Life is a Marathon, not a Sprint

Moving forward

2012-01-11T18:45:00.000-08:00

So, we are still moving, both running and circuit training. Our eating is back under control, and I feel so much better than I have in a while! :) I am still caffine free and I feel really good about this as I haven't suffered any "crashes" in the afternoon at work since I went back on Jan. 2. Before the winter break I would feel like someone had pulled my plug by 3:00 and it was rush to the fridge and grab a monster just to make it through to 5:00 when Pepaw would pick me up from school. I rarely had trouble getting to sleep, although you would think I would after a couple cups of coffee and 2 - 3 monsters a day... It was scary to even think about giving that up and going back to work, but it seems to be working for now. I do miss the smell of my coffee in the morning - and I REALLY miss my flavored creamers, but if it keeps me from crashing every day at 3:00 - it is worth it.

The numbers on the scale aren't moving very quickly, but I'm being patient for the time being. I am really being careful with what I'm eating - want to watch it for a month and see how I'm doing, then I may re-evaluate and try to switch it up a bit. I'll keep ya posted. Until then...I'll just keep moving forward and hoping the scale moves down!

Walk on...

2012-01-02T16:00:00.000-08:00

Today - hmmmmm. It has been tough because I still don't feel 100%, silly cold! Got up, stopped and got my juices for breakfast and snack, went to work, worked, came home to day two of the challenge. Pepaw and I walked around the block with Cotton's dog, Winston. That was the 2nd best part of my day. The best part was getting to go to lunch with Pepaw. A lunch not at work. That is a good thing. You see, he was off today. It was good to walk out the door and get to pick him up and go somewhere for lunch together. We had soup and salad - keeping to our healthy eating. We were going to juice tonight for dinner too but I think we are going to eat some stuffed shells instead. You see my grand-daughter found the recipe on pinterest, made the shopping list, and cooked this dinner all by herself. They are only going to be here for dinner one night a week AND she looked up the points plus values and nutrition information all by herself so we would know what we were eating and it would be healthy foods. It smells so good - I think we'll be joining the family, yet staying on plan and eating healthy. A win-win. Tomorrow we will juice breakfast, snack, and dinner, and probably I'll eat a healthy lunch. My weight loss might be slower, but I think this is what I need - chewing. :)

I also have to apologize to my friend. Evidently by posting my challenge activity I'm forcing her to get up and move as well. I'm proud of her! Feel free to join us as we move through the first 100 days of 2012...

Continuing and beginnning

2012-01-01T15:04:00.000-08:00

So, days 4 & 5 of the juice fast/cleanse went well. Still get VERY hungry, but I've been able to quell that with lots of hot tea or lemon water. I just wanted to get through Saturday - and I did!

Today started with my hot lemon water and juice, then we went to wash the car - oops, closed - and for my first 100 Day Challenge purposeful movement. We went for a nice walk along a local hike and bike trail. It took us 32 minutes for the part we walked. The weather was beautiful and the company even better! I felt wonderful as far as completing the walk - but horrible with a cold and stuffy nose! Boy was I ever hungry when we were done! We went to SuperSalad for our first solid food in 6 days. I had raw veggies with a light drizzle of vinegar, salt and pepper, and two bowls of their wonderful Holiday Harvest soup. (I couldn't find any vegetable soup! Pepaw found it later, LOL) . It was good and I felt like I had done well staying with my healthy eating. I may do some juice along with a bit of veggie soup for dinner tonight too!

Day one done - are you incorporating more movement into your New Year too?

100 Day Challenge on Facebook

Juicing Day 3

2011-12-30T08:01:00.000-08:00

Day 3 is supposed to be the last day you feel the effects of the detoxing while juicing. I must say the effects so far for me haven't been terrible. A caffine headache on day 1 that I calmed with Aleve and green tea. I then used weaker green tea on day 2 and no green tea at all today and no headache. No real bathroom issues either. I have been tired, but that also seems normal between the holiday tired...so I'm pleased so far. The worst has been being hungry. Not the kind of hungry that you normally get between meals - at least not for me. I usually snack on some kind of junk when I get hungry like that...this is more like my tummy saying "I'm empty - no, really, I'M EMPTY - FEED ME NOW!!!" hungry. I've learned that a little hot lemon water or herbal tea helps quell the hunger until I get everything ready for my next juice. I also do seem to be dropping a pound or two and that doesn't hurt! I feel OK. The real test will be when I have real stuff to do - will I have all the energy people that have done this say I will, will I really sleep better, what benefits will I see from here on out?

I'm still surprised at how full I do get with a glass of juice. I'm learning how to put together different fruits with fruits, and veggies with veggies to make them both beneficial and tasty. So far, not to bad a program to try.

Only 2 more days until my 100 day challenge starts to go along with this! Whoo-hoo!!!

Day 2

2011-12-29T11:11:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was day 2 of the great juice experiment. Pepaw was feeling a lot better, some residual pain from the caffine headache, but not nearly as bad as the night before. We got up at the usual time and while he showered and walked the dog I set out to make the morning juice. It was called "Purple Power" and was a mixture of blackberries, grapes, apple, and ginger. It was quite yummy!

Pepaw left and went on to the store for the rest of his days supplies and I cleaned up and left everything out for Candy. I went off to my room to read until the house began stirring. When I got up I made the juice for Candy...shortly after she drank her's she had to go lay down for a bit. MAJOR caffine headache and sick tummy. That was it for her... she thinks she'll try again after the new year when she has eaten healthier and is caffine free (which she has now accomplished!) . We have also done some more research and found a "gentler" approach to balancing the juicing and detox effects that I think will work better for her.

As for me, I continued the plan with only minor side effects. I had only 2 cups of green tea, so I am gently removing the caffine and I think that has helped. I had a green lemonade for mid-day, then a mix of vegetables and fruits for lunch. Dinner was pretty good although I'll admit I changed up the recipe a little for me because I found I don't tolerate the more sour juices well...I tolerate them ok, they are simply too strong for my palate, so I toned it down a little and it worked out well for me.

I find I was still quite tired in the evening, but it was manageable. The most bizzare thing was that I dreamed of hamburgers last night! Went to DQ and ordered but things kept happening and I never got to eat it!

Here is hoping for a great day 3!

Juice, juice, and more juice...

2011-12-28T08:30:00.000-08:00

Christmas has been a great time for us this year. It has been a blessing to have Chris, Candy, and the kids right here with us and to once again experience Christmas with little ones around - their excitement is so contagious! Our shopping was long done so we were just chillaxin' most of this week - the kids were on holiday swim schedule so I was on my own from about 3 - 5 every day...that is when I would do my "chores". We had started back on Weight Watchers and I was just rockin' along with that too...(actually had lost about two and a half pounds!) Then it was Christmas Eve... Rick and I went shopping for Christmas goodies for lunch (just in case Cotton and Angel came over) and we weren't sure what the plans were for meals during the day)... We came home and made our healthy dinner and waited for the kids to get back from their Christmas Eve trip.

Christmas morning started early - but not as early for us as in the past 11 years when we would get up at 5:00 am or so and race to Lewisville so we could see the kids wake up and see their Santa presents. This year we were able to sleep until about 7:30...ahhhhhhhhh....

We opened gifts amidst exclamations and cries of joy. Everyone got what he/she wanted and more...again we are blessed. That afternoon Cotton and Angel slipped away for a few hours and came to see us as well. We had sandwiches and chips and cookies and talked and laughed and all was good...except for my diet of course, LOL.

The day after Christmas Chris had to travel for work so the rest of us went over to Cotton and Angel's to see thier new house and their tree. Cotton was very excited to show off the new remote control we had given him for Christmas. They ordered pizza for us and we sat down to watch the movie "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead". Cotton had been telling us all about it for a couple of weeks and we were all excited to see the movie. It is very inspirational! In fact we all felt guilty eating the pizza! We had to laugh about that after the movie was over...After the show, we all talked about what happened in the movie. Cotton and Angel had ordered a juicer and they were going to try to start eating healthier to see if that would help Cotton's migranes. Rick, Candy, and I thought we'd like to give it a try too. Sooooo.....

Tuesday morning I got up early with Rick and we went to the store to get some breakfast for us and lunch for him. Now those who know us know this is pretty much our routine every day...the difference was in what we bought! This day we bought some Naked juice. I got enough for me and Candy. Then Rick also got some vegetable juice for his lunch and snacks.

Candy and I tried the juice for breakfast - it was quite tasty! Then we got the kids up and went to exchange some gifts and then we were off to Costco where we bought a Jack La Lane Power Juicer and LOTS of fruits and veggies. When we got home we created our own lunch juices. They were REALLY good! The kids tried them and they kept asking for more! Then it was off to Kroger to pick up the rest of the fruits and veggies we would need for the next couple of days. You see....we are going to try the juice fast for about 10 days, then try to incorporate juicing into our normal routines...replacing some of the fast foods with good healthy fruits, nuts, and beans. Before we left to take the girls to swim practice, where we were going to meet Rick so Memaw and Pepaw could watch, we mixed up our first juices from the menu. Let me just say I'm so very glad this wasn't the first juice we tried! It had beets and radishes in it and it smelled bad and didn't taste wonderful, but it was palatable and we all finished it. Just part of the learning curve I guess. Finding healthy combinations you like and weeding out those you don't.

I think my biggest surprise is how full you feel after a big glass of juice - and how long you feel full. This isn't at all like the 3 day fast I did with our church several years ago! The only problem so far has been caffine withdrawl headaches for all of us. I have supplemented some green tea (which does have some caffine) but I'm cutting back a little each day to help with that. In truth yesterday was a bit difficult with being quite tired at the end of the day too, but they say the first 3 days are pretty rough while all the junk you've been eating is removed from your body. I'm hoping this is what I was feeling, and that it gets better. I'll let you know how this journey goes, as well as how it incorporates in with my 100 day challenge!

Starting over - kinda!

2011-12-21T13:39:00.001-08:00

So the back issues made a bigger difference in my life than I had counted on. I guess after living with it for so many years with only occasional issues I assumed once I got it taken care of everything would go back to what it was before. Before it started bothering me more so my workouts became more "careful" and less "hard"...before I began skipping runs...before I started eating "carp"... before I began climbing stairs every day which caused the pain to become chronic and make me feel like it was all I could manage just to go to work and complete a day there...then reward myself with WHATEVER I WANTED to eat! You can't go on like that forever!

When I went back for my last check-up my Dr. said I could start running again. I guess in my mind that meant that running would be just like it was "before". Well friends, it wasn't! I would go run and it would feel good, then I would go back and I could feel something wasn't "right". So we would stop and wait some more.

I finally feel that 6 months out from the surgery I am really ready to get back. I've been to the gym a couple of weeks in a row. The second run was actually better than the first. I've had no pain medication at all for my back for over 3 months. BUT...I am also about 25 lbs heavier now. My runs AREN'T what they were 18 months ago... I run, then walk, then run, then walk. My PR yesterday was 2.65 miles in 32 minutes. I was ecstatic!

We are scheduled to "run" the Cowtown 1/2 marathon in February. I really need to get some runs in ... no I DON'T think I'm going to run the entire thing. I know I will probably walk more than I run, but 4 years ago I signed up for this 1/2 with a goal in mind...they had just started a new medal series of 5 medals that make up the Texas Star. I was going to get all 5. 2012 will make #4...I WILL finish that race.

To that goal I have rejoined Weight Watchers...we'll go to our first "return" meeting next Saturday. Secondly I have decided to take up the 100 day challenge...the main point of this is:

Choose to move, intentionally, for 30 minutes every day for the first 100 days of 2012. It doesn’t matter what you do, as long as you do it ON PURPOSE.

So that is what I am going to do. I don't call it a New Year's Resolution...it is simply my new goal...something that will stretch me and hopefully make me healthier in 2012!

Here I go again....running on towards the finish!

Back to it :)

2011-07-04T13:29:00.000-07:00

Well, it has been nearly 3 weeks since my surgery and I'm well into recovery mode. I have walked over a mile at a 16 minute pace (their goal for me was 1 mile in 30 minutes - kinda blew that one out of the water didn't I?) When I went to my 2 week check up they were all very pleased with my progress. The nurse that walked us back to wait for the Dr. was amazed at how well I was moving and commented that I could walk as well as she could :) . The Dr. had them take more x-rays of my back and I was able to take a look at how much space they were able to put back in my spine. Where once it was bone on bone, now there is space in between.

Recovery has been slow but sure. At first I was having pain going down my left leg and my thigh felt like it had a pull or tear in it. When I talked to the Dr. about it she said the thigh pain came from them moving everything in my abdominal cavity to that side to do the surgery...as for the other leg pain - that comes from nerves that have been coiled up for years suddenly being stretched out! They don't like that change very much. But the best news it that I don't seem to have the back pain at all now. Although it is too soon to tell what my pain level will end up being, right now it is looking pretty good.

So far I can go pretty much all day with no pain pills at all...an occasional pill for muscle spasms in my leg is all I need. I still take the medication at night - I still want a full night of sleep pain free - and since I don't wear the brace while laying down and I do toss and turn a lot at night I just want to be sure I can sleep all the way through.

The brace is an inconvenience I put up with. It is a "chair back" brace and keeps me from bending or twisting too much or too quickly as well as offering support when I sit or stand while the bones in my back fuse together. In one more week I get to exchange the large chair back for a smaller model unless I am driving - I'm looking forward to that! I also go back for my next check-up at the end of July.

In the meantime my training will consist of walking as much as I can and want to (I'm trying for 5 days a week when life doesn't get in the way.) I wear the Garmin just so I can track how far and how fast I go. I am also trying to lose the weight I gained while I couldn't do much of anything. So far I'm down about 5 lbs. with too many more to go - but at least I'm making progress in the right direction again. The meds help here too because they make food tast funny and the brace makes me stop eating sooner because it is wrapped around my tummy and I get fuller faster - BONUS, LOL....

Anyway, I keep on keepin' on and hope I'll have more good news to report soon!

On the Road to Recovery

2011-06-19T04:49:00.000-07:00

I woke up really early on Wednesday morning - more nervous than anything....showered, got dressed, checked my little backpack of stuff to take to the hospital (for the 49 hundreth time), and we were off. The ride was uneventful...and check-in was a breeze. I had already pre-registered so I didn't have to go over the new patient stuff again, Kristine just verified the information and printed off my hospital scantrons and bracelets, etc. It seemed like it took forever but the sweet little gal came out and called my name and showed me to my "prep" room.

Then Esy came in. She would be my prep nurse, so she got to put in my IV and tell me a little of what to expect from the day. She also told me all the folks that would be coming to see me in the next 1/2 hour or so...I'm tellin' ya now...If you EVER need to get a large bore IV - get Esy...I didn't even feel it go in and I was watching! She is GOOOOOOOD! We joked and laughed as she finished her preparations. Then I got to meet the anesthesiologist, - Dr. Taylor, the fellow that would be assissting Dr. Shellock, the blood dr., the nerve specialist, the general surgeon that would do the initial open and close, and of course Dr. Shellock came in to meet me as well and see how I was holding up. It wasn't long after they all came in that Dr. Taylor came in and said we needed to get the show on the road. I waited expectantly for her to ask me to begin counting backwards - but I never heard it. The next thing I knew I was in my own little room - I even slept through the recovery area!

Rick stayed with me all day, Candy and the kids came by twice, I think, and Cotton and Angel came by to visit as well. It really means a lot that they were willing to come and see me!

Just a little after dinner time that evening I was able to get up and walk the ward. The walking wasn't too bad at all - it was more the getting up and down that took it out of me. After the walk Rick got all set up on the little (and I do mean little) hide-a-bed that was in the room and we both tried to get some rest.

Day 2 we woke up pretty early. I got some jello becasue by now I was pretty hungry. Dr. Shellock's fellow came by and was pleased with my progress. He gave the order that put me on a liquied diet instead of just clear liquids, so I was able to get some cream of wheat, chocolate milk, and V-8 juice for breakfast. The therapist came by about 10 and I was able to complete an entire lap around the ward with very little pain. Even the getting up and down was getting better. When Dr. Shellock came by she said I was ready to be cut loose! Whoo Hoo...they say that hardly ever happens...the normal stay is 2 days, but I was doing great.

We packed everything up so Rick could get it down to the car, they came and did some more vital checks and I was on my way home to recover.

I am so grateful for the Drs., nurses, staff, family and friends that left messages of encouragement and prayers for my speedy recovery. I continue to get better and stronger as each day goes on. My goal is to take it nice and slow, but still blow their minds with the recovery!

So the starting gun has sounded and I'm walking toward the finish line now!

Hmmmm

2011-06-13T08:04:00.000-07:00

I have discovered that it is VERY difficult to post to a blog you started about running - when you are not running!!! I have no motivation to post, because I wanted this to track my runs and races as I learned more and more, but right now I can't run.

You see, way back about 1987 or 1988 I hurt my back. Really bad. Bad lifting technique, combined with trying to do too much at once, combined with shifting load = back injury! I went to the Dr. but all he did was listen and tell me I'd have back problems the rest of my life - be more careful and prescibe some pain meds and muscle relaxers. So for over 20 years any time it started to hurt (or I had extremly bad spasms) I would go back, tell whoever what he had said, pick up my pain pills, sit it out and go on my merry way. It would come and go and I learned to "deal with it". Most of the time I could tell when it was getting close to the spasm stage and stop it before it got too bad. I thought the running would help - you know less weight, less load to carry, less pain...etc. Well for the most part it did I think.

Then came last summer... I was doing well for most of the summer - walking and running nearly every morning of the week. I had even shaved some time off my 5k time and I was looking forward to race season...the season that never really happened. I don't know why it never happened - it was so slow...life got in the way I guess...that seems to happen from time to time, and other things seemed more important than going to work out and run 5 days a week. I really slowed down. Then it became - well I'll get going again over Thanksgiving...then I guess I'll wait until after Christmas - we have that trip you know, and there really isn't any sense in starting again now...then it was after Christmas and I still wasn't doing much. And that is when the pain started getting worse...at first just achy...but more often than before. Maybe it was because I wasn't working out and running?

