my weekend in photos

Posted in Random by Kendra G.

five miles on friday morning. it was slow and steady.

we headed to the townhouse restaurant on friday after work. the kids were so excited to see charlie and margot who were visiting from canada!

so thankful for a quick dinner with these girls. it’s been way too long.

i was back on campus on saturday morning to work while greg and the kids hit up the y and the park.

after crosby’s much needed haircut, we headed to sea world!

shamu!

we thought for sure that we would be the only fools who wanted to go to sea world on saturday evening when it was 95 degrees outside. wrong. it was packed. there are apparently a lot of other crazies out there aside from us.

greg and i collapsed on the couch once we got home and watched london has fallen. it was pretty good!

sunday included church and errands. kenley and i did a little back to school shopping at target this afternoon too.

it’s not a weekend without a quick swim and popsicles.

***

we had a great weekend! our summer weekends are quickly winding down, so we’re making the most of them.

how was your weekend?

19Jul2016

Training in the off season

Posted in Running by Kendra G.

I ended race season in March with my tenth half marathon in Sarasota. Since then, I have taken a much needed break from a rigorous running schedule, which has allowed me to try some new workouts and classes to stay in shape. I’ve been utilizing our YMCA membership a lot more and I have really enjoyed the wide variety of workouts.

H.I.I.T.

HIIT stands for high intensity interval training and I take the class at the Y before work. Depending on the day, it’s a good mix of cardio and strength training. It is indeed high intensity and very fast paced. The class is about 45 minutes and our instructor has been known to call certain exercises “30 seconds of pain”. On other days our 30 second “breaks” between exercises were actually 30 seconds of various types of planks. Ouch. After class, I feel like I got a really good workout and I am usually pretty sore the following days.

PiYo

PiYo is a mix of pilates and yoga and is done on the yoga mat, barefoot. In the past, I have felt that yoga wasn’t a good workout because it didn’t get my heart rate up, but once I started doing piyo, I felt very different. It is hard work!! The class is about 50 minutes of continuous movement and strength training. My heart rate definitely is up during the class and I love that she does a nice, yoga-like cool down with us. I really wish I could go to this class every week, but I’ll settle for a couple times a month.

Spin

Spin or spinning is simply indoor cycling. If you want a class that definitely gets your heart rate up, spin it is! I have been to spin classes on and off since we moved to Florida. Thanks to my Little 500 days, I still have my padded shorts that come in handy for this class. If you’ve never done a class, I highly recommend it, but I also know that it’s not for everyone. I definitely go as often as possible.

Other

When there is no class to go to, I’ve been getting on the elliptical at the Y. It’s great because I can watch TV while I am working out, which seems silly, but it’s just a nice break from reality where I don’t have to focus on anything for 30 minutes. It’s even better when there is an episode of Friends on. Aside from cardio, I have also been doing a little bit of weight training… and by little, I mean very little. I would love to have a personal trainer to tell me exactly what to do since I just go in there and wing it. Over the next year or so, I would love to work on getting stronger, so we’ll see how it goes!

Race season is quickly approaching and our training schedule begins in a few short weeks, so my mileage is going to start increasing a lot! I’ve enjoyed mixing up my workouts this summer, but I am also ready to start racing again…if only it would get cooler here!

What are your favorite non-running workouts?

17Jul2016

my weekend in photos

Posted in Random by Kendra G.

we haven’t gotten to ride bikes much lately since it’s been insanely hot, so we rode around the block on friday night. it was still hot.

diving for rings!

kenley has been working very hard to perfect her cannonball. she’s doing so well!

playing dress up… kids are funny.

early morning legos. shortly after, crosby decided to flush one of kenley’s toys down the toilet… or so he says. we haven’t found the toy so i think he’s actually telling the truth, unfortunately. needless to say, the end of the world was near in our house.

girls trip to target!

swimming with ryan!

sunday funday.

***

grammy came to visit this weekend and we had so much fun! i apologize for the lack of photos!
how was your weekend?

11Jul2016

my weekend in photos

Posted in Random by Kendra G.

after work on friday, we headed to winter park. i popped in to the rifle paper co. sample sale to pick up some goodies.

we tried the coop for dinner for some good southern food.

daddy’s girl.

saturday morning, we met some friends at the park before we headed to the y. it was hot, but fun!

after nap, we made a family trip to lucky’s market! Greg and i had a $2 draft while we shopped. i think i’ve found my new favorite place to shop.

kenley loved having her own cart…until i put cilantro in there and then she didn’t want it anymore…oy.

i pulled myself away from a day of grading to enjoy some pool time with these hams.

our view from dinner at our favorite restaurant.

celebrating eight years of marriage with a trip to target and dinner at hillstone.

a great way to end the weekend.

***

we had a good weekend mixed with work and play and some toddler attitude thrown in there as well. how as your weekend?

8Jul2016

4th of July weekend in Indiana

Posted in Family, Travel by Kendra G.

We headed up to Indiana on Friday for a long weekend. Greg and I were not convinced that we would actually make our flight on Friday judging by the insanely long lines at the Southwest counter when we arrived, but alas, we did and we landed in Indianapolis excited to get our busy weekend underway. Our first stop was Scotty’s Brewhouse for an early lunch or breakfast in our case. After lunch, we got settled at my parents’ new house before hitting the road.

We took the back roads up to Alexandria, for the last time in a long time, if not forever, to see the old house. We walked the empty halls and I said my goodbyes to the only house I have ever known. I was surprised that I didn’t cry considering I am getting misty eyed just writing about it now. I will forever treasure the great memories I have of that house.

We thoroughly enjoyed the chilly weather and the evening fires while we were there. We also made our way down to the lake to catch the sunset, which was at 9:30pm!

The kids thoroughly enjoyed playing with Arie!

On Saturday morning, we headed over to brunch with the Lower clan. Seven of the ten cousins were in town, so it was a party! The kids all had a great time playing with each other too!

We headed over to the beach club afterwards and the kids got in the water, which was freezing! It was way too cold for us Floridians, but the kids didn’t seem to mind. Kenley loved jumping off the diving board!

Sunday morning, the rain started and we headed out to the Outrunning Autism 5K/10K. The race was super small and I ended up getting 4th in my age group!

Majority of Sunday afternoon consisted of all of us sitting in the garage going through boxes and boxes of old pictures and keepsakes. It was definitely a highlight of the weekend, traveling down memory lane. Kenley also did some sparklers as we watched the rain continue to fall outside.

We woke up to a rainy 4th of July and packed our bags to head home.

We arrived back in Orlando and were greeted by the blazing temperatures which made us instantly miss the nice, cool weather in Indiana. After a quick, long weekend, we hauled our two kids, two car seats, two suitcases, and umbrella stroller back through the airport to our car. Needless to say, we skipped out on the fireworks and all went to bed early Monday night after an amazing long weekend.