Disney Princess Half-Marathon - Part 3 (Post Race Fun!)

Seven months after the race and my trip to Florida, I'm finally wrapping up all of the posts! Whoopsie.

I blogged about traveling there and the race expo in May, then about the actual Disney Princess Half Marathon in June and now about my post-race celebration at Magic Kingdom. I still have the beach to cover, so you might get that before Christmas! :)



After Erica and I were done with our running, we raced back to our hotel to shower and get ready to go to Magic Kingdom for the day.

My one beef with Disney is that we had to be out of our hotel room by 11am the morning of the race and if we would have been 20 minutes slower in running, or stopped for a picture with a character at some point, we wouldn't have made it back to the hotel in time. We asked for a late checkout, but we were not granted it. Not cool Disney. Not cool.

But we managed and were able to shower, pack and get ready in a mater of 20 minutes. David was shocked at how quickly we were ready. I mean, I'm the girl that used to get up 15 minutes before she had to be at school in high school. I don't take a long time if I don't have to.

I had been to Magic Kingdom once when I was 12, so I was extremely excited to be there again. Also, as a young child, I was pretty scared of all rides so we only rode "It's a Small World" 493 times. No joke. So it was my goal to ride everything there and experience everything. And I did.

Headed to Magic Kingdom.

The first ride we did was Pirates of the Carribean. This was the first ride I did in 1997 that made me 'sick', so I rode it and it was awesome. Just a slow ride through pirate territory. And the one little dip was not that big of a deal at all.

Next up was Big Thunder Mountain. It was my first 'rollercoaster' even though now after being to Cedar Point, this wasn't a real rollercoaster. I was super excited and screamed like a girl and it was so much fun. We also did Space Mountain, which is all indoor and in the dark! I wanted to ride Splash Mountain but it was closed for repairs. :(

Getting seated on my first 'roller coaster'.

I also rode Dumbo, Cinderella's Carousel, and any other ride I felt like riding!

Didn't even get dizzy on this ride.

Haunted Mansion. such great memories of Tyler in a scared little ball on this ride.

Rode it!

Check out our photo on the ride. I didn't know when they were going to take the photo.

Zoom in on me please!! :)

Being at Disney World is so magical because it's the Happiest Place on Earth! Really, it is. The staff and workers are sooo nice to you, no matter if they are a character, photographer or the person changing out the trash cans. They're just nice!

With Mickey and Minnie

About two seconds after David snapped our picture, we saw this happening! So cute! And believe it or not, there was a woman that was yelling at them to hurry up so she could take her children's photo in that 'photo op' area. Are you for real?

we survived!

13.1 miles of running and probably another 14 of walking that day.

I've decided I'll never take kids there that can't walk, because strollers seem like they would be a nightmare. There are so many of them parked everywhere and they are just in the way.

Also, if you ever take kids to Disney World, go to the parks in the morning, GO HOME IN THE AFTERNOON FOR A NAP, then come back to the parks in the evening. Around 3-4pm it was nothing but whining, crying, cranky kids and grouchy parents. But the staff was still nice! :)

I had so much fun at Magic Kingdom. I couldn't have asked for a better day with my best friend
(and her husband)!

love this girl.

love them both.

stuff

School has now started and I'm making it a priority to seperate work from home. For the first few weeks of school, I didn't have that divider. I was constantly checking work email, facebook, twitter, staying at student org meetings until late in the evening. I need to find a balance of being supportive of students without being over involved or trying to relive my own college experience, which I have sometimes called this second round at Ohio State my 'do over' because there was so much I didn't take advantage of the first time I was a student. But that stops now. 

When I go home in the evening, I'm not checking my work email, even though when I get on the iPad I see that I have 18 unanswered emails in my inbox and that drives me bonkers, and I'm not checking facebook either to see what that notification is for. I'm not.

Plus, this semester I'm taking a graduate class and Bible Study started back up this week, so I need to focus more on homework and those things for me. I have 8-5 everyday, with the occasional evening to do my job. I don't need to be doing it 8-11pm every day. 

