Tag Archives: weekend

My Last Run Before 13.1 and Splash Pad Fun

05/05/2015 R.C. Liley 4 Comments

Sunday brought us beautiful weather here in the South, and Going Mom had a great idea to go to a splash pad with Avery. I was planning on going for a run in my Soft Star Dash RunAmoc Shoes. They have a bullhide leather sole instead of the typical rubber sole you find on most shoes.

Definitely not what you’d picture a running shoe to look like, but they are awesome for the barefoot enthusiast! And not just for running, these things are comfortable around the house and would easily pass for work shoes in the office. Desk jockeys, rejoice! I’ll have a review posted after running the Mother’s Day half-marathon I signed up for.

I haven’t run over 10 miles in over a year, so I’m interested in seeing how I do. Stay posted to find out. My wife will be running the 5k and my mom (G-Ma), will be with Avery watching and cheering us on. Then we’ll go out to enjoy a Mother’s Day brunch together. Big weekend ahead!

But back to this past weekend, running and a splash pad. Kelley drove with Avery to a splash pad a few miles from home and I ran to meet them there. This was Avery’s first splash pad experience, so she was a little unsure of what to make of it at first.

I showed up not too long after they arrived and Kelley told me how Avery seemed more intrigued by the surrounding grass than the colorful water-spraying structures. Makes sense….NOT! So I decided to swing Avery around one of the sprayers.

What kid doesn’t love water sprayed in their face? Seriously though, Avery actually got a kick out of it.

Her smile and laughter is worth more than any sum of money I could imagine! So I continued my earning the riches with more swinging in the water.

You can see how smart I was by keeping my leather running shoes on while splashing in the water. For some reason, leather soles with no tread don’t provide the best traction on wet surfaces. Hmmm, probably why Soft Star even warns about this! Just had to test them out for a thorough review!

I took a break from swinging Avery around the water streams and my wife took over for a while. First she had to catch the little grass lover who is too quick for her little legs!

Then back to getting swung around for more toddler soaking madness.

I swear, that smile, it’s infectious! That goes for my wife’s too! There’s no doubt fun was had by all.

Of course, Avery seemed a little lost when we set her down to have a go in the pad by herself.

Ummm, Mom....Dad....a little help here? — Ummm, Mom….Dad….a little help here?

Once more, we took turns throwing our daughter around the water like any awesome parent would. First I played helicopter with her as the propeller….

….and then Going Mom reenacted The Lion King with our girl “Simba”.

Circle of life, gotta love it. Also gotta love these two….a lot, which I do.

Avery was getting cold and slightly fussy so it was time to head home. Kelley drove, I ran. With the run there and then back, I totaled about 7 miles, give or take a few tenths of a mile. As expected, traction was limited, but I enjoy running in the Dash RunAmocs thus far.

Once home, the fun didn’t stop there as I had a full-grown lawn to mow. No problem there since mowing with our EGO Power+ Mower took all but 25-30 minutes and I was done. Great way to wind down the weekend for sure. We never watched an episode of The Walking Dead after our date night, but snuck one in on Sunday.

Getting close to the yet-to-be released on Netflix Season 5, what are we to do?! Besides pay for it, I refuse, even though Kelley is threatening to buy it and watch alone.

Oh yeah, Happy Cinco de Mayo……if you care.

Ever take your kids to a splash pad?

Would you wear leather-soled shoes to go running or just in general?

What do you think wait for The Walking Dead Season 5 to come out on Netflix or give in and pay $27 for instant gratification?

Life, Parenting

The Avengers, Beer, and That Loathsome Lip

05/02/2015 R.C. Liley 6 Comments

Did you know The Avengers: Age of Ultron movie just came out yesterday? It’s a little know fact that I’m a die-hard comic fan, especially anything from Marvel and DC Comics. So when a movie comes out, the giddy kid in me comes out as well.

That said, we hardly ever go to a movie, much less an obviously popular one that just came out. Crowds, people, public? Ugh. Yeah, introvert is my middle name, there’s no use trying to hide it.

Anyway, Going Mom and I are getting crazy and going to see an early afternoon showing of the awesome Marvel superhero team in action while Aunt Stef watches Avery for us. Afterward, we’re heading to The Gingerman where they have a vast selection of local craft beer for us to enjoy. It’s the same place we went to before, so hopefully they have some new beer for us to try!

After a few rounds of beer (it doesn’t take much), we plan on walking around the town square in which the pub is located until we feel good enough to drive home. Aren’t we grand, being responsible and all? Once home, we have something we haven’t done in a while that needs to be addressed.

Hey, get your mind out of the gutter, it’s watch The Walking Dead! We haven’t seen a single episode since last weekend, so we’re eager to “catch up”. Seriously, binge watching a show is so much better than watching one at time. Thank you, Netflix!!

Nothing extremely romantic, but time away with just the wife doesn’t happen enough anymore, so it’s become a little luxury for us both. Thanks to G-Ma (my mom) and Aunt Stef (Kelley’s sister), we are able to get away every now and then which, from what I’m told, is good for relationships! 🙂

Speaking of relationships, Avery’s bottom lip was still being headstrong even after my second plea to knock off the evil cuteness power it beholds. Coincidence or not, the same day I posted about her rogue bottom lip, Avery busted it, hard!

