Friday Five Week In Review

Hello, hello! What a whirlwind of a week it's been! No, I haven't fall off the face of the earth and although this week has been a bit cray cray, I'm still here!

Today's Friday Five is a freebie, so I'm going to share my week with you!

This Friday Five Linkup is hosted by  Running on Happy & Fairytales and Fitness.

#1

This week has been full of all kinds of party planning and other fun things - but mostly party planning!

That's right - on Wednesday, my sweet little boy turns ONE year old. ONE! This past year has seriously been one of the fastest years of my life.

Planning for his birthday party has been in full swing and sheesh...I'm exhausted!  His theme is Mickey Mouse because this child loooooves Mickey Mouse! I can't wait to share all of the details with you! Pinterest has definitely been my BFF here recently!

#2

On Saturday morning, my friend Heather and I ventured out for our long run a bit later than usual due to a CRAZY storm that passed through our area. We definitely could not have gone for our run at 7 a.m. like usual due to lightning, wind, and pelting sideways rain, so we waited until the storm passed which wasn't until about 11 a.m. The rain brought a chill to the air and I really enjoyed the run. Even though I'm used to having my run over by that part of the day, I much rather have gotten a run in than not at all! 


#3

Speaking of running, I've been laying low on the running front this week because I think I injured my back by wearing my running shoes too long. Last week, I posted to Instagram about wearing my shoes for the last time and then as I mentioned, it rained like CRAZY on Saturday morning....so instead of opening a brand new box of shoes, I wore my old ones again. Well, that was stupid because I definitely needed to change them out and now I have a sore area on my hip/lower back and have had to sleep on a heating pad the past few nights. The pain has gotten so much better as the week has gone on but still, this is a lesson learned! When it's time to change your shoes, do it!

#4

Beauty and the Beast! OH my gosh I finally had the chance to see it and I loved it!! I think Disney did such an amazing job with the live action version, I didn't want to leave my seat. I seriously wanted to go watch the movie all over again, right then and there! Round two will definitely happen soon and I can't wait!

#5 

My parent's 40th Wedding Anniversary took place this week! :)

We had a chance to celebrate when we were at in Disney in February, but it was fun to also celebrate with them again back home on the actual day!

I hope you all have a great weekend! I am thinking I'll skip my run this weekend (I'm sure I'll be running all over like mad for Brayden's party anyway), then resume on Monday and see what happens! I've seriously learned my lesson about shoes...I'll never do that again!

Have you seen Beauty and the Beast? What were your thoughts?

Baby's First Haircut At The Harmony Barber Shop

A must-do during our Princess Half Marathon Weekend trip last month was a haircut for my 10 month old little boy. He was born with a lot of hair and it grew like crazy in the Fall/Winter months. With a haircut soon to come, I knew we HAD to visit the Harmony Barber Shop on Main Street in the Magic Kingdom!

I called to make a reservation a couple of months in advance, and I scheduled the haircut for 9:30 a.m. the morning after the Princess Half Marathon. Our plan was to have his haircut in between the time he woke up in the morning and before his morning nap. I'm happy to say it all came together well!

Boy did he wake up with some wild and crazy hair that morning which only solidified my decision to have his first haircut before his first birthday.

Harmony Barber Shop is located off Main Street at Disney's Magic Kingdom, just off to the side of the Fire Station.

After checking in, we were instructed to have a seat and wait our turn. We didn't wait long at all and before we knew it, they were calling Brayden's name.

Brayden's barber was named Margaret and she immediately began giving him things to occupy his hands and mind. You could tell this wasn't her first rodeo for sure!

She also saved the first few sections of his hair for me and placed them in a little bag with Mickey confetti! 

Harmony Barber Shop is small with only three chairs, so be sure to make a reservation ahead of time if you're interested in having your little one's hair cut here (or even yours)!

After placing a ton of Mickey stickers all around Brayden, Margaret began her work. I asked her to cut the "flippies" out of his hair but still keep it where it looked like a baby's hair style.

My favorite part of the whole thing is the fact that Brayden didn't know what was going on at all. At one point (as shown above), he had Mickey stickers stuck to his fingers. The act of trying to pry the stickers off of his fingers kept him occupied for quite a while! 

She interacted with Brayden and kept him occupied the entire hair cut.

Margaret was amazing and Brayden was in his usual happy mood, so the entire haircut flowed so well.

In order to cut the back of his hair, she placed a Mickey sticker on the bolster seat in between his legs. Her trick worked great - he kept his head down while trying to pull the sticker off the chair and she was able to evenly trim the back of his hair just right!

At the end of it all, Brayden received his first set of Mickey Ears (with "My 1st Haircut" inscribed on the back), all included in the Baby's 1st Haircut package.

She had me walk around to the back of her chair so I could catch his face in the mirror when he saw himself in Mickey ears for the first time! Priceless!

In all, we had a fantastic experience with the Harmony Barber Shop and will definitely visit again in the future! Margaret did an exceptional job with Brayden for his first hair cut and we couldn't have been happier!

His haircut was exactly what I asked for and I loved it!! The entire experience cost $25 and for the hair cut, Mickey Ears, and certificate, that's not bad at all in my book!

