50's. While it's not ideal for somebody on a training schedule, I haven't let it stop my long runs or holiday fun. This weekend was the Trail of Lights Fun Run and Aurora was game to bundle up and enjoy the festivities, cold weather and all. We were part of the largest team (Team Cuerny) so we got hot cocoa, glow sticks, and cool t-shirts. We also got to hang out with just about everybody from our neighborhood. I have a few pictures of the Zilker Tree to share. The first is from a Photo Booth with a fake background. The second is a professional photo I grabbed on Facebook that shows the (wet, cold) crowd at the starting line, and the last is a very dark picture of Aurora and Presley just after we finished our 3-mile walk.

I took some other pictures as we went through the Trail of Lights, but they all came out a little blurry so we'll stick with these. Apparently it's the 50th year the Zilker Tree has lit up the Austin skyline so it's kind of a big deal. It was a late night and a long weekend, and unfortunately 'tis the season when the kids, their classmates and teachers are all getting sick. I'm trying so hard to stay healthy as my first (and hardest) half marathon is just under a week away and our vacation is 2-weeks from today (wahoo!), not to mention I'm super busy at work right now. But alas, there is only so much I can do. Wishing you all a holiday season that's warm and bright, with good health and happiness all around as we make our way to the end of another great year.

It's beginning...

These 5 days off have been so relaxing and fun. Last weekend I scheduled an exclusive mommy-daughter day and we had such a great time that we decided to do more of the same this weekend. Last weekend I took Aurora to an Intro to Aerials class at Sky Candy and lunch at the Blue Cat Cafe. Aurora asked to learn silks after seeing Charlotte's Web in the theatre.

This weekend we went to the theatre again and saw Annie the Musical! It was great. I'd say it was better on stage than the movie or even the books.

We went to Painting with a Twist and worked together to paint the Zilker Tree, which actually lights up! Next weekend we'll be posting pictures of the real Zilker Tree...

After easing our way into the holiday spirit, we all spent this morning putting up the tree, then the kids wrote their Christmas lists and we headed to the Hill Country Galleria to see SANTA!

Now that Thanksgiving is behind us it's beginning to look a LOT like Christmas around here. Just three more weeks until we have another nice block of time off (and a REAL VACATION) together. We are so excited!!!

Thankful

I realize I missed posting last weekend but these past few weeks have been blending together. I've had work, school, training runs, memorial services to attend, and a LOT to be thankful for. Last week we had our Thanksgiving potluck at work and a friendship feast at Clark's school.

I wasn't sure I'd be able to go to Clark's lunch and when I told him I may not make it, he started crying! So I rearranged my schedule and sat next to him as he barely ate, but smiled like it was the best day of his life. Today we feasted again, but not before burning some calories at the Turkey Trot! This was my third Turkey Trot and Aurora's second time doing the kid's k fun run.

It was our fifth year going to a family friend's house for food, fun, and SWIMMING! Yes, it was warm enough for swimming in Texas. This year, Clark decided to join in and somehow he got it into his head that he wanted to go down the water slide. He put on a life jacket and did it, though I'm pretty sure he regretted it immediately! Everybody had a fun and active day, and once again I'm thankful for my sweet kids and family, all the opportunities we've been given here in Austin, my job and the great people I get to work with every day. I'm also thankful for this 5-day weekend to relax and enjoy some time off with my kiddos, who I don't get to see enough during a typical week.

Headshots

We have a photographer come in at least once a year to take photos of our staff to ensure that we all have a current, professional headshot and update our employee wall. Some people treat it like a school photo and get one every year. I got mine taken the first time they were offered and never signed up again. I figured back in 2009 I was as youthful as I would ever be.

This year, for the first time in 7 years, I decided to update my own photo. It was SO MUCH MORE FUN than I expected it to be! If anything, I feel more confident now than I did back then.

Running has played a huge part in keeping me fit at 40. I just got this cool finish line photo from last weekend's Run for the Water. For those of you who don't follow me on facebook, the latest installment of my blog series for the Austin Runners Club was just posted! You can read it here.

