finding a Christmas tree..

We picked up our Christmas tree early this year since I work next weekend. Let this joyful season begin!!

thanksgiving!

We were so proud of Zara this Thanksgiving, she did a kid dash and it just feels like the beginning of lots of running with her. It was adorable. They gave her a little ribbon. We also did the 5k. I pushed Z in the stroller most of the time, but at the end she wanted to get out and run- mostly to see the person dressed as a T- Rex. That dinosaur gave her life! She may have slowed me down but it was worth it to cross the finish line together!

My sister made a wonderful meal at her home. Zara had the best time playing. It was a great day.

We are very thankful for our home, nutritious food, our jobs, our health & our Zara. We are so lucky!

santaland diaries.

We had a throwback to the kind of date we would have before Zara- an evening at a nice restaurant and Actor's Theater. We ate at Milkwood & it was unique & amazing! The play- the Santaland Diaries- is based on the essay by David Sedaris. Still way funnier when David reads it but it was nice to kick off the holiday season with a festive date and wearing my red tights out on the town!

Before we left, Zara said "how about a picture with Baby Rawr?" (to explain the photo of Z on the ground, ha)

what we do with a few days off..

We took a family day trip to Cincinnati to use our Aquarium passes and get a few things at Jungle Jim's & Ikea. Bless Jonas for putting Ikea furniture together. I would never buy it if I didn't have him :) We had lunch at Ikea- I ate all the veggie balls and veggie dogs :) It was a good day.

We had a Sunday half marathon! I have never had one on a Sunday before. It was very cold but we made it through! I always sign Jonas up for these things, haha.

I took one of my last vacation days and extended my weekend off. We spent a lot of time at home playing, reading and sleeping in! We also had a wonderful zoo visit and we were almost the only people there. It has been a good season of all things cozy and warm.

election day.

election day happened to be a very gorgeous day with my little lady.
We voted first thing (& for many women!). I felt informed & empowered.
Zara handed in the ballot.
We picked up lunch and ate at the park where we spent two hours acting out Zara's "baby rawr" play (she is a baby lion in the zoo and I chase her, catch her, carry her, talk to her at her cage & make her do tricks like the lion from Madagascar). This is one of her favorite ways to play. She also loves to make areas around the living room for her wood animal figurines or for herself... I want to remember the things she comes up with..

My day off is Tuesday so hopefully there will be many more election days to spend together in the sunshine..