High Park visit

Since it's been so nice out (and I'm tired of walking around the neighbourhood) I've decided to take the boys on an 'adventure' once a week (until they start daycare).

 

This week's adventure took us to High Park.

 

It's famous for it's Cherry Blossoms that bloom in the Spring and apparently finding parking during that time on the weekend is very hard.

 

They also have a very neat looking park. It's a castle called James Bell Park. You rarely find parks like this anymore and Joseph loved it as did a lot of the kids that were there. Makes me wonder if the plastic, all the same parks are worth it! There's something to be said for adventure parks.

 

 

Anyway, Joseph wandered through the maze of a playground for a good 30 minutes and he'd dip in and out of windows, find new paths and check out different slides. He even braved the gigantic red one that I pictured him sitting in and crying and me trying to find a way to get him out.

 

After the playground, we headed to the zoo. It's not a huge zoo by any means, but it does have a few animals and the kids can get fairly close. Close enough that I had to remind Joseph not to put his fingers in the fence.

 

 

The only downfall was the enormous hill we went down to get to the playground and zoo. I knew we'd have to get up eventually and we did. I thought of it as exercise and pushed the double stroller up to the top!

 

Looked bigger from the bottom!

 

Once I got my breathe back, we went and looked at some of the gardens. There were these ladies there using bubble wands to blow these gigantic bubbles that all the kids were chasing. I'm going to be making one of these wands in the near future since it took almost everything to get Joseph to leave them. We even went back after lunch. 

 

 

 We headed to the little restaurant to get lunch. After paying a ridiculous price and Joseph not eating a lot, we'll be picnicking the next few times we go on our adventures. He loved the number. He got upset when the waitress brought our food and took it away. I guess he thought it was coming home with us!
 

After lunch we went back to see the bubble ladies, check out a couple more gardens and Andrew started to get tired. We headed to the car for a quick diaper change and load up and headed home.
 

I had a nice quiet ride since both boys fell asleep and I took the 'long' way home so they'd sleep longer.

Next week's adventure is still up in air since it looks as though it is supposed to rain. There is an indoor reptile park we might visit (eww, I get shivers just thinking about them).

 

Run List



Now that I had my first taste of racing, I've been bitten by the bug!

 

Therefore, I've spent many hours looking at the Running Room website and Event Listings to find races that are nearby.

Here is my list for the rest of this year.

 

June

Bread & Honey Festival 5K
Color Me Rad 5K

July
Eaton Downtown Dash 10 K

August

A Midsummer Night's Run 15K (*gasp*)

September

Oakville Half Marathon 10K

October

Toronto Women's 8K

December

Santa Shuffle 5K

I loved the atmosphere that comes with the races. It's very exciting and I definitey feel the need to keep my running going when I know I have a race coming up. As I've said before, I know I'm never going to win races and that's fine by me. I just want to get faster for myself.

Luckily, I have the greatest support system of The Husband, my parents and friends that are all encouraging me to keep going!

Maybe I'll get skinnier too (I just have to stay away from the ice cream store this summer)!



Andrew's on the move!

My little baby, at the ripe old age of 7.5 months, is finally crawling forward!   Oh and Joseph makes an appearance and 'shows' Andrew how to crawl.   P.S. Turn the volume down. I sound horrible and we're fairly loud!    

Nutrition, Frustration and Pain!

I haven't run in a few days (what feels like many to me at this point) and I'm missing it already. It definitely is taking over my fitness life at this point and while I'm happy about it, when I miss them I start to get upset and slightly depressed! I honestly never thought I'd say something like this about running.

 

My horrible race photo (are these ever nice?)

 

I've stalled in regards to losing weight though. I've gotten down to 160 lbs (-32lbs from when I started) which is fantastic but I need to be lower than that.

 

So, it's time to change up my diet and what I'm eating. I like the idea of Clean Eating and have been looking at the 100 Days of Real Food blog but I haven't taken the plunge yet. I love my McDonald's every once in awhile and giving up my pop is going to be the biggest challenge.

 

 

I've started out small and have gone almost two weeks without buying a chocolate bar or candy from the grocery store or any other store I've been too.

 

I also need to step up my running and make sure I'm getting out at least three times a week and doing some other exercising the other days of the week. I have another 5K in June and I'm hoping to set a PR!

 

I (possibly foolishly) signed up for a 15K in August with a friend on mine. I've heard lots about this particular race and how great it is and the distances offered are 5K or 15K. My friend runs half marathons all the time so she is signed up for 15. I decided go big or go home.

 

I'll be following Hal Higdon's 15K Novice Training plan so that helps and I think combined with the better eating I should start losing weight again.

 

Also, I'm joining another fitness challenge that will last 10 weeks. I won the last one and I lost a good chunk of weight. We'll be starting Monday so I'm hoping that'll give me the push I need, hopefully!

 

I also need to start stretching before bed and when I get up in the morning. I'm so sore when I first get up that it takes a good 10-15 minutes of moving to loosen up. I scored a Groupon for a yoga/spinning place that I'm excited to try out so maybe I'll add in some yoga (even though I hate it)! Once I get a stretching routine down, I'll share it with you!

 

Lastly, I want to share our motivational poster from our run last weekend. This is my running buddy's sister-in-law who (with a friend) made this awesome sign! The lovely lady in the picture is going to be running a 10K with me in September! I'm so excited!

 

I would never steal anything, but ran as though I possibly might have!

Honestly?!

 

Really??

Some people are just really stupid.

It bothers me that the saying that came out of such a tragedy as the Boston Marathon bombing is being mocked in this picture.

I'm a Leafs fan (maybe not a crazy one), but even I'm disappointed by this.

If the "Boston Strong" saying had to do with the Bruins' effort in the Stanley Cup then yes, I'd find this funny and witty.

Instead, it paints this Leaf fan (and to see people all Leafs fans) as an idiot.

I'm all for supporting your team, making signs, dressing up, cheering, etc. I just think it needs to be done in a respectful way.

The above is not respectful and he should be ashamed of himself.

Here is what "Boston Strong" means to someone that lives in Boston and experienced that fateful day.



I hope that guy regrets what he did and thinks things through a little more before creating his next sign.