Ending it Strong and a FAQ!

I took advantage of my new favorite 7.01 mile loop (I love finding new loops from my house) and ran it again on Saturday.  I listened to more Princess Diana podcasts and enjoyed the fact that the sun was out and that Beck gave me a SEVEN HOUR stretch of sleep that night. <–I woke up in the middle of the night so confused searching all over the room for him because I was half-asleep and it felt so strange to sleep that long without feeding him.

Then the kids had their favorite day to end Christmas break strong.  We went to Kneader’s first for their French toast (and yes, each slice is approximately 4 inches tall).  PS Knox and Brooke are starting to sleep in big time… early signs of the teenager life?

Then it was warm enough for the park so we took full advantage of that.

We finished up with the indoor gymnastics gym that we had all to ourselves thanks to my brother-in-law.

Beck sat there dreaming about the day he can join the kids in the foam pit.

Our Sunday started out with the usual Kodiak Cakes!  When I was making these I had a flashback to the Sunday mornings I would make these for just  Brooke and me before we met Andrew… these days I’m making a few more pancakes.

And then we got ready for Beck’s photoshoot!  Beck whipped out his best smiles for the shoot.

Andrew’s cousin took the photos.  He is an amazing photographer!  I had to laugh because he was in shorts with a few new inches of snow outside.. it must run in the family;)

Beck fell asleep the second we finished up!

Skye got a new pair of boots so she wore those around all day… she is all about fashion.

We had our family over for dinner last night!  It was a cold day so we went with chicken noodle soup with (homemade noodles) and mashed potatoes.  I know it sounds weird to combine the two but please try it!

For dessert we made Megan’s peanut butter bars and they were actually too good.  They are a new family favorite!

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A frequently asked question that we get is about our hot tub so I’m going to have Andrew talk about it since he is the one that maintains it!  All I know is that it is the best purchase we have made in a very long time:).  It feels like a treat each time we use it. It’s so fun to use with our family and I look forward to it pretty much every day.  Let us know if you have any other questions!

Hey everyone so I’m not an expert when it comes to hot tubs or spas but I’ll tell you my thought process.   We we bought a Bullfrog A7.  It fits eight adults (which might be a little cramped) and it has 5 different jetpacks that we chose.  We designed the spa exactly how we wanted it: specific colors, audio system, type of cover, etc.  It was fun to decide what it looked like and what features we wanted

A few reasons we chose Bullfrog, like I said I’m no expert but these things appealed to me because I knew I would be maintaining it.  This is not the cheapest hot tub out there, but I wanted quality and I feel like that’s what we got.  The plumbing of the hot tub itself is very minimal in comparison of a conventional hot tub, meaning there was less problems of random small pipe breaking and being a nightmare to repair.  According to the website/salesman it uses less energy than conventional hot tubs.   The jets are interchangeable, meaning if we don’t like one we can buy another or move them around.  Another cool thing for us is that they are a local company.

Maintenance was a huge concern of mine.  I grew up around pools and know that they are a ton of maintenance, so I was afraid that I was going to need to do a lot to make sure I maintained the hot tub properly.  I knew nothing about hot tubs, but this is VERY doable.  So the hot tub has a very easy system of maintenance.  You have chlorine and mineral cartridges that get switched out every month and every 4 months respectively.  Every week you are suppose to test the water and add a few chemicals to keep it in the right ranges, but I honestly do it every 2 weeks and I have been fine.  They gave us a laminated copy of directions on what to do and how to balance the water so that has been really helpful.  The first month or two were a learning process but now I got it down.

Alright, to the cons.  The cartridges are a little expensive.  They are designed for bullfrog spas so there aren’t any discount or generic cartridges and filters.  Also the hot tub itself is on the more expensive side, but I felt worth it in the end.  We got a  small discount on ours because there was a home show running the day we went in, so pure luck got us some upgrades and some money off.

Our experience so far has been amazing, so I hope that answers some of the questions that you all have!

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Tell me one of the best purchases you’ve made in a while!!

Have a question for Andrew or me that you would like us to write about?  Let us know!

Feel free to wish Andrew luck… it’s his first day of Nurse Practitioner school!!

Do you do more loops or out and backs when you go for a run?