A weekend in the sun!

This weekend was great.  It included a lot rest and recouping, but we spent it mostly in-doors.  I had to work a little and we went to the gym and attended an awesome birthday party but much of it had nothing to do with being out in the sun.  

LAST weekend, on the other hand, we spent basking in the sun and couldn't get enough of it.  After a very rainy work week the weather was perfect and we were itching to take advantage of it. It was the type of weekend I wish I could duplicate over and over again in the summer months.  Here's how our sun-filled weekend went!

Although it's great to sleep in, the best Saturdays, in my opinion, are the ones where you wake up early.  You can fit so much more fun into your day!  My alarm was set for 5:45AM.  I had to be at the station to meet friends at 7AM to head to Asheville's very first official Color Run!  Unfortunately, I didn't set my alarm right and it never went off.  I found myself scrambling to head out the door.  There was no way I was missing out on picking up some coffee from Starbucks no matter how late I was!  I can't function this early without it.  Luckily for me, everyone was running 5 minutes behind, so all was well.  Whew!

Also, lucky for me, my friends had everything planned out ahead of time, right down to our outfits.  For a mere $20, Julie (in pink) found us matching tutus, gloves, headbands and tank tops.  We were rockin' it!

Tessa (in purple), even personalized our tanks with our team name, Color Us Badd (pretty clever, huh?) and our names using puffy paint.  Can you tell she's a teacher? 

Yellow was my color and I felt a little more like a sun-shiny ballerina than a runner.  I was totally fine with that!  I haven't been able to run as much as of late, so the idea of running that morning had me worried.

I took this picture half way through the run.  There were SO many people participating that it was more of walk and nearly impossible to run competitively, a bit of relief for me!   It was estimated that nearly 7,000 people showed up and when I saw this sea of white ahead of me, I believed it.

I didn't really get any great pictures during and after the the run.  It's very messy and the plastic bag I held my phone in didn't make it easy to snap away.  To read more about our experience at the Color Run and to see some great after photos, head on over to my friend's blog, Running In A Skirt!  She pens it perfectly!

After the run, I headed home to Ryan and Keira.  She was fascinated by my blue-pinkish hands and yellow hair! She's still talking about it.  I jumped in the shower and was quite surprised at how easy all the color washed away.  Apart from blowing blue out of my nose for awhile, it was like it never happened!

It was still early in the day (benefit to getting up early!) so we decided to head to the Biltmore Estate for a picnic lunch.  It was the first time we've been able to use our new annual passes!  Ryan and I get free media passes every year and we've never been able to upgrade them to annuals, that is until this year.  When we took my Grandma Emma in June, we found out that they changed their policy and that we could upgrade at a discount.  It was a no-brainer!  Co-workers take note!

The property is large and a little overwhelming.  I'm sure the more we come on the more we'll learn to navigate the roads.  We weren't really sure where we could stop to picnic.  We drove past Antler Village and ended up parking near a small pond where a couple other families were also fishing and lunching. 

I think we came upon the boat used in the Biltmore Estate commercials last year.  I was tempted to take it out but didn't want to cause any trouble on our first visit.  But really, it's just sitting there and it doesn't look tethered down.  It's practically yelling row me out!  I believe the grand building in the back ground is the Inn. 

We set up our blankets in a big open field across from the pond.  Even Dutchie got to come along!  I'm so glad they allow pets on the property, which was a huge factor in getting the annual passes.  It's fun for the whole family!

 

We picked up a foot long from Ingles.  Spicy Italian on honey wheat... yum!

Keira got a Lunchable.  Of course she went for the Oreo cookie first.  I didn't realize they were in there or I would have hidden them until they she finished her meat and cheese! 

We really do love picnics! It was awesome to step away from the television, the computer and our phones and into one of the most amazing backdrops we've even seen. There is so much we have yet to explore on the Biltmore Estate and I look forward to all the memories we'll be able to create in the coming year.  While I don't wish summer to leave, I am looking forward to Fall & Winter here!

