The Flying Pig

Almost two weeks ago now was Cincinnati's annual Flying Pig marathon and half marathon.  There's also a bunch of other races associated with the Flying Pig like relays, a 5K, a 10K, and even a 2-mile run called the "Flying Fur" where you can run with your dog and for each participant Iams donates a bag of food to the SPCA.  I've only been to the Flying Pig once before...4 years (!) ago when my brother-in-law ran the full marathon and my sis and our friend, Helene, ran the half.  Well, this year Helene was running the half marathon again so Michelle and I couldn't pass up the chance to go down and root her on!

We got up bright and early before the sun and headed over to Silverton Donuts really quick...you know, to carb-o-load.  For our cheering! Cheering is hard work people!!  Anyway, for our first cheering point we headed down to Newport, right around mile marker one.

Michelle's adorable sign that she made for Helene.

Mmm, Silverton Donuts.  So good!  [We were nice enough to try to finish our donuts before the runners came, so it wouldn't seem like we were torturing them!]

We stood around for a bit taking in the beautiful morning and then we finally spotted Helene!  And she spotted us!

Look at her!  She's running a half marathon ridiculously early in the morning and she looks amazing!  I mean, look at the other people around her, they look like a person should look running a marathon.  Helene, on the other hand, looks like everyday, beautiful Helene.

I'm pretty sure she's a superhero.

Love this building, I just wish it was still the public library.

For our next stop we headed over to DeSales Corner/Walnut Hills...

And there she is again, mile marker 7 and she's still crushing it and looking frickin' amazing!

High-fives!

Unfortunately, due to traffic craziness and Helene running too quickly (darn you, Helene!) we didn't make it downtown in time to see her finish.  Two hours and 30 minutes...GO, HELENE!!  But, I did take some pictures of these really cool art deco-y lights.  So, at least there's that.

I'm so proud of Helene and I admire her determination and hard work so much!  I have some more photos to share from that day.  After the race Michelle and I went to Bellevue, KY and had a lovely brunch. I'll share those photos eventually though at this point I'm not sure when.  This weekend my sister is graduating from Xavier University (!!!!) so the weekend will be full of celebrating and awesome.  And then Antoine and I are heading to Hawaii to celebrate our 6 year anniversary of being together (!!).  So yeah, I'm just a little busy!  But I'll be in touch, I promise!

Spring in Ault Park

A couple weekends ago Antoine was in KY visiting his mom so I decided to take a little walk around the Ault Park gardens with my camera.  It was a gorgeous day and the park was packed with people, some where laying out on the lawn with their dogs while others were playing frisbee or catch.  And then there were a couple of us taking photos of anything and everything that was blooming.  The gardens still aren't at their peak yet, that'll happen in about a month or so when the roses and other summer flowers really take off, but there was still a good variety of things coming to life and coloring the area.

 The first thing I noticed, besides the enormous ornamental pear trees (that are everywhere in Cincinnati) with their clusters of white blossoms, were these bleeding hearts.  I got really excited because I just planted some bleeding heart bulbs in our backyard and I can't wait for them to come up next year!

 You might remember this hornet's nest that Antoine spotted near the rose garden back in March?  Well, it's still there!  I'm planning to keep an eye on it and see if hornets/bees/wasps/whatever start to call it home. 

 This tree was so insanely pretty (actually there were too of them), the pink was so deep and beautiful.  It was also swarming with bees, the whole tree was practically buzzing! 

 One of the ornamental pear trees I mentioned, this one is front and center when you enter the main area of Ault Park and it's pretty substantial. 

 A lovely dogwood hiding amongst some larger trees.

And the "flowers & bees" series begins again.  Brace yourself!  I just love taking photos of these little guys hard at work, covered in pollen.

Happy Friday everyone!  I'm so glad it's Friday, as I'm sure everyone else is too.  I've got an exciting weekend planned, starting with a fun girls' night in with two of my favorite ladies tonight!  How about you, any fun plans this weekend?