Jacksonville Zoo

The Jacksonville Zoo had a "kids free in November" event this year. We haven't been to the zoo in awhile, so we decided that this would be the perfect time to go.  This really is a nice zoo, and the brand new tiger exhibit makes it even nicer.  Very impressive  Many of the animals were up and moving during our visit, and most of those who were sleeping were doing so right next to the glass, so we still got to see them.

 We didn't add on a lot of the "extras" during this trip, but we did do the lorikeet feeding.  That was a big hit with all of the kids.

 We had heard about how nice the new tiger exhibit was, so we were anxious to check it out for ourselves.  It was super nice.  The new exhibit features walkways for the tigers all over the place.  They were over our heads at times, which I thought was cool.

 Before leaving we hit the play area.  The kids enjoyed the hedge maze and play equipment.  It was just an all-around great day at the zoo.

Owen's WINGS Fieldtrip

 All of the first grade WINGS students in the county took a field trip to Yes You Canvas and the Museum of Science and History (MOSH) in Jacksonville last week.  I have never gone with Owen on a field trip, so I decided to go on this one.  I was surprised when we pulled up and a charter bus was waiting on the kids- no cheese wagon for these sweeties =).  The bus had TV screens, so they watched Frozen on the way down.  I had to drive my own vehicle, so no Frozen for me.

 Our first stop was Yes You Canvas.  This is one of those places where you get a canvas and receive step-by-step instructions from the artist on how to paint a certain picture. The kids got to paint a friendly Christmas tree.  They were attentive, well-behaved, and did a good job overall.  Some of them were really into their work.  Owen liked this activity.  I did too.  I wanted to jump right on in and paint my own friendly Christmas tree.

 I think Owen's tree turned out cute.  It is now hanging in our living room and will stay there through the holiday season.

 After our painting activity, we traveled to MOSH.  I had high hopes for this museum, but it was mediocre at best.  There was a pretty decent exhibit on energy, but the rest of the museum could have used some help.  It only took us about an hour to go through the whole thing.  Owen was riding home with me, so we were able to leave as soon as we were done looking around the museum.  It was a fun day.  Owen had a good time and enjoyed spending time with his buddies.

Savannah Marathon

 So, here is a selfie that I took about 14 miles into  last weekend's Savannah Rock and Roll Marathon.  How did I have time to take a selfie you ask?  Well, that's a funny story (not really).  As it turns out, that dull, nagging pain I had been feeling in my foot during the two weeks before the race was actually caused by a stress fracture.  Guess when I realized how bad my foot was hurt?  That's right- around mile 14 of the marathon.  I had already planned to run a slow marathon because my foot had been bothering me, but the last half of the race ended up being a run-walk (and the last several miles were a flat out walk).  I did finish, but my time was a personal worst- 5:48:22.  I was on the course from about 7 a.m. until about 1 p.m., and I got really, really hungry.  I knew that my time was shot so I said "to heck with it" and stopped to get some food at a convenience store that was on the route.  That's right- I stopped in the middle of a marathon to eat a Snicker bar and drink a Pepsi.  This was a looooonnnngg 26.2.  I have never been so glad to see a finish line in my life.

The doctor says that the way to treat a stress fracture like mine is to stay off of it until it heals.  I guess that this means I won't be doing any more races until after the new year.  This has been a very frustrating year for me.  I had some issues with my shin in the spring and was forced to sit out for nearly 12 weeks, and now I'm ending the year with a foot injury.  Boo.  I guess there's always the pool, elliptical, and bike.  Although I'm generally disappointed with my running this year, there were a few bright spots.  When not injured, I was able to complete nine 5ks, one 8k, one 10k, one 15k, one triathlon, one half marathon, and two full marathons.  I also finished first overall female in one of the 5ks and set PRs in both the 5k and marathon distances (not the last marathon, obviously).  I would like to start setting my run calendar for next year, but what I really want is to get back to 100% and stay there.

Tooth Fairy Time

Owen has had a loose tooth for a little while now, and it finally fell out last week.  He had been looking forward to it coming out so that he could get a visit from the Tooth Fairy.  Sure enough, she came and traded his tooth for a five dollar bill (I understand the first tooth is worth more- future teeth will be worth less, I'm sure).

May the Force be With You

Our theme for the this Halloween was "Star Wars".   Olivia and Owen love everything Star Wars, so this was kind of a no-brainer.  Owen initially wanted to be R2D2, but changed his mind once he saw the Darth Vador costume.  Olivia wanted to be a Jedi, but there aren't very many of those.  She ended up being Ahsoka Tano (from the Star Wars: The Clone Wars movie and series).  Brian went as Obi-One Kenobi, and I dressed as Darth Maul.  Quincy also joined in and dressed as Princess Leia.  The kids had fun dressing up, and everyone enjoyed playing with the lightsabers.

All of the kids had a good time trick-or-treating, and they all ended up with lots of goodies.