 

 

There weren't a lot of people around us after we finished eating, so we were able to let Dutchie off her leash for a fun game of fetch.

These are some of my favorite photos of the day!  We have a small yard and Dutchie HATES dog parks.  It was awesome to be able to let her stretch her legs and run around without feeling intimated or scared.  She is very good at playing fetch! 

Like me, Dutchie wears her emotions on her face.  You can totally tell when she's happy and on this day, she was very happy!

After we tired Dutch out, we decided to explore the pond and the road around it. Just a few minutes into our stroll we came across this little fella!  Ryan is terrified of snakes, so this is the closest he let me or Keira get to it.  It was probably harmless, but we quickly moved on!

 

While we were eating lunch it felt like we were the only family around, but as soon as we starting walking along the pond we passed nearly half a dozen families or friends fishing, eating or swimming in the French Broad River, which was on the opposite side of this little road. Everyone was very friendly and complimented our little girl on her cuteness.  I have to agree, she's pretty cute.

 

Of course, we had to take a selfie.  Not the easiest to do with a DSLR but I think it came out ok.  A little artsy!

We headed home, but their was still a lot of sunshine left in the day - again a benefit of getting started early, coupled with a long summer day!  Keira took a quick nap and then we headed to our neighborhood's pool.

Keira's not a fish by any means.  I wouldn't say she LOVES the water, but she does enjoy going to the pool.  She likes to splash around and push Ryan below the surface from the safety of her floaty, but God forbid you try to put her under water!  After a lot of coaxing we did get her to plug her nose and dunk, a huge step forward.  Lots of high-fives were made, but we could not get her to do it a second time! Oh well, baby steps.

You work up an appetite being out in the sun all day!  Before the Color Run, my friend Holly (in blue) had mentioned blue cheese burgers she had made the night before.  Suddenly I had a craving! I had to try her recipe out for myself.  I picked up some blue cheese and cream cheese which made up the topping.  It was perfected with caramelized onions and a side of sweet potato fries.  It was like summer in your mouth!  Thank you, Holly!  We will definitely make it again.

 

After church the next day, we hit up the Farmers Market in search of peaches.  Score!  I wasn't sure if her tastes had changed since last summer, but Keira loves them just as much as she did the year before.  It's like catching up with a best friend you haven't seen in awhile, but carrying on like you've never been apart. Southern peaches = heaven.  She could eat them all day.

Sunday turned out to be just as beautiful as Saturday, so I brought out Keira's mini pool. (Well, the day was just as beautiful.... the night was a different story.)  The pool is really too small for her now, especially after she fills it with ALL of her toys, but she enjoys it none-the-less.  Most importantly it fits on our back porch and I can watch her while I work in the kitchen.  Peaches, after all, meant I NEEDED to bake a peach pie!  I pulled up last year's blog entry with the recipe.

Reading last year's post made me realize that time really does fly, making weekends like this all the more important and valuable to me.  Keira's grown so much since last year.  She could barely talk then!  Now she talks constantly and insists on helping me roll out the dough for the pie.  Such a big girl, especially in comparison!

Yes, sometimes it's best and necessary to rest from the craziness of the week, but other times it's even better to get out and just do! In many ways it can be more rejuvenating then a quiet weekend at home.  Luckily summer's not over yet and we have many more weekends to fill before the cold comes.  I say, bring it on!  It's what summer is all about... lots of sun and lots of family!

Btw, here is the pie. We didn't get enough.  A second one is in our future!

4th of July!

We had a really quiet, but wonderful 4th of July. Originally we intended on bringing out Keira's big pool and having a few families over but none of that came to pass.  On Thursday Keira suddenly came down with 102 fever and instead of coming home early to start the long weekend, I was coming home to take baby girl to the doctor.  It ended up being strep throat... again!  It's the second time this year with the diagnosis.  I'm beginning to think strep will be her weakness.  We'll have to keep an eye on the pattern.  It's too early to tell, but tonsil removal may be in her future.