Rick and I decided to try joining a different gym thinking that maybe that would give us the old "spark" back - so we joined up and had our session with the trainers. I told the trainer about my back and she said she had something similar - but her chiropractor had really fixed her up...and by the way - he did acupuncture too. I had wanted to try that, so I got his name.

By February it was getting pretty bad - and very consistent. Even though we had cancelled the new gym membership (it wasn't what we thought it would be - we actually liked our old gym better) I went ahead and made an appointment with the chiropractor the trainer had recommended. Then it iced...not a little ice but TONS... We were out of school the entire week...but I made Rick take me to that appointment! He listened to me tell about what had happened and took some x-rays. The first I had ever had of my back - yeah, that's right, the original Dr. NEVER DID ANY X-RAYS!!! What we found was that I had no disc left at all between the L-4 and L-5 vertebrae just above my tailbone and about even with my hip bones. When I saw that I knew that was probably why all the visits to my first chiropractor hadn't really done anything! Rick and I discussed it and decided I probably needed to go see his back Dr.

Another couple of weeks and I went to see her. She took another set of x-rays and after visiting and hearing the history decided that she really needed to see an MRI before deciding the best course of action. So an MRI was scheduled and a return visit as well. When I went back what she had determined was that all my other discs still looked good and that surgery was the best option for me. The missing disc and bone on bone was more than likely the cause of the pain as well as the muscle spasms I was experiencing. I told her I really couldn't do it until May - she couldn't do it in May because she would be on leave, so we set a June date. June 15th to be exact.

Tomorrow I go for my pre-op visit, to find out what time the surgery will be, and to ask any questions that have come up, I've already done all the pre-op "stuff"...Then Wednesday it is off to the hospital to get my back fixed up.

One of the questions I'll have for her is "how long before I can run again?" I know I'll be up and walking very quickly - and they want me doing a mile in no more than 30 minutes before my two week check-up...and I don't want to push too hard to fast, but the truth of the matter is...I'm ready for this break to be over - I'm ready to start running again...no matter how slow I am. I have learned once again that it isn't how quickly I make the journey - it is the actual making it that is important to me because life is a marathon...and those take time.

Hooray for Hollywood!

2011-02-04T16:08:00.000-08:00

New Year's Eve at Hollywood Studios ... need I say more? I woke up really excited about the day Candy had planned for us. We were up and ready to go early as usual. Today wasn't as cold as it had been and when we got to the park we did have to wait for the rope drop. We were right up front ~ I loved this statue!

Seeing the Hollywood Studio symbol rising high into the air was exciting as well!

When the rope dropped Chris was off like a shot to pick up fast passes for us - we walked as quick as we could toward the back of the park where we would soon see Toy Story Mania...one of the most popular rides in this park!

Woody topiary

The toys hard a work preparing for their guests

Loved this!

We went ahead and got in the standby line so we could ride this one first. We had fast passes so we could come back again later, but wanted to jump on in line before it got too awful long!

More of the amazing theming while we waited for the ride

Sure brings back the memories!

I think I used to own this Viewmaster slide!

Loved the decor of Andy's room as we waited in the line

Spirograph - had one of these too!

Christmas over tinker toys - gotta love it!

After we rode the ride we started down the street towards the back lot. As we passed a storefront window we saw Buzz Lightyear and Woody posing for pictures and signing autographs. Peyton loves Buzz almost as much as I love Mickey!!! Of course we turned right around and got in line to meet Buzz.

Now this line is totally designed for the kids. You follow two separate lines - one for those to be photographed, and one for the photographers. You stop at several places on the way to see Buzz and get your picture taken in different places around Andy's room.

In Buzz's box!

The next Space Ranger!

The claaaawwwwww!

Watch out Sydney - I think they gotcha!

Now this is more what I would expect!

Now he was ready for his closeup!

With Stinky Pete

Pepaw finally photo bombed me!

Finally we were next in line to see Buzz and Woody! Oops - their "manager" had to take them back for their break. Peyton's face started to fall - but the lady turned to him and told him Buzz would be right back after he "charged his batteries". Of course Peyton understands the changing and charging of batteries so he was OK with that. In a matter of minutes they were back again greeting Peyton and giving him hugs. He was so happy and excited. We all stood with them for pictures and got autographs in our books.

Now it was time to make our way to the back lot...we were off to see the Muppets!

As we walked to the theater we passed by this Speeder. Peyton and Chris demonstrated how it worked for us! Then as we walked further we were passing the Ewok village and noticed a sign-up area for Jedi training. We stopped and signed the girls up. (Peyton wasn't old enough.) We got a great time for the training and promised to come back then.

We went in and watched the Muppets in 3D - a pretty good show, and look who was waiting for us when we came out!

Mater and ...

McQueen!

Another of Peyton's favorites! This was turning out to be a very big day for him!

We had very special dinner plans for this evening, so Candy had scheduled an earlier lunch...we all knew we were going to try to eat a little lighter today - no repeats of our "double buffet" day!

We walked up to the front part of the park and went to the 50's Prime Time Cafe.

Our lunch venue.

A step back in time!

How cool!

We loved watching the old 50's TV shows that played while we ate our lunch - but the absolute best was when I ordered a root beer float with my lunch...Peyton was next to me - he just got a soda with his. She brought the drinks out and set them down - first Peyton's, then mine. He took one look, pushed his away, pulled mine over in front of him and started eating away. The look on his face was pure bliss! Everyone at the table started laughing! What could I do but order another for me...told you this was HIS day!

After lunch it was time to head back to the Ewok village for Jedi training! The girls went in and the rest of us went over to get set up so we could have a good view of the stage. Once the girls came out and were waiting in line I took a look at Madison and she just didn't look happy. We called her over and determined that she didn't feel comfortable at all. One of the Disney World photographers was there and overheard the conversation. She left for a minute and came back with a diploma for Madison...she told her it took a lot of courage and knowledge of self to decide not to participate and that was what being a Jedi was all about! I love the people at Disney World - they are all about keeping everyone happy!

Sydney was ready for her lesson.

The Jedi Master and apprentice

Darth Vader

Darth Maul jumps down to fight the older Padowans.

Last minute instructions

Just a little scary!

Ready to graduate!

We made our way back over to Toy Story Mania and rode it another couple of time with our fast passes. That ride is so much fun and soooo worth the wait in line!

Once we did that we walked over to see Mickey's Clubhouse. This was a show for the little ones based on the new show on Disney. My only complaint here is that EVERYONE sits on the floor...They really need to have a bench or chairs in the back for the grandparents that come with the little ones - I was pretty uncomfortable in this show - but Peyton and Madison had a BLAST.

From there it was off to see the Voyage of the Little Mermaid. This is a combination puppet show and live theater. It was amazing - I wouldn't have minded watching it again!

Neptune's Trident.

We headed on back toward the front of the park...we wanted to look around and go to the Darkroom so Rick could see what was there. It was also getting on toward time for our dinner reservations. We had the Fantasmic Package so it was an early reservation.

The Sorcerer topiary

We enjoyed our dinner at Hollywood and Vine. Once again the food was amazing! We left the restrant and walked right over to Fantasmic. Since we bought the package we had designated seating for this show...as we walked past the line I was sure glad Candy had planned this ahead of time for us! We got to the entrance and showed our passes, the nice ladies there handed us plastic top-hats and noise makers and let us go though the back passage to the show. It was a long walk but so worth it. We sat pretty close to the back - Candy's research was accurate again...wonderful choice. Unfortunately I was so caught up in the show I totally forgot I had my camera with me - I just watched in amazement at the magic playing out before my eyes!

When we came out of the show we headed toward the center of the park. We were all soooo tired and it was really getting crowded with the New Year's Eve revelers. There was really only one more ride that I wanted to make sure I rode on...The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. There was NO WAY Sydney would ride this one so Candy and Peyton stayed with her and Chris, Madison, Rick and I made our way over to the ride.

Inside the lobby of the hotel

The cobwebs above the door

As we waited for the ride Madison was pretty concerned. We talked about how this was just like a roller coaster, (she is the roller coaster QUEEN!) that part of the fun was in being nervous before getting on the ride. I assured her that it was ok to "scream" just like on a roller coaster. We rode and as we exited she looked up and told us that it was so much fun "floating" in the air that she wanted to ride again! Way to go Maddie!!!! We were so proud of her that we stopped in the gift shop and bought her a Tower of Terror pin to celebrate her ride!

We met back with the others and decided we were all too exhausted to fight the wall to wall New Year's Eve revelers any longer - trying to get the stroller through that crowd was simply next to impossible! We went on out to the car and headed home to begin the challenge of packing up for our trip back home.

Next - 'Ohana's Best Friend Breakfast with Lilo and Stich AND Maddie goes on vacation!

Epcot Day 2 -

2011-01-20T17:54:00.000-08:00

So, after a late night at the Magic Kingdom, Candy had planned a bit of an easier day before New Year's Eve. We slept a bit later and woke up refreshed and ready to continue our adventure. On the drive in we decided to park at Epcot - we would be doing some minor park hopping and this seemed the best way for us to work it out. We went in and hurried over to get some fast passes for the test track just in case we had time to ride it later...we LOVE that ride! On the way past Planet Earth I had to get a picture of the patterns it makes (no pretty sunrise reflections today!)

Then it was over to The Seas with Nemo and Friends again. First I rode it with Maddie, then because the line was so short we went back and rode it again. I got to ride it the second time with Peyton...that was an adventure. He loves looking for Nemo and watching all the fish. It is so funny to hear him talk back to them and get so excited!

It was still early but we were going to go ahead and eat because we had early dinner reservations for the Hoop-de-doo Review that evening so we made our way over to the Liberty Inn. We decided to eat outside because it was such a beautiful morning ~ the weather was perfect. We grabbed a couple of tables and enjoyed a plesant meal, then Rick, the girls, and I went back over to the gingerbread house and got everyone homemade gingerbread for dessert. While we were enjoying our gingerbread we suddenly heard some fifes and drums. Here came a "parade" right down the street in front of us! I jumped up with the kids and ran over to the wall surrounding the pavillion where we were eating in time to catch a quick picture.

After they passed by we went back to help clean up our tables and make our way over to our first "Passport" stop. The kids and I all had passports that Candy made for us to get signed in each of the Epcot World Pavillions. They were very nicely done with a page for each country. Our first stop was to be America. As we were making our way to the "Kid-cot" area we passed the Drum and Fife Corps again as they were preparing to dismiss. Such a cool sight to share with the grandkids!

We stopped and got messages and stamps in our passports and then walked around to get a Kim Possible Mission for Sydney. She had been dying to do a mission the first day we were here and there wasn't time, so this time we wanted to be sure she got a chance to participate....besides, I was really curious about this! She got her "high tech Kimmunicator" and we were off! Our mission was in the Mexico pavillion, so we headed over that direction. It was so much fun looking for the clues, figuring out where to go and what we needed to do that I totally forgot
to take pictures!

We continued from pavillion to pavillion getting our passports signed and taking in all the sights. I took some pictures of some of the things we saw...most in Japan where Candy and the girls got to pick oysters and see if they got a pearl - which the all did! They had them made into necklaces (they got to pick a design ~ they were all so pretty!) I got a beautiful silk kimono that I LOVE! Anyway, here are some of the pictures...

The storyteller

Hidden Mickey!

After looking around and going to all the different world pavillions it was time to make our way to the Hoop-de-do Review. We rode the monorail over to the ferry, then took the ferry over to at the Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground. This was a blast! Good food and great entertainment as we watched the dancing, singing and vaudville comedy...My favorite of course were the REALLY bad puns! As part of the finale we all got spoons and washboards and joined in with the cast members!

Now it was time to get back on the ferry, walk to the monorail, back into Epcot so we could go over and pick up the girls necklaces. We went back and Rick, the girls and I rode Mission Space again... so fun! We still had our fast passes for the test track so we went on over there. Rick and I decided that Chris and Candy really needed to ride this one together this time, so they took the girls while Rick and I may our way over to the "car show" with Peyton to wait for them to finish the ride. Peyton LOVED sitting in the different cars...at first he wanted to drive...

Doesn't it look like he REALLY belongs in this Camero!

Look out Dad!After trying out every car we went into the area where they show how the robots put them together. Peyton was a hoot to watch as he watched everything wide eyed, climbed around, and kept beat with the large machine press!

Waiting for Mom and Dad

When everyone finished the ride we went out through the gift shop (with a couple of stops along the way!)

Hidden Mickey

And another...love how they go with the car theme!

Even though it was still fairly early, we decided to call it a day. Tomorrow would be New Year's Eve and we knew THAT would be a long day at Hollywood Studio's.

Next Time...Hollywood here we come!

After Dark at the Magic Kingdom

2011-01-10T17:06:00.001-08:00

At dinner we had decided that even though we were all a little tired, we really wanted to enjoy The Main Street Electrical Parade and (hopefully) not have to fight the crowds so much. This being said we determined the plan of action would be to skip the 9:00 Parade, go to the fireworks at 10:00 and hopefully a lot of the crowd would leave then and we could enjoy a less crowded parade at 11:00. We found a wonderful spot across from the castle to watch the fireworks and staked it out while the crowds were enjoying the parade. This is the view we had.

Castle reflections

Mickey and Minnie topiaries.

Finally it was time for the fireworks. Here, through the lens of Rick's camera, are the magnificent fireworks!

Once all the fireworks were over ( including Tinkerbell flying right over our heads!) we meandered over to main street and found seats on the curb to get ready for the parade. I couldn't believe the cast members. There may have been 10 little pieces of trash on the street in front of us, but there were swarms of cast members with brooms sweeping up every little thing, then came another with a huge street vacuum cleaning it all up. Within minutes the street was so clean you would never have guessed hundreds of people had just watched a parade go by!

We were fully prepared to wait about 45 minutes for the parade and do nothing else when all of a sudden from right behind us came the sound of heralding trumpets. We turned around to see what the commotion might be. Lo and behold ~ they were putting on a show on the castle stage and we had almost front row seats!

Once again, thank you Rick for being aware enough to get some wonderful pictures!

After much clapping and hollering we turned back around and had only a few minutes left until another dream come true moment. Normally The Main Street Electrical Parade is only found at DisneyLand...but it had been moved to Disney World for a limited engagement, and the stay was extended through Christmas, so I was going to get to see it even though a normal trip to Disney World would not have included this VERY special treat!

I fully intended to get pictures of the parade - but even before the first float turned the corner...when the first few notes of the music started, the tears began to flow and all the emotion of the 5 - 10 - and beyond year old "kid" inside came out. I was so excited I think I even forgot I had a camera around my neck. Thank heavens Rick didn't! So without further adieu....

The Main Street Electrical Parade!

And then it was time to wave the last wave, listen to the diminishing sounds of the music floating away on the magical mist and say farewell to the Magic Kingdom until I can make it back again. Hopefully in less than another 50 years!!

Next: a much shorter day at Epcot!

Magic Kingdom beckons again...

2011-01-09T06:21:00.001-08:00

Wednesday and we are back at the Magic Kingdom ~ it was to be one of the most magical days of our vacation, so it is only right that we should spend it here!

We got to the gates early again and headed over to Tomorrowland. I snapped this shot of the Astro Orbiter as we walked past thinking how much fun it would be to pilot my own rocket on top of the world!

From the ground.

Next stop....Buzz Lightyear! We picked up some fast passes, as this is once again one of the more popular rides in this part of the park. Of course Buzz is one of Peyton's favorite characters and he was so excited to see him in the lobby talking to everyone!

Buzz chats with the guests while they wait in line.

We all hopped in our star cruisers and went off to "save the galaxy from Zurg!" What fun as we shot the lazers at the various targets and racked up points. It was so much fun we rode it TWICE since the standby line didn't get as long as quickly as it normally does.

Once we finished the ride we stepped outside and there waiting for us was Stitch, NO LINE! We visited with him and got some autographs, then it was off to ride the Astro Orbiter.

Maddie was really not so sure about this one, no matter how many times I told her it would be just like the Dumbo ride we rode the first day. No amount of talking could convince her that piloting a rocket standing on top of a building would be like flying an elephant on the ground. She made me promise to ride with her ~ an easy promise to keep!

Sydney and Candy ready to fly.

Peyton and Chris wave goodbye as they ready for takeoff.

Pepaw at the controls ~ taking pictures as always!

Of course Maddie and I had a great time and we both agreed that this was a "must do again soon" ride! She decided it WAS just like Dumbo, and nothing to be frightened about.

Our next stop would be Space Mountain. I'd heard a lot about this one and couldn't wait to fly my spaceship through the inky blackness of deep space.

The entrance.

Of course we had to do this one more than once too! I loved changing partners and riding over and over again!

We finished this one walked over to Tomorrowland. Here we would take a trip though Monster, Inc. Laugh Floor. While you are waiting in line you are invited to text in a joke, if you are lucky yours will be picked and actually used in the show. Sydney and I were in a competition...she had asked me to find a joke for her, but then decided she had another that she liked better than mine so we were going to text them in and see who's got picked. During the show they came on with this one, "Where do ghosts go on vacation? Mali-Booooo!" From Sydney....darn...thought I'd been beat again. However; here came CJ's, "Why doesn't Cinderella play soccer? She always runs from the ball!" We were BOTH winners!

Laughing and celebrating our victory as we exited from Monsters, we headed on the secret path towards Mickey's Toontown Fair. The kids wanted to show us the Barnstormer...a rollercoaster they ALL loved. (Sydney really isn't much of a roller coaster girl...although she has gotten better about trying most of them at least once! This is one she actually enjoys.) While most of us chose to ride, Rick went back over to the train station and took pictures of the different trains coming in and out of the station.

Hidden Mickey in the line.

After riding the Barnstormer a couple of times we caught the train. Pepaw had mentioned the first day that this was something he really wanted to do, and we were trying to fit in all we could for everyone! We rode the train to the Main Street depot and then walked from the station over to Adventureland and the Jungle Cruise.

Hidden Mickey on the Horse Drawn Carriage Ride.

