Peoria Firecracker 5000 Recap

 

We took our typical trip down to Peoria for the 4th of July this year. I asked my good friend Katy if there were any races on the 4th or that weekend. She mentioned I should try the Firecracker 5000 on the riverfront. We headed down the night of the 3rd so I could get up early and do the 5k. I was able to sign up the day before and get my packet that morning.

 

 

First one up, heading out to the race.

 

I got to the race about 40 min before so I could get my packet and find Katy. The race was very well organized and was about 1,000 participants in size. After I found Katy, we took a quick picture before heading to the start.

Love this pic!



Starting line selfie

 We got to the starting line and after the National Anthem, hit the ground running. Katy is much faster than me so I only stayed with her for about .10 miles. I realized right away I was going way fast. In fact my first mile was my fastest ever, 9:53! I never knew a sub 10 mm was possible for me! The rest of the race went pretty normal. I did not carry water so I needed to rely on the water stops. I also felt like I was going to puke at the end, but had my fastest 5k at 33:12! I was so happy!

 

Afterward we got the traditional post race beer and then I headed to find the nearest Dunkin Donuts for a post race treat. I liked the race a lot, it was reasonable priced and well organized. I will do this one again next year if given t

he chance.



Happy Holidays- Part 2

Monday the 23rd we packed up the car to the tippy top with stuff to bring down to central Il. We had some much to bring we barely had room for the 3 of us. We took P to gymnastics and then stopped quick at McDonald's for dinner before putting her in her PJs and in the car. Thankfully it was an easy drive with almost no traffic. Once we got to Deer Creek, P woke up and met Justin's Parents. I let her stay up a bit before heading to bed.

 

Tuesday the 24th we went to our friend's Sarah and Joel's to see them and exchange gifts. Beforehand we went to Sonic because I had a hankering for hot dogs and a slushee. Just a note, the East Peoria Sonic has to be the SLOWEST one I have ever been to! We had a great time seeing Sarah, Joel, Sarah's mom, sister, and boyfriend. We wished we could stay longer but were glad we got to see them even a little bit! Afterwards we got pizza from our favorite place down there, Monical's and sat and talked to Justin's Uncle Bug and Uncle Al.

Sweet Dandy Cat

Justin and his uncle

Shadow Dog

Shadow dog was quite popular with P this week, I think she was missing the kitties. We put P to bed around 8pm so she could get in bed for Santa to come. We stayed up and Justin played the WWE 2K14 and I knitted my scarf.

Christmas morning P slept until 8:30, I am not even sure she remembered it was Christmas! We went downstairs and she saw Santa had left her a doll she asked for, she was so excited. Around noon our nieces showed up and the girls colored. Justin's sister can shortly after and Uncle Al came back to enjoy Christmas dinner with us. We had quite the feast!

Oh I bought myself an early Christmas Present for Thanksgiving, a D3200 DSLR camera and took over 300 pictures on Christmas. I love the camera and I am so glad I got it!



 

 This year almost everyone got hand made scarves by me. Justin and I got his dad a Nook, which he loved. The girls all got Stuffees and P got a LeapPad2 which she loved! I think Christmas was good to everyone this year! After opening gifts the kids played with their toys, they had fun feeding and changing the Baby Alive. P got to stay up until 8:30 then she headed to bed, we did not want to stray too far from her schedule. I soaked in the hot tub and watched tv (the hot tub is in the garage) and Justin played a little WWE then headed up to bed too.

 

Thursday we had some family come over to visit and hang out prior to us packing the car and heading home. It was a busy but fun 3 days, but as always we were glad to be home and see the boys. P survived her first trip to Peoria and had a good time.

 

 

 

 

 



Weekend wrap up and Cat Pics!

Note this was typed using the blogger app:

 

This weekend we headed down to Deer Creek IL to see Justin's parents and celebrate the 4 th of July with our friends. Justin's tooth had been bothering him so we were unsure Thursday if we were going to be able to go, but he got some antibiotics and after work Friday we were on our way.  We stopped in Pontiac for some yummy Taco Bell and got to Deer Creek a bit after 10.