The good thing about strep (if there is a good thing) is that we know how to treat it.  I wasted no time picking up her prescription at the pharmacy, she took a good nap and was almost back to her normal self (minus the fever) before bedtime.  I didn't want to risk passing her sickness on to any of her friends so our little get together ended up being rather intimate.  Just us and our favorite neighbor, who Keira calls Uncle Daniel. 

The fever unfortunately did not subside on Friday and for the first time in her life Keira could verbalize her discomfort.  We've reached another milestone.  She can finally tell us what's wrong and I've got to say, it's a little heart breaking!  She'd point to her little neck and cry, "My throat hurts!" every time she attempted to eat.  I mistakenly gave her apple juice and instead of soothing her throat it burned.  I also gave her crackers.  Rookie mistakes on my part!  For the rest of the day she had milk, ice cream and watermelon.

Other than being warm to the touch and not being able to eat, she was in a really good mood! I dressed her in her 4th of July outfit and we took some pictures on the back porch as we waited for the start of our tiny get-together.... but not before some coloring in the kitchen.

She's really taken to coloring lately.  She'll let you know what she's drawn, and even though it looks nothing like daddy or a house or a flower, it's nice to know that she's beginning to use her imagination.  Soon enough her doodles will turn into pictures.  For now, though, I could listen to her explain her drawings to us forever!  It's so adorable!

I loved the stars and stripes details on her dress!

Pigtails seemed appropriate and she happened to already have the bows to match.

I may or may not have bribed her to take these photos!

 This is my favorite picture of the day!  She can be such a ham.

We're slowly adding things to our back porch!  We picked up the cot last summer at the Screen Door and it was the only piece of furniture we had out back for almost a year. In March, I changed the bed spread from white to green and bought some pillows.  The big one came from Walmart and the little two I bought from Burntshirt Vineyards in Hendersonville for $4.99 each!  At first I was only going to take one home and when the cashier said they were less than $5, I said, "I'll talk two!" I couldn't believe it.  I even asked to be sure it wasn't a mistake and they weren't supposed to be $49.99 like most outdoor pillows.  To be honest, I'm still not sure. I think I stole them!  The outdoor carpet also came from Walmart.  It's super soft and great for Keira to play on. And the tiny red table and chairs... also from Walmart!  It's perfect for the three of us and I love it.  We try to eat outside whenever we can. For about $200 our back porch has come along way!

With a little help from Keira, Ryan got the grill ready at about 5 o'clock.

She could care less about the grill when the bubbles came out!

 

 

Uncle Daniel came over and was a good sport. He held the bubble bottle for her! They were both very soapy.

They also played with marbles, one of Keira's favorite pastimes.  Clearly, Dutchie also loved the attention. We are so lucky to have such an awesome neighbor.  He's always there for us when we need a hand and our kids love him!  It was awesome to spend the holiday together.

Meanwhile, Ryan had the food going on the grill!  Bratwurst, bison hotdogs, peppers & corn were on the menu.  Daniel brought twice-baked baked potato and mac & cheese.  We had enough food to feed an army!

It was all very delicious.  Keira didn't eat much, but we were stuffed!  We had some time to kill before the fireworks show at Lake Julian so we started to watch Coming to America on Netflix.  Ha!  Daniel had never seen it.  I've always watched it on TV, so I didn't realized the choice language which all of a sudden becomes blatant when you have a two year old that repeats everything.  Ear muffs were in full effect!  It's still one of my favorite movies... definitely an 80's classic!

 

As soon as it got dark we put Keira in her wagon and headed outside.  We can see the Lake Julian fireworks from our neighborhood and while the view is possible from our house, it's even better down the street.  It was awesome to see our other neighbors out too!  Our whole street was full of activity. 

Kids and adults alike were playing with sparklers and fireworks.  The bright lights and booms kind of freaked Keira out.  She covered her eyes the entire way down the street!  She even said, "Let's go back home now!" 

We eventually convinced her to open her eyes and got settled a few minutes before the big show. The Lake Julian Fireworks were great and were far enough away not to scare Keira!  In fact, she's been asking about fireworks ever since.