Candy had predicted that I would love the Jungle Cruise. Something about my "quirky sense of humor and LOVE of puns". Of course I didn't know this until after most of the ride...I just enjoyed every minute of it!!! (Guess she understands me pretty well!)

The entrance.

The shack across the river.

Masks in the waiting line ~ remember, we are in the jungle!

Gorrillas attack the campsite...

It doesn't look good for the jeep...

Love the detail!

Elephants getting drinks at the river.

Remeber - don't run with the zebras...

Our guide said he warned them about the Rhinos, but they wouldn't listen very well...

Alligators or Crocs???

The Hippos were hiding...

Beware the cannibals...

And just around the bend we saw them!

Danger!!

Jungle scenery....

The elephants frolick in the river...

As you depart you can see another reason I LOVE this ride...look at the puns!

After departing the ride we went over to the Crystal Palace to prepare for our character lunch with the Winnie the Pooh gang. I don't know which of us was the most exited! This was a buffet and as always the food was absolutely amazing!

Peyton points out Pooh in the autograph book as we wait for the characters to come to our table...

As we ate and met the characters there were so many FUN moments. A couple of the most fun and memorable....

Piglet joined us at the table and signed all the autograph books then got ready to pose for a picture. Peyton wanted to give him a little kiss on the cheek ~ a first for getting so close to a character without prompting! He leaned over, gave him a peck and then laughed and pointed saying, "It's still there!" I glanced over at Piglet and sure enough...there was an outline of Peyton's kiss on Piglet's fur...IN MACARONI CHEESE!!! I was so embarassed as I tried to rub it off the fur, but everyone else...including Piglet was laughing so hard, and Peyton just wanted to hug him again!

The next special moment came with Pooh. Candy has loved Pooh since she was 5 years old. I can still remember her joy when we made Pooh Butter when she was in Kindergarten. When Pooh came to the table and she got her hug I nearly cried at the expression on her face. It was, I could tell, another magic moment to treasure, maybe not for Candy ~ but certainly for Mommy.

Now it was time to walk off some of that amazingly good food. We started moving toward Adventureland so we could see The Enchanted Tiki Room.

On the way Peyton was fascinated by these snakes and spiders.

I loved the smiling camel.

During the Tiki room show, there really aren't any bad seats ~ as in nearly all the shows we went to at Disney World. The entire show takes place in the sky over your head so it is pretty easy to follow along.

One of the beautiful birds...

Now it was off to Frontierland and the Country Bear Jamboree. This is another I was looking forward to seeing. I can remember seeing episodes of Wonderful World of Disney where Walt Disney talked about the Country Bear Jamboree as he showcased some of the animitronics used in his "new" park. I wanted to see if it was like I remembered it and I'm very happy to say it was!

The decor above center stage.

Melvin participated by harassing some of the performers on stage.

Main stage.

Liver Lips

Part of the finale

More of the finale

Now it was time for the Riverboat ride. We were looking forward to viewing different parts of the park from the paddleboat as we traveled along the 1/2 mile "river". Mark Twain was our narrator as we floated between the scenic banks.

Tom's not done whitewashin' yet...

Beautiful bird at Harper's Mill...

And Wilson's Cave Inn...

A diving helmet on board.

As we pulled into port to dock the boat Peyton was watching all the people on shore when he saw Santa! We decided Santa must be on his vacation since it was so soon after Christmas ~ he must be recooperating from his very busy Christmas season. Our exit from the boat led us right to where Santa was sitting and he was very gracious and talked to Peyton personally, asking him if he was still being a good boy, and did he like the gifts that Santa had brought him? Peyton was totally enthralled that Santa "remembered" him...and was particularly tickled when as we left Santa said goodbye with a hearty "Ho, Ho, Ho!"

It was beginning to warm up (finally) and everyone was getting pretty thirsty so we decided it was time for a rest stop. We were close enough so we went back to The Columbia Harbour House where we had stopped for lunch the very first day and got some drinks, found a nice quiet table in the corner and relaxed and chatted about all the fun we had already had, and tried to determine a plan for the evening. Sydney pulled out my Hidden Mickey book since we had a few minutes because we both remembered that there should be some close by. We were right!

The Columbia Harbor House Hidden Mickey.

As long as we were on track for looking for Hidden Mickeys, and since the PhilharMagic was one of PePaw's favorite activities from our first day, we decided to go visit that show again. Back to Fantasyland and into the line we went....This is one of the most amazing 3-D experiences I've ever had! Of course it is done as only Disney could and you experience so much more than just the 3-D visuals.

Hidden Mickeys in the mural in the line.

And along the panel next to the screen for the show

Now it was getting close to dinner time. We couldn't believe it...every other day by the time it was time to eat we were all starving. Today we'd had that all you can eat dining experience at Crystal Palace (where the food was so good you just couldn't get enough!) and then instead of doing the fast paced walking and moving from ride to ride as we had in the past we had done longer, slower paced rides so we really hadn't burned the lunch off like we had in past days. No matter...we were off to the Liberty Tree Tavern for dinner.

Walking past Cinderella's Castle at sunset.

The dinner was served family style and included Salad, Roast Turkey, Carved Beef, Smoked Ham, Mashed Potatoes, vegetables, stuffing, Mac and cheese, with Apple crisp topped with ice cream for dessert. Can you say STUFFED??? The food was fabulous! While at dinner we discussed what all we wanted to do before the fireworks over the castle. One of the things I had mentioned during the planning of the trip was that I would really like to ride the tea-cups...now with an extremely full tummy I said if we skipped that it would be OK, I'd just have to come back and try it again later! We decided to tackle some less "active" rides for a bit to let all the wonderful food settle and make a decision about that dream later.

Off we went to ride the Tomorrowland Transit Authority People Mover ride. This lets you sit and enjoy a leisurely 10 minute journey above Tomorrowland. You also get to see some of the original architectural designs for Epcot and Space Mountain...and even get to ride through Space Mountain!

Next came a ride Sydney had been looking forward to and talking about...the Carousel of Progress. This ride is also in Tomorrowland and takes about 20 minutes to get through. You actually revolve around the stage as you move through the decades to see progress from the 40's to the present. It was so cool to look at the homes change throughout the decades. Brought back so many memories for me to share with Sydney!

We decided to walk around and enjoy some of the decorations in the windows and then thought we would work our way over to Toontown and the tea-cups since the girls really wanted to ride them with me.

The tea party on the ceiling in a Tea Shop.

Designing hats

And a completed hat in the same window

The castle at night

Changing colors

Once we got to Toontown I was surprised to see Mickey's house. I hadn't noticed this in our first walk through the park and I was tickled to death that we would have a chance to walk through.

Mickey's front door beckons you in.

Mickey's Bedroom

Me taking the picture in the hallway mirror

The living room fireplace

The kitchen entryway

The kitchen is being remodeled with a little help from his friends!

The game room

Another view of the gameroom

Pluto's house in the backyard

Tomatos in the garden

Mickey's workbench

Had to smile at the "Craftsmouse" tools and the "Last Aid" kit

Right next door to Mickey's house is Minnie's. Her house is much more interactive, and thus much more crowded and hard to get pictures in. I was able to get a few anyway...

Minnie's mailbox

Her crafts and ribbon display

Her garden room.

As we left the houses we started walking toward the tea-cups. Just as we passed an alleyway I glanced over and saw Marie the cat and two of Cinderella's mice just coming out the door. Maddie has a Marie pin that she refused to wear on her lanyard because it meant so much to her. I asked Candy if that was the same character and it was! We walked over and sure enough, they were doing autographs and photos. There was no line so we grabbed the opportunity and pulled out the autograph books. By the time we finished getting photos with Marie there was already a short line forming for the mice, but we jumped in anyway...after all, we had the time! While we were getting the autographs from the mice they took the glow wands from the girls and danced around with them and acted like they were granting wishes. They played with the kids and made them feel really special! Maddie thought they signed the autographs because they had their magic wands with them!

We walked on over to the tea-cup ride and the girls and I got in line. We decided we would start out slow and see how our tummies held up. Well that lasted about 2 seconds and we were spinning about as fast as we could make it go. What a great time! More fun even that I had imagined.

Now it was time to set up for the fireworks so we all gathered together again and set off for the primo area we had scoped out earlier...

Next Fireworks...surprise show...and THE MAIN STREET ELECTRICAL PARADE!!!

Animal Kingdom

2011-01-08T15:45:00.001-08:00

On Tuesday we were up once again before the sun and on our way to spend the day at Animal Kingdom.

We did have to wait for the rope drop here. Once again there were many cast members out and about, but they were working with big heaters. We thought they were trying to keep the trees from freezing, but later we found out it was for the rare orchids that are around the park. They had to keep them from freezing.

The beautiful Christmas tree in the center court.

One of the decorated boughs over the entrance.

Chris, Rick, Sydney, Madison, and I all headed off at a rather quick pace to Expedition Everest to pick up some fast passes and see if we might be able to get in a ride before the crowds got too bad and the standby line too long. Candy and Peyton headed over to the Dinoland section of the park. We were very lucky to be some of the first to reach Expedition Everest, Chris grabbed some fast passes and then we all went up to go on our first ride. Sydney and I rode together. It was AMAZING...but everything happened so quickly. We were laughing and talking away as we exited the ride. When we met up with everyone outside the souvenir shop I reached for my sling bag and Sydney and I just looked at each other in a panic ~ we had BOTH left all our things on the ride! Back through the shop we trooped, found the lost and found and retrieved our belongings even as they were putting them on the shelf! I had many panic attacks after that about losing it or leaving it somewhere, but this was the only time I actually did!

Now we were off to Dinoland to meet up with Candy and Peyton, or so we thought! I guess while Sydney and I were retrieving our "lost" items Chris had spoken with Candy. She suggested we ride Dinosaur. Sounded good to us so off we went.

Dino Sue ~ another place for photo op pictures.

Once again the standby line was not very long, so I was able to grab only a few shots of the waiting area that the line normally snakes through because I was holding everyone up!

Prehistoric bird model

BIG Dinosaur skeleton from tip...

to toe.

Layers of earth with fossils along the walls.

Once there we found we would traveling back in time to try to rescue a small dinosaur before the metor hit that caused their extinction.

The entrance.

The ride was quite intense, but so much fun! I do think however this was the only ride in the park that Madison didn't want to ride again...I think it was more the noise than anything else, but once was enough for this one.

We headed further into Dinoland looking for Candy and Peyton. We stopped and rode the Primevial Whirl with the girls while Chris went to meet them. Another great ride...smaller than Everest, but with plenty of surprises of its own we had a wonderful time laughing together.

This one reminded me of the "Sinclair" Dinosaur they used to advertise gas back when I was a kid.

Now that we were all together again we were going to walk back over toward Everest again. This time at a little slower pace so Rick and I were able to get a few pictures.

Everest.

Prayer flags.

The paintings on the side of one of the food carts.

One of the boats on the river.

The bird on the boat.

Entrance to Everest.

Decor in the Souvenir shop.

Closer view.

We rode again, this time picking up a parent swap pass since Peyton couldn't ride. I rode the first time, this time I was with Rick. As we got into the ride I asked if it were possible to take pictures while you were on a roller coaster. He told me yes, so I got ready for the shot I wanted. Just as I placed the camera up to my face we hit a rough patch and BOOM!!! Right in the eye...man that hurt. We both laughed at that and Rick told me I would have to hold it away from my face a little so that wouldn't happen. (He thought I knew that)...So I held it out to try again and BOOM!!! same eye once again. This time it REALLY hurt. Lesson learned. HE may be able to take pictures on a roller coaster, but I am WAY too clumsy to try!

After that ride I swapped out with Candy and let her ride while Peyton and I watched the riders come out of the final tunnel...he thought that was fun.

Now it was time to head over to the restrant for our Donald Safari lunch. This was to be a character meal and we were all looking forward to it.

One of the cast members outside the restrant as we waited to be called

Doesn't he look fierce?

Candy had set up our reservation so we were there for breakfast, but they would be switching out to the lunch food as we ate, so we were able to sample many different foods. There were traditional American food as well as some African dishes. EVERYTHING was delicious! Peyton and I waited at the table while everyone else went through the buffet. When Rick came back with his plate Peyton cried out, "You brought me a donut!"...that donut was off Rick's plate and in Peyton's mouth before Rick even realized it was gone. I don't think anyone actually saw him take it, he was so fast! It was sooo funny! What was even funnier was when a little later Rick came back again. This time he brought an extra donut ~ just in case ~ Peyton took one look and said, "You brought me TWO donuts!" Of course the entire table cracked up laughing. Needless to say he got one of them and Rick finally got his donut!

As we began eating the cast members announced that there would be a parade the kids could join in. Of course the girls jumped right up!

Mickey leads the parade.

Goofy joins right in.

Sydney marching along and having a great time.

A grinning Madison joins in.

I don't remember exactly what happened here (maybe she tried to take his donut!) but this picture is worth at LEAST a thousand words about the relationship of a brother and sister!

Too funny!

The theming in the restrant.

One of the paintings on the wall as we exited the restrant.

Masks on the wall outside the restrant.

Now we were ready to go on the Kilamanjaro Safari. I was looking forward to seeing all the animals. We boarded our truck and off we went! Once again I'll let you see it as I did through the lens of the camera.

After we got off the ride we spent some time walking around the park just enjoying the decor and theming.

Another Hidden Mickey.

The Tree Of Life was fascinating to me!

Our next stop was the Bird Show. I think Sydney was the most excited of all of us for this one. She was practically bouncing in her seat while we were waiting, and she was trying to make sure we would all volunteer to be part of the show!

Hidden Mickeys.

Man these things are hard to get pictures of!

The first time they asked for a child volunteer Sydney just about came out of her seat as she raised her hand, she was so excited! They picked her and brought her up on stage. She was going to be in a Math competition with Kiwi, the parrot. Needless to say Kiwi beat her even though the problems were pretty easy. Then the trainer explained how they got Kiwi to answer so quickly. It was one of the highlights of the day!

Sydney on stage competing with Kiwi.

"Baby bird."

Toward the end of the show they brought out this eagle.

Before the show one of the trainers brought out a Great Horned Owl named Twister. He talked to us about the birds and then asked if there were any questions. I think our entire group became totally shocked when Madison's hand was the first one up in the entire audience. Madison is so quiet and soft spoken and rarely ever looks for the spotlight. I was so glad they selected her. Her question was "Why can an Owl turn there head all the way around?" GREAT question. We found out that Humans and Giraffes both have seven vertebrae, while an owl has 14 along with the extra tendons and ligaments that go with the extra bones. This allows them to turn their heads about 260 degrees (not quite totally all the way around). Later we were all talking about how none of us could think of a question at all, even though we all had wondered about this before. Way to go Maddie!!!

The trainer and Twister.

After the bird show as we were walking toward the front of the park I was delighted to find the purpose of a wonderful structure I had been curious about all day. It was Monkey Island!

More of the scenery.

One of the wood carvings.

Even the lamp posts go along with the various themes within the park!

This guy REALLY wanted the fry that was on the ground by my knee!

Hidden Mickey

Huey, Duey, and Louie are going to meet...

Pluto, Mickey and Goofy for some fishin'!

The final shot!

We made this a short day. Animal Kingdom closes earlier than the other parks, and we were all pretty tired anyway. Tomorrow was going to be a very long day because I was going to realize another dream....Fireworks over the castle and THE MAIN STREET ELECTRICAL PARADE!!!!

Day Two ~ Epcot #1

2011-01-07T17:24:00.001-08:00

We were up bright and early again on Monday morning to make our first of two trips to Epcot. This would be a bit shorter day, but we wanted to get there early because all the Fast Pass tickets for Soarin' go pretty quick and the girls REALLY wanted me to ride this one. I'd been hearing for months about how I was going to go hang gliding over California and they were excited beyond words that the day was finally here. (You have to realize that I am very afraid of heights and also sometimes have trouble with rides where you are watching a screen moving when you aren't...they REALLY wanted to see my reaction.) We got to the park at sunrise and were prepared to stand for about an hour waiting for rope drop. Here is the sight that greeted us as we walked toward "Spaceship Earth".

Chris, Candy, Peyton, Sydney and Madison lead the way!

Reflected sunrise!

We went through the entrance and made it to the waiting area. There were several cast members gathered together talking when we walked up. One of the men came over the the people waiting and told us he had a wonderful surprise for us. They were going to go ahead and open up Sorin' early for those of us brave enough to get there in the 32 degree weather! They had us get in a line and walked us to the ride. AN HOUR EARLY!! How awesome was that? We walked right up and were one of the first groups to ride, with almost no waiting!

Some of the signage.

The rides almost always release you into a themed shop. Here we found another Hidden Mickey.

Rick and I decided that we would let Chris and Candy ride the ride with the girls while we waited with Peyton. They hardly ever get to ride a ride together that Peyton can't ride, doing the parent swap instead, we wanted to give them the opportunity whenever we could. We walked over to the cafeteria area and got some coffee and I got a cinnamon roll to share with Peyton. Well, Rick and I walked ~ Peyton "ice skated" over. The cast members there were laughing and laughing at him (of course he was oblivious as he practiced his jumping turns.) We enjoyed our breakfast while the others rode the ride.

After Soarin' we walked over to Finding Nemo. Everyone knew this was one of Peyton's favorite rides and one that we could all enjoy together. The girls were also looking forward to talking to Crush again!

The kids at the "Kodak photo spot".

"Mine - Mine - Mine"

This has been a favorite saying of ours since the movie came out...how fun to hear these fellows saying it!

There is an amazing aquarium as you come out of the ride where you can look at some beautiful aquatic life. We enjoyed walking around looking at the various water animals while we waited for the "Talking with Crush" show.

Kinda scary don'tcha think?

If this guy were pink it would be just like the one on the ride!

Chris and Maddie having a little fun!

Peyton's turn...he wasn't real sure about all those teeth!

I think Sydney was just being a good sport!

Maddie waiting in line.

Love that look!

Another Hidden Mickey.

Our next stop was at the Test Track ride. This would definitely become a favorite for EVERYONE! Chris had gotten us fast passes for this one while we were riding Soarin' so we didn't have to wait very long in line. We did enjoy the theming as always.

