Training

Today I nailed down the details for my upcoming Triathlon. I have been battling with the nagging stress of not having all my ducks in a row. Mainly the fact I didn't have a  road bike or that I had zero road bike practice. I had not registered for the race I have had planned on doing . But the ball is rolling , my bike is on it's way via UPS. Perfect time for me to totally commit to my race that was just 20 days away. Well after logging in and looking around at the registration  I discovered the race is FULL and that race would not be an option. Sheer disappointment is what I felt at first but then  quickly Brian and I started looking for a similar race. I had to look outside the state and luckily found a similar one near Chattanooga, TN. It's September 18th which is good giving me more training time and time for cooler temps. But the swim is in a man made skiing lake and I had hoped for a pool. I am a firm believer in  things happen for a reason and I am meant to do this race for a reason. I will have to do some fund raising and if you feel like helping me out and supporting awesome cause Komen Tri for a Cure I will be very grateful. The donation link is below and remember all donations really do add up!

https://www.edgereg.com/donation/view/755

After all this I decided I really needed to get out to get a run in today. The little boys begged to go with me and I figured why not. I tried to talk Collin out of it explaining he would have to walk/run the entire thing because I would be pushing the jogger with Hudson in it and I needed to go the 4 miles today. He said okay and off we went. I have to break in my new running shoes. This is my 3rd pair of Nike Air Max so needless to say I love this style shoe. They were pretty stiff today but should be just right by the big race day.

Collin and I did some sprints and fast walking on first part , we walked the big hill loop twice, and then back home again. Collin shocked me by keeping up the whole time! With me pushing the stroller it adds another element to my workout which is good for a changed plus made it easier for him to keep up with me. Collin talked the WHOLE 4 miles . As we passed house after house he analyzed everyone's basketball goals and which ones were like ours and which ones were broken or new . He talked about the litter along side the road, wondered aloud why people would throw this or that out the window. He asked if certain down trees were damaged during the recent tornado and he was convinced that is what happened no matter what I said. Collin pointed out clouds of strange shapes and recalled the time last Fall when we strolled up on a deer on a certain part of our path home.

It was a pretty good workout as you can see from the sweat below. I took a picture after we got back of the boys and Collin wanted to take mine too. I guess fair is fair even tho I didn't really want my picture taken.

Seeing the my usual running path through the eyes of a 5 year old was refreshing. Having him talking the entire time was nice distraction from my task at hand. Having him come to the conclusion on his own about his heart rate being elevated, about how his face sweating and  how this exercise was good for his body. He noticed that his legs and feet were growing tired toward the home stretch so he should do it more often. He can't wait to go again and I actually wouldn't mind the company.

Beach 2011

The vacation post can't wait much longer because things happen around here pretty quickly and it is soon to be old news. I had really wanted to have a cool slideshow to share but since that hasn't happened I will show you some highlights.

We took the gang plus one to Panama City Beach, Florida last week. The plus one was Macy's friend Stephanie. We have never taken an extra on such a long trip but it worked out pretty well giving Macy someone to pal around with.

We also have never taken 2 cars on vacation but that too worked out pretty well. We separated the two kids who are like oil and water. The 2 boys ( ones in the first picture below,in a rare moment of peace and harmony) who get annoyed with each other if the other  breathes too loud or looks their direction. It made the drive a lot easier for everyone involved.

Much to our disappointment the seaweed arrived the week before we went down and the ocean was all yucky. It didn't stop sand castles from being built and  playing in the sand still happen. But there were no days and days of walking the shoreline ,chasing waves or hours of body boarding . Something about the ocean that I love is to set up camp and watch the kids entertain themselves for hours playing in the tide and wearing themselves out.

The pool was our refuge from the heat and it was plenty hot. We tried to space out our activities to keep the vacation fun but reasonable. We mainly cooked our meals in our condo which worked out really well. I had planned easy to prepare meals and there were no complaints from the group. Eating out wasn't high on the MUST DO list for the kids so it made this vacation easier to not have that burden. Tables for 9 would take forever every night during prime dinner time anyways.

The night we did all go out to eat we planned ahead. We picked a reasonable touristy place (Pineapple Willies), we picked an early dinner time (5 o'clock) and we look forward to it and appreciated it all together.We turned our last night in into a special meal too. We grilled out steaks and had both shrimp cocktail and grilled shrimp out on the patio area of the condo and ate as the sunset. The kids all pitched in with helping prepare for the picnic style meal. Oh and the fresh grilled shrimp were AMAZING!

One night after our dinner in we walked down to get ice cream at a local shop. It was a good bit of ice cream for our $2-3 dollar a cone.  So much so I tossed about 1/2 of mine in the trash because I was full. We spent an entire day at Shipwreck Island Water Park, the seaweed was to blame for this extra outing but we all longed for a little more activity than being pool side all day. After Molly and Collin brought back a handful of pamphlets from the lobby one day Brian and I researched mini golf in the area. There was one within walking distance that had rave reviews and a pretty reasonable price so another night of fun. Our last big to -do was take a boat ride out to see the dolphins and visit Shell Island. This took up a good portion of our last day and it was nice way to wrap up our trip together. We finally did get our time to play in the ocean as the seaweed at Shell Island wasn't bad at all.

