Basketball, anyone?

Dinah had it in her head to get tickets from a coworker and take ME to the SEC basketball tourney for my birthday (as a surprise). It didn't work out for her and she couldn't go but she got the tickets for me anyway (for my birthday). Good for her, because I think Adam would have killed her if I took off to watch AU basketball while he sat home with the kiddos. I decided to surprise Adam and take him. I asked him the day before if he wanted to have lunch with me and I called his boss to let her know he would not be coming back. We drove to the restaurant and just as he was about to open the door, I pulled out the tickets and asked him if would rather go there. Duh! He had been hinting about getting tickets but to be honest, basketball is about the last sport I would willingly submit to watching, next to golf. So, I brought a book with me:0)

He spent the drive over filling me in on all the senarios...yada, yada, yada. He was excited!

We sat through the first session which was two games. Surprisingly, I got into it a little bit and didn't read at all. I took pics of all the mascots and watched the coaches and cheerleaders. There is just something about being in the college sport environment. After the first session, we had a break so we walked down to some restaurants and got some dinner and then headed back to the arena for two more games. Ours was the 9:45 PM game against Florida and we were sitting in the Gator section. It was an awesome game and we won it close. So, even though we didn't make the tournament, we beat the Gators and that, my friends, is worth it!

Run Like a Girl.

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us." Hebrews 12:1

13.1 Miles? Yep.

Looking back, four months is really not sufficient for taking on a run like this. I guess it might be if you plan to walk part of it or if you have a significant base built. I don't fall into either of those categories. I have never been a runner or any other kind of serious athlete. I would call myself athletic. I enjoy sports and can perform moderately well at most of them. I can hit a ball, catch and throw. I can play volleyball to an extent, and I enjoy playing kickball, flag football or whatever when we get together with a group of friends. In high school, I was a cheerleader. We competed so we had to have enough of a cardio base to get through about a 5 minute routine with dancing and in my case, lifting. We had to weight train and run about 2 miles a few times/week. So, It's safe to say that although I may have looked fit, I have never been what I would now define as "in shape."

All that being said, I set out on this mission with one goal...to run the whole thing. Aside from about a 20 second stop to stretch my knee, yes, my knee, I ran the whole thing. There were moments when my speed may not have been classified as running but I kept to the course laid before me. I ran with another girl, Jen. She is a teacher at our kid's school. She went out pretty fast. To be honest I thought I was going to have to let her leave me if I was going to finish the run. I never would have paced myself that fast if I were running on my own. Into the 10th mile, I was glad we had gone out so fast because my speed was steadily declining and my knees were more than feeling the pain of all the hills I had not trained for.

There were 4 long, winding over passes in addition to two pretty steep hills we had to conquer. They were spread throughout the course and there was one in the last 3/4 mile. We started outside of EPCOT and ran about 3 miles to Magic Kingdom, down Main Street, through Tomorrow and Fantasy Lands , around the castle, and through Frontier Land out the back past all the floats (not so magical in the daytime) and just kept running until we were back over by Epcot where we ran around Spaceship Earth. At this point, my watch was telling me I had just 1/2 mile left so I started running hard. I got to 13.1 miles according to Garmin and there was no finish line in sight! I yelled to one of the workers on the side line, "WHERE is the FINISH LINE?" I still had 2/10 of a mile...quite deflating. Never the less, I made it. I ran across the finish to the sight of my husband, all of my children and my mom and Joe, who all surprised me by buying their way into the finish line stands...all wearing "cheer squad" t-shirts and yelling encouragement to me! Andy was also there in the crowd. My official chip time was 2:28:38. BUT, I ran an extra 2/10mi. So, I actually paced 11:09/mile...only 9 seconds off what I wanted to pace in my "for real goal" which I kept to myself until now. My *NEW* goal is to do this race each year and, by the time I am 35 be able to run it pacing 9:30/mile.

I have to give props to Lisa who also ran but left us in the dust! And, I leave you with this:

"Toenails are indeed for sissies!"

(Tick)led.

We went camping...to central Florida...there were ticks...lots of them. We picked about 6-8 off each of the boys. Ellie and I both had one in our hair. Adam had two and Ruthie escaped without any. This was the first time we were able to go with a group of families from our church that go several times a year. In the past it just never fit into our schedule. This time was really no different. It didn't fit but we made it happen for one night and we had a nice time.

I insisted I take Gracious with me as a reward for her good behavior at school and she was so good! The kids all had fun playing with their friends that they only get to see at church. I use the word only loosely since we are there twice a week and sometimes more:0) For some reason, sleeping in a tent is the ultimate adventure for children and so nothing can dampen the fun, not even ticks!

We camped out, cooked out, played football and swam illegally in the springs. Of course at the time, although we knew we were not supposed to swim there, we did not know it was illegal! We packed our crew up after dinner on Saturday and headed back to civilization in time to kick off Global Focus week at church. We meaning: Adam, me, Ruthie, Rusty, Flip, Ellie, Grace, and all the ticks, of course.

Magical

We did Disney, again. It was different this time. I was much more low key, Adam and I were both training for different events and trying to get workouts in. We had various illnesses. We lost a child at one point. We had different ages, heights, and interests. But, we had a blast!

Just before we left, Ruthie came down with a pretty bad virus and she had a very high fever for about 2 days followed by congestion and a cough. I took her to the doc thinking that if we are all going to get this then I wanted to have whatever antibiotics I needed BEFORE we left. The doctor said, nothing would make it go away, just let it run it's course and treat the symptoms...great. So, wee took off for 8 days in the Orlando area but what we experienced was a lot different than the Disney boot camp my family is used to.

We started out at the Hoop Dee Doo musical revue at Ft. Wilderness. It was something we had never done and it was a lot of fun! The next day we hit one of the Disney water parks. Although the high got into the 80's it was a little chilly but we had a lot of fun! We ended the day with what they call a garbage pail...it's a small bucket filled with soft serve, fudge caramel, cookies, waffles, etc. We all shared it and it was awesome!

We ventured into the parks most of the other days but we did try Disney Quest this time and it was fun but by this point, both Rusty and myself were sick. I was popping Dayquil and Rusty was alternating Motrin and Tylenol. Ruthie and I created our virtual roller coater and then rode it in a simulator. We also conquered pirates on the open sea as a family and Adam and I found that we are compatible as a couple by killing spiders and other creatures in some weird video game! It was good reassurance after 10 years of marriage.

Ellie absolutely loved all of the characters. She ran right up to them and kissed and hugged them and even cried when we had to walk away from Stitch. I'm not sure why she chose him to like best over all the others but he was the most special of the trip! So, I would have to say that the characters were her favorite part. For the others, Ruthie really loves roller coasters and if she had to pick probably the Rockin' Roller coaster at Hollywood Studios. Rusty probably enjoyed Fast Track at Epcot the most while Flip loved the new Toy Story ride at Hollywood Studios. Adam loves all the fast paced rides but he really like Toy Story as well and I think he liked the new American Idol experience at the same park. For myself. I love all of the shows...especially the closing shows...

So, we finished off the week with a movie and souvenir shopping at Downtown Disney and then, HOME!

Hoop Dee Doo Hoe Down!

Blizzard Beach...Brrrr.

My First time..."Mommy, Mickey!"

I really Love Stitch.

But, I love you more.

Power Up!

Kiss and Hug.

All smiles.

Faster...

See you real soon!