A Monster Anniversary

Who needs a romantic dinner when you can take your kids to see monster trucks leap into the air and crush the daylights out of cars? Not us! For our eleventh anniversary Brian and decided to forgo the traditional date and took the kids to Monster Jam instead. The Murray family also went, which made it even more exciting. The kids loved it! There were two competitions at Monster Jam. The first was a racing-type event. The truck "Grave Digger" won this. Then, it was time for the freestyle. This is the event where trucks do all types of "tricks" to earn points. We all had our favorites- "El Toro Loco", "Monster Mutt", and "Mohawk Warrior" to name a few. But the night belonged to "Grave Digger", and he ended up winning the freestyle by performing an adrenaline-packed routine which ended with two forward flips. The crowd went wild. The monster jam crew definitely knew how to put on a show, and we all had a good time.

Fun at the "Fund" Run

This week's 5K was in Blackshear. Since the race was local, Brian and I took the kids and let them participate in the 1-mile fund run. As usual, the kids were among the youngest in the race (so we finished last). I was especially proud of how well Owen did. He ran more than he walked, and seemed to be enjoying himself. He even beat Olivia this time (granted- Olivia had been sick earlier in the week and was still not back to 100%). At the finish line, the kids received medals and lots of cheers from the crowd. The event organizers had set up bouncy houses for the children to play on after the 1-mile race, so that is what the kids did while I ran the 5K. I ran a 25:04 and placed first in my age group. Quincy also ran and placed second in her division. And here's some more good news: this race marked the return of my "running buddy" Anna, who was cleared to make her grand re-appearance in running after recovering from injury. Welcome back, Anna!

Inside the Father/Daughter Valentine's Dance

"Is it time to get ready ready yet?" I bet I heard that question fifty times on Saturday morning. The annual Father/Daughter Valentine's Dance was Saturday night, and this was a really big deal for Olivia. She had already chosen her dress (which ended up being the same as Claire's) and had decided that she wanted her hair "straight with curls on the bottom". She even went so far as to lay her dress out on Friday night, and she wanted to put it on the moment she got up on Saturday. To say that she was excited would be an understatement. When it finally came time for her to get dressed, I only had to give the word once. She ran back to her room and had changed into her dress immediately. As soon as she was totally ready, we heard a knock on the door. There stood a very handsome-looking Brian with a bouquet of roses for Olivia. After snapping a few pictures, Brian and Olivia were off to eat at Captain Joe's and then to the dance.



Since this is a father/daughter dance, the moms don't get to be part of the fun. I did convince Brian to take the camera to the dance so that I could "spy" on all of the fun that everyone was having. He took a several pictures and a few short video clips (two of which are posted below). I have watched the videos and all I can say is that the moms are missing out. This event looks like a ton of fun. What a special time for daughters to spend with their fathers! Olivia is so lucky to have such a GREAT dad, and I'm glad that they get to do this together each year. She is glad, too, and is already counting down til next year's dance.

Super Dolphin Day 2012

How does it happen that I am late to at least one race each year? It turns out that my "late" race this year was this morning's Super Dolphin Day Race. I had pre-registered for the 5K (which began at 10am), but I woke up early and decided to go on over to St. Simon's Island and do the 10K as well. The 10K began at 7:30, but I left in plenty of time to get over there and register before the race. I don't know if I just drove slow or if I drove through a hole in the space-time continuum or what, but the end result was that I pulled up to the race site 10 minutes before the race began- and they had already closed registration. Oh no! I begged the lady at the table to let me run. She stated that I could but could not guarantee that she would be able to get my name into the computer to have an "official" time. I didn't care, I filled out the form as fast as I could, pinned my number on, and ran to the starting line. I did really well on the 10K and finished with a time of 51:22- a new PR. Here's some more good news- the lady was able to get my name into the computer...but... I had been in such a hurry to fill out the registration form that I did not list my age (meaning I was not eligible for any of the awards). This stunk because I would have gotten second place in my age group. Oh, well.


