Fun With Friends

Guess where we went recently with some friends?  Right.  Nags Head Woods.  I swear we do other fun stuff, but apparently I only take my camera with me when we got to Nags Head Woods.  Oh, well.  At least I take it somewhere.

This time we walked 2 trails with 4 kids.  They did pretty good for most of the way but nearly gave out completely when we weren't quite back at the car yet!  These kids were crazy.  Totally silly.  Lots of fun!  I'll let the pictures do the talking.  Just check out how many times I tried to get a picture of all of them looking at me at the same time.  Never happened.

Everyone is saying, "Cheeeeese!" but looking in in all sorts of directions.

Close!  But still looking all over the place!

Maybe the best attempt, but I'm not sure what Kingston is looking at.

And then in another location, Kingston is completely turned around.

And now Riley is turned around and Austin is about to bolt!

Oh, whatever!

Just forget it!

Oh, Austin.  This was good except you are tired of sitting still!

Good times with good friends.  These are my running partners' kids.  Austin belongs to Mallory, and Riley and Sophie belong to Michelle.  The plan is to play in our backyard this Saturday so that the kids can run around and the moms can pick which race we are going to train for next!

Mission Accomplished!

Today, I ran a marathon.  The Yuengling Shamrock Marathon in Virginia Beach, VA, to be specific.  It was great.  Totally great.  And I will be sore for days!

We drove up to VA yesterday for a leisurely day of shopping and hanging out.  We first went to the Race Expo to pick up our packets.

My race bib.  I love that random people know your name and can "personally" cheer for you.

Mallory, me and Michelle.  The best running partners EVER!

After the Expo we went to lunch at Baker's Crust. Yum! But it took forever. We only had time for Trader Joe's and Target before heading to our hotel.  We got our act together and put on a few more layers (it got COLD!) before heading out to a great dinner at Isle of Capri.  Yum again!

The girls, ready for dinner!

The view from the front door of our hotel.  We got a little silly and a lot like 3 middle school girls at a slumber party!  The only difference-we didn't stay up all night giggling.  We were asleep by 9:30!

This morning we woke up before our alarm went off and got dressed for the race.  We were lookin' good!  We got a lot of comments about our shamrock tights along the course!

The shamrock capris.  Yikes!  Cute little shamrocks around the knees. . . Giant oversized shamrocks around the thighs and butt! ;)

The wind was howling, the temperature was really cold, and we started 15 minutes late.  Other than that, the start was great!  Mallory was not able to run, due to some health problems, so she was able to take a few pictures of us along the way. 

Can you believe there was someone else wearing the shamrocks?  The girl in the shorts was not with us!

The first 20 miles were fine.  It was after that that things got pretty tough.  We started to walk through the water stations and walked maybe a tenth of a mile another time, just to get through it.  We knew that Mallory was going to meet us at mile 23 and run us in the final 3 and I have never been so happy to see someone in all my life!  She was there at just the right time.  Michelle moved on ahead a bit and Mallory stayed right with me.  She even took my picture!

I don't really look like I've run 25 of 26.2 miles!  But I promise I was feeling it!

The last 2 miles were like torture, if I'm being honest!  Thank goodness I had Mallory with me or I might have started walking.  She encouraged me to finish strong, and finish strong I did.  My final time was 4:59:23.  My goal was to run it in less than 5 hours and I accomplished my goal!  Hooray!  I'm very pleased with myself.

I ran a marathon today.  I can't believe I just wrote that.  And I plan to write it again some time in the future.  Just not the near future!  Or even the sort of near future!  It will be a while but I think I will do it again.  I feel amazing.  Even if I can't walk tomorrow!

Personality

Kingston totally cracks me up.  On a regular basis.  I'm sure everyone thinks their kid is the cutest and the funniest, but I think Kingston really has a great personality and a hilarious sense of humor.  He clearly gets his good looks and his wittiness from his mama.  Clearly.

In January, the whole family went to the Great Wolf Lodge.  We went with another family and we had a really great time.  Kingston loved the kiddie pool but was not super pumped about the big slides that he ended up having to go down all by himself.  He never got upset or cried, he just didn't want to do them again!  When we talk about it, he says, "Weeeeell, I just like the little slides!"



Curren and Kingston getting ready to hit the park!  Kingston says, "I'm wearing my gobbles!"

We have been having self-proclaimed "Fun Fridays" with one of my oldest friends, Bird, and her two little girls.  Every week we try to do something new and fun and so far Friday has lived up to its name!  A few weeks ago we went to a Mommy and Me indoor camping party.  The kids were asked to wear their PJ's and be ready for s'mores, stories and crafts.  We were ready! 

Flannel PJ's, flip flops, and his "Packpack."  He wore this all day. 

No Fun Friday this week since Bird has the flu.  Ugh!  Sorry, Birdie!  Hope you feel better soon!  I'm left to figure out what to do with my funny kid all by myself!  I'm sure he will keep me entertained.  He's already been running around naked, giggling and dancing and spanking his own "butt-butt butterbean."  He is clothed now, so we will see what comes next!

A Hiking We Will Go

We went for another little hike through Nags Head Woods recently. This time Dada was invited and came along! Everyone had a great time. We are looking forward to more hikes when the weather finally decides to warm up for good. It is perfect for a whole family outting, as well as a great way to burn off some energy. And since we are "changing our naps" these days (which Kingston says every day and I have taken to mean he wants to skip his nap), I like to make sure he is good and tired and ready to go to bed earlier than usual.

Chase me!

The one-legged pose.

A great family shot, even if it does look like an advertisement for SmartWater! Too bad I'm too lazy to edit my photos. . .

Family shot, take 2. The lighting was better in the first, but the composition is better in this one, if you want to get technical about it.

Handsome hiker.

We hiked about a mile and that was a plenty this time. There are a few more trails that are longer that we will try later. We had to ease Dada into it!

And on a totally different note, we have less than 2 weeks until our Marathon. Zoinks! (I've been watching waaaay to much Scooby Doo recently.) I think we are ready but I'm not totally sure!