Beach Vacation 2012

We have just returned from another great week on Amelia Island.  I have decided that if I ever win the lottery I am going to buy a condo right on Fernandina Beach and spend the entire summer there.  I love the beach- this one in particular.  The next few posts will be about our vacation.  We took a ton of photos. I'm still trying to sort through them, but I'll go ahead and post my favorite pictures of Owen and Olivia.

Peachtree Road Race

Peachtree Road Race: The largest running event (of any distance) in the country. Last year I ran this race for the first time and was so impressed with the experience that I couldn't wait to return again this year. In April I learned that I- along with my sisters Cassie and Quincy and my cousin Hunter- had been chosen in the lottery. So, we loaded up this past week to travel to Atlanta and run. The race was every bit as fun (and challenging) as I remember it being. The crowd support for this course is unreal. This is the only race where I don't wear headphones. I don't need them because there is so much going on. There are bands and DJs all the way down the road. People are handing out everything under the sun (food, trinkets, beer, etc...). There is even one church on the course where the minister stands outside and sprinkles runners with holy water. There is never a dull moment You may notice a green frisbee in my hand in the photos. I got this at mile 2 and had to carry it for 4 more miles as I ran. I took it because I thought that Owen may like it, but I ended up using it to fan myself as I ran.

My final time was 58:52. This is only a few seconds better than last year's time. I was hoping to improve my time by more than a few seconds, but I was done in by the infamous Cardiac Hill. I think everyone is our running group fell victim to "the hill". We all crossed the finish line in an upright position, so I guess we'll call this race a success.

Fireworks

 Here are some pictures from this years' fireworks show.  As always, the kids had a great time, and the finale was better this year than it has been in the last several years.

Yep- Still Running (Slowly)

I HATE running in the heat.  However, I am trying to keep going and power through the summer months.  It has not been easy so far, and as things heat up I imagine that they will get much harder.  I find that if I make myself register for races then I'll keep training because I don't want to be dead last when I run them.  In June I ran two 5Ks.  The first one was "Run for the Pies".  It's so named because if you run fast enough, you get a free pie.  I did not get a pie.  This race is also the Nike 5K championship.  The championship race took place before mine, and it was neat to see some really fast runners do their thing.  As for me, I did okay- 26:07 (29 of 119 in age group).  This is a good time for me considering the heat.  The other race that I've run this month is the Spirit of Liberty 5K.  I had a very hard time with this race.  The heat and humidity were horrible.  I finished in 27:10 (which is actually a little faster than I finished the same race last year).  I was the only one in my age group, so I won that by default.  My friend Carrie was at this race cheering for her husband, Mat- who also won his age group.  Next up- Peachtree Road Race.

Sky VBS

 The kids had a great time at Vacation Bible School this year.  Our theme was "Sky" and the general message was "Trust God".  Olivia and Owen learned so much at VBS, and continue to sing the songs and talk about the lessons that they learned.  Olivia got to move up to the group with the bigger kids this year.  I was happy about this because this made Owen come out of his shell a little.  The mission project for VBS was to raise money to buy mosquito nets for kids in Mali, Africa.  The kids had an opportunity each day to contribute to the fund.  With each contribution, they were able to pin a "mosquito" clip on a net.  Here are a few pictures of our week at VBS.  (First two pictures courtesy of Haley Ragsdale).

Go, Dog, Go!

Attending the children's play of the Peach State Summer Theater Series with Granny Mel has been one of the highlights of our summer for several years now.  It seems that the performances get better and better each year.  This year, the kid's play was "Go, Dog, Go!".  This is based on the book of the same name by P.D. Eastman.  We have this book at home, and we've read it a number of times.  There's not much going on in the book, so I wasn't sure how on earth they were going to make an entire performance out of it.  Let me just say that the play was incredibly entertaining.  The actors were hilarious, and the kids were grinning from ear to ear the whole time.  Once the play was over, the kids had the chance to meet the actors and get their autographs.  They were all so excited to meet the different "dogs".  Ava summed up the experience nicely when she declared that the play was "definitely worth driving all the way to Valdosta to see".

Sight and Sound

 After hearing my Aunt Connie rave about the Sight and Sound Theater in Lancaster, we decided to check it out for ourselves.  The mission of this theater is to bring people the Word of God through  large-scale productions of Biblical stories.  When I say that this is a large-scale production, I mean it.   The special effects, costumes, and sets are out-of-this-world.  They even use live animals in the story telling.  The "story" that is being presented this year is Jonah and the Whale.  I've always thought of Jonah as a kid-friendly book of the Bible, so I figured it would be a good play for the kids.  I must say that the actors did an excellent job of presenting the message and made me think about the Book of Jonah in a way that I'd never thought about it before.  I like that the production made the story "come alive" for everyone.  Well, almost everyone- poor Owen slept through the first act, but he enjoyed the second one.  Olivia was awake and alert the whole time. We were all impressed with this musical and with this theater in general.  Even Poppy liked the show (and this is definitely NOT his type of thing).