After the 10K was over, I waited for the start of the 5K. (Thankfully, I had pre-registered for this and I was there on time.) Quincy and her friend Maura were coming to run the 5K, so I met up with them at the starting line. I did pretty well in the 5K and finished with a time of 25:13. Quincy and Maura also had good times. Those girls keep getting faster and faster with every race that they do.

Sidney Lanier Bridge Run 2012

This morning I went to Brunswick with my sister Quincy and my cousins Hunter and Thomas to run the Sidney Lanier Bridge 5K, the "toughest 5K in the southeast". This race gets bigger and bigger each year. This was Hunter's first 5K, and he really liked it. My cousins, sister, and I all did really well and met our individual goals. I ran the race in 25:51- which kills my previous time of 28.08 on this race. After the race, I met up with my friend Krystial and we walked back up to the top with third wave of runners (the walkers) so that we could take some pictures. It was a fun morning, full of great exercise and fantastic views.

The Run 5

2012: New races, new challenges, new opportunities. I mentioned in December that I was excitedly planning my 2012 running calendar. The first race on my list was The Run 5 to Keep Kids Alive. My friend, Anna, was adamant that we run this race because all of the proceeds go to benefit the Wolfson Children's Hospital. This hospital is a top-notch facility in Jacksonville that treats all kids- regardless of a family's ability to pay. Because of this, it relies heavily on donations to sustain itself. Anna works for Babies Can't Wait and is a HUGE advocate for children with special needs, so running this race was a must.

Anna, Krystial, and I met up with Tiffany and her friend Kailee to run this race. This was my first 5-miler, so no matter what I knew I was going to PR. The course was spread out along the banks of the St. John's River and it was beautiful. It was also very tough with lots of ups and downs- two bridges, an overpass, and a ramp. Even though it was a difficult run, I ran pretty well. I finished with a chip time of 42:49 and placed 4th in my age group (out of 85 runners). The other girls also ran really well, and we earned our delicious Italian lunch. This was a great start to the running year. I am excited about all of the events that I have planned for this year. I apologize in advance for the number of upcoming running posts. There will probably be a lot of them. ***And as a sidenote: If anyone wants to join in on the running fun, let me know. It's lots of fun***

Day 7: Montmartre

On our last full day in Paris, we slept late and then took the metro to Montmartre to see the Basilica of the Sacre Couer. Brian had come here earlier in the week with his mom, but he liked it enough to come back with us. I had taken several doses of medicine and was feeling much better. We went inside the Sacre Couer, and it was just beautiful. Outside, there were lots of street preformers, so we spent some time watching them. There was one guy in particular who did amazing things with a soccer ball. After wondering around the basilica area, we headed "down the hill' through the streets of Montmartre. We stopped and got some souvenirs and headed back to the hotel.

There was one thing that I still wanted to do before I left Paris- and that was visit the Centre Georges Pompidou (museum of modern art). The kids were tired, so Brian watched them at the hotel while I went to the Pompidou Center. I enjoyed wandering around the museum without having to worry about what the kids were getting into. There were lots of interesting works here by artists such as Picasso, Kandinsky, Dalí, Matisse, and Pollock.

Since our last night in Paris was also New Year's Eve, we enjoyed a nice meal at the Pizzeria across the road from the hotel with Brian's cousin Brandon and his family. Later, Brian left with some of his cousins to go ring in the New Year at the Eiffel Tower. I was tired, though, so I stayed at the hotel with the kids.

This will be my last Paris post, so I want to take a moment to make some general reflections. First of all, I want to say that the city of Paris deserves every good word that is ever said about it. A lot of my trip report has noted where we went and what we did, but our experience was more than that. There is a different type of "mood" about Paris, and I enjoyed that so much. There are just so many little things- like the way that people dress or how people rent bikes to get around- that all add up to make Paris an interesting place. I was also so delighted to get to spend time with Brian's family. There were some in the group that I had not had the opportunity to spend much time with before, and I was so happy to get to know them. I sincerely hope that we are able to see more of Brian's family in the future.