Indiana {March 2018}

Posted in Travel by Kendra G.

On Saturday morning, I watched the sun rise from an airplane on the way to Indianapolis. I landed around 8:30am and immediately got the day started!

My oldest friend is having a baby and I got to celebrate with her! It was so good to see Lisa, her family, and some friends from high school and IU.

After the shower, we headed back to my parents’ house to celebrate my grandma’s birthday! She didn’t know that I would be in town, so it was a fun surprise!

Michael brought some of his favorite beers and conducted a beer tasting class for us! We ended the night playing the horse racing game with some friends.

After losing an hour of sleep, we headed to Cafe Patachou for brunch, complete with pomegranate prosecco!

After brunch, we headed to Topgolf for an afternoon of golfing. We had so much fun!

We ended the day visiting with Celeste and Meghann! It was so good to see them and catch up!

I hopped on the 5:30am flight on Monday morning and headed back to Orlando. It was weird traveling alone, but it was nice to be able to bounce around the city for two days and see so many people, both friends and family! I am so happy to have been able to celebrate baby Richards and my grandma’s birthday.

Until next time, Indy! Thanks for the great weekend!

4Jan2018

Florida Christmas {2017}

Posted in Family by Kendra G.

We headed down to Sarasota this year to celebrate Christmas in Florida with Greg’s family. We had an amazing five days filled with family, fun, and sun.

The kids spent a lot of time in and on the water. It was way too cold for me to even think about getting in. The boys caught several fish from the dock and I paddle boarded with the manatees!

We had dinner out on the circle on Saturday night and spent some time at the beach on Christmas Eve.

We opened presents on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. The kids spent the rest of our time playing with their presents.

We had such a great visit and a wonderful Christmas with Greg’s family. We loved seeing the Gilbos in Florida and the kids especially loved seeing their older cousins!

27Nov2017

my [thanksgiving] weekend in photos

Posted in Random by Kendra G.

we headed to hollywood studios on thursday for a nontraditional thanksgiving.

thankful for this crew.

the gilbos and petittos reunited!

kiddos!

we loved seeing the storm troopers out and about.

mickey and two turkeys.

minnie!

jake!

black friday shopping!

greg and i headed to philly on saturday. it was my first time in the city.

melissa and conor got married!

the wedding venue was gorgeous!

orlando friends in philly!

the girls.

so cute.

enjoying their time away from mommy and daddy.

dinner at tijuana flats, their favorite!

the kids had so much fun with meemaw and grandpa. we are so thankful they were able to come down for the weekend.

it’s beginning to look a lot like christmas!

***

we had such a great long weekend. it was a little out of the ordinary, but so fun. we had thanksgiving dinner on friday before watching the insane ucf football game!

we have so much to be thankful for.

21Nov2017

Maggi & Greg’s Wedding // October 2017

Posted in Travel by Kendra G.

After arriving in Mexico on Friday, we woke up to wedding day on Saturday! I had breakfast with Greg and the kids before the wedding day activities.

I spent the day with the bride and bridesmaids getting pampered, drinking champagne, and taking pictures. Everything was absolutely perfect and we had such a good time.

After we got all beautiful, we headed downstairs to hop in the golf cart to be transported to the site of the wedding.

We all got some last minute touch ups before it was time to walk down the aisle.

We walked down the aisle directly onto the beach. You couldn’t ask for a better backdrop for a wedding ceremony.

During cocktail hour, we headed out for pictures on the beach with the amazing photographers from Parasol Photo.Graphics.

The reception was on the terrace that overlooked the site of the ceremony, the beach, and the ocean. We spent the rest of the evening eating, drinking, dancing, and celebrating the happy couple.

It was an honor to stand up with Maggi while she married Greg. It was an absolutely perfect day during a perfect weekend. We are so happy to officially welcome Greg to our crazy family!

6Nov2017

Mexico // October 2017

Posted in Travel by Kendra G.

We arrived home from Chicago on Monday and were back at the airport on Friday to leave for Mexico! To say we had a busy October would be an understatement. We were off to Cancun to celebrate Maggi & Greg’s wedding.