So anywho, here are a some phone photos from the last couple weeks. Really just a hodge podge of stuff.

Alicia taught me how to do a top knot bun, so I rocked it one day.

My "first day of grad school" photo for my mom.

I'm really excited for fall tv to come back. Most of this summer I watched reruns or nothing. The shows I'm most excited about are Chicago Fire, Hart of Dixie, Dallas, Law & Order: SVU, and an occasional episode of Modern Family.

There are now less than 50 days, more like 2 weeks, til Chicago Fire comes back! yes!

Bowie's doing great. She's just as precious as ever and I'm so glad she's a part of my family now. My down time before I got her must have been so boring! The girl is a hoot. Except when she knocks over EVERY glass of liquid I have sitting around. Water isn't a big deal, but last night I had to clean up milk. Urg.

I know you love me, Mama.

The niece at the top at age two, my sister in the bottom at age two. 20 years apart.

I also got my hair highlighted again. Nothing drastic, just some blond in there to make it a little lighter. I took these pictures of Tenley from the Bachelor in to show her what I wanted. It turned out ok. It was my first time with the new girl, so I'm not sure if I'll go back or try someone else. We shall see.

The first week of classes The Band Perry performed a free concert at OSU for students. Since I'm now a student again, Molly and I went to the concert. It was good. It was hot. It was a late show. But it was fun.

family weekend

A weekend in mid-August I got to see all sides of my family in a span of three days, which is practically unheard of. Two were for happy reasons, and unfortunately one was for not so happy reasons.

One of my grandpa's older brothers passed away. Bob was the brother that looked most like my Papaw. He lived down the street with us, and of all the siblings, I knew of him the best. We weren't close, but because he lived just down the street with his son and grandson (ultimate bachelor pad, right there), we would see them out and would talk with John Robert and Evan. Evan played ball at our high school and we'd always go cheer for him. He's come a long ways from his SS Fergie days.

So that Thursday I headed home with my aunt and we went to the funeral. I was meeting family and cousins for the first time, as my grandpas side of the family doesn't really ever get the extended family together. The siblings still talk a lot, but we don't do big family reunion gatherings. 

Bob had been sick, but was doing better and my heart just broke for Evan while at the funeral. After it was over we chatted about school, our grandpas, and other miscelaneous things before leaving the cemetary. Then we all went to Bob Evans to eat. In our little small town, it was the only place to go. So even though we didn't coordinate a "let's all go to Bob's" we all ended up there.

Friday afternoon Holly and the girls came in, so we got to visit with them on Friday and Saturday. I was so excited to see them because March was the last time I visited Chicago. The girls are a riot. So funny. Emery is just like me as a child, quiet, rule follower, backwards and shy, and Charley is just like Molly was as a child, center of attention, life of the party, class clown and so cute while doing it.

Em enjoyed playing a game on my iPad where you create a pet and dress it.

Laying down for our slumber party!

She loved Posey.

celebrating birthdays with cupcakes.

Saturday Holly and I hosted a shower for our oldest sister, Heather. Heather and her hubs are having their first baby and we are so excited for them. This shower was mostly family from my dad's side, that lives in Piketon but I don't see cause I live in Columbus. And also some cousins that I only see at the family events once a year or so. They're all older than me, Molly and Tyler, so we don't really ever hang out. Still good to see them though.

beautiful sister and soon-to-be nephew.

She enjoyed her cake.

Sunday was the Thompson Reunion. This is for Mam's side of the family. It gets smaller every year, especially since Grandma and Annie passed away three years ago. Now it is mostly just Grandma Primers side of the family and no one from Annie's side, which is sad. But it was still nice to see those cousins that I used to see every Sunday and now only see once or twice a year.

lunch line.

this general is all boys, where we were all girls.

my grandma and her sisters with their aunt.

after the photo was over, the sisters stayed like this and kept talking. ha. love them.

my thompson reunion family.

So all and all, it was a good weekend. Never in 28 years I have seen so much family in such a small time period, so I'm glad that happened. And it was also nice to get back to Columbus on Sunday night!!!