By the time we walked back to house it was a little after 10 o'clock... way past Keira's bedtime!  The neighborhood was still celebrating so I was worried she wouldn't fall asleep, but she did, booms and all.

The adults ended the night with a few root beer floats.  Perfection! We also finished Coming to America. What's more American than that?!?  It wasn't totally what we had planned but it was exactly how it should have been. Happy 4th of July, indeed!

Update:  Keira's fever and sore throat were gone by Saturday. Praise God!  We even made a quick trip to the pool this weekend.  She's a very resilient young girl! 

My "first" Mother's Day, I mean weekend.

I didn't have a Mother's Day as much as I had a Mother's Day Weekend!

Friday
It started on Friday with a surprise visit at work from Ryan & Keira.  I love hearing the patter of her feet and the giggle in the voice as she runs towards my desk.  As soon as she turned the corner my heart skipped a beat and there she was with a huge smile on her face, holding a balloon that read Mommy & Me.  She was so proud!  Right behind her was Ryan with a pot of hydrangea flowers that Keira told me she picked out herself.  She brought me fow-ahs and a bah-woon.  She is my precious.  I will have to plant the flowers and try not to kill them!

Saturday
Ryan had been asking me all week where I wanted to eat for my special day.  I value a great brunch way more than dinner, so I suggested a little hole in the wall called the Local Joint in Fairview.  A friend had been telling me about this place for months, so I was excited to finally be able to check it out.  I knew our Sunday would be hectic, so we decided on Saturday instead.  Hey, why not celebrate early?!?

 

It really is a little hole in the wall, attached to a gas station, albeit a very nice gas station!  I'm not positive, but it looks like it may have been a Waffle House in its former life.  Don't get me wrong, I actually like the Waffle House, but this place provides a more of a mom-is-WAY-worthy type dining experience and not so much of a  I've-partied-too-hard-and-everything-tastes-AMAZING type experience.  Now that I'm 33, I know the difference.

Love the sign - Eat Local! 

A friend told me to expect Sunny Point quality food without the Sunny Point crowd and he was right. The service was great and the food was amazing!  I can't remember the exact name of the dish, but it was like Eggs Benedict, sans the ham and in its place was roasted tomato, spinach and avocado with a side of grits.  It was delish.

   

Ryan got Huevos Rancheros and while he prefers Sunny Point's interpretation, it was still very good.

 

Keira LOVES bacon & eggs, so she was a very happy camper.  She actually ate very well without a lot of prompting, making for a very peaceful meal for everyone!

And of course, we had to share a pancake, something I actually learned from my grandma and mom.  Everyone gets a meal and everyone shares a single pancake!  I debated getting it, but it reminded of the two women who raised me to eventually be the mom that I am today, so I declared a new Mother's Day tradition and ordered it.  Ryan was scratching his head at first, but he was glad I ordered it the end! 

I loved my Mother's Day Brunch.  It was simple and quiet and wonderful.  We will definitely be back and we won't be waiting until next Mother's Day!  I highly recommend The Local Joint!

We did some running around but eventually returned home for Keira's nap. Not sure if it was all the food or if I was worn out from the week, but I actually napped while Keira napped!  That's a Mother's Day gift all in itself!  Not only do I not typically have time for a nap, but my insomnia prevents me from falling asleep during the day.  I usually just lay in bed and rest my eyes, but this time I dozed off, even dreamed.  It was a miracle! I woke up shocked but refreshed.

Sunday

In retrospect I'm glad we celebrated on Saturday because Sunday turned out to be as hectic as I thought.  It started with Keira wetting her pajamas... and the bed... and carpet.  She really had to pee!  It was my fault, really.  I rushed to take a shower thinking she was asleep, when in fact she had woken up.  So there I was in nothing but a towel, stripping the bed and rushing Keira downstairs for a bath hoping to be ready in time for Ryan to pick us up for church.  This is what mothers do right?!?  It's why we have a special day? Ha! How ironic, I thought.

Needless to say we were not ready when Ryan got home from work.  Even though we were running late, he & Keira quickly handed me two cards at which point I really didn't care about being late.  

