A Boot Shoot Party

The girls were invited to a party held in a photography studio. The owner had several clothing options and props for all the girls. My girls loved getting dressed up and having their picture made. As a party favor, the girls made a photo album to hold all the pictures taken during the party. I thought I would share a few from the photo session of my two.

The photographer told Ella to jump. I love how it looks like she is sitting on air. 

I guess Ella did not feel like taking off her bright pink tights!

Laney is really into fashion right now, so she loved putting her outfits together.

Here is a picture of all the girls.

In case you were wondering why it was called boot shoot, the girls were asked to wear boots to the party.

I bet you can't guess which one is Ella's!

This was such a fun and great idea for a birthday party!

WDW Marathon Part 2

In my last post, I left you hanging at a  little over half way through at mile marker 14. After running for a while on the main road, we finally arrived to the ESPN Wide World of Sports.

As we rounded the corner, there were a group of boys practicing soccer/baseball. For some reason, I can't remember which one. What I do remember is there was this guy wrapped up in a blanket, laying in a lounge chair......napping. Now......that was just torture to all of us who were running. At 18 miles, a nap was sounding really good!

It's a good thing Disney knows how to keep us going.......

with bananas.....

and the medical tent. 

Biofreeze and vaseline are a runners best friend! Several tents ran out of Biofreeze. Many people were not very happy(including my sister). I saw a couple of runners asking complete strangers for the unused portion left in their hand. I guess if your desperate.....being sanitary doesn't matter.

We finally hit mile 20 as we left Wide World of Sports. I had to get a picture because during training this was the most I had accomplished. 

By now, we had to do a lot more walking than running due to my sisters knee hurting. We still kept a pretty good pace. At one point, a man(He is the one in the purple shirt in the med tent #10 picture above.) tells us how grateful he is that we are in front of him. We obviously had become his focal point to help get him through. He begins to tell us how he was doing the Goofy Challenge which is a half one day and the full the next day. You think your challenge is tough until you meet people who have been running several other races in the same weekend. For me....I am thinking this is a new challenge to consider! 

We make it to Hollywood Studios. 

Later in the day, the parks are open and it looks crowded but Disney did a really good job with roping off  plenty of room for all of us!

We pass the Boardwalk and a couple of hotels.

We enter into the last park of the marathon........Epcot. I loved going through the World Showcase( we didn't do that for the half)! The feeling I had was amazing! I really wanted to run but did not want to leave my sister. I opted to stop for a couple of pictures and run to catch up to her.

After I passed this sign and turned the corner to see the finish line, a flood of emotions hit me! Everything I worked so hard for was about to be over! I wanted to soak up every last second!

My sister decided to suck up the pain and we ran across the finish line! 

With an ending time of 6 hours and 34 minutes.

Other than a little sore, I felt great!

Once we crossed the finish line, the first stop we made was to receive our metal. 

The second stop was an ice pack at the med tent.

We took a few more pictures before meeting up with my mom.

During the training and the morning of the race, I thought I was going to be one and done. There is just something about crossing that finish line that can change a persons mind. For my sister, she said, "absolutely not!!!!" I am glad that she agreed to accomplish this milestone with me! I enjoy running with her! From here on out she has agreed to doing a 5k. In fact, we are signed up for the Foam Fest in April! 

 http://5kfoamfest.com/

I think my next full  will have to be with my hubby!

2014 Walt Disney World Marathon

A week ago, I did something I never thought I would do. I did my first marathon. Before I tell you all about that day, I must give you a little background. 

A couple of years ago, I hated running. I was a speed walker and I loved it! It was working for me......that is until I did my first 5K. The accomplishment felt so good that I wanted to keep going. Last February, I finished my first half marathon. You can read about it here , here, here, here. Before the half, I had every intention of ending my short career as a runner. Running several miles is hard work!