Test dummy.

Hidden Mickey on the workbench.

This became one of our favorite memories to discuss during the trip.

SPOILER ALERT!!! If you haven't ridden this, and don't want to know anything that happens, skip this part!

While we were on the ride I was in the car with Candy and Sydney who had both ridden before and got irritated because the Mickey ears I had purchased kept turning themselves on. I bent down to get them while the car was slowing down getting ready for another "test" and lost focus on the ride...I actually was going to show Sydney how cool they looked flashing the colors inside the bag in the dark. Just as I glanced up the headlights of a huge eighteen wheeler came on HEADED RIGHT AT US!!! I didn't think about being on a ride, I just reacted ~ screamed and like to have come out of my seat. Candy and Sydney were laughing so hard. The picture they took just shows me laughing and grabbing at my heart. It was a great memory maker though!

The Epcot Tree all decorated up.

Goofy topiary.

Donald topiary.

We made our way over to the World Showcase side of EPCOT so we could eat lunch at the Restrant Marrakesh. Candy had made the reservations for us there which included our reserved seating for the Candlelight Processional that evening.

Our hostess warming her hands...I told you it was cold!

Peyton was a favorite of our wonderful waiter! He let him wear his Fez and tried to teach him the "sign".

At the entrance.

After we ate we wandered around this part of the park while we waited for the Candlelight processional (we had first seating reservations). We enjoyed some of the storytellers nearby.

In "Japan".

Continuing the story.

The drummers.

Peyton LOVED the drummers and tried to drum along with them!

The tree in "America".

In "Germany" they had a beautiful train set up that you could watch.

The scene from the bridge.

The castle and one of the train cars.

One of the Christmas Traditions we learned about here was the Pickle Ornament.

The sign reads: Pickle ornaments were considered a special decoration by many families in Germany where the fir tree was decorated on Christmas Eve. It was always the last ornament to be hung on teh Christmas tree, with the parents hiding it in the green boughs among the other ornaments. When the children were allowed to view the tree they would begin gleefully searching for the Pickle ornament. The children knew that whoever first found the special ornament would receive an extra little gift left by St. Nicholas for the most observant child.

From here we went back outside and did some people watching and waited for the Candlelight Processional, a special holiday event held nightly. The event retells the story of Christmas with a special celebrity narrator accompanied by a 50 piece ochestra and a mass choir. Our show was narrated by Edward James Olmos.

At the end of the show one of the last numbers sung by the choir is the Hallelujah Chorus. This is when Rick and I learned that this is one of Peyton's favorite songs. We learned this when he began singing "HALLALULA, HALLALULA" at the top of his lungs along with the choir. Everyone got such a kick out of his enthusiasm and joy in the moment~

We went on home after this ... oohing and ahhing at the nightime lights around the park.

Next: Animal Kingdom

Christmas Parade

2011-01-05T19:28:00.000-08:00

Once we returned to the park ~ while Peyton continued to recharge (sleep in his stroller) ~ we wandered around the park and took a ton of pictures. We worked our way to the center of the "Kingdom" to find a good spot to wait for the parade to come by. During our wait I managed to get a few shots of the statues.

Donald

Walt and Mickey

Minnie

Brer Rabbit

We then went over and found our spots and waited for the Parade to start. I won't be writing much more - I'll just let you enjoy the parade through my lens. Enjoy!

After the parade we made our way to Tony's where Candy had made resevations for dinner. Loved the reminder that this is the restrant where Lady and the Tramp ate. The food was sooooo good! Once again Sydney and I celebrated our birthdays with ice cream treats provided by our amazing waitress at the end of our meal!

Then it was time to head home. We had another EARLY morning the next day and everyone needed to get some rest. We also needed to run by the store and pick up some other supplies, so we decided to head toward the car.

This is the tree in the first "meet and greet" area where a lot of the characters come out to sign autographs and have their pictures taken.

This is the view as we headed out of the park ~ I wasn't too sad as I knew I would be back again in just a day or two!

Next we head over to EPCOT...

The beginning of my dream - realized!

2011-01-04T17:14:00.000-08:00

All I could think when I got up Sunday morning was that I made it, I really, really made it and I WAS going to see Disney... TODAY! I couldn't stop smiling! We drove out to Disney an hour before rope drop because Candy knew we needed to be there early to catch the rides we really wanted. When we got to the park they we walked up to the gate and as I saw this...

tears filled my eyes. I had dreamed this for so long. I simply couldn't believe that I was actually seeing the Magic Kingdom!

Sydney noticed the flowers in front of the "train station" and of course I had to get a picture of this together.

A beautiful Mickey Mouse ornament. There were so many other beautiful things waiting for us inside :) .... We went on through the gates. There was no rope drop. We found out later that they had decided to just let the early guests in because the temperature was 32 and they didn't want us to have to stand there and wait for an hour. We headed into the park and onto Main Street. This is where I totally lost it. I saw the castle rising up before me and I just started crying - so emotional - it was so much more beautiful that I could ever have imagined from the pictures I'd seen - the Disney shows I had watched - I couldn't help it when those emotions began pouring out. I really choked up when the cast members on Main Street started telling me Happy Birthday and calling me by name! Amazing!

Here is Madison posing with Dumbo...our very first ride. I got to ride this one with Peyton. He had been telling me all about the ride for at LEAST a month...that Dumbo goes up and up and around and around...we were both so excited. We laughed and laughed. What a great start to our trip!

I did discover that you do a lot of walking between rides, and stopping to greet the characters at times as well - I suppose this is a given if you've ever been, but it was eye-opening for me...and just a little more to add to the long list of memories my family was making with and for me!

Our next stop was at the Winnie the Pooh ride. Another ride where everyone can go together. So much fun to see my "friends" brought to life Disney style.

A page from the book

A Tigger LOVES to bounce!

After Winnie the Pooh came one of the rides I had been watching a waiting to see for years and years....A Small World. Believe it or not I couldn't WAIT to hear the music! A few pictures...

The sign above the door...I was grinning BIG!

Two of my favorite shots from the ride.

Then we walked on over the the Pirates of the Carribean ride. Sydney had told me all about this one ~ and of course I knew all about the older version and this was another song I couldn't wait to hear. I also wanted to see how they had changed it up!

When we got off this one we moved on down to the Hall of Presidents. This was a show and I was sooo impressed with how Disney brought all of our presidents to life. When Abraham Lincoln read the Gettysburg Address to us it was so moving.

We found a hidden Mickey in one of the portraits in the waiting area for the Hall of Presidents!

We took a little break here and decided to ride the monorail to a few of the resorts to see some of the Christmas decorations they had up. We knew that at the Grand Floridian there was supposed to be a HUGE Gingerbread house and the decorations were supposed to be amazing. Before we got to the Grand Floridian though our first stop would be the Polynesian.

One of the competitors in the Gingerbread House competition displayed at the Polynesian...my personal favorite

After a quick stop and admiring all the decorations...picking up some snacks for the kids (yeah right, just them), and doing some window shopping we headed back to the monorail and the Grand Floridian.

The sign describing the HUGE Gingerbread house.

The Beautiful Gingerbread House.

Look at Tingerbell's shadow!!!

Such detail !

Next time Afternoon and the Christmas Parade!

Christmas Dinner

2011-01-03T17:23:00.001-08:00

While we were busy walking around Downtown Disney Candy had us stop by guest services. Sydney and I both picked up Birthday pins with our names on them. If your birthday is the month before, the month of, or the month after your visit you can celebrate it at Disney...so I did! Then we made our way over to the restrant where we had reservations. T-REX. Way, way cool!

The sign at the restrant...just a preview of the fun to come!

It didn't take very long at all for us to be seated ~ even though we had 7 in our party. Our reservation got us right in. We were seated next to this lovely dining companion ...

He would bend over and roar...which scared Peyton a little at first, until Memaw told him he better stop and he did! Of course he started up again later, but by now it was just a funny joke! As we looked around the restraunt there were plenty of the animated, and non-animated prehistoric creatures around to entertain throughout the meal.

Right across from us between the room we were in and the ice age room was this beautiful Pterodactyl flying over the heads of some diners.

On the wall behind the Pterodactyl was this ginormous bug!

In the ice age room at the edge of the walkway was this baby mammoth. Isn't he cute?

Just around the corner from us was the ocean room. I thought these jellyfish were amazing with the colors and lights.

Of course you can't go to a special place like this and NOT order an extraordinary dessert, right? So we ordered chocolate extinction.

Since Sydney and I had our Birthday Buttons on they put candles in our ice cream and sang happy birthday to us. We had a wonderful time!

The day came to an end and we were all pretty well exhausted so with VERY full tummies we made our way back to our home away from home and headed for bed. We knew it was going to be an early morning and we wanted to get some rest so we could really enjoy it.

Tomorrow I finally make it to the Magic Kingdom!

Getting Started

2011-01-02T17:11:00.000-08:00

We got up VERY early Christmas morning and drove out to the airport to begin our trip. The flight was quite uneventful and we arrived in Orlando, picked up our rental car, and headed to the condo. We unloaded the car, jumped back in and headed towards Downtown Disney to have lunch and do a little shopping. What a blast! One of the first stores we actually went in was a Build Your Own Ride store - it is basically a Build a Bear for boys! We weren't going to stop at first ~ that is until we saw the Carbon Fiber Lightning McQueen...leave no doubt that Peyton is a HUGE fan! We all went in and helped him pick out all kinds of special things to add to his new remote controlled Lightning car. He was so proud of it!

Peyton practicing with his controller.

We then started REALLY window shopping. I wasn't really ready to do much REAL shopping ~ saving up my money for Disney World...all four sections!

I loved this figurine of Mickey and Minnie.

A little sad to see they had already re-set the calendar for Christmas 2011.

There is so much to see, both inside and outside the shops at Downtown Disney...here is a small sampling of some of the things we saw.

Lego Nessie ~ actually in the water!

Lego family outside the store.

The brooms from the Sorcerer's Apprentice.

Carolers

Cinderella's Castle Model.

Santa Genie as a Photographer.

The Disney Train rolling along overhead tracks.

Part of one of the wreaths that decorated nearly all the stores.

The Christmas Tree in the courtyard.

And finally a close-up of the tree decorations.

We found several hidden Mickey's on our very first day! This was a quest we set for ourselves because in my Disney Christmas package along with my Passport, Pressed Penny packages, and Disney sling backpack I also recieved the Hidden Mickey scavenger hunt guide. We didn't do the hunt, but we did try to find some of the Hidden Mickeys.

This was at the Build Your Ride store where Peyton built his Lightning McQueen car.

Mickey in the package next to the Carolers.

Mickey in the Dalmation in the Lego Family.

Mickey in an over the door sign inside one of the stores.

and along the border on the side of the door.

Mickey on top of the clothing poles in one of the stores,

and along the sides of the pole in another.

And finally Mickey on the back of the benches next to the interactive Mickey fountains.

Next time ~ dinner at T-Rex...what an experience!

The Dreams That You Wish DO Come True!!!

2011-01-02T14:15:00.000-08:00

For as long as I can remember I have dreamed of going to Disney. (Land or World didn't matter to me) My dream finally came true on Christmas Day 2010. I finally got to Disney World with my amazing husband, daughter, son-in-law, and grandchildren. It was a fantastic time and I want to share it here with you in sections. This is just to let you know what is coming. My next few posts will be about this dream come true and the memories it built. I hope you enjoy the updates!

Memories ~ Plano Balloon Festival

2010-10-25T18:32:00.000-07:00

Yes, it has been a while. Actually over a month since the Festival...however; so many people were uploading their photos, I was on Balloon Fest overload! So I waited a bit and then went back and looked at the pictures I took. Here are 10 of my favorites!

1. Balloon Glow Friday night ~ our pilot's balloon.

2. Here we have our pilot heating the air inside the balloon.

3. Just a shot of what it looks like when you are looking into the balloon as it is being inflated.

4. A couple of balloons take off.

5. A trio in the sky at sunrise.

6. My view from the balloon I was in at sunrise Saturday morning.

7. Just as we went over the trees, we dropped down to chat with some of the people in the park.

8. Taking off Saturday evening.

9. And more are aloft!

10. Our final shot ~ Sunday morning take-off.

We had such a great time crewing and flying. It is really quite the experience and makes for some wonderful memories to look back on!

Cossatot River State Park in Arkansas

2010-10-24T17:49:00.000-07:00

This past weekend Rick and I traveled to Cossatot River State Park in Arkansas to see if we could get some good pictures of the changing foliage. Rick had done some research and this was a recommended site to see the colors of the leaves changing. We got to the park at about 8:00 am Saturday morning and talked to a really nice park ranger there. She told us the park was really known for the Cossatot Falls, but that they weren't real active right now because the river was only about 11 inches deep. She got out a park map and showed us where some of the campsites were and where some of the trails were. She also explained where the trails were "moderate hiking" and where they were "difficult hiking". We drove on down to the campsites to see if we could get one and were very fortunate that a group was packing up. We talked with them and they said we could leave our stuff, so we reserved the site, dropped off our tent, changed shoes, got out the camera equipment and started off! I was so excited ~ even though the leaves weren't what we expected ... they were mostly brown, and not changing at all ... I was really hoping we could get some good pictures by walking the river trail.

We started our hike at the closest trail to our newfound campsite. It starts at this bridge. I wanted to get a shot FROM the bridge, but people kept walking by and I had to keep taking everything down, so I moved to the dry stream-bed and got this shot instead.

We started on down the trail and quickly took one of the cut-offs to the river. We could hear the rushing water and wanted to see if we could get some shots of the falls. One of the things I have been dying to try since our last photo competition (Blur ~ capturing movement) was to try to get a picture of moving water where it looked like it was moving - not take a picture where it stopped the flow. This was my first attempt ... the water looks OK, but I didn't really like the big rock blocking most of it!

So I tried a little different angle and another try at getting the water to look like it is moving ... I was so happy when I saw the results!

After these shots we went back to the River Trail. It was only about 1 foot wide and started to get pretty steep. It seemed also to be taking us further and further from the river. After a pretty steady hike we decided to head back and try one of the other trails the park ranger had told us about. We were really hoping they would be trails that were closer to the bank of the river itself.

We found the trail close to a low river crossing bridge. Because of our experience earlier we decided to hike a little of the trail first without carrying all the equipment. We were glad we did. Once again the trail was very narrow and followed a ridge high above the river. You could look down occasionally and see the river through the trees, but that wasn't really what we wanted. We turned around and headed back to the trailhead. We pulled out out our jerky, trail-mix and water and tried to decide what we wanted to do. We finally decided we were there to take pictures, and we were going to try to get SOMETHING while we were there, so we might as well try to walk the riverbed.

You didn't think I could go anywhere to take fall pictures and not take some of the leaves did you? These leaves were close to the bridge where we stopped. I wish there had been more leaves showing this kind of color!

This was such a contrast of the bright red on the black it really caught my eye.

These are some of the striations on the rock formations along the river. I loved the blend of colors and the way they seemed to "move".

We finally decided to see if we could walk along the bank of the river itself. At times it wasn't too bad ~ after all it was pretty low, but there were places where you had to go up on the bank and force your way through thick brush and then make your way back down to the river bank again. This is from the river bank as we came out of the brush ... I thought this made it worth some of the hard work we were doing!

I really wanted to get a shot of the falls further down the river from the front, not the side, so I walked on the large rocks in the river until I got to almost the middle of the river where I sat down and took these next couple of shots.

Still from the rocks in the middle of the river, a view of two small "waterfalls" making their way to the calmer river.

Continuing farther along the river bank we passed these "rapids"

As we headed off to look for the ravine back up to the trail I stopped to get this final shot of the river through some of the colorful leaves.

After the frustrations of trying to get some good pictures, when we got back to the campsite we talked it over and decided to head on home and make a detour on the way to check out Cooper's Lake State Park. We are always looking for places close to home for a photo shoot getaway! We went ahead and pulled up stakes and headed back home to Texas. We stopped for dinner in Broken Bow, OK and the skies opened up! While we were eating dinner we kept seeing all the bad weather coming our way. We headed out hoping the worst had already passed by but didn't get too far before it got even worse and we decided to stop for the night rather than try to get all the way to the state park and put up a tent in THAT kind of weather! We found a nice Quality Inn and hunkered down to wait out the storms.

After a hot breakfast in the morning we loaded up the car and headed toward Cooper's Lake. When we got to the Visitor Center we talked to the girl working the desk. She told us that they were sure glad they had gotten the 2.5 inches of rain the night before...we thought we were just going to be out of luck walking any of the trails but went ahead and drove around the park to take a look anyway, just to see what it was like.

After driving through and taking a quick break we decided we would give hiking a try, despite the 2.5 inches of rain they had received the night before. It sure felt good to get out of the car and stretch our legs! The trail really wasn't too muddy at all. As we came through the trees and into a clearing we saw a field of flowers and butterflies. What an amazing opportunity to try and get some colorful shots! I am still working on "things that move away quickly" LOL.

I think this is my best photo of the weekend! I can't believe he posed for me long enough for me to get both shots! This will be my entry in the projected images category for our next "OPEN" Camera Club contest.

I can't wait until we get to go out and shoot again. I am continuing to learn so much and I'm having so much fun doing it!

My New Camera

2010-07-16T07:39:00.000-07:00

After we went to Brazos Bend Rick and I both realized how very much I enjoyed taking pictures on the hikes. I must admit, I've been fighting this for quite some time now, he kept telling me he thought I'd like it, but when you are married to a fantastic photographer...well I always thought I'd just enjoy his shots ~ they would help me remember the trip, right? Well, much as I hate to admit it ~ he was right! I had a BLAST taking the pictures with the old camera. Once we got back we decided it was time for an upgrade. That one was rather difficult to use, and VERY finicky.

I am proud to say that I am now the very proud owner of a Canon EOS Rebel T1i and TWO lenses. My very first brand new camera with interchangeable lenses! I have so much to learn.