Like the balloon on Friday, my daughter actually handed me a card.  It's hard to wrap my head around it.  For the first time, my little girl is big enough to give me a card.  "Here mommy!" she said. This was my third Mother's Day, but in many ways it was my first.

Although I loved my Super Mom card, it was more the expression on her face that almost brought me to tears.  She was so happy to give it to me!  She had an adorable look on her face, as if to say "I did good, right mommy?"  That means more to me than any gift. She did do good.  I could care less about cleaning up pee or all of the other craziness that comes with being a mother.  She is worth it! 

ON THE OTHER HAND, I have to say, gifts are great too. In fact, the spa day that came in that little green card helped things later in the day when Ryan pulled into the garage a little too fast and too far.  He put a hole in the wall and a scratch on the car.  I still can't believe he did that!  It was really hard to stay mad at him though, considering the near perfect Mother's Day weekend he had just given me.  I really am a lucky wife and mommy.  Ryan's an expert at making me feel appreciated and it's rubbing off on Keira.  This was definitely a Mother's Weekend worth remembering! 

Clean, healthy home - Why I'm falling in love with Norwex!

vs.

I'm working towards a new way to clean my home!  Between the stainless steel cleaner, the 409, Clorox wipes, Windex, and the Swiffer, not only are the fumes hard to handle, but I'm fearful of Keira's safety.  If I'm coughing while I'm wiping down the fridge, how will it affect her?  And inevitably, she'll lick the fridge, the stove and the floor.  Don't ask me why, she's going through a phase! 

When I found out about Norwex I was skeptical, but intrigued.  Most people have not heard of this company.  They've only recently made it's way into the United States.  As its name suggests, Norwex is a company born out of Norway and they make cleaning products that allow you to radically reduce the number of dangerous chemicals in your home.  In place of the toxic chemicals we are so accustomed to using, you use water and their microfiber clothes instead.

I only have two clothes but I've already said good-bye to a lot of the chemicals I listed above.  I probably won't say good-bye to all but I feel good about the progress I've made.  Keira can continue to lick away!  And not only is it better for the environment, but the best part about Norwex is that I can get her involved when it comes to cleaning our home!  Not only is it good family time, but these moments also make great teaching opportunities.  Norwex even makes kid sized cloths and a kid sized mop. 

How it works!
It's simple, really.  These are not your mama's microfiber clothes!  The strands in a Norwex cloth are 1/200th the size of a strand of hair.  It is so tightly woven that it literally (for once I'm using literally, literally!) lifts and removes ALL the dirt, grease and bacteria off the surface you are cleaning, even the porous ones.  And it doesn't stop there.  While most of the yuck will go down the drain, the micro-silver woven into the microfiber strands go to work to squash the bacteria left in the cloth, eliminating the need for toxic chemicals. See it take on bacteria in this news story!

Trying to spread the word!
I held a Norwex party this past Saturday wanting to share this with as many people as possible.  It turned out to be rather intimate, just one friend and myself.  We were both already familiar with Norwex, but we were happy to get more one on one time to see more of the product in action.  I did take some video I'd like to share. 

If you are interested in Norwex after seeing these videos follow this link to learn more or make a purchase.  My party will be open until the weekend.  After that feel free to contact my friend, Doreen Garris directly.

Norwex, so tightly woven it removes Sharpie marks from wood & tile with just water.

The new, better way I shine my refrigerator!
Stainless steel cleaner is probably what I despise the most.  It makes me cough and then it doesn't work very well. Well, I dumped the stuff!  I don't miss it at all and my fridge has never been so shiny.

But can it clean my oven door?
Yes, it can!  To be honest, I haven't cleaned the inside of my oven for months, so I was actually kind of scared for Doreen to test the product on it, thinking it would be impossible!  For tough jobs like this, Norwex makes an enzyme cleaner that's water based & biodegradable.  Normal oven cleaners can be just as toxic, if not more than stainless steel cleaners.  I was impressed!

The Butter Test
The Envirocloth takes butter off the window faster than Windex!