Swimming Pentathlon

Olivia enjoyed her swim team activities this summer and has decided to continue swimming throughout the school year.  Today was our first meet of the season.  This event was a pentathlon and her five events included swimming 25 yards in each stroke and then a 50 yard freestyle.  We were so proud of her.  She PR'd in every event except the butterfly.  She improved by 5-6 seconds in the backstroke and both freestyle events.  She had a 9 second improvement in breaststroke and finished in 4th place.  This is her best stroke.  The butterfly was a challenge.  This was her first time attempting the butterfly in competition.  She has had some trouble with this stroke at practice, and she DQ'd at the meet.  Her birthday is next month, so this was her last competition in the 8u age group.  The race distances get longer in the 9-10 division, so it will be interesting to see how she handles this.

Ripley's Believe it or Not

The weather for our day trip to St. Augustine was not ideal.  It rained cats and dogs pretty much the whole time we were there. We decided to visit Ripley's Believe it or Not partially because it was an indoor activity.  Here we got to see and read about all kinds of really weird things.  I mean, what kid doesn't want to see a 19th century vampire hunting kit or learn about a chicken that lived for 18 months without a head?  Some of the exhibits were a little too creepy for Olivia, but Owen enjoyed pretty much everything.

Since our trip was cut short by the rain, we decided to detour and do some shopping in Jacksonville before returning home.  We visited the Disney store and had dinner at the Cheesecake Factory.  We all got a piece of cheesecake to take home with us.  Overall, we had a great mommy-kid day out.

Whetstone Factory Tour

Last weekend Brian and his friends had their annual "guys trip"- three days of golfing, fishing, and football.  The kids and I decided that the guys shouldn't have all the fun, so we took a day trip to St. Augustine.  Our first stop was the Whetstone Chocolate Factory.  The Whetstone company used to own a large plant that manufactured products for companies like Hershey, Mars, and Nestle. However  that portion of the business was sold several years ago and now they only do artisan chocolate. We took the factory tour and participated in a chocolate tasting.  We learned a lot about how chocolate is made and about different types of chocolate.  We all found the tour to be educational and interesting.

Upon signing up for the tour, we were each issued a tasting card.  On this card was a list of the various chocolates that we would be sampling along the tour.  We ended up trying 6 different pieces of chocolate- one milk chocolate, one white chocolate, two different varieties of dark chocolate, one artisan craft piece (with an orange flavor) and one piece of fudge.

We were also given hair nets that we had to wear in the factory.

The chocolate sampling was definitely the highlight of the tour.  The kids and I are lovers of dark chocolate, so it's no surprise that these were our favorites.  Owen and I liked the dark with 47% cocoa while Olivia preferred the really dark with 72% cocoa.  Before leaving we visited the shop and bought chocolate bars in our favorite flavors (plus a milk chocolate bar for Gigi- the most renowned chocolate lover in our family).  This was a really fun tour and I highly recommend doing it if in the area.

The Amazing Race

One of the most anticipated days at Toys R Us each year is the day of the Amazing Race benefiting the United Way.  Each year TRU sponsors a team (or two) to compete in this fundraiser.  Teams rush all over town solving clues and completing tasks.  The first team to complete all tasks and return to the finish line wins.  This year TRU sponsored two teams.  Brian was on team Scooby Doo (he was Shaggy).  His team did a great job but came up short of first place.  Still, they had a great time and raised money for a great cause.

The Triathlon

I competed in the Megan's House Heels and Wheels Sprint Triathlon again this year.  I was a little worried that the event would be cancelled because they drained the lake back in the spring and it hasn't filled back up all the way yet.  The triathlon did take place, but the water level was low.  I could touch bottom in the middle of the lake.  How did I do?  Well, I finished in 1:39:49, which is about the same that I did last year.  I shaved two minutes off of my swim, but I added it right back with my bike.  I ended up sixth in my age group (which was last place).  This is the only triathlon that I do each year, and I always look forward to it.  It is fun and raises money for a good cause.

Skating

The kids and I went to Jesup a few weekends ago to go rollerskating.  When I was their age, we had a skating rink in town and it was THE place to have your birthday party.  Unfortunately, that rink is long closed and the one in Jesup seems to be about the closest one around.  This was the kids' first time on skates, so there was definitely some wobbling going on.  Both Olivia and Owen started out using the walker, but Olivia ditched it pretty quickly.  She preferred to just go around the rink on her own and cling to the wall as much as possible.  She really liked skating and by the end she could make it all the way around without falling. Owen on the other hand was not a fan of the skating.  He took off his skates after about 45 minutes and spent the rest of the time in the little arcade.    

Back to School

School has begun.  We have completed one full week so far.  That means we only have 35 more to go (hooray!).  The kids had a great week.  Olivia is in third grade and her big news is that she gets to change classes this year.  She has two separate teachers and will study different subjects with each.  Owen is in second grade this year.  His big news is that he will be getting pulled for speech therapy once a week.  He is pretty excited to start this.  Both kids will also continue in the WINGS program this year.  We are hoping for a great school year.