I went for two walks the very first day after I got the camera...once by myself, and then again later that evening with Rick. He helped me start to "see" pictures in the world around me. The next day I went to Sister Grove Park to hike the trail and see if I could begin to apply some of what he had shown me.

I worked on some of the pictures, and then when he got home he worked with me to show me how to make the shots even better. It was so much fun learning more about his passion and beginning to make it my own as well.

So here we have my first attempt at trying to move from the great vistas I once observed while hiking, to noticing the details around me...

Sweet smelling blossoms and mushroom tabletops...

Greens and browns ~ reds and blues...

Pretty patterns, shapes ~ and a FUNNY FACE...

Textures and contrast...

Red leaves and purple thistle...

Spider webs and silhouettes...

Sunflowers and clinging vines...

God's majesty shows in every detail of his world...how grateful I am that I have the opportunity to see so much of it!

Today I think I'll simply take some time to learn more about all the settings on my camera and perhaps study light and shadow....so much to learn, so little time!

Brazos Bend ~ The Final Installment

2010-07-14T07:29:00.000-07:00

We went back to 40 Acre lake late in the evening. Since it was such a great place for our sunrise pictures we were hoping if we moved to the other side of the lake we could get some good sunset pictures as well.

The wildlife was actually fairly active, even though it was still quite warm and humid. I felt pretty lucky to spot another Purple Gallinule along the path. Bill had told us this morning that this particular bird is fairly common in the park only in the summer months. I sure wanted to get a good picture of his coloration! He kept trying to foil my efforts by staying mostly in the grasses along the path and hiding from me!

I was hoping the Gallinule would come out of the grass and get a little closer so I could get a better shot. As I was following him with my camera I spotted this brown bird sitting on the branch of a tree.

Since I wasn't having any luck getting a closer shot of the Purple Gallinule I thought I'd try for a better shot of the brown bird on the branch. Turns out that brown bird is a Black Bellied Whistling Duck.

After getting the shot of the duck I turned back to see if I could get a better picture of the Purple Gallinule. I was definitely rewarded for waiting around!

To be perfectly honest, I don't remember this at all, but I like the shot so I'm putting it in here. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it!

Once again we were fortunate to see an alligator along the side of the road sunning himself.

As I stood waiting for the sunning gator to make a move of some kind I heard a major commotion behind me. Another alligator had found a nice snack. They glide near the shorline and wait patiently for the crawfish to come out of their holes, then they snap them up. The "snapping" is quite loud and can be disconcerting if it is behind your back! I turned and snapped this picture of him chowing down on his crawfish catch!

Still laughing about the adrenaline rush of having an Alligator snap up a crawfish right behind us we went back to the spillway and around the trail. I noticed a small movement along the side of the trail and we were greeted with a sight I'D never seen before. A mother Box Turtle laying her eggs! It was amazing to watch. I wondered if this was the same turtle we had seen early that morning.

We left the turtle behind and continued up the trail towards the forested area. I noticed this Anhinga drying his wings.

As I turned back to the path I noticed a bird standing along the shoreline and thought I would sneak up on him very quietly and get a shot. No such luck. I would start getting close and he would walk a little ways down the path and stop. I would sneak up and get close and he would walk a ways down the path and stop. We continued this until I heard laughing behind me and turned around to see Rick taking pictures of me stalking this bird ~ I have to admit, it WAS pretty funny! This is the shot I ended up with.

As we turned around to head back the way we had come we came to a break the trees surrounding the marsh. This Blue Heron seemed to pose for a long time. I think he likes having his picture taken!

We walked back to the Observation Tower and climbed the stairs to wait for the sunset. I'd say it was worth the wait...wouldn't you?

Even though we did get up early on Sunday, there wasn't enough light for my camera to get any more sunrise shots...the humidity/fog was down, and the animals weren't very active. We walked a little and Rick got some great shots but we were all ready to pack up, go get some good breakfast food, and get back on the long road home knowing we would have to return in another season!

Brazos Bend ~ Saturday Morning

2010-07-13T08:01:00.000-07:00

We got up early on Saturday so that Rick could get some pictures of the sun rising over 40 Acre Lake. We were at the parking lot by 5:30 AM. Rick has a program that tells him what time sunrise is, so we were there in plenty of time. We headed out to the pier to watch the sun come up over the lake. Once again we were about 5 steps from the gate when we were surprised with the HUGE splash! We quickly spotted our friend the "Guardian of the Gate" floating along the shoreline. Number one in our "Gator Count" for the morning! We laughed at ourselves again and quickly stepped through the gate and onto the pier. We moved to the end of the pier and watched the sun begin to come up. When another photographer joined us on the pier Brenda and I left and went to sit on some picnic tables along the lake shore. I was fooling around and took this shot...didn't really think it would come out with the camera I used, boy was I in for a surprise!!!!

Brenda and I decided we wanted to go "Alligator Hunting", so we headed off to the trail around the lake. As we passed the Prarie we were amazed to see THOUSANDS of spider webs glistening in the early morning sun. I didn't think they would show up in a photograph (still learning!) so I didn't shoot any pictures. After getting home and seeing the sunrise picture I didn't think would work, I really wish I had tried for that shot too! We slowed down and just gazed out at the beauty before us, then headed slowly through the woods and onto the trail where we were immediatly greeted by our second alligator of the morning. Time to start adding to the "Gator Count"!

We got to the 40 Acre trail itself and were greeted with these helpful Moorhens. They started the parade down the trail!

On the side of the trail opposite the lake you can see the marshes. You have to check out both sides to see the alligators and add them to your "Gator Count". As we were passing this section I saw this Little Blue Heron posing on the branches of a dead tree. Actually, I think he was checking out his soon to be breakfast, but it sure FELT like he was posing for me!

We continued our walk looking at both sides of the trail for alligators and we spotted this box turtle checking us out.

We were totally amazed at how the birds seemed to lead you along the path. We got quite a kick out of following these two Great Blue Herons as they lead us around the lake.

We finally reached the end of the lake part of the loop and were now ready to head back into the wooded section of the loop. Final total for our morning loop "Gator Count". TWENTY-FOUR!

After joining Rick at the picnic tables we headed toward the parking lot to go check out a new trail. While there we were fortunate to meet Bill, one of the many State Park volunteers. He told us the names of some of the birds we had seen, and gave us a lot of useful information about the park itself. He recommended that we go to the Nature Center and we could actually pet an alligator. That was too cool to resist so we headed that way! We had to wait for the center to open so Rick used the time to take some pictures of the trees shrouded in Spanish Moss and Brenda and I headed back to the campsite to pick up some items he needed. While we were at the tent we applied healthy layers of Deep Woods Off to our exposed skin and clothing and put the can in the car to give to Rick when we got back.

At the Nature center we DID get to pet a baby alligator. They aren't at all what you would think. The scales are soft and pliable and actually felt pretty smooth to the touch. The baby we were allowed to pet was a year old and was about to be released back out into the park.

We also got to walk through the different learning stations they have set up in the center. It was really cool to see how they laid out the different environments and talked about all the different cycles of nature. You could really tell that this was set up for school tours and included all the TEKS for Life Science!

Bill had also suggested since it was getting hot we might enjoy walking the Red Buckeye Trail. This trail is part of a network of trails in the forest section of the park. We knew we weren't going to see alligators, but Bill told us there were many species of butterflies along that trail at this time of the year. We drove down to the trailhead and hiked for a while on the WhiteOak trail to get there. It was hot, muggy, and not very scenic...but we trudged along. We finally got to the Red Buckeye cutoff and started down the trail. It was quite muddy after the recent rains in the area. Rick stepped over a puddle in the middle of the trail and told us quietly to stop. We looked up at him and he looked like he was in an "OFF" commercial. He was COVERED in mosquitos! I mean they were so thick in places you couldn't even see skin! Oooops, guess we forgot to tell him about the can of Off that was sitting in the car for him to spray on! We got off that trail VERY quickly! It was a mutual decision that the butterflies weren't worth a zillion mosquito bites!

We decided that we would hike Elm Lake instead, so we drove down there to see if we might be able to see some different wildlife. It is very much like the 40 Acre Lake trail, just a little longer. We left the parking lot and hit the trail.

From the path I noticed this group of Moorhens in the grass. As I was shooting two of them started squaking loudly and one flew into the air....looks like they are yelling at each other!

Loved the look of these two birds on the branch of a tree against the beautiful blue sky!

Even though this lake isn't as well know for the Alligators as 40 Acre Lake, they ARE here!

As we were walking along the path enjoying the wildlife we spotted a movement in the grasses close by. We were lucky enough to get to see a Momma Moorhen and her little chicks at the water's edge feeding.

I couldn't tell if this was a Great Egret or a White Ibis, but wanted to try my luck at getting a bird in flight shot.

We were on the final stretch around the lake when I spotted this Anhinga wading in the shallows. This bird generally swims underwater to find food, and spends part of the day on branches in the lake drying his wings. I thought I was pretty lucky to get a shot like this!

Everyone was getting tired and hungry, so we decided to head to the car and let Al lead the way. We plugged Needville into the GPS (aka Al) and followed the directions. Needville is a very small town and as we drove through we only saw a couple of places to eat. One, The Jay Cafe, had several cars in the parking lot so after making a quick stop to pick up some Calagel for the insect bites we headed there for lunch. We are so glad we did. We had some of the best "homecooked" food we've ever eaten! The lunch special was Fried Catfish, French Fries, and Coleslaw. Then we each got a piece of pie for dessert. One word sums it up...MAAAAARVELOUS!

Brazos Bend State Park ~ Arrival

2010-07-12T05:15:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we spent walking in Brazos Bend State Park. It was an amazing weekend, and one that I hope we can repeat sooner, rather than later!

We got the car loaded for the most part on Thursday evening ~ peeked throught the windows and wondered where we were going to put the rest of the necessary items ~ like FOOD, shook our heads and went back to finish getting ready for the drive ahead of us. We were up at 4:30 Friday morning, showered, loaded and on the road a little after 5:00 A.M. We were excited to get such a great start because we wanted to get to the park as early as possible. Sites are given out on a first come, first serve basis and we wanted to get the best possible site since we would be there the entire weekend! We made it to Houston and picked up Rick's sister, Brenda. This would be the first time EVER she had been camping and we were excited to be able to share one of our passions of life with her. (Man we were hoping the weather would hold off and it would be a great experience for her!) When we first walked in and saw the pile of supplies she had we didn't know how we were going to get everything loaded in the car, but we made it and once again we were on our way. We stopped for a short lunch and made the park by about 1:30. The folks at the park are wonderful. So friendly and helpful! Rick and I collect the park pins now, so of course as soon as I saw them I showed Rick which one I wanted to add to my collection. We got three of them and I got mine pinned on my hat right away! We got our site, paid the fees and off we went. The volunteers told us that once we got down to the camping area we needed to drive around and check out the sites, if we found one we liked better we could call and they would change it for us.

Once we got down to the sites we decided we DID like another one better and moved to the new site before we got anything set up...this is a good thing, LOL. Our site had a beautiful tree that we were able to set our tent up under. This made for cool afternoon and evenings. The site was clean, well maintained, and plenty big with a nice big picnic table and little grill, as well as a fire pit if we decided we wanted a camp fire. Perfect!

We pitched the tent and got everything unloaded and arranged to our liking and then we were ready to begin exploring. Housekeeping done it was time to LET THE FUN BEGIN!

For our first hike we selected Creekfield Lake. The signs explained that this was a changing ecosystem. What was today swamp would in the future become a forest, so we were observing the birth of a forest. The swamp water will slowly disappear and the life it supports will go away and forest life, trees, plants, and animals will take over.

This was our first view of Creekfield Lake.

Did you notice the light post in the bottom left corner? These are set up along the path to the Observatory. The lights are labeled with planet names to give you an idea of the distance from the sun.

This is actually the trail around the northern end of the lake. It is about 1 mile around this end of the lake, and the trail is paved and well maintained. We were there in late afternoon, so the wildlife wasn't as active as it would prove to be later in the day. We did manage to see this little guy out sunning himself on a log near the banks of the lake.

We continued along the trail and spotted this White Ibis posing for me!

The lake is surrounded by Oak trees covered in Spanish Moss. In hindsight I wish I had gotten a better picture of these. But this was the best I got this trip. (I did get a pretty "artsy" picture of the moss and leaves entertwined that I may select for another post later.)

Once we took a quick trip around this lovely path we decided to head back to camp for a quick dinner to allow time for it to cool down a little so perhaps we would be able to see a little more of the wildlife promised by the several web sites we looked at prior to the trip. We spent some time eating, talking, and laughing and then decided to go over to 40 Acre Lake.

This trail is about 1.2 miles long, but it takes you a lot longer to walk it than you would think. You tend to stop a LOT! We walked down to the pier first to check out that view of the lake. The path here is cement with curbs. We walked down the shaded, curving path barely glancing at the plantlife on either side of the trail in our eagerness to get close to the lake. At about 5 steps from the gate we heard a sudden rustle in the grass to our right and heard a GIANT splash. We all jumped and spun to look at what caused that ruckus. This is what we were greeted with!

Our first glimpse of an American Alligator! We had to laugh out lound at how we had jumped at the splash - but it was nice to know our Flight/Fight instincts were intact and we were ready for the flight part anyway! We walked out to the pier and decided this might be a nice place for some sunrise pictures in the morning. Then we headed back up the pier for some more pictures. At the end of the path I spotted this pretty plant.

I loved the way the sun shone through the leaves and wanted to get a picture quick. After I shot this one I walked back to the pier to capture the water plants along the bank.

There are more, but those also will have to wait for another, later, post.

We walked back up the path to where it intersected with the trail and headed off to the woods. As you walk through the shade you turn a corner and the 40 Acre Lake Trail intersects the Prarie Trail giving you the opportunity to walk through and observe the prarie ecosystem. Since it was late afternoon and still VERY hot we opted to continue through the woods and save the praries for another day. When we got through the woods and got to the lake we were excited to see more wildlife. Not too far along the trail we spotted another turtle sunning himself on a log.

We also had to start our "gator count". At first they were hard to spot in the water. From the picture above you can see that often they are covered in the algae and they don't show a lot of their bodies above the water. We got pretty good at spotting them lurking close to the banks of the lake just about 4 - 5 feet from the edge of the trail.

We walked on up the trail, counting alligators as we went, until we got to the observation deck. Just as we got there another hiker commented to us that if we walked on past and started up the Elm Lake trail we could see an alligator on the side of the road. We thought, "What the heck...we'll give it a try." This is what we saw.

This guy was HUGE! He went from the edge of the water to the edge of the trail easily! We wouldn't get too close since I'm a "Nervous Nellie" AND had read the literature that told us that they can move 30 MPH for 30 feet, so you didn't want to get any closer than 30 feet! In fact 30MPH for 30 Feet pretty much became our mantra on this trail!

We walked back to the observation tower and climbed up to take a peek at the view. From one side of the tower you can look at Pilant Lake, which appears to be more of a marsh than a lake, and on the other is 40 Acre Lake. We got our best entertainment of the day while up in the tower. A young couple chose to walk down the Elm Lake path and became startled when they happened upon the alligator sunning himself alongside the path. They were determined to go on down THAT trail, to not turn around. After several aborted attempts, and much jumping, starting, stopping, yelping, and laughing they finally got by him....it was very funny to watch from above.

After we descended from the observation tower we walked over the spillway and along a shaded path. On one side was the lake, on the other swamp. In a hollow in the swamp we came across this baby.

You can tell he is only a year or two old because he still has his yellow coloration which allows him to hide in the grasses close to the shoreline.

We continued around the lake adding to our "gator count" until we got back to the woods. We ended up counting 12 gator sightings on this, our first foray into the habitat of the American Alligator! Brenda and I were so excited!

We walked through the cool shade of the woods and came across this broken Oak tree branch in the middle of the path. I was fascinated by the Resureection Fern attached to the branch. This fern will appear as a ball of coiled dead leaves most of the time, but turns to a lovely green fern with sufficient moisture. Can you tell there had been a lot of rain before we arrived?

This landed us back at the parking lot where we proceeded to call it a day and head back to camp. We were pretty much exhausted, and knew we would be getting up early to head back to 40 Acre Lake the nexgt morning to try for a sunrise, so we headed for the showers and bed. We laid down and watched the fireflies and stars and listened to the frogs as we drifted off to sleep dreaming of more opportunities to observe the beauty of this park.

Memaw Camp ~ The final day!

2010-06-23T08:53:00.000-07:00

Whew....today is a sad, sad day...the final day of Memaw camp ~ part 1.

Pepaw and I were up early again since he had to go to work. I was hoping that CC would sleep a little longer, and he did. I was able to enjoy several cups of coffee and listen to the birds outside for about an hour before I heard the door slam and turned to see a grinning face and hear the chirpping "Hi Memaw". The day was starting.

CC climbed up in the recliner and requested "Robots", so I put it in for him and he watched that for a little bit while I fixed some cinnamon toast, grapes, and cantaloupe for breakfast. Once the girls were awake everyone came in to the table and ate, chatted, and laughed. Then it was time to get ready to go to the park. This is something they had been asking to do all week and MOTS was specially excited. I filled up the water jug with lots of ice and water and we headed out.

Now, I run this area for my "speed" training just about every morning in the summer and I SHOULD be familiar with it, right? Well, there seems to be a difference when you are running and when you are walking at 2 year old speed. Sheesh. We walked, and walked, and WALKED. I didn't think we were EVER going to get to the turnoff. Hollywood actually found a bench along the way to sit down on and rest. We finally got to the turnoff, walked across the bridge, and made the turn to the park. Uh-oh...this was NOT what MOTS and I remembered! There wasn't a tree anywhere near the eqipment or seats, it was bone dry with lots of dead plants in the "garden" area, and the grass was more brown than green. Captain Chaos walked over to the small play area, climbed up the steps, went down the slide one time and announced he was ready to go home! OK...well then....hmmmmmmmm. We turned around and walked back. It was hot, we were all tired, and all I could think about was how glad I was that I brought the water jug. We made frequent stops so all could get drinks and I poured water over their heads to keep them cool. Chaos would laugh and laugh because the cold water tickled! I went back later and measured the walk. We had actually walked 1.25 miles to get to the park and back home!