The flight to Cancun was quick and easy! As soon as we arrived at the resort, we started seeing family and friends. The kids wasted no time getting their suits on and heading to the beach.

The welcome reception was Friday night in the main bar of the resort. It was so good to see a lot of friends and family who we hadn’t seen in a long time. We had an Asian dinner at Lemongrass before heading to bed to get ready for the wedding on Saturday.

The kids were up early each morning so we had an early breakfast before the wedding festivities began on Saturday. I have so many pictures from Saturday, so I will share those in a separate post. Greg and the kids played at the pool and beach while I was with the bride-to-be before the wedding ceremony.

The entire wedding day was so much fun. We woke up on Sunday and it was my birthday! Greg and the kids ordered me cake for breakfast, which was awesome.

We spent the entire day at the beach and the pool while the kids enjoyed some time at the kids camp. Michael and I went out on the stand up paddle boards which is all I wanted to do all day. It was so much fun.

Kenley got her hair braided and the kids jumped on the trampoline as part of kids camp. The camp was such a great feature of the resort, the kids were begging to go while we were happy to have some time to ourselves.

After such a relaxing day, we headed out for a birthday dinner with more dessert!

We headed back to Orlando on Monday kicking and screaming (mostly me). We could have used another day on vacation but the real world called us back. We said our goodbyes and hopped on the shuttle to head to the airport.

We had such an amazing time in Mexico celebrating Maggi & Greg. The entire wedding weekend was absolutely perfect and being able to celebrate my birthday on the beach in Mexico was an added bonus!

16Oct2017

Chicago // October 2017

Posted in Travel by Kendra G.

It’s been a whirlwind the last eleven days and I have a lot to catch up on! Two weekends ago, we headed up to Chicago for a long weekend away and for me to run the Chicago Marathon! We had an amazing, action-packed weekend filled with family, friends, and running.

From the moment we stepped on the plane, there was such amazing energy the whole weekend. Our flight attendants had all the runners stand up and there was about 20 runners on our plane alone. Jaime and I were on the same flight so we each enjoyed a complimentary Bloody Mary on the way. The kids were in heaven too.

The weather was gloomy on Friday but it didn’t slow us down. My parents arrived at our hotel about the same time that we did, so we headed out for lunch and shopping.

We headed to the American Girl store and the Lego store for the kids to pick out some early birthday presents. Julie came home with us and Kenley just loves her. Afterwards, Greg and I headed to Portillo’s for dinner then Bar Louie for drinks and baseball.

Saturday morning, we were up early to head to the race expo. The expo was insane and I think I could have spent the entire day there. We picked up our race bibs, did some shopping, took a lot of pictures, got beers, and met Bart Yasso. All in all, it was a successful morning!

After the expo, we headed to the Taco Joint for tacos and beer before heading back to the hotel to shower. About 20 minutes before Greg and I were out the door, Mary Beth and Mandy showed up to surprise me! Mary Beth and I had planned on meeting during the weekend, but I had no idea that Mandy was coming in from Kansas City! It was such a fun surprise!

The Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) pre-race dinner was on Saturday afternoon at Grant Park. It was good to see all of the other RMHC runners both from Orlando and all of the United States.

It was a gorgeous, but rainy evening in the city. After the RMHC dinner, Greg and I met up with MB and Mandy again before it was time for me to call it a night.

Meanwhile, the kids had an amazing Saturday at Michael and Rachel’s house. They had a birthday party, made a cake, built forts, and made race signs (which I saw the next day!).

Sunday was race day which will have an entire post dedicated to it!

We headed to Niketown on Monday morning to get our finishers gear and get our medal engraved. The medal engraving didn’t happen due to the two hour wait, but we did some shopping so the trip was worth it. Afterwards, we took the kids to Maggie Daley Park which was absolutely amazing. I highly recommend it and we will definitely be back the next time we’re in Chicago!

We had such a great trip to Chicago! It was great to be back in the Midwest. The entire city was so welcoming of all the runners and really made the weekend so memorable. A huge thank you to my parents, Michael, and Rachel for watching the kids while Greg and I did all of the pre-race festivities.