 I never thought I would love doing the Disney Princess Half Marathon as much as I did! I loved everything about it! The whole experience was awesome!!!! About a week later(once the high had worn off), I felt a little depressed. I didn't have any new athletic goals to accomplish. Yes, I had plans to do a few 5Ks but those felt easy compared to the half. Running without an event to look forward to seemed useless. I started to toy with the idea of doing a full marathon. I sat on the idea for a couple of months until I finally sent my sister an email. She will tell you it was the type of email she wishes  would have been sent straight to spam. I titled it............I was doing some thinking??????? and  attached the information for the Walt Disney World Marathon. After a whole lot of convincing.......begging........persuading........, she agreed to do it!

I signed up and the journey began. I will be honest with you. I DID NOT ENJOY THE TRAINING! Those longer runs towards the end are grueling, boring and dreadful. You learn a lot about your body after each one! I felt pain in places I didn't know existed!!!! My last 2 long runs, which were both 20 miles, had me saying, "I am never doing this again!" 

I think I will  share my experience and then let you know what I am saying now!

My sister, mom and I went to the expo @ Wide World of Sports on Saturday to pick up our packets. I think it is funny and smart how they send you through the vendors to pick up your shirt.

My sister found the perfect shirt for her.

After the expo, we went to check in at the hotel. I decided to stay on Disney at the Shades of Green. Since we didn't have Carmel dropping us off this time, I thought it would be a lot less stressful. I am so glad we did!

We grabbed a quick dinner at an Italian restaurant inside the hotel and turned in for the night. I say turned because all I did for most of the night was toss and turn. It could have been nerves.......worrying about my 4 alarms not going off......... the snoring next to me.........my sister backing out! All in all, I think I got 2 hours!

That morning we woke up at 3:30am to catch the bus around 4am. My mom did wake up long enough to snap a picture of us before we headed out the door. I snapped a quick glamor shot of her as well but will not post due to the fear of losing my title   "The Favorite Daughter!"

The traffic was crazy so I was glad we took the bus. Once in line, we did a little stretching along with a few pep talks! We were in Corral N so we had about a 45 min wait before it was our turn to go.

Disney really knows how to do a race. Right before each corral,  Mickey counts down and a blast of fireworks signals the runners to start. It is a great feeling to know your journey has started once you pass this guy.

I promised my sister I would not take as many pictures as I did when we ran the half. I did get a little crazy but I think that is what made it so enjoyable for me. Plus......I have the posts to look back on! I decided I would take one picture inside each park, one half way through and a character. Our first stop was in Magic Kingdom in front of the castle.

This is about 5 miles into the 26.2.

It was in Magic Kingdom that we decided to stop for a character picture. I am glad we did because it seemed like there were a lot less picture opportunities than the half.

Next, we ran through the Speedway. The sun was shining bright going into the speedway but it was such a beautiful day. We could not have asked for better weather! I think the high was in the low 70s.

Our next major park was the Animal Kingdom. I was a little disappointed running through there. I kept waiting to take a picture in front of the Tree of Life. We never saw it! I know we were not running really fast but it seemed like we past through this park rather quickly. I did ask my sister if she wanted to take a break and ride Mt Everest.........she turned me down really quickly! This was the only picture I got of the Animal Kingdom.

I figured my next milestone would be the half way mark......13.1. I completely missed it! I didn't see a sign....no special music....nothing. I didn't think I was that involved in my running to miss it. So I took a picture at 14 miles.

I think I am going to stop there for now. I thought I could fit it all in one post but I have too many pictures towards the end. Be sure to come back to see how it ends!

4 year old manicure

Love it!

First Riding Lessons

Ella has been wanting a horse for a while now. We have tried to explain how expensive they are but she hasn't backed down yet. She actually asked Santa not only for a horse but a barn to go with it!

The other day we looked at a house and the owners had a horse. The lady told Ella, "If your parents want to buy the house we can throw the horse in the deal." She was sold! Too bad she doesn't have the money for the house!!!!

While we were staying with friends over the holidays, their daughter had horse riding lessons. Ella was so excited when I told her we were going to join them.

Surprisingly, Ella was a little nervous once she got up there. It's different up close and on top. 

Ella and her friend Addie

Laney loved it! 

She is not saying she wants a horse but would definitely want lessons!

Even mama had to saddle up!

I only made 1 pinterest project for Christmas.

An Auburn burlap door hanger for my parents and sisters.

Happy New Year!