My Little Fish

As soon as I can figure out how to get the videos saved to my computer, I will post them.  Kingston is swimming like a fish these days.  He can hold his breath for a crazy amount of time, likes to be pushed under to the bottom of the pool to pick toys up, does full-on cannon balls off the side, and can jump in and swim to the steps unassisted. 

The only problem?  He cannot, cannot, CANNOT get his little head above the water to take a breath.  He can swim, yes.  But he can't breathe while swimming, which is sort of a critical part of it. :)  I'm not sure if he is just not strong enough to paddle his arms while getting his head up, whether he is just being lazy about it since I am always there to grab him if he needs to come up, or if the just needs someone (other than Mom) to teach him how to do it.  Regardless, he is a great swimmer, especially for being only 3 1/2!

I'll post the video eventually!

Camping and a Carnival

Let's skip the excuses on the long overdue blog post and get right to it, shall we?  Yeah, I thought so.

We went camping in Ocracoke.  We had a great time.  It was in June but I'm just now posting.  I'm slack.  Sorry.  Oh, but I said I wasn't going to go into that.  Sweet!  Smooth sailing from here on out.

We played on the beach all day.  It was great.  Kingston didn't go to sleep either night until about 11:30.  We just let him play the iTouch until he couldn't keep his eyes open any longer.  Sometimes you just do what you gotta do.  We did.

Kingston was not so impressed with the Ocracoke lighthouse, having seen the Cape Hatteras up close and having climbed the Corolla.  Ah, well.  It killed some time and he fell asleep on the truck ride back to the campsite so it was worth it.

Surprisingly, we kept the mosquitoes at bay.  Worse, perhaps, were the sandspurs (which Kingston called sandbars).  He is still worried about sandbars any time he steps somewhere that is natural ground and not a man-made ground of sorts.

My 2 favorite boys on the ferry.  Well, my 2 favorite boys in the world, who happened to be on the ferry when the picture was taken.   You know what I mean.

A few days after coming home from our camping trip (or maybe it was a few weeks-it was so long ago I can't even remember) a friend of mine took this picture of Kingston and Nigel at the top of the Ferris wheel at a local carnival.  Kingston was so brave.  He wasn't scared at all, just got chilly at the top.  Nigel certainly didn't mind the extra snuggles.

We've been busy this summer.  So busy I haven't had time to blog.  Or at least that's my current excuse.  Oh, wait.  No excuses.  Enjoy this post!  Who knows when there will be another one. ;)

The Model

After Kingston recently peed on our bath mat (ugh!) and it was left outside to "air out" for a few days (ugh!) I decided that it was time to just scrap that one and get a new one.  I really hate that bath mats cost so much.  I mean, it is just a small piece of fluffy carpet.  Does it really need to cost $15?!  It is one of those things that I hate to spend my hard-earned money on.  Like razor blades.  $30?  Really?

Anyway, I bucked up and bought one.  It was the cheapest one I could find, for the above-mentioned reason.  It was one of those really soft, really synthetic, really cheap ones.  It was also a lot bigger than the last one we had.  It was perfect.

Kingston thought so, too.  "It's so soooooft!"  He laid down on it while his bath was filling up.  Silly kid.  I'm glad I bought it for a number of reasons.  The best of which is to get this blackmail picture of him to use in about 15 years.

Comic Relief

We have been going swimming at the Y this winter and spring.  Kingston loves it and I love having something active to do with him indoors.  Also, Nigel usually goes along with us, so it has been a great family outing. 

The only problem with the pool is that, while the air is usually warm, the combo of the water and air sometimes make Kingston a little chilly.  May have something to do with the fact that he has not a single ounce of fat on his body.  I mean, I never find myself shivering.  But let's not analyze that.

The solution:

He looks like the cutest little frog!  Two good things about his new wetsuit:  1.  He stays warm and isn't too cold and ready to get out after 10 minutes.  2.  I get a good giggle at him in his wetsuit.  It totally makes me smile!

And today.  Well, today Kingston is the Ring Bearer in our friends Billy and Jessie's wedding.  Wish us luck.  I know one thing for sure.  Even if he doesn't perform at the wedding, he will look darn cute doing whatever he is doing.  Pictures.  I promise.

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!