5Sep2017

my {long} weekend in photos

Posted in Random by Kendra G.

saturday morning started early with 16 miles.

we headed straight to the pool to celebrate sagan’s birthday!

crosby loved seeing his friends who we haven’t seen in a while.

after the party, we loaded up to head to grammy’s house.

gorgeous sunset.

sandcastles.

i ran the bridge on my five mile recovery run on sunday.

greg and i snuck out during nap time for a beer.

beach day, part two.

loving life.

kenley’s pet for a couple of hours before she released it back to its natural habitat.

labor day boat ride.

styling.

back to reality and preparing for a potential hurricane.

***

we had a crazy busy day on saturday, followed by a relaxing sunday and a great long weekend.

how was yours?

10Aug2017

Indiana {August 2017}

Posted in Travel by Kendra G.

The kids and I headed up to Indiana this past weekend. We had an action packed four days in my home state. Brace yourself, there are a lot of pictures!

We arrived on Saturday just in time to help set up for Maggi and Greg’s wedding shower! I am so thankful that we were able to be there to celebrate the happy couple. The theme was a fiesta in honor of their destination wedding. Everything about the shower was absolutely perfect. Abbi did such a great job with all of the little details that made the day so great. It was so good to see a lot of friends and family in one place too!

On Sunday, we got to see my grandparents, aunt, and uncle for lunch and fun around the fire. The kids got to spend some quality time with Arie and took turns taking her for walks. I think poor Arie was ready to be home after the long weekend.

We had a great lunch at BRU Burger on Monday, then headed to the Indianapolis Zoo. It had been so long since I had been there. The weather was absolutely perfect, and we drove by Victory Field so the kids could see where mommy and daddy met!

For dinner, we had a little pizza party with Celeste, Reese, Meghann, and Harper. It was so good to catch up with the girls, though it was short due to bedtimes for the littles.

The kids played at the park on Tuesday, we did a little back to school shoe shopping (what my mom and I do best!), and had lunch before heading to the airport.

I can’t believe how fast four days flew by! We had such a great time, but we were happy to get home to daddy too.

13Jun2017

Legoland Beach Retreat // April 2017

Posted in Travel by Kendra G.

To end the month of April, we headed down to Legoland to check out the new Beach Retreat. We started the day at the Legoland water park before heading over to check in to our room. We drove over to the Beach Retreat and checked into right from our car with the drive-thru check in. It was super convenient.

Our room was in Seagull’s Cove and we shared a bungalow with the Herolds. Each cove has its own playground that is visible from each room. The kids loved walking right out to play.

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The rooms are super cute! Just like the Legoland Hotel, there is a small separate room with bunk beds for the kids. The kids didn’t go right to sleep by any means, but Greg and I sat on the porch after they finally went to bed. The set up of the room is just so much better than a standard hotel room and it really makes such a difference!

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After we got settled, we headed over to the pool for some swimming before dinner. There was also another larger playground and a bar right by the pool. Once we saw the set up, we knew we should have spent the afternoon at the resort instead of the water park. We definitely made a mental note for next time.

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After swimming, the kids played Legos at the bungalow until it was time for dinner. The restaurant was also right by the pool so we walked over to have dinner.

The next morning, everyone was up early! We headed over for breakfast, which is included in your reservation, before heading back to Legoland.

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We spent a couple hours at the park riding roller coasters and rides. Since we all went to bed late and got up early, we headed out after lunchtime so the kids could nap the whole way home.

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Overall, we had such a great time with the Herolds. The Beach Retreat is so so cute and we will definitely be back!

29May2017

my [long] weekend in photos

Posted in Travel by Kendra G.

we headed down to sarasota for the long weekend for some family fun and beach time. we celebrated bobby’s 12th birthday and visited with cousins who we haven’t seen in a while.

sunday was a beach day. we had such a good time! afterwards, we walked to dinner and got ice cream for dessert.

we went to the ringling today to check out a new park. the art museum was free today so we checked that out too on the way out. the entire place was really cool and we’ll definitely be back when it’s a little cooler out.