Memaw Camp ~ Day 4

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

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

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

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 Hollywood 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

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 3 lb 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

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 the family 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 stepped 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!

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 personal "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!!!