Once we got home we decided we were very hungry so we went over to the McDonalds. The kids ate and then played at the playplace. Much better! I read for a while. I let them play until both girls were "done", then we peeled Captain Chaos off the play equipment and headed back to the house.

Back home it was time to do a little picking up again and then enjoy some TV in the nice air conditioned comfort of the living room! I told them that after CC got up from his nap we would go to the OTHER park and feed the ducks. This was quite exciting news and everyone tried to stay very quiet so CC would go to sleep.....yeah, right!

He did finally sleep about 3:30 - AFTER I promised that we would leave the house no later than 4:00 because we had to be packed up and ready to go meet their parents when Pepaw got home from work. We let him sleep while we got everything (HAH - like they weren't going to forget SOMETHING) packed up and ready to load in the car. At 4:05 we were loaded in the car. As the garage door was going up I hear this small voice from the backseat, "Did anyone get the bread for the ducks?" Ooops. I shut off the car, ran back into the house, grabbed the bread, gave the dog another treat, locked the door, jumped back into the car, and we were off.

When we got to the park we found we were the only people silly enough to be out in the Texas heat at 4:00 in the afternoon! Even the ducks were fighting over the shade! It was OK though - once they found out we had food they came running!

After we finished feeding the ducks we drove back home just in time to meet Pepaw. He changed clothes and we were off to meet {C} and Partyboy for dinner. We had a great dinner, we listened to stories about their trip, they listened to stories about Memaw camp and finally it was time for hugs, kisses, and goodbyes. We got them all loaded in their truck and we got into our car. As we were driving off we were talking about how much we were going to miss the kids. We were still laughing at some of the things that had happened over the past 5 days when I looked at Pepaw and said, "Do you hear that?" AHHHHHHHHH, quiet. (but I am going to miss them - this old house is TOO quiet some days!)

Memaw Camp ~ Day 4

2010-06-23T07:41:00.001-07:00

A comparitively calm day here at Memaw camp. Pepaw had to go to work today so we got up early to get in a little exercise before the kids got up. I got dressed in my "walking" gear and headed out to the little lake nearby to go walking with my friend. We meet up there three times a week during the summer. She is getting ready to start the C25K training in September so we are picking up the speed.

I walked in the door at 6:15 AM and was greeted by .... CAPTAIN CHAOS! I couldn't beleive he was already up. Poor Pepaw was standing there nodding his head saying "Yep, he's up and ready for action!" I had to laugh. Pepaw told me he had gotten dressed for work and was sitting on the side of the bed tying his shoes when he and the dog heard a door slam. They looked at each other and said, "HUH?" He opened the door and there stood CC looking at them. He grinned really big and said, "Hi Pepaw!"

I hurried my shower so Pepaw could leave for work and came in to plan the day. Our first stop today was going to be the pool ~ It has been really hot and I thought that would be a nice cool activity and they could all burn a little energy. They had a BLAST...

After the pool we all came back and got ready to go eat some lunch. MOTS picked Subway so off we went. The two younger ones wanted the kid's meals and MOTS was a little upset. She claims that she and Hollywood generally split a 6" meatball sub. No problem I told her...order one just for you! Her eyes looked like saucers when I told her that, she gladly obeyed my request, lol. Once all the orders were put together the kids were getting into their seats and dividing up the meals. MOTS was helping me get the drinks situated when I hear Chaos's voice, "OH NO." NEVER a good sound. I look over at the table and there stands MOTS, nearly in tears, with her drink going all over the table and floor. "This always happens when I try to help them!" Again, not a problem. I grabbed some extra napkins, we mopped up the spilled drink ~ all 32 ozs., refilled, and got re-situated. THEN we were able to really enjoy our meals!

Once that was taken care of it was off to Target. I wanted to get the movie "UP". I hadn't seen it, the kids like it, and I wanted it...so we got it. We also picked up "Ferngully", "Robots", and "Milo and Otis", as well as a journal, some Jolly Rancher gummies, and a bat and ball....hmmmmm, can you say "Memaw is an easy touch when shopping?", LOL...

The trip home was quite uneventful and we piled on the couch to watch "UP". Chaos sat still for the first part, but soon left to go play with his puzzle. Once that movie was over we watched "Ferngully". It was very cute. Chaos hadn't seen this one before and was captured by the animation so he sat down on the floor to watch. Next thing I knew this is how he was watching!

Yes, 6:00 AM is early for a 2 year old and makes for a long day...Even Captain Chaos couldn't fight off the nap today!

Memaw Camp ~ Day 3

2010-06-21T05:05:00.000-07:00

Today was a calmer day at Memaw Camp. We only had one activity planned for the day ~ Toy Story 3! The kids were up pretty early and ready to go. They were eager and excited. We loaded up and headed to the theater. We got there about 30 minutes before the movie started, found our seats (on the very back row as usual), and MOTS and I headed down to the refreshment stand for "breakfast". Each child got his/her own "kid-pack" of popcorn, drink, and candy. Now I haven't done this in quite a long time - the last time I got a kid pack you simply ordered the thing and told them what drink you wanted...not so anymore...now you have to choose your candy too. Sure glad I had MOTS with me. She selected some kind of Extreme Sour ropes or some such thing I'd never heard of! We got everything situated, stopped and picked up a booster seat for CC and headed back up the stairs. Once I got back up there and Pepaw and I got everything passed out I was just getting ready to sit down when Hollywood decided it was "break time"...sooooooo back down the stairs we went. Once we got that little chore taken care of I finally got to settle back in my seat. Hmmm...the good news is I only had to sit through the 3D previews!

The movie was REALLY good. I have loved ALL the Toy Story movies but I do believe this is the first one that actually made me cry! If you go be warned ~ take tissues with you! All the kids did a great job. CC only made one loud comment during the entire movie and it was at an appropriate time so all the folks around us laughed with us and no one got upset with him...a good thing!

When the credits rolled we packed up the trash and glasses and headed down the stairs to leave. When we finally got out to the lobby this is what we were greeted with ~

and that isn't the half of it! He was COVERED in the sour coating from the Extreme candy from his toes to his hair! It was EVERYWHERE! Everyone we passed was cracking up looking at him. We drove right on over to Whataburger (Hollywood's lunch choice) and I ordered the meals while Pepaw managed clean-up duty. While we were there Cotton called to see what the plans were for the day ~ he met us back at the house for a relaxing afternoon of visiting, playing with the kids and dogs, and watching the US Open. Made for a great Father's Day for Pepaw!

By the end of the afternooon it was definitely time to start picking up around the house. All three kids went back to the back bedroom to pick up clothes and toys with no argument. After just a few minutes I hear one of the girls screech all THREE of Captain Chaos' given names. This is NEVER a good thing! I walk back to see what is going on and I'm greeted by Chaos running around the room with an empty puzzle box on his head yelling "Look at my hat, look at my hat!" It was determined by all that it would probably be for the best if CC took a little "time out" of cleaning. He came in and sat down on the couch to join Pepaw watching some golf. After about 5 minutes we looked over and saw ...

Today was a very good day!

Memaw Camp ~ Day 2

2010-06-20T15:40:00.000-07:00

We got up as late as the kids would let us because we knew it was going to be a long day. We started out by going to Weight Watchers. Pepaw was going to weigh in, Memaw decided she would rather wait another week. We also wanted to drop off the WW 5K walkathon pictures. Pepaw had created a beautiful album for the center. After saying goodbye to all our friends at the center we headed next door to Khol's to get everyone a new outfit. Little did we know what an experience we were in for.

We walked in the door and as soon as Captain Chaos saw the blouses hanging on the racks he was gone! I HIDE - I HIDE! We quickly got him corraled and made our way to the toddler department. We found some shorts and shirts and made our way to the dressing room. MOTS's idea of the size we needed proved to be a little "off" so Pepaw had to go back and try a smaller size. When we tried those on Chaos thought it was enough. I grabbed his shirt and he decided he could fly! So here I am on the edge of the dressing room holding a two year old by the shirt while he waves his arms and legs in the air. Pepaw, MOTS, and Hollywood were all so busy laughing I didn't know how long I was going to have to hold him like that! We made it back to the dressing room, found the right size and then we were ready to go look for some things for the girls. CC was with Pepaw and "promised" he would be good and wouldn't hide anymore. Have I mentioned he is two - NEVER believe a two year old when he says he'll be good. As soon as Pepaw set him down he was off! It took MOTS and Pepaw both to capture him again - by that time he was several aisles over and hiding in the clothes again...he also played chase around the pole. I don't know if they would have caught him at all if he hadn't accidently seen himself in the mirror and slowed down to look! Pepaw and I took turns watching CC while MOTS and Hollywood picked out their new clothes and then we finally got to the registers to pay for the purchases. By the time we made it to the car I just knew we had to be halfway through the afternoon, but NOOOOOOOOO! It wasn't even 9:00 am yet!

We wanted to drive over to Cabela's and look for a tent we had found on-line. This is a pretty good drive so as soon as everyone was ready we loaded up the car and off we went. We stopped at Chick-fil-a for breakfast first and then we were on the road. Funny how putting kids in a car nearly always results in -

We arrived at the store and were surprised to see quite the commotion outside - balloon arcs and a LOT of activity. As we got closer we noticed that they were having a kids fishing contest. The girls weren't too interested in that so we bypassed that activity and headed for the doors.

As we entered the store we were amazed to see that several of the State Parks had set up interactive exhibits. They were letting the kids do wildlife rubbings, and for the Dinosaur Valley State Park they had set up a "pit" where the kids could "excavate" bones just like they do at the park! This was such an unexpected treat!

The kids love going by the fish tanks here. Party Boy and {C} had just sent a picture of Tigger having a staring contest with a fish in Chicago, so they decided to have their own staring contest with Texas fish. Still trying to figure out who one that one!

This guy just kept watching us through the glass - MOTS was fascinated with him. If we moved right he craned his neck right, if we moved left he craned his neck left...not quite sure what he was looking for!

After we finished looking at the State Park exhibits, the animal exhibits, the fish, AND finished wandering the aisles for a bit we headed up the elevator. As you exit the elevator there is a BIG stuffed Moose. I tried to get a picture of everyone around the Moose, but CC was having none of that! He was terrified of the thing...so we went ahead and headed toward the tent area. On our way the girls saw a table set up for face painting, so of course we HAD to stop and get their faces painted!

While I waited for the girls Pepaw and Captain Chaos made their way over the see if the tent we wanted was available at the store or if we were going to have to order it. While they looked at the tents CC found his...at least that is what he told me when we joined them - at the top of his lungs...MY TENT!

As we were waiting for the elevator to go back downstairs CC saw the Moose again. Don't know what changed, but this time he wanted to sit in his lap! Crazy Captain Chaos...you never know WHAT to expect!

Just before we left the store Sydney spotted one more exhibit she thought we needed to see. So off we went to pet the snake! I really didn't think CC would try it - but he loved it the most!

After we loaded up the car we headed out to Sweet Tomatoes for lunch. On the way we passed The Dump. We'd been seeing advertisements for this furniture store for quite a while so after lunch we went on over and walked through the store. To say the least, this was quite an experience with CC. He did much better than at Khols, but because he tends to look around more than he looks forward it was only mildly surprising when he ran into one of the dollies they use to move the furniture from place to place. Good things kids bounce, LOL. He wasn't hurt at all - and everyone around had a good laugh with him...

We didn't do too much more when we got home. Everyone was pretty tired and it was decided that sandwiches and goldfish with ice cream for dessert sounded like a pretty good end of they day.

Today was a very busy day for everyone!

Memaw Camp ~ Day 1

2010-06-19T20:43:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the first full day of Memaw camp. It was MUCH too busy (as was today) for me to get it all written up...so I guess I'll be blogging a day behind, LOL.

I got up nice and early and met my DF for our three times a week walk. When I got home Pepaw went to the club to run. I was going to go when he got back. We were hoping to get all that done before the kids woke up....silly us! At 7:07 AM I hear the patter of little feet, and sure enough here comes Captain Chaos down the hall. He peeked in at the girls and then saw me - MEMAW at the top of his lungs was enough to wake both girls...so the day had begun.

We got everyone dressed and ready for the day's adventures by the time Pepaw got home...needless to say my run was going to be postponed for a bit because the little guys were hungry.

We instituted a new tradition this year. Each little one gets to pick where we eat once a day. Pepaw and I went ahead and ate our WW breakfast meals then MOTS picked Sonic for their breakfast. Off we went. When we got there they all wanted breakfast burritos and (drum roll here) ICE CREAM! OK...it is Memaw camp...the week when pretty much the kids rule - so ice cream it was! They had so much fun!

After Sonic it was back to the house and into swim suits for pool time fun. We dug out all the old floats and toys and hiked to the pool. We spent a good part of the morning there playing and making some new friends.

Then Holleywood informed us we needed to eat lunch. Her pick...Chicken Express. We walked back home, changed and Pepaw and I again ate our WW meals then took the kids to Chicken Express where MOTS had fried catfish and Hollywood and CC had the tenders. They ate just about everything in sight and were quickly ready to move on.

We just relaxed most of the afternoon. Uncle Cotton came by and visited until Angel got off work, then we all went to CC's pick for dinner - McDonalds! We ate, talked, and the kids played and had a great time. All in all - a VERY successful first day of camp!

Memaw Camp Gets Started

2010-06-18T10:50:00.000-07:00

First, for those of you that don't know - I've been doing "Memaw camp" every summer for about 8 or so years now. It started out because I was "off" for the summer, my DD and DSIL wanted to work summer youth camp for their church and needed someone to watch the baby. Enter Memaw. They kept talking about going to camp and MOTS was very upset that she wasn't going to camp too, so {C} told her she WAS going to camp - Memaw Camp. So, every summer she comes for a week and we do all kinds of fun stuff. Since the inception MOTS has been joined by Hollywood and Captain Chaos. DH and I always try to incorporate all kinds of activities for them, and to live by our motto: Squeeze 'em up, Sugar 'em up, Send 'em home.

This is the first of two Memaw camps this summer and even though the kids only got here last night we are already having a TON of fun.

They arrived last night full of excitement. Captain Chaos most of all. Even though he was with us last summer he doesn't much remember it and has been asking his mommy, "How many more sleeps until Memaw camp" for a while now. It was FINALLY time!

We took everyone to Soup or Salad for dinner, then Mommy and Daddy left and it was just us and the Grandkids.....whew!

We all gathered around the TV to watch "Enchanted" and it was fairly quiet for about 20 minutes or so....until Captain Chaos discovered that he could be an acrobat!

He found if he spun our recliner around just so........he could crawl or jump from the chair to the couch and back! After each jump he would put his hands in the air and say with such excitement, "I DID IT!" Scary for Memaw, but entertaining for everyone else.

After I recovered from that little adventure we settled back into the movie. I could see the wheels turning in Chaos' head as he looked over to our collection of weights. He wandered over and checked out the tricep bar first. It was hilarious to see his booty go up and down as he tried to lift the weights. He quickly announced, "I can't" and moved on to the free weights. He found the 3lb weight and moved it over. He then looked at us, bent over, picked it up in both hands (like a barbell) and "deadlifted" it over his head. He was so proud that he could lift it by himself!

Can't wait for the adventure to continue today! I'll let you know how it went!

Our 2nd Lovejoy Run

2010-06-08T13:46:00.000-07:00

The Lovejoy run, which benefits all sports at Lovejoy High School is one of our favorites simply because it is so well run. This year was made all the more special because my parents, son, daughter, and grandkids were all there cheering for us!

We got there early (as always) and walked the kids around so they could see the booths that were set up. The Chick-fil-A cow was there and Peyton finally decided he was "OK". After we had a few pictures made with him we took the kids to get their faces painted. They were still getting that taken care of when the call was made to line up for the 5K, so Rick and I left thefamily at the face painting area and headed for the start line.

Madison and Peyton with the Chick-Fil-A Cow!

The run itself was pretty uneventful. The gun went off, we started the race; I hit the start timer button on the Garmin and it totally shut down. DEAD BATTERY, WHAT? HOW DID THAT HAPPEN? OK...guess I'm on my own as far as pacing goes for this race. I always forget about the hill at the begining when you are leaving the parking lot and going out onto the highway...man, that thing is tough. I AM glad it is at the beginning of the race and not at the end though. I made it to the first water stop and got a drink...I was tickled that I was fairly close to Rick. Made it to the turn-around and could still see him....made it back to the water stop - did NOT stop, and could still see him! I didn't lose him until he made his turn into the parking lot from the highway. That is the closest I've ever stayed to him in a 5K since we started running our own races....I was excited. Maybe this would be the time I'd breat that stupid 30 minute barrier!

Rick getting ready to cross the finish line in 28:36

I ran down the hill, through the parking lot, around the corner and I could see the finish. I heard my name and there was Madison. She had promised me she would wait close to the finish line and help me across and sure enough, there she was. I was a little surprised, and I stutter steped to let her catch me and off we went. We crossed the finish line together! I was so proud to be with her!

Me getting ready to cross the finish, just before Madison joined me!

When they posted the results it turned out I had finished in 30:00:03! Just 4 100ths of a second from breaking that barrier. And WITHOUT the Garmin to pace me. I know it will happen soon.....I'll let you know! Oh, and by the way...I took 2nd in my age group too!

It's about time!

2010-04-19T17:30:00.001-07:00

I know, I know - it has been OVER a week since the Cap 10K and I haven't written a thing yet...shame on ME!

I actually need to write about the entire weekend because it was all so amazing! We left home on Friday night and drove to Copperas Cove and stayed in a hotel there because we wanted to go hiking at Colorado Bend State Park then next day - AND we wanted to get there early. Good thinking on our part!

We were up at 5:00 am on Sat. morning, stopped for our coffee and then on to the park. Our main goal was to get there around sunrise and get to Gorman Falls. As you can see by the

pictures we made it!

Sunrise from the trail to Gorman Falls

Our first view of the falls from the top of the trail

The view from the bottom of the trail. Love the rippling pools and small falls.