Bahama Cruise - Day 3 & 4

So I'm finally going to share Day 3 and 4 of my cruise. I'm so busy these days I don't have time to just sit and blog like I used to. But still want to keep everything recorded for my grandchildren in 70 years.

Day 1 and 2 are here.

On to Day 3 and 4.

We were porting at Nassau on Day 3. I was excited about this - going to a foreign country (even though technically the island we were on Saturday was part of the Bahamas too), seeing Atlantis, going parasailing.

We had an early rise and shine because our parasailing reservations were for 9 and we had to be outside at 8:30am ready to go. No sleeping in on this trip. And this is after the late night White Out party the night before. While we were eating breakfast the most monstorous cruise ship pulls in next to us at the port. I thought our ship was big - nope. It was just a baby. FYI, we were parked by the Oasis of the Seas, which is really similar to the one Jenny went on in the spring. Ginormous that thing is!

 

With our pretty flowers.

After we get outside we're told that our parasailing is actually cancelled because the boat is broken. OK? So we get a refund and decide to go ahead and explore the island and see if we can find some place else to parasail. We do. It's a little shady and somewhat sketchy, but we survived so it's ok.

Bahamas

Our captain setting up our parasail.

I'm going to have to do a seperate post on our actual parasailing adventure because right now a lot of  those pictures aren't on this computer (on a disposable camera I haven't developed yet) and there are a lot of them.

boating in the carribean!

public nassau beach in the background.....never go there.

i'm basically a pro at this.

high above the seas.

After we were done para sailing, we walked around Atlantis for a while. It's a very pretty resort. But I didn't think there was a lot to walk around and see if you hadn't paid to do all of the extra. And it was completely night and day from the resort area to the down area. I don't really ever care to go back to Nassau again. In fact, if I ever went on another cruise and we ported at Nassau, I would go swimming with dolphins, eat at Senor Frogs and then get back on the boat. It kind of grossed me out. Very touristy and dirty.

Glass art inside Atlantis.

Statue in Atlantis.

Inflatable park outside Atlantis.

The best photo we could get from the free area.

Me with the tower in the background. Ignore the fact that I look 5 months pregnant.

I played roulette. First time ever. Lost $20. Fantastic.

Jill on our sketch taxi ride from one part of the island to the other.

Lunch at senor frogs was good!

We walked around in the straw market. It was really hot and the people we really pushy.

I considered getting this. Not really.

This is their national capital building. It's decorated because it was their 40th year of being their own country.

Some of the 700 islands that make up the Bahamas.

My first foreign country.

bermuda, bahama....c'mon pretty mama.

the back of our ship. we had dinner one night right above the "sky"

As we were leaving the island that night.

The water is just so clear and so beautiful.

Our fancy dress up night.

After dinner we walked around a little bit, had some photos taken by the only hot guy on the whole ship, caught the end of the ship's american idol and then went to a comedy show. It was the same comedian that was there the first night, but I thought he was so much better the first night. This was an 'adult only' show and I just didn't find the adult humor that funny.

Comedy show.

After the comedy show we decided to get snacks and go to the front of the ship and sit as we cruised in the dark. Well, there are no decks that are dark on top. Probably cause they don't want people to jump off. ha.

Our choice of midnight snacks - amy has an apple, i have six cookies. :)

So after we can't sit at the front of the ship, we go back to our room and set on our balcony....our wonderful balcony. It was awesome. I put my comforter on the floor and we sat out there. It was so quiet and dark. We could just see the stars. I really wanted to sleep out there. It was just so peaceful listening to the waves. We even saw a shooting star! Now THAT was amazing.

laying on the balcony, listening to the waves and looking at the stars.

When we woke up on Monday morning, we were back in Miami. Booo. I was so sad to see that city. We had to depart pretty early and the lines to do that took forever. We had to go through customs once we got back to the port, but I did not get a stamp in my passport. :(

Back in Miami. Looking really tired.

Where the Miami Heat play. #istillloveyoulebron

The everglades.

Where the Dolphins play.

thanks ladies for an amazing vacation.