I’ll apologize to you now, Avery, I know this picture isn’t the most glamorous. Sorry. It doesn’t help having remnants of the spinach, banana, and black bean puree I made on her mouth.

She was playing with Mommy’s sweater and tripped over it making her bite the ground. Lots of thick blood and a screaming toddler later, you get the picture above. She actually handled it better than I would expect, but the rest of the night was not the most fun.

Despite the swelling, she seemed to handle whatever pain she had the next day, Friday, pretty well.

It hasn’t turned the yellowish purple I figure will eventually appear, but there’s still plenty of time. Hopefully that bottom lip has learned its lesson and will think twice before showing itself again.

I’m actually amazed at how well she was eating. She chowed down the NuttZo and banana combo like a champ, as referenced by the leftovers on her lips.

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Oh, and speaking of champ, the “champ”agne I brought home for my wife apparently grew arms to write this note. And then lost the arms…

Weird, it has crappy handwriting just like me! Small world.

Just figured it would be nice to have a good beverage while watching The Walking Dead. My drink of choice will be this potato vodka I picked up with a Zevia Tonic Water.

Never tried potato vodka before (maybe Hammy can fill me in), but I know for a fact that Zevia is awesome with or without a mix-in.

I don’t expect to be on the computer much this weekend, so hope you enjoy it like I know I will!

Can you remember the first time your kid busted his/her lip or does it have yet to happen?

Are you going to see the new Avengers movie?

NuttZo, Parenting, Promo

Our ‘Going’ NuttZo Tasting Party!

04/27/2015 R.C. Liley 6 Comments

You taste a lot of deliciously healthy varieties of NuttZo, obviously! This weekend, the Going Family hosted a NuttZo tasting party for our neighborhood to delight the taste buds of both kids and adults.

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My party hosting skills could use some work, but I was pretty pleased with my layout. One lucky neighbor was going to be randomly drawn to win their own jar of the Smooth Original NuttZo and I was creative enough to use an empty NuttZo jar for the drawing. Going Mom made fun of me for putting a red bow on the prize jar, but I thought it was a nice touch. What do you think?

People starting showing up and although I was excited to share the edible happiness of NuttZo, I was still a little nervous. Big thanks to my wife for helping to keep the mood light.

For days, I was driving myself crazy trying to think of elaborate recipes to create for the party, but thankfully my wife kept me in check and told me to keep it simple. Duh. It is a tasting party for a product, not a cook-off, so simple it was! But that didn’t stop me from taking things seriously, just look at that intense face of concentration!

Each attendee received a colorful bowl in which I scooped several varieties of NuttZo one at time for them to try. I offered an organic honey almond granola for as a topping for that extra crunch.

There were three NuttZo flavors for tasting; the Smooth Original, Crunchy Power Fuel (my favorite), and Crunchy 70% Dark Chocolate. G-Ma was excited to try them all with Avery!

As if it was even a question, yes, there were seconds…..and thirds.

Avery, our little NuttZo pro, probably had the most out of everyone combined! She can’t say no to NuttZo!

As you can see, Going Mom enjoyed her samples too. Oh man, she’s “Going” to kill me when she sees I posted this pic!

Overall, I’d say NuttZo was well received by our neighbors. Although, one little girl, Zoey, seemed hesitant about the 7 organic nut and seed butter spread, but her dad said she’s not a big fan of peanut butter in general.

She’s a sweet girl, so I didn’t pressure her too much. Plus, I applaud her efforts at trying to hide her feelings with a cute smirk and referring to me as “Mr. R.C.”.

The brand new jars were all severely depleted, as they should be, after the tasting party neared an end.

We only had one thing left to do, pick a winner for the NuttZo jar giveaway! Drum rollllll….

Congrats to Jason, and his two little girls, Natalie (pictured) and Zoey! His wife, Jennifer, had to work, but I know the entire family is excited. I handed out coupons to everyone and Jason said he was excited to pick up another jar to have a work for a healthy snack.

Skip the chips and keep a jar of NuttZo and spoon around for a healthy snack. You can eat a whole bag of chips and still feel hungry, and it’s easy to add up to 500 calories of processed food fast! But NuttZo, full of healthy omega fatty acids, protein, and deliciousness, will keep you satisfied after just 2 spoonfuls. What more do you need?

I’d like to thank everyone who attended, my wife for helping out so much with hosting and cleaning around the house, and of course, the entire NuttZo team for providing the jars for tasting as well as the giveaway. I’m honored to be an ambassador for such a great company, and love that they are big supporters of Project Left Behind which helps small orphanages around the world.

On behalf of our Going Family (rocking our personal NuttZo shirts), we appreciate everyone for their support and for sharing the #NuttZoLove! Now go try some NuttZo and #LLYMI! That’s “Live Like You Mean It” in case you didn’t know. 😉

P.S.: If you’re questioning the higher price of NuttZo, here’s a good article that might help you feel better about skipping 2 trips to Starbucks and grab a jar of NuttZo instead.