Super Day, Super Run

Yep- It's another running post. Sorry. I'm just so glad to be getting back into something that I love to do. This morning me, Anna, and Krystial (and baby Bryce) ran in the Super Dolphin Day 5K on Saint Simon's Island. I ran in this race last year and loved the course because it was by the beach. So, I had to go back again this year. I ran a new personal best time- 26:36 and placed 4th in my age division. Anna and Krystial also ran well. The three of us are running in a MAJOR race in two weeks, so we are really trying to get in some good running time.

Sidney Lanier Bridge Run

The weather seems to have finally taken a turn for the better. This could not have happened at a better time as all of the really good road races are about to begin for this year. Two of my new years' resolutions are to increase the number of races that I do per year and to do longer races. Ultimately, I would like to work toward a marathon- but that is still a loooong way off. Still, I kicked this running season off with a bang by running the Sidney Lanier 5K with my friend Krystial this morning. This race is called the "toughest 5K in GA" - and for good reason. Runners have to cross the Sidney Lanier bridge- which is 480 in height and 7,000 feet in length. Once you reach the other side, you turn around and go back over the bridge again. Not only is it a tough race, but it is also a popular one. There were over 1,200 participants this year. The atmosphere was more rock concert than race- and this was not just because of the band that was playing at the top of the bridge. Cars were backed up on the road, and there were traffic directors everywhere. I bet it took me 10 minutes to park. Even though there were tons of people on the bridge, it didn't seem to affect my time all that much. I ran the race in 28:24. This is not my fastest time, but I'm happy with it considering the steep incline of the bridge. I am really excited that so many good races are coming up, and I guess I should warn you that there will likely be a lot of running posts on my blog in the near future.

A Few Flakes

The Weather Channel said that we may get snow. There was even speculation that it may be 2-3 inches deep. After waiting anxiously all day, we finally got a few flakes around 8:30 last night. A few flakes- that's it. Although I was a bit disappointed, Olivia was not. Judging from her reaction you'd have think that we were witnessing a blizzard. It was dark and cold, so she was only out in the snow for a few minutes- but those few minutes made an impression. Owen was already in bed, so he'll just have to wait until next time to see the snow. Maybe "next time" will come before he is a teenager.

Make-a-Friend

For their Valentine's gift this year, Owen and Olivia both received new stuffed animals. These animals are super special because the kids picked them out and "built" the animals themselves. The fun started this afternoon when the kids and I loaded up and went to Make-a-Friend. Make-a-Friend is one of those places where kids can pick a bear (or other type of animal), stuff it, dress it, and take it home. It's kind of like the Build-a-Bear chain of stores. Olivia had a blast. The sales lady even commented that she was surprised by how "into" it Olivia was. Owen, on the other hand, couldn't have cared less. He was more interested in running around the store and checking out all of the stuffed animals on display than creating his own animal. It worked out, though, because Olivia was happy to do double-duty and make sure that Owen's animal got made.

Step one in the process of building the bear was actually choosing the bear. Owen's decision was easy. He saw a penguin right away and pointed to it, so that is what he ended up with. Olivia kept trying to choose the display animals that were already stuffed and dressed. She didn't understand why I was directing her to the flat, unclothed animals. Once it finally clicked that she was going to "build" it, she chose a blue bear (because blue is her favorite color). Step two in the bear-building process was choosing a heart to go inside. Olivia picked a blue heart for hers, but Owen opted for a white angel instead. The next step was stuffing the bear. The kids got to help by stepping on a pedal that made the stuffing come out. Olivia had to step on the pedal for both her and Owen's animals because Owen wouldn't keep his foot on it for any length of time. Owen did manage, however, to find the red button that turned the stuffing machine off and on and he kept trying to hit it. You can actually see him going for the button in this picture.

After stuffing the bear and penguin, it was time to groom them. In order to do this, the animals were taken to a grooming area where there were little brushes and yellow pipes that blew out air. Olivia really got into this part, and the blue bear was well groomed. The neglected penguin, unfortunately, never made it to this station.

After grooming, it was time to choose an outfit for the animals. Olivia chose a pink princess outfit- complete with hat and wand- for her bear. Owen chose a soccer outfit because it came with a little soccer ball and he wanted to play with the ball. While Olivia helped the sales lady dress both animals, Owen threw the little ball around the store. At least this kept him occupied. Once the animals were dressed, it was time to name them. Olivia named her bear "Bluebear" and Owen's penguin was named "Penguin". I know, real original, right?

The kids received birth certificates for their animals, and then it was time to go.