 

Saturday we hung out with Justin's mom in the morning and played with Dandy cat and Shadow dog. Dandy may look as big as Guido and Tobi but he weighs about half the amount.  We headed to Sarah and Joel's around 330pm. It was nice seeing all of our friends, catching up, and enjoying some BBQ. We played with our friends little girl and boy which is always a good time! After a lot of people left they light the firepit, as it was actually getting cold!

 

Sunday Justin's dad came back from being out of town so we caught up with him. We ordered some of our favorite pizza Monicals. It did not disappoint as usual! We headed home and got back about 6pm where we just relaxed the rest of the night. It was a nice weekend and a great time with friends and family.

Dandy- Justin's parents cat

Guido and his girlfriend

Tobi

Someone did not feel good today, but he is better now

Baby Tobi

They look scary here but they were glad we were home

He loves pants

One more of Dandy

 

 

Weekend Wrap Up

This weekend we went down to Peoria to stay with the in-laws.  Friday night we got there late and just hung out on the deck.  Saturday Justin and his dad worked on his car a bit.  His mom and I went to Panera and Kohls.  I discovered the joy of salads at Panera and the BBQ chicken salad (yum!).  I bought this shirt and a gray long sleeve shirt.

After that we headed to Sarah and Joel's for the yearly 4th of July celebration.  It was a great time catching up with so many friends we unfortunately only see once or twice a year.  We got to see Sarah's mom and neice, formally Paco Taco Joe, Adam, Mindy (the kids too), Mary and Cooper, Katy and Toby, Tate, Reggie and Kelly, Chris and Lucy, and even Jason.  

Sunday was nicer outside so I was able to spend some time in the pool reading:

So far it is a pretty good book, I only got to page 56 so far.  I also spend some time reading Catching Fire.  As I would like to get through that series this summer.  We also got to play with Justin's parent's pets Dandy the cat and Shadow the 3 legged dog.

When I got home from Peoria I saw mom had got me a tasty birthday present.  A gift box of Utz pretzels, yum yum!!  I think she thought the theme was Where the Wild Things Are (I looked at the site and there is no box art) but I got this:

Phesants and Deer aside, it has awesome pretzels in it so who cares.  Next time I want the My Maryland or the Pennsylvania themed boxes.

All in all a good weekend.  Now here is a pic of Tobi with Humphry:

Cats in pants

Weekend Wrap Up

We had such a great weekend.  After a quick trip to Taco Bell and Walmart we hit the road for Peoria.  Friday night we got there about 10pm and pretty much went to bed not too long after.  Saturday we headed over to New Castle Bible Church to attend Darin and Lusi's wedding reception.  The party was in the youth center, which we had never been to before.

Hanging out with Phil before heading to the church

We're so silly

Phil can't come with

Darin and Lusi's cake

Lots of cake!

Justin

Me

Chocolate mint candies

Justin and his lunch

My piece of cake

At the reception

Centerpiece

Favors

Justin's cake

Youth building

  After the reception we went back to Justin's parents.  I tried to use the hot tub but it was 107 degrees and the controls would not work.  Around 5pm we went to Darin and Lusi's to watch them open their gifts.  Darin's mom's family from Iowa where there and so was Kevin's friend Jon.  Darin and Lusi got a lot of nice gifts and we had a good time.  Afterwards we headed to Sarah and Joel's and we went to Avanti's in East Peoria for dinner.  We had not had their food in almost 10 years!! We got cheeseballs, garlic bread, gondolas, pizza, and Tortellini.

Justin's large Gondola deluxe

My small gondola deluxe and tortellini

Sarah and Joel's pizza in the back

It was funny because we even saw Darin's family at Avanti's.  After dinner we went back to Sarah and Joel's where we talked and I worked on so knitting.  We had a great time hanging out with them and catching up.

Sunday we headed home early and stopped at the Half Price Books in Countryside, IL.  It was pretty crowded and we had some magazines to sell.  We only got $2 for them but that is better than nothing.  I found 2 magazines and 2 weight watcher cookbooks.  One was a 20 minute meals book I had wanted for awhile and the other was all about pizza, yum!  Once we got home I watched some shows and then we made individual pizzas for dinner which came out so good.  Such a great weekend!