If I Were President

I remember back in 1988 when half of my family voted for Bush and the other half voted Dukakis. I was 12 years old and I thought it was silly that their votes cancelled each other out. Back then, elections were run without 24 hour news channels and social media. We all watched the same news, and families could have opposing viewpoints without arguing or un-friending each other. I remember being a teenager the 90's when the Clinton's were in the White House. Chelsea isn't much younger than me, and Monica Lewinsky isn't much older. George W. Bush was president when Chuck was honorably discharged from the military due to his cancer diagnosis, right before America went to war in 2002. That was a scary time for so many reasons. At the end of the Bush era, in 2008, I was very pregnant with Aurora when we attended an Obama rally right here in Austin, TX. It's interesting how we remember and measure our lives by who was president. Now, we live in a blue city within a very red state, and both of our kids have only known an intelligent, kind, and hopeful president in their lifetimes. When Aurora thinks about the job of president, she associates it with helping and compassion.

I hadn't gotten Aurora too wrapped up in the election. It was an ugly campaign and while I was hoping she could stay up Tuesday night to witness our first female president give her acceptance speech, she wasn't all that interested in watching the numbers come in. Chuck knew right away that things weren't going the way we'd expected, but I watched into the night in awe and disbelief. Aurora asked about the outcome the next morning and got very upset when I told her the result. I assured her that everything would be okay, and I sincerely hope that it will be. I hope that our kids don't grow up with indelible memories of a Trump presidency. It's nearly impossible to explain issues like racism and sexism to an 8-year old, so instead I try to lead by example, treating others with kindness and talking through ideas of right and wrong. I told Aurora that you don't need to hold a position of power to make a difference in your community. I see young people making a positive impact each and every day, and when I listen to today's youth I know that our best days are still ahead of us.

ONE BAD MOTHER RUNNER

Finally, a weekend with nearly nothing on the calendar. No kid's parties, no play dates, no pressing errands or road trips. It was actually a little rainy so the kids got to enjoy some downtime just playing (and bickering) at home. I did have one important event on the calendar: the second race in the Austin Distance Challenge Series, the Run for the Water! Yup, I ran 10-miles this morning. Thanks to the extra hour and early start time, the family hardly noticed I was gone.

Packets for Run for the Water included a pair of running socks, which is such a great idea. I wish more running events did that. I was super excited about them - but not as excited as I was to get these other awesome socks from a friend at work last week!!! I showed them to Aurora and she said "but you're not a bad mother."

I wanted to get some pre-race activity in yesterday and I figured a nice yoga class would be just the thing. I ended up at a hot yoga studio and it was one of the most challenging classes I've ever taken. Honestly, I've never sweated so much at any exercise class ever. It was amazing, but my whole body is tired and sore now. My shoulders, pecs and back are tender from yoga and my legs and hips are feeling that 10-mile run. So, I'm just going to lounge on the couch for the rest of the afternoon, feeling good about being so bad.

So many costumes!

This was the first year that our kids didn't want new costumes for Halloween. The dress-up bin is overflowing with previous year's costumes, dresses, and hand-me-downs. Clark got Elmo and Spiderman outfits from neighbors, we wore our Incredibles costumes from last year, and Aurora was Glenda the Good Witch (a dress-up she got from Presley YEARS ago). We had a sleepover, did crafts, went to too many parties, and had the best trick-or-treating experience I can remember since I was a kid.

We weren't the only Incredibles at the party, and Clark wasn't the only Spiderman trick-or-treating. He sang the classic "Trick-or-treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat. If you don't, I don't care, I'll pull down your underwear!" at the first house we went to.

She may look like a princess, but make no mistake - she's a good witch. We trick-or-treated with friends in the Bluffs, an area of our neighborhood just a mile or two away from our house. For years we've had no trick-or-treating action on our street. It turns out EVERYBODY goes to the Bluffs. Having Halloween fall on a Monday may have made for the longest Halloween weekend EVER, and thank goodness it's training season because WOW we have a lot of candy (and obviously the kids need help eating it!). Happy Halloween, y'all!