And so, let me present Owen with his new animal, "Penguin" the soccer-playing penguin (and Owen is still more interested in the little soccer ball)

Here is Olivia with "Bluebear" the princess blue bear. Olivia loves the bear and is already talking about going back to Make-a-Friend so that she can groom Bluebear some more.
I think that this will be a Valentine's experience that she will remember. (Owen-not so much).

Snow Much Fun at Winterfest

While much of the country is dealing with snowstorms and blizzards, here in Southeast Georgia we are having to create our own snow. This weekend, our church hosted its annual "Winterfest" event, and artificial snow was the main attraction. Actually, the "snow' was lots of shaved ice, but the children in attendance didn't care. Since we never get any snow down here, they will accept any substitute that even slightly resembles the real thing. Owen and Olivia had a great time playing in the snow and on the new playground equipment that our church recently purchased. Of course, there was an abundance of good food to warm us up after playing in the ice (I mean snow). Chili, hot chocolate, and cupcakes were readily available. The kids had a good time as did their parents and grandparents. I'm glad that this event turned out to be a success.

Jacksonville Zoo (Again)

Like most other states, Georgia is struggling with budgeting issues. Because of the lack of available funds, the state has had to furlough its teachers six days this school year. I had three of my furlough days before Christmas, and I will have three more after Christmas. Today was the first of my after Christmas furlough days. Brian and I let the fact that I was off become a good excuse for taking the kids to the Jacksonville Zoo (again). We have been to the zoo every year for the past three years, but we like it so much that we keep going back. Even though we've been several times, it always seems different because the kids' ages and interests change so much year-to-year. Some things, however, do stay the same. For example, Olivia always likes looking at the animals, and this year was no exception. For Owen- this was the first trip where he seemed even remotely interested in the animals- so he was excited to see them (and we were excited to watch Owen watching the animals). I'm always interested to see which animals are going to get the biggest reactions from my kids. The favorites for this trip were the elephant, the giraffe, and surprisingly- the anteater.

One thing that I really appreciate about the Jacksonville Zoo is that they are really trying to make the zoo better. The newer South America and Asia sections that they have added are actually quite nice. They have also added gardens and cool animal statues all over the park. The kids really liked the statues and didn't miss a chance to climb all over them.

Another newer part of the zoo was a rather large play area for the kids. Before leaving, we took Olivia and Owen to this play park so that they would wear themselves out for the trip home. The kids had fun climbing on the play-structure, going down the slide, and getting lost in the hedge maze. They also got to pet the goats in the petting zoo. Olivia made it her personal mission to pet every single goat- and I think that she was successful. After about thirty minutes of hard play, we left the zoo. Our plan to tire the kids out worked because they were asleep within ten minutes of being in the car. Overall it was a pleasant afternoon. So pleasant, in fact, that it made me not mind having to take a furlough day so much.

Atlanta Field Trip

I love my job, and I was reminded of this fact last week when I chaperoned a school trip to Atlanta. Me and a few of my favorite co-workers were placed in charge of a very well behaved group of kids. The kids were so good, in fact, that us chaperones were able to kick back and actually enjoy the trip ourselves. The day began at 6am when we left Waycross and traveled to Atlanta via charter bus. Our first stop was one of my favorite places in Atlanta- the Georgia Aquarium. Once again, I spent the most time at the Ocean Voyager tank. It is so big that you start to feel like you really are in the ocean. My co-workers and I visited all the exhibits and we were even brave enough to touch all of the animals in the touch tanks- including anemones, sharks, rays, and starfish.

We left the aquarium at 1 o'clock, got a bite to eat, and went to the Capitol Building. Inside the building we met up with state senator Goggins, and then took a guided tour of the building. We got to see the rooms where the Georgia Senate and House meet. I had never been to the Capitol Building, so I was really interested. Most of the students were bored. I guess this is one of those things that becomes more interesting to a person when they're older.

Our last stop of the day was the Cyclorama. I had never been here and I honestly thought that it was going to be lame. I was pleasantly surprised by how nice it was. The Cyclorama building houses the largest oil painting in the world called "The Battle of Atlanta". The painting is the size of a football field and is hung on a wall in a circular room. To view the painting, you enter the circular room where you sit on a platform the slowly spins. It's kind of like a show, as the platform spins, a narrator tells the story of the Battle of Atlanta and there are lights that are programmed to come on and highlight the area of the picture that the narrator is talking about. After the "show", you can look around a museum that is also located in the building. The museum houses Civil War memorabilia. To me, the coolest thing in the museum was the train engine "Texas" which won "The Great Train Chase" of 1862. After the Cyclorama, we left Atlanta and arrived in Waycross around 11pm. Everyone was tired, and we all knew that we had to be at school bright and early the next morning. Even though it was a busy trip, it was a lot of fun. It was one of those days that made me sit back, smile, and think "I can't believe I'm getting paid to do this".