Interested in visiting Harmony Barber Shop for your little one (or even yourself for that matter)? Check out Walt Disney World's website for dates/times/and further booking information!

Also, here's a video my husband took of the entire experience!

Vlog: 2017 runDisney Diaper Dash

Our first experience with runDisney's Diaper Dash was a fun one and definitely a memorable time for my family! Kids of all ages participated in races that included distances anywhere from a short dash for the babies all the way to a 1 mile fun run for the older kids!

We registered my 10 month old for the Diaper Dash that was held during the Princess Half Marathon Weekend and I captured video footage of the even to share with you!

If you missed other recaps from our Princess Half Marathon trip, you can check them out here:

• 2017 Princess Weekend Expo & VLOG
• 2017 Diaper Dash & VLOG
• 2017 Enchanted 10K & VLOG
• 2017 Princess Half Marathon & VLOG

Check out the video below!

Thanks for watching! Have a great weekend!! :)

Kids Nite Out

Back in June of 2015, I registered my entire family for 2016's Enchanted 10K over Princess Half Marathon weekend. You see, my husband and I were going through infertility issues at the time and I wanted to continue with "life as normal" as best as possible. Little did I know, I would find a positive pregnancy test the following month and any thought of running during Princess Weekend or even traveling to WDW at 30+ weeks pregnant went out the window. At the time, runDisney was still allowing deferrals, so I was able to defer my entire family to 2017's race events.

Fast forward to the planning process for 2017's race - I would have a 10 month old in tow and would need somewhere for him to go during the morning of the 10K race. Not only had we paid registration fees for the race itself, but we also paid deferral fees AND the difference in 2017's prices. If someone had to stay behind with our son, a good bit of money would be lost...not to mention the fact that someone would have to go without experiencing a race during Princes Weekend.

In the back of my mind, I remembered hearing about an authorized Disney service called "Kids Nite Out", but I didn't really know much about them. I also heard that they were available to provide child care in the early mornings during Marathon Weekend in January, but I didn't know if they were also available for other race weekends throughout the year.

So in August, I sent Kids Nite Out an email, asking for further information.

After receiving their response, I placed a calendar notification in my phone for the middle of October so I wouldn't forget to call and schedule the service. (It actually took 2 phone calls - one in October and one in November to make the reservation as October was too far out from the date I was requesting.)

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In the meantime, I also did a TON of research on Kids Nite Out. I mean, this was my baby, we waited a long time for him to arrive and I didn't want a random stranger coming into our room and doing something crazy to or with my child. Not only did I read great things about this company online, I also noticed that they were listed on Walt Disney World's website as their authorized child care service. I read countless reviews and after a lot of research, my mind was settled and I felt ok about our situation for the 10K.

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Race weekend arrived and as we got settled into our room at the Yacht Club, I called Kids Nite Out once again, to let them know of our room number and to confirm our reservation. I was told that our sitter's name was Maria and she would arrive at 3:30 a.m. on Saturday morning.

Just as notified, promptly at 3:30 a.m. on the morning of the 10K, a knock came to our resort room door. Maria was dressed in a Kids Nite Out polo and had a bright smile on her face, even at such early of an hour...and on a Saturday morning, nonetheless! We reviewed my son's routine together, I showed her where his clothes for the day were located, and she also took my cell phone number to text updates to me.

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I have to admit, Maria totally put my fears at ease. She loved babies, you could tell...and her joy was literally contagious!

Throughout the morning, I received several text messages from her, letting me know my son was still sleeping and all was well. She also text me once he was awake and fed.

The race went well, we had a great time, and we were back in our room by 8:30 a.m.  Our son was content and sitting on the floor, playing with a mix of his toys and a few toys that the sitter brought with her. She reassured us that he did well and was very happy the entire time he was in her care.

After recording her "clock out" time, she had us sign their form, then she told us and our son goodbye.

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I can't even begin to explain in words how happy I am with the Kids Nite Out service! They were easy to work with, very professional, arrived on time, and most important - they took excellent care of my child. If you are in need of a sitter service during a runDisney race weekend, don't hesitate to contact them (but do it early because they do book up)! I will definitely use their service again in the future if the need arises!

2017 Princess Half Marathon Recap

Happy Spring, everyone! It's crazy to think this year is flying by so fast! Thank you for your patience with me - I've had a sick little one here this past weekend and had to take him to see his pediatrician yesterday. I intended to have this post up yesterday, but you know how plans with babies go...so, here it is today!

 

Up next in my recaps of our Princess Half Marathon Weekend trip is the Princess Half Marathon itself!

• 2017 Princess Weekend Expo & VLOG
• 2017 Diaper Dash & VLOG
• 2017 Enchanted 10K & VLOG
• 2017 Princess Half Marathon & VLOG

I'd been looking forward to this race for a long time as I had to defer 2016's Princess Half due to pregnancy. Sadly, runDisney doesn't allow deferrals anymore which I think is pretty darn silly but whatever.

When my alarm went off at 2:30 a.m., I wasn't prepared for it and it scared me. I woke up thinking I'd missed the race somehow. Thankfully, that wasn't so!