After hiking to the falls and back we drove down to the park office and paid our day use fees and checked out the park a little - we are already scheduling our next trip - there is so much to see there!

Once we got that done we were off to Austin. We found our hotel with no problem at all and got checked in. It is the same one we stayed in last year for the race, so it was all good...this year we were much more familiar with what was going on!

Then it was off to my sister's house. We always try to visit with them when we come to town - it is amazing how hard it is to get together...it isn't like we live in different states or anything, we just don't ever seem like we have the time. Anyway, she knew we were coming and prepared a WONDERFUL pasta dinner for us, and as luck would have it my niece and her husband were in town from San Angelo so we got to visit with them a bit (and play Wii with my 2 year old Great Nephew). Then my other niece came over and we got to visit with her and my 9 year old Great Niece too! It was a great evening just filled with family and lots of laughter - very relaxing...Thanks Mary!!!

After we got back to the hotel we went down to the hot tub and soaked for a (very) little bit - met some other runners doing the same and talked about this race, past races, and races that we all want to do - that was fun too! All in all - a great day!

Sunday morning was supposed to be bright and sunny - but NOOOOOOOO...we woke up to overcast and almost cold! By the time we walked down to the start line it was misting heavily - not raining, but not just cloudy either...oh well - I was going to run the thing no matter what!

The race started on time - we were in the "red" corral, so we didn't make it to the start line for about 15 minutes or so, but it is OK with the chip timing. Once we hit the start line I started up Garmin and iPod and we were off. The first mile isn't too bad as you run across the bridge and straight to the capitol, and I was pretty pleased with my 9:34 pace. The second mile is pretty close to the same, although there is a small incline as you go around the corner to the back side of the capitol building. I was still clipping along (for me) at a 10:02 pace and feeling fairly comfortable, although I was feeling the residue of the cold I had fought earlier this month... Mile 3, however, is my person "killer" mile. Not just in this race, but in many of the races I run I seem to hit a small wall at about 2.5 miles - well this race just makes it that much harder by putting the biggest hill of the race right in the middle of this mile!!! Last year I got stuck in a group that stopped dead in front of me to walk and I couldn't get past them so I walked the entire hill - and my legs were still fried at mile 5! This year I made it 1/2 way up the hill and had to stop and walk about 1/4 of the way, then ran the last 1/4 - so it was better....but it cost me a little. My time in this mile was 10:54 (Still under 11:00!) Mile 4 was pretty uneventful - I just ran along enjoying the bands and people lining the streets cheering on the runners and stretched it out in 10:16. Now I'm in the 5th mile and I have convinced myself that I feel so much stronger this year, as I passed milestone after milestone where I had to slow down the year before - and I wasn't anywhere near feeling that bad this year. I pushed on, and this mile went by in 10:13...see - I even got FASTER! I was ready for the last full mile of the race. Last year this is where I pretty much died. There is a smaller hill right about the 1/4 mile mark and I had to walk the entire thing last year. This year I ran it with very little problem. I felt good and fairly strong. I knew I was tiring - but NOTHING like the previous year. I completed the mile at a 10:33 pace - not the best, but so much better than before! Now I was to the point where I could hear the bands at the finish line. I was determined to finish strong, so I tried to pick it up a bit. Now when you run a race like this, your Garmin distance is always a little more than race distance so on Garmin I ran the last .31 miles in 2:51 - that is a 9:20 pace for you non - runner types out there - can you say "sprint to the finish"!!!! I was ecstatic that I took almost exactly 3 minutes off my time from last year. My new time to beat for this race is 1:04:45!

Of course Rick was there waiting for me at the finish - his time was 59:33 - beating his time for last year as well and breaking the 1 hour mark for the second time!

All in all a GREAT experience again. We'll be watching for them to post the sign up for next year's race. This is a well organized race with LOTS of water available - and I am DETERMINED that I WILL make it over the hill without walking next year!!!

Dallas Rock And Roll Half Marathon - AWESOMENESS!

2010-03-18T08:12:00.000-07:00

We were excited to be able to compete in the Dallas Rock And Roll (RNR) 1/2 Marathon on March 14th. It was vindication for being denied the opportunity to compete in San Antonio 2 years ago due to Rick's job. We had entered there and a couple of weeks before the race - after training hard for months - the move Rick's company was planning was moved to THAT weekend. This more than made up for it!

We were really ready, I think. I just felt all week leading up to the race that it was going to be a good one...despite the following facts:

1. We ran the Cowtown on 2-27 and my time was the worst I'd ever run...I believe due to the fact that I ran a PR on the treadmill for a 5K the week before and my legs were fried - but that's just me. I also think Rick's surgery had a little to do with it...he was only 10 days into recovery!

2. We ran the Allen Eagle run on 3-6 and both posted decent times - no PR for me, but I wasn't expecting one that race.

3. We worked out on Monday, then couldn't work out on Tuesday because we were so sore from working out on Monday! THAT hasn't happened in quite a while!

4. I had to work late both Wednesday and Thursday evenings for school activities - which meant NO workouts of any kind for me...again, hasn't happened in a while.

5. We took Friday off (planned) to rest our legs for the race - although I hadn't run since the Saturday before!

I still I felt this would be a good race...I just FELT good!

We got up Saturday morning and picked up Cotton to go to the EXPO. You are required to go there to pick up your bib, t-shirt, and goodie bag - no race day pick-ups...soooooo off we went. It was a really good EXPO. Well laid out and well organized. We found our "corral" and picked up our bibs quickly. Cotton was in Corral #1, we were in Corral #8. You are placed there according to your estimated finish time. I was just hoping that the 2:20 time I had put for Rick and I wasn't overly ambitious after my 2:32 time just 2 weeks before! Oh well, time would tell, right?

After getting our bibs we were directed over to the t-shirt table where we picked up our race shirts. They were REALLY nice! Black dry weave technical shirts...NIIIICE. Then off to another table to pick up the "goodie bags". These were also the official "gear bags" that would be used on race day to check in our gear. Once we got these we were at the entrance to the EXPO area, so we walked on in.

The EXPO was a lot of fun. We picked up some cool luggage tags right away. They have the Dallas RNR logo and we felt like there wouldn't be so many of those floating around when we had luggage to go anywhere - at least we hoped not! We saw some amazing new racing gear, training gear, etc. We walked from booth to booth, enjoying the comaradare. I picked up some samples of olive oil and basalmic vinegar at one booth, and some of a new sports drink called CYTOMAX at another. This was the drink that they would be giving out during the race. Cotton found some recovery tights he had been looking for, and they actually had his size there, so he got them as well. We found the GU booth and I bought a box of my favorite - chocolate. Since I bought an entire box, they threw in 2 free packs and a pair of cold weather GU gloves! As we were walking from booth to booth we turned a corner and I saw --- MY SHIRT! During the Cowtown race I had seen a couple of people wearing a shirt that said "TEAM 413" on the front and a copy of Philippians 4:13 on the back. That is my personal Bible verse...I've had it with me at work for years, I tied a keychain with the verse to the laces of my shoes to help me through my first marathon, and Cotton and Angel gave me a plaque with the saying for Christmas last year. It 'fits' me and I refer to it daily. Here they were - selling the shirts at the EXPO. I picked a white shirt with purple lettering for me, and Rick got a blue sleeveless with yellow lettering for himself. Now I was SURE it was going to be a great race! After looking at all the booths - and picking up more free stuff - we were ready to head home.

Race morning was beautiful. A little cool, but no clouds and not much wind at all. We picked up Cotton about 5:45 and we were off. Travel went quickly until the turnoff to get to Fair Park...the finish line of the race - and the place to park and catch the buses to the start line. Traffic was backed up like you wouldn't believe. It took us over 20 minutes to get to the parking area! This was honestly the only snag in the entire weekend. I hope they look into fixing this before next year's race - some kind of traffic direction or even Dart buses or Trains for transportation would be better.

We got to the start area and walked around a bit trying to find the gear drop off. We passed tables that had bananas, water, and bagels - so we picked up a quick and healthy breakfast. Just enough to stave off hunger and give us a few carbs to get us going. We found the corrals we would be starting from and headed back to "race village". On the way back we saw some buses with numbers in the windows. Sure enough, these were the gear drop off zones. There was an entire line of buses! They were set up so you dropped your gear off at the bus that had the sign for the first letter of your last name. We found ours - but decided to wait a bit before we dropped off our nice, warm, wind suits! We found a sheltered area and sat to wait. At about 7:30 we went ahead and packed up the gear, dropped it off at the buses, and headed back to the start line again. Now all we could do was wait for the start!

The corrals were totally organized. There were folks at the gates explaining that the first number on your bib was also your corrall number and helping people find the right place. For the most part people totally cooperated. This lead to one of the best starts of a race I've seen! They got started on time, corrals were released about every 2 minutes and there was plenty of music and encouragement to entertain while you waited for your corral to be released. They even had the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders on stage right at the start line. Finally it was our turn and we took off!

The course was a good one. To me it felt like I spent most of the first half of the race running up hill - although I know there were some flat areas in there too! I stayed up with Rick for the first 3 miles really well despite the fact that at mile 2 we had the greatest increase in elevation of the entire race! Then we hit the first part of the longest elevation change. It was a pretty sharp increase and I struggled a bit. He waited for me there, but immidiately began pulling away again. I ran like the wind and caught him on the flat to let him know I was OK....then he went ahead again. I saw him at the 5 mile water stop, and that was the last time. I love running with him whenever we can - but I'm always so proud when he takes off and runs "his" race. I don't worry about him looking for me and turning an ankle or getting hurt that way - and I know he can run his best time. I'm slowly able to keep up with him for more and more of the race time, but it is harder with my short little legs to keep up with his long ones! Anyway - he was off doing his race, and I was left to run mine. I was determined to do it right!

I chugged along feeling like this race was nothing but one big uphill. Well - for 4 miles it is! Rick left to run his race after the first mile of the longest elevation increase - little did I know I still had 3 miles of an uphill battle to go. At the end of this section there was a small crowd of people shouting encouragement. A man yelled out that we were almost at the top of the hill and it would be downhill from there - I yelled back it better be because it had been all uphill to that point...everyone around laughed and I knew I wasn't alone feeling the struggle!

He was right, once we made the crest of that hill we did start a long elevation decrease - another 3 miles. I think that is what helped my time stay pretty consistent here. At mile 12 there was a very small increase again, and my time slowed to 11:00 minute miles and even though mile 13 was a decrease I hit the wall here and it was all I could do to convince myself that I could keep running. I was pushing as hard as I could, but I just couldn't get it going again. When we went through the gates of Fair park I was so excited...I knew the finish line was close. Then all of sudden the UT band struck up and the crowds thickened. I followed the course and saw ahead of me the yellow fences leading to the finish line - I was close. Someone from the crowd shouted, just around the corner! I picked it up a little....turned the corner...and there was another corner! NOOOOOOOO....oh well - push it, push it, push it....turned that corner and there it was...ANOTHER CORNER! ARRRGGGG! I wasn't going to stop now! I pushed it a little harder and FINALLY there was the finish line. I crossed it and hit my Garmin. I did a double take, my time: 2:20:36 (official time was 2:20:42)! NEW PR! I had met the goal time I set for this race so long ago! As I moved through the group I saw Rick at the back of the runner's area waiting for me. He was so surprised to see me! We walked slowly toward the family meeting area and saw Cotton waiting at the fence for us. We met up to walk to the gear bus together. Cotton told us he had turned his knee at mile 10 and had to run/walk the last 3 miles, but still finished in 1:42:43! Rick had a PR by over 7 minutes of 2:10:36. All in all a great race for all of us!

As we walked to the car after picking up our gear we all agreed that this was one of the best organized races any of us had ever run in, and that we all wanted to run it again next year! The bands were nice, but you really only got to hear snippets as you went by - I feel they were more fot the spectators along the route than for the runners. I really enjoyed the cheer squads, and even more the folks just lined up along the route cheering for everyone.

Several times during the race people yelled out "Go TEAM 413", and others as they saw me (either me passing them or them passing me) would comment that they liked the shirt. It was always at a time when I needed encouragement - and helped me "stay strong". I can't wait to wear it to my next race!!!

Boring race stats follow!

Mile	Pace	Time	Elevation
1	9:53	9:53	-61 Ft
2	9:56	19:52	+194 Ft
3	9:54	29:50	-113 Ft
4	10:25	40:16	-1 Ft
5	10:40	50:56	+45 Ft
6	10:38	1:10:34	+25 Ft
7	11:04	1:12:39	+37 Ft
8	10:57	1:23:36	+30 Ft
9	10:28	1:34:04	-22 Ft
10	10:32	1:44:37	-54 Ft
11	10:51	1:55:29	-22 Ft
12	11:00	2:06:29	+5 Ft
13	11:22	2:17:52	-32 Ft
.27	10:03	2:20:36	-4 Ft

Cowtown +1

2010-03-06T17:49:00.000-08:00

Last weekend we ran the Cowtown 1/2 marathon. It was pretty good. I felt a little fuzzy when we got there - that is what 4 hours of sleep will do to ya! I was really tired Friday night when I went to bed, but it was after midnight before I could actually get to sleep - hate it when that happens! Then we were up at 4:00 am to drive to Ft. Worth for the race. We stopped and picked up Cotton in Plano on our way so he could ride over. He wasn't running - he had just gotten off work and wanted to watch the race!

We got to the parking area and rode the bus to the start of the race. Went over to package pick-up and all they had there were our bibs...hmmmmmm. Walked into the Expo tent (very crowded) and there - at the very back - was a sign that said "T-shirts". We wove our way through the packed aisles and got to the t-shirt table only to find that they were totally out of Medium shirts, and had been since the day before. OK...call me crazy, but if you have people pay good money to sign up for a race months in advance, don't you think you would be able to pack up a bib and t-shirt so they would have what they ordered MONTHS IN ADVANCE! In my humble opinion - it should be the ones that sign up at the EXPO that should be stuck with the shirt in the wrong size.....well, I'll get off my soap box now and on to the race report.

We walked out of the expo tent and found a nice bench where we could stop and put on our bibs and D-tags (the tag they use for the chip timing). It was pretty dark right there (remember this is about 6:00 am!) but we muddled through and got it all set. We then made our way over to the start area. On our way over we happened to think that we hadn't looked at the bib to see what starting corral we were supposed to be in, so I glanced over at Rick's bib to see. To my utter shock he had on MY bib! Which of course meant he also had on my timing chip (D-tag), and I had on his! Well - maybe I would PR this race - HAHAHAHAHA! We decided since we were going to try to stay pretty much together for this one that we would just leave well enough alone and go with the flow.

We made our way to the starting corral and waited patiently for the start. They started the groups off in waves, which was nice, not so many people to dodge in front of us, but we were in one of the slower corrals and got off to a really slow start....not too much of a problem for me!

I was hoping that I would finally break 2:25 for this race - that was my time last year when I was running so well and my back started spasming at mile 11. I had to walk quite a bit of the last 2 miles. This year it wasn't as cold and not nearly as windy so I had high hopes...even though my legs were still really sore from my PR treadmill 5K earlier in the week. I figured they would loosen up as I made my way through the race.

The first two miles passed pretty uneventfully in 10:36 and 10:55. The second was a little slower than I wanted. I wanted to keep the pace between 10:30 and 10:45 as much as possible. Somewhere toward the end of mile 3 I started really feeling my thighs get super tight. Got through that one in a time of 10:44 for a 32:16 time. Pretty much my average during a half.

Off to get to the 10K mark. My legs were really getting worse as I continued to run, and my pace was showing it. Bless his heart, Rick was doing his best to stay with me - even when that meant running ahead and slowing down to wait on me to catch up! (He told me later that he really did this because he didn't want me to beat him in the race - remember, I was getting credit for his time since he was wearing my bib and chip! Too funny!) We finished the next 3 miles in 11:11, 11:18, and 11:03 - for a 6 mile time of 1:05:50. Again, pretty close to average for me. Slow for a 10K, but not for 1/2 way through a half marathon.

We continued on our way, Rick running ahead and looking back, me chugging along the best I could with my muscles feeling like they were tied in pretty bows! The next 3 miles had some pretty good hills in them and my time showed it. 11:45, 11:56, and 11:12. BUT, I was still chugging along - only walking the water stops, nowhere else!

I think here we hit a bit of the flat course, with the nice brickwork - you know the part where you worry that you are going to twist your foot or break an ankle....but it was smooth going for us. I think this was where I felt really good the year before and honestly thought I was going to break 2:20 - again this year I was feeling good, my thighs had finally untied themselves and I was running pretty smoothly again, if not setting the world on fire....I was at least moving better! At least for the first couple miles.... 11:03 and 11:06. Then we came to the hill that took me out the year before.

I don't know if it was me remembering last year, or honest fatigue, but this was a really slow part of the race for me - a mental challenge I think I lost. Mile 12 took me 12:14 to run. My slowest mile in the race. Now it does have a bridge that has a decent grade to it, but nowhere near the grade of Hawkeye's Hill, one of the hills earlier in the race. I think I was just taking it too easy without realizing it....but hindsight is always 20/20, right?

Once we got over that part and Rick knew I was going to be OK he went ahead and took off. I was so proud of him! I kept chuggin' along and finished mile 13 in 11:50 despite another small hill, then did the last .21 in 2:14 for an overall time of 2:29:13. (My official time was 2:32:13...Garmin paused at the potty break we took, lol). Rick's official finish time was 2:29:43. He said that he felt really strong at the end. I think staying with me, at least at the start helps him a little pace himself...and me trying to keep up helps me too! Anyway...despite this being one of my slowest half marathon times, I was really excited because I didn't have to walk this year. Only through the water stops, which is our plan anyway. I'll take that time as something to improve on in the Dallas Rock and Roll March 14!

Now, on to the +1 portion of the post.

Today we ran the Allen ISD Eagle Run. This run is one I really enjoy. I worry about it being squeezed between 2 half marathons - so my goal this year was to beat last year's time of 32:23, and to not walk other than the water stops.