The condo was our first vacation spot where I think we had enough room and comfortable fit for everyone. Plenty of bathrooms and beds is very important with a group our size. I liked to convenience of PCB because everything we needed was within a short walk or drive from the condo. Taking food and buying easy meals was a huge help which I will do again. But Brian has declared he is tired of the sun, heat,sand and sunscreen. He wants his next vacation to include snow. I told him I am willing to try it out.  But trading sunscreen for snowsuits seems like alot of hassle too.Overall it was a nice trip! We came home with a few souvenirs, some sunburns and a lot of great memories.  I love my family.

14 on 7/14

Better late than never to post about Macy's 14th birthday. We have been a tad busy traveling and vacationing since her big day.

Macy decide for her special day she wanted to go see Rhianna in concert and take along her best friend Payton on the Monday before her birthday. The concert was a tornado benefit and it was a pretty good show that we all enjoyed.

On Thursday we celebrated with presents and Tiramasu (her favorite) at home. Macy received a new Coach purse, some clothes, bracelets, and a picture for her room. Payton gave her a Red Mango yogurt gift card which she went nuts over. The grandparents know what teenagers like most and gave her money!

We survived another year of July birthday month and it all turned out well. Everyone was excited about our upcoming beach trip and understood the simpleness of the birthdays this year. Stay tuned for vacation pictures.

Turning 10

Parker celebrated the big 10 on Tuesday with friends at the movie. Brian took Parker, Logan,Collin, Nathan, and Sam to see Transformers 2. I had asked for just one picture of the group but he forgot. So you have to image they were all there surrounded around the birthday boy .Parker said they had a fun time. His birthday wish was for a Itouch and he is madly in love with it.He also received money from everyone else which totally made his day. He has been keeping up with how much and announcing his grand total each time. It was a Happy Birthday PJ!

3rd Birthday

All Aboard the Birthday train! Hudson had a great 3rd birthday on Saturday. We had toyed with what to do for the July birthday mayhem this year. We knew we'd be taking our family beach trip in July this year so we decided to just let the kids celebrate their day with an event of their choice.

Of course I had to do the thinking for Hudson and the idea of a family outing to ride a train came to mind. He really loved the whole thing and the siblings were all good sports for his special day. He was excited and really enjoyed the ride.

After our hour long train ride we headed to eat Mexican for lunch . Of course we thought Huddy would like to wear the birthday hat and get a special dessert. After coming home and resting for a bit we had cake and he opened his presents. He really wanted a train cake and this big BLUE cake is what Publix had to offer. He was in love with it so even tho I don't like colored icing I let him have the cake.

He loved his basketball goal and cars set for the family. He was so excited when family and friends stopped by with gifts for him. He just adores his new trike from Maw and Das. Corey and Tara brought him the coolest Thomas train set that is all attached and folds up which is a feature I like.And  Mimi and Popi won his heart with a Buzz Lightyear play tent.

Hudson is such a blessing to all of us. He is definitely the baby of our family forever. He loves his siblings so much and they love and spoil him. He is my sweetheart! These past 3 years have gone by so fast yet it feels like you have always been with us. Happy 3rd birthday to my little guy! Mommy loves you.

Only in the summer time

Only in the summer time can you have a impromptu sleepover mid week. That was exactly what we did this week. My 2 nieces Hailey 10 and Sadie 5 came to spend the night while my brother had to have surgery to repair his shoulder(Ouch!).

The first night went down without a hitch so next day we ventured out to see the movie Monte Carlo and asked our friend Erin to go along  . They were all great at the movie each enjoying their popcorn kids meals. Hudson was perfect for almost the whole time but  right toward the end he got squirmy and got up and down in my lap a few time before he fell asleep.

After the movie it was sunny and hot out so we headed back to the house to get on our swimsuits and go for a swim over at Tara's. We were limited on time but they enjoyed the sliding,jumping and cooling off.

We got home and I made dinner and we started planning our night. The girls asked if Erin could sleepover too around this time Brian called to tell me he unexpectedly needed to stay overnight in Huntsville so I figured why not. Luckily for me Hudson was going to Mimi's and Parker and Logan were with Das overnight and Macy still away at the beach. They would not have enjoyed the talent show or the movie we watched at all. We started the night eating brownies and watching TLC's Toddlers and Tiaras where we cheered on our favorite pageant divas and laughed at the crazy Mommas. Next up was the girls talent show they put on for me and finally it was time to settle for bed. We turned Macy's room into sleepover head quarters and decide to watch the movie Racing Stripes . I was dozing off toward the end I bid the girls a goodnight and off Collin I went upstairs to sleep.

The next day everyone was happy and still getting along. With clean up done and breakfast in their bellies off we went to go swimming some more. I packed along their lunch (hot dogs, baked chips and sprite) and we stayed over most the afternoon. By 3 everyone was getting tired and we called it a day. It was a lot of fun and I hope to do it again before summer ends.