By 3:30 a.m., I was out the door and on my way to the bus. Three buses were at the Yacht Club waiting to pick runners up, so I didn't have to wait long.

We arrived at EPCOT at oh dark thirty and began the walk to the family reunion area.

Runners were milling around, waiting to begin the long walk to the corrals. Also, check out the "Last In Line" sign! I'd never seen that before! 

In order to find my friend Melissa, I stood around in a large open space for a little while and that's when I heard my name. It was Jill and her sister Jennalyn! So nice to meet and have a chance to talk to both of them!! 

After finding Melissa, we decided to begin our long walk to the corrals. It wasn't as congested this year, which was nice!

Mid way there, we also realized we didn't have a picture yet from the morning, so we stopped a friendly cast member and asked him to take a picture.

We parted ways because we were in different corrals, then I made my way to find Heather and Jen! 

It didn't take long to find them as the corrals weren't super crowded yet. It was fun hanging out with them and chatting before the race began! 

There was a short delay with the race start time but it didn't seem to last very long...and with that, our corral was up next!

We began running and I stuck around with Heather and Jen until the first character stop.

These guys cracked me up. Jack Sparrow asked what I was reading, so I said, "A book, of course!"

A quick stop with these fellas was a must as well!

While in line for both the pirates and princes, I ran into Jennalyn again. We began chatting and ran together for a couple of miles. Come to find out, she's also a nurse so we had plenty to talk about!

I love seeing that Magic Kingdom sign! It means one of my favorite parts of the runDisney course is not too far off!

Another fun stop I just had to make was with these two ladies.

 

So many characters commented on my book! "A little light reading for your run?" 

"Don't read while running...you might trip!" 

We hit mile 4 while passing through the TTC. I also noticed that my favorite bathroom stop was closed and heard they weren't open during Marathon weekend either. Sad times. 

 These drummers are always fun, too!

With a quick water stop, we were on our way to the Contemporary and the dreaded hill! 

The upswing portion wasn't so bad this time, thankfully!

Before I knew it, we were turning down the cast member parking lot and on to Main Street!

The left side was lined with spectators as always and they cheered us on as we passed by! This is seriously one of my favorite parts of a runDisney race! Such a cool experience!

Hi castle!

The sun was beginning to rise as we ran through the Magic Kingdom. I spotted Buzz Lightyear his little corner of Tomrrowland, but I decided to skip him as I've stopped for him in the past.

The Queen of Hearts, though...she cracked me up! She took my book before I could do anything with it!

On our way to New Fantasyland, I saw a super long line and couldn't figure out what was going on at first. Someone hollered, "It's Gaston!" and I knew I couldn't pass up the opportunity.

This guy was hysterical!! He kept all of us laughing while we were waiting! Once it was my turn, he took one look at my book and said, "What's this?! To the fire with this one!" He tossed my book to the Cast Member, then posed for this picture! Hilarious!!

Much to his dismay, the Cast Member had to return the book to me! 

I calculated my time in line with him was right at 10 minutes but it was totally worth it! After rounding the corner, I saw another huge line...this time for Beast in his new movie costume. I knew we were going to eat at Be Our Guest the following evening, so I skipped that line and continued on my way through the Magic Kingdom.

Anna, Elsa, and Kristoff were at the castle to say hello to runners. This was the first time I couldn't actually run through the castle because it was so bottle necked. I DID like that they opened up both sides of the off ramps, though! Runners could take a right or left out of the castle which helped a ton with the congestion!

There were photographers in front of the castle for pictures, so I had to stop!

The remainder of the Magic Kingdom portion of the race was fun and went by all to fast! After leaving the Magic Kingdom, we were on the road to the Grand Floridian and the Polynesian.

After passing these resorts, the remainder of the race got a little boring. There's also a huge overpass bridge that likes to mess with my IT Band. Thankfully, it wasn't too bad this time and a green army man who's always mid way through the overpass was there to keep us all on our toes!

As per usual, I had to stop for a selfie with the mile 12 sign! :)

As we took the turn into the back of Epcot, I was surprised to see Mushu there. Of course, I had to stop and take a picture!

Also, Daisy was there to cheer runners on! I loved her Princess outfit!

Almost done!

I stopped here to check my phone because I could see that Heather had sent a text to me. She asked where I was in relation to the finish line because she was there, cheering runners on!

Gospel Choir....the best and one of the most fun parts of a runDisney event! It's like a sigh of relief because when you hear the gospel choir, you know you are almost there! 

Belle was on the Mile 13 sign, so I just had to stop for a picture! I also shot Heather another text to let her know I was almost there.

I spotted the finish line and kept to the right so I could make sure and wave to Heather. I even heard Rudy say my name overhead! Awesome!! :)

Done! Another super fun race experience was in the books! 

The medal for this race was beautiful and I LOVE the rose! It's definitely one of my favorites! :)

Thanks for sticking around for my Princess Half Marathon Weekend updates! Stay tuned for more from our first trip with Brayden to his first haircut and more! Also, I'm running Tink this year so there will be more runDisney updates to come! Have a great day!