We Have Swimmers

 The kids have come a long way with their swimming since last year.  Coming into the week, we knew that Ava and Olivia could swim.  Claire surprised us all when she started swimming on day 1, and Natalie was swimming by the end of the week.  Those girls were all over that pool.  They swam in the shallow end.  They swam in the deep end.  They swam in the morning and at night.  They were diving down in the water and turning flips.  I guess it goes without saying that we spent a lot of time at the pool.  While the girls where swimming all over the place, Owen was practicing his signature "back float".  He's not quite ready to swim yet, but he'll get there.

Cousins

Olivia and Owen love spending time with their cousins, and they all get along very well.  These kids had so much fun playing together at the beach last week.  Pictured here are Claire (4), Natalie (4), Owen (4), Ava (6), Julianna (10 months), Olivia (5), and Audrey (2).

Boogie Boarding

It's official: boogie boarding has replaced digging as the kids' favorite beach activity.  These future surfers spent a large portion of their beach time riding the waves- and not just the little waves either.  They were catching the big ones.  Of course there were several wipeouts, but that did not seem to deter anyone.  The only person who seemed the least bit nervous was me. ( I was worried that the kids were getting out too far into the ocean.)  Toward the end of the week Uncle Sam tried to teach the kids to skimboard, but they didn't have much luck with that.  Maybe next year.

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.