We got there early and got our bibs and D-tags...we went back to the car to put them on and put the bag with our shirts in it away. After we double checked to make sure we got the right bibs on this time (hahaha) we went back to watch the 1 mile Fun Run. One of my students was running in it and I wanted to cheer him on. We also saw Kendran and Lisa, our friends from Weight Watchers, so we stood with them. I cheered for Sean as he went by and chatted with my friends until the race started.

After the Fun Run finished up we made our way to the start line of the 5K - I found my students that participate in "Girls on the Run", gave them a hug and told them I was proud of them and to have a good race. The gun went off and we were on the run!

I knew that if I could stay pretty close to 9:30 per mile at the beginning, I might be able to break that crazy 30 minute mark...I've already been close in one race this year! BUT I also knew that my legs wouldn't be totally recovered from the Cowtown last week, so I was going to be happy if I could just run the whole thing. I told Rick to run his race and not worry about me on this one!

My first mile felt pretty good - other than the fact that I just couldn't catch my breath like I normally can after the first .25 miles...I struggled with this a lot longer this time. Mile one went by in 9:19...a good time for me! I made it to the first water stop and walked my way through - took back off, but as I watched Garmin I was surprised to find myself going much slower than I felt like I was running. I noticed that I wasn't really stretching out as I ran, so I tried really hard to focus on my stride - it helped a little I think, but mile 2 still took me 10:16 to complete.

Mile 3 of this race is really hard because the last .5 miles of it is uphill! As I came up to the water stop I looked up to the bridge ahead, and sure enough, there was Rick - just like last year - but this year he wasn't walking! I knew I could do as well...I got my water, walked through, and took off again. I kept passing places where last year I walked, and I kept telling myself how good I was doing because I wasn't walking this year! We were still going into a headwind by now, but I don't think it was nearly as strong as the year before! I finished up mile 3 in 10:30 and knew I only had .1 mile to go....I was on the straight-a-way toward the finish line and I hadn't walked! This was a good race, even if I was already at 30:06 for the race.....I kept heading for the finish....crossed the line in 31:40. I had done it...I beat last year's time and I didn't walk!

Rick was there cheering for me as I crossed. I walked over to him and congratulated him on a good race. I was so proud when he told me he had finished in about 28:14. We got some water and bananas and I walked over to check out the official results. His official time was 28:07!!! As I looked at the overall results (they didn't post age groups) It appeared that we had both placed. We decided to stay for the awards and sure enough I took 3rd and he took 2nd! We brought home 2 trophies from this one!!! Not only that, one of the 2nd grade teachers from my school took 3rd in his age group and his brother took 1st overall, and one of my girls took 3rd in her age group! It was a good day for Boyd Elementary runners!!!

What happened here?

2010-02-12T17:50:00.000-08:00

Well, it has been nearly a week, so I guess it is about time to update my blog about the DRC 5K.

We decided to run the 5K instead of the 10K because we knew we had the Cowtown 1/2 coming up soon. Also, Cotton has class on Saturday and needed to get to school to study ahead of time.

Cotton came over about 6:00 A.M. and we headed on out to the lake. We got there early enought to get a pretty decent parking spot, and walked on up to the clubhouse. I wasn't feeling real well, was having some minor stomach issues, and had already told Rick I wasn't so sure I was going to make my goal of a sub 30 minute 5K. I've been trying to get back down there for nearly 2 years now and it is very frustrating!

We picked up our bibs and stood in the warm clubhouse for a bit, then went back to the car so Cotton could warm up. Rick went ahead and warmed up too, but I just sat in the car and rested until it was time to go on down the hill for the start. We took off the warm-up gear and walked to the start line. As I stood there shivering we got to say Hello to Mary Chupps, Cotton's 1st grade teacher. She was excited that Cotton was there and said she was hoping to get to see him after the race, but that she was just walking this one. She is recovering from a knee injury now.

After all the "cerimonial" stuff, the gun went off and we started. I hit the start on my Garmin as I went over the start line and I was off. The first mile felt amazingly good. It was only about 48 degrees outside, and I guess the cold must agree with me because I ran this mile at a 9:11 pace! That is 27:95 faster than my normal pace! I don't think I've ever run the first mile of ANY race at a 9:11 pace! I was feeling good at the mile marker, so I just kept pushing it. I knew if I could run the first two miles in under 10 minute miles I had a pretty good chance to meet my goal of under 30 minutes for the entire race...so I just kept pushing. Mile 2 was only slightly slower at 9:37. This put the first two mile time at 18:49. I was astonished. I still felt pretty good so I just kept going. I did really well until about 2.25 miles...then I felt myself slowing down a bit. I tried to talk myself through it and kept pushing every time I looked down and saw that my time was slipping. I did the mile in 9:49 for a 28:38 time for the 3 miles. I only had .1 mile to go...and over a minute to do it in.... When I look at the Garmin time for the entire 3.1 miles that a 5K is supposed to be it shows me finishing at 29:32 - I KNOW when I crossed the finish line, as I was hitting the stop timer button it read 29:59...so I KNOW I "unofficially" ran it in under 30 minutes...my goal. The DRC races are not chip timed however, and my official time was 30:08.

Cotton and Rick were right there at the finish line cheering me on. As I got close I tried to kick it out and I passed the girl ahead of me, but I started my kick too soon and couldn't keep up the pace, so she passed me back and finished just ahead of me.

We went on up to the clubhouse to get a banana and wait for the results. When the preliminary results were posted Cotton and I went over to check out how we did. My jaw dropped to the floor when I saw that I finished FIRST in my age group!!!! I walked back over to Rick and told them, and Cotton told me he had finished third in is his! We would both get medals.

We waited and waited for the results to become official. Finally 1 and 1/2 hours after the finish fo the race they gave out the awards. Cotton picked up his 3rd place medal and I picked up my 1st place medal. It was a GREAT day for the Boales family. Cotton had a PR with a time of 20:15:93...he is about to break the 20 minute mark - he had a pace of 6:31 minute miles. Rick had a PR of 27:46 and 8:47 minute miles. He finished 7th in his age group. I didn't PR, but I did finish first with a time of 30:08:39. HOWEVER; Sunday when we were checking the official results, Rick's time had changed, and I was now listed in SECOND place!

Hmmmmmm I have the first place medal - I was first for an hour and a half - how DID this happen. Here is my theory; The number for the girl who is now listed in first place is 1199...this matches all the numbers for the 15K race. I believe she signed up for the 15K, changed her mind and ran the 5K....this, according to what was published earlier should have disqualified her from any medal....however, I did contact the club and I am returning the medal I got, and they are sending me a second place. I'm still happy with my time, and the 9:41 overall pace I ran. It is the fastest in a long, long time...she only beat me by 15 seconds...I'll just have to get her next time! LOL!!!

Too Cold To Hold Results are in!

2010-01-17T14:05:00.000-08:00

Today was a fantastic day for a run! We were up bright and early and ready to go by the time Cotton arrived about 6:15. We got to the park where the start line was to be set up in plenty of time to get a good parking spot, so we sat in the car to keep warm, we didn't even need to do a bag check. Nice!

We went down to the runner's area for our "porta" break, and we each picked up about a half a cup of coffee to warm up with...then went back to the car for a few minutes. About 15 minutes before the start we walked on down to the start line.

As we were waiting I told Rick that as much as I love running with him, I thought that if he really ran this one he could finish it in under 1:30 - instead of running with me and going for my goal of under 1:37! I told him I really wanted him to go for it! The gun sounded and we took off at our normal snail-dodge-the walkers-and-slower-runners pace. Rick passed me fairly quickly and I had to smile that he took my challenge and was going for it! YEAH RICK!!!

Even with a slower than normal start I completed the first mile of the race in 10:00 flat. (This included slowing down to take off the jacket and tie it around my waist - I hate being so wimpy at the start when it is cold!) That was OK with me - it kept me on pace for my goal. I kept running at the pace I was comfortable at by then and finished mile 2 with a 9:57 pace....still looking good - although I had a feeling I wasn't going to be able to repeat my "Frigid" performance of a 1:03 pace for the 10K mark. All I could do was keep going and give it my best for the day....

My mile 3 pace was 9:47 and gave me a 3 mile time of 29:55 - close to my pace at the DRC race a couple of weeks ago. However - the "official" 5K mark was a little further down the trail....and they clocked me at 31:32:57, slightly slower than the last race. I kept going and trying to keep my pace fairly steady...Mile 4 was a 10:37....shoot...I had slowed down, but I was still under the 10:45 that I was trying so hard to beat this race. It seems like that has been my overall pace for about a year now and I'm really wanting to pick it up a bit. On and on and on I ran....mile 5 pace was 10:46....NOOOOOOOO! That would NOT do! I needed to pick it up if I could! Mile 6 - 10:25....better....whew! Now if I could just keep it there. For the 2nd 5K I had posted a time of 33:31:36. A couple of minutes lost, but a 6 mile time of 1:01:44 by Garmin time put me just slightly slower than the DRC...still pushing along!

Then I hit it...the infamous WALL!!! I was much bummed at 6.5 miles in...my legs were churning away - I felt like I was still running at the 10:30 or so pace, but Garmin was telling me differently....I hit mile 7 with 10:51 pace. I tried to give myself a little pep talk and pick it up, but my legs simply were not cooperating at ALL! For me, mile 7 and 8 are always the hardest, slowest of my races. I don't know why - when I'm running the pace feels the same, but I'll look at my watch and be shocked to see how much I've slowed. Even when I'm conciously monitoring and pushing-pushing-pushing it seems like this section of the run just will NOT cooporate! Mile 8 was my slowest mile of the race, per my norm....an 11:06 pace. Normally I would be very disappointed here and perhaps THINK about walking, but I had a goal that I really wanted to make...with Garmin telling me that my 8 mile time was 1:23:42 - and with only 1.3 miles to go I thought I just might get there, if I could just pick it up a little bit!

I ran the last mile the best I could - I worked at smoothing out my run, picking up the pace slightly, and breathing with the cadence of my steps...I also tried to stand a little taller....SOMETHING must have worked at least a little bit because my pace for this section was back down to 10:54 and Garmin told me I had done the 9 miles in 1:34:37. Since I use my Garmin as my official timer for our normal Sunday morning runs, I KNEW I was doing one of my best runs in a long time. I also knew I was getting close to the finish line. I could hear the loud speakers and some music. I tried to pick it up a little, run a little taller, look a little stronger since I knew Rick and Cotton would be there cheering for me. I did the last part of the race (Garmin shows it as .48 miles at a 10:41 pace in 5:09 for a total Garmin time of 1:39:47. The official results show my last 5K time at 34:41:43 and my overall time at 1:39:46 - pretty close to Garmin, huh? Officially, I finished 242 out of 719 runners overall, and 8th out of 17 in my age group - right about the middle, which is where I normally am ....

I didn't make my goal of the full 15K in 1:35 - but I got close...and I was fairly happy with the first 6 miles and my 10K time of 1:05:04. I was hoping for a little better after doing so well at the DRC, but it is a different race, and a different day - I was VERY happy to see that my overall pace ended up being 10:31...almost 15 seconds a mile faster than what my "normal" pace has been....it appears that some of the work is beginning to pay off!

Rick and Cotton both had AMAZING races.

Rick's splits were:

29:31:23

29:35:45

29:22:6

for an overall time of 1:28:30. I KNEW HE COULD DO IT!!!!!! The full 15K in UNDER 1:30!!! Congratulations RICK!!!! His overall place was 197 - top 200!!!!

Cotton's splits were:

22:38:66

21:56:29

21:29:27

for an overall time of 1:06:05 and 3rd place in his age group - and 29th overall! Congratualtions to you too, COTTON!!

Our next race is the Tal Morrison 5K. My goal for this one is to finish in under 30 minutes. I am getting so close even in these long races that I honestly believe if I can convince myself to RUN it I can do it!!!! Wish me luck!

Tomorrow

2010-01-02T21:55:00.000-08:00

One of the things about choosing "goal" as my word is that I really need to make public each goal I set. I have a couple that I'm going to begin working on tomorrow.

First, today while we were at Costco I found a book, showed it to Rick and we decided that we would go on a new adventure this year. The name of the book is The Love Dare. It is a year of devotions for couples. So my first BIG goal this year is to set aside time each day with my husband for devotion, prayer, and our Love Dare challenge of the week. I'm sure you'll be hearing about it as we make our way through this process. One of the things the authors say to do is to "journal" your journey. This allows you to look back and actually see your growth and progress. Some of my journal will, of course, be private...but there are other parts I'm sure I will want to share.

The second goal I'm working on is *gasp* cooking a little more.

I have subscribed to an online menu planner and I've been using it for a couple of weeks now = since I've been "off", and I really like it. The menus are simple and quick - don't use a lot of exotic ingredients - are the right size - and they taste great. Not only that, but they also provide a shopping list made up for you that is easy to modify if you don't want to cook a specific day's meal plan. I've already shopped for next week and have two main dishes, as well as several of the side dishes packed and ready to go for next week. Tomorrow's plan is to complete the other 2-3 main dishes and then I'm set for the week. I'm hoping to be able to continue this more often than not. By prepping most of the meals on the weekend it leaves me free for my workouts and work during the week....we'll see how this one goes.

So, there you have it. My two biggest goals so far. I will certainly try to keep you updated as we continue on the journey!

DRC 10K today!

2010-01-02T11:12:00.000-08:00

***** Update *****

We got the official results. Cotton finished 7th in his age group with a clock time of 44:10:53 (a 7:06 pace). Rick finished 9th in his age group with a clock time of 59:03:36 a 9:30 pace). I finished 3rd in my age group with a clock time of 1:04:10 (a 10:19 pace) ... I was totally shocked to learn that I placed in the top 3! Another big WHOO-HOO!

****************

Well, we made it. Last night I set my goal to do better than my average 10K time of 1:06 - 1:07. I even discussed it (made it public) with Rick beforehand so he would know what I was attempting.

We got up about 5:00 AM and got ready - we drove by and picked up Cotton and we were on our way to the race. After a little confusion (the notes on where to park referenced a "new clubhouse") we determined that it was the same clubhouse we have been using for the entire year we have been members of the DRC. No problem - we got there, got our bibs and completed our pre-race "stuff" in plenty of time to relax before the start.

They called us to the start line at 7:45 and we all walked down the hill and gathered for the moment of silence, the national anthem and the start of the race. It was pretty cold - I hate standing in the cold, but I always run better in it! Once they said go we were off in no time!

The first mile felt really good - even if it WAS cold...I ran that in 9:42, and couldn't believe I had a sub 10:00 mile under my belt and could still breathe! Mile 2 was still feeling good - although when I hit the turn around for the 5K I was sure wishing I could turn around too! Finished that mile at a 9:40 pace...all I could think was whoo-hoo!!! Now I was REALLY wishing for a 5K - I think I could have broken my 30 minute barrier today!!! Oh well, there is always next time. Mile 3 is where you hit the long uphill...I still ran that one in 10:16 for a 3 mile time of 29:39, needless to say I was already happy with this run!

Now we were on the back side of the 10K...almost 1/2 way and still running uphill. I completed mile 4 with a 10:24 pace, I wasn't unhappy with this because of all the uphill running and it put me a 40:03 for 4 miles which is right at a 10:00 pace - better than I have done since the Human Race in October!

Mile 5 included the uphill of the spillway. This is a fairly steep grade and I ALMOST made it to the top...my legs gave out about 3/4 of the way to the top, so I went ahead and walked to the top and then started running again. I completed mile 5 at a 10:35 pace...wish I could say I didn't have to walk, but it is what it is....

Mile 6 I was really feeling it. I was tired, my thighs were on fire, and I wanted to just stop and walk soooooo bad! I knew I could finish this thing though - and I wasn't going to walk on a flat! So....mile 6 pace: 10:37...my slowest mile - but I ran every step!

Cotton and Rick caught me just after the 6 mile mark when I had less than 1/4 of a mile to go...it was so good to see them cheering me on! I finished the last .28 miles in 2:40 (9:39 pace) for an overall Garmin time of 1:03:58. Not a PR, but my second best time ever! (My best was the Human Race with a 1:02:21 - another unofficial Garmin time!) I feel pretty good about that time since it hasn't even been a month since our marathon. Not a bad "recovery race" at all!

We are still waiting for our official results to be posted - I will update when we know something. The main thing for me for this race was that I set the goal to beat the 1:06 - 1:07 average I have been running - and even with a slower clock time (which will be the official time) I managed to do that!

Day one, goal one - DONE!

OK...I bit!

2010-01-01T15:47:00.000-08:00

In case you are wondering about the title, my daughter has her own blog - I read it every day - sometimes even when she doesn't update it! She posted today about her "One Little Word" for the next year. You can read her post here. After reading that post I got to thinking about what word I would choose for this year...I thought about how many - many years ago I stopped making "New Year Resolutions". They were nearly always a failure anyway - and who wants to set themselves up for failure at the beginning of every year? So instead I determined I would set goals for myself every year. This would be goals that were obtainable IF I WORKED ON THEM...of course the same could probably be said for resolutions - but for me it made all the difference in the world.

So as I searched for a goal for this year - and then read Little Wonders - I thought, "why not make goal my word for 2010?" And that is what I have done!

I looked to find out what the word actually meant before I chose it and was surprised to see that the first two definitions really fit what I mean exactly!

1. the result or achievement toward which effort is directed; aim; end.

2. the terminal result in a race.

How fitting! So my One Little Word for 2010 is goal. I hope to set many and achieve as many of them as I can. Not only in the races that I run, but it my life as I live it. There are so many ways I can see working this word into my daily life - even the smallest thing like setting one daily small goal that I can work toward.

In my own small, little way of thinking - setting the goal and working toward it is what counts...if you do that and do your best then you are a winner - reaching the goal is just the icing on the cake (or the bling at the end of the race!)

My "goal" is to post about this word a little more often here - not only my race goals, but some of my "daily" goals as well....and to look back at the end of the year on how this "One Little Word" that I have chosen today may have had an effect on my life this year.

This is an experiment for me - I am excited to be able to start this on day one of the new year! May you reach ALL your goals this year as well!