Tuesday, December 30, 2008

5th Annual Thanksgiving in Florida


For the fifth straight year we went to Florida for Thanksgiving.  We had a lovely time.  We stayed at the Great Outdoors in our own fifth wheel, the kids went swimming every day (sometimes twice a day).  Ben and Gabe went on an alligator hunt.  Mike felt that the alligator farm was a very creepy place and would be a great setting for a horror film.  They had a pet pig whose name was something like pork chop or ham bone.  I wisely stayed away as I made an assumption that they would have other reptiles at this alligator farm and I was correct.  There were a few giant snakes lurking around, thankfully no one took any pictures of them.

This year we went to Disney Hollywood which was okay, not my favorite of the Disney parks. Ben however thought it was GREAT as he got to see the Little Einsteins and get Leo and June's autograph.  The Little Einsteins are some of Ben's favorite characters and the number one item on his Christmas wish list is a "Take a part Rocket" which is from the Little Einsteins.

The all time favorite thing to do in Florida (for Ben) is to go to the beach.  Unfortunately it rarely gets into the high 70's when we are in Florida in November and thus we waited until our last day which was our warmest day to go to the beach.  Although the temp was warm it was very windy at the beach.  That didn't stop the boys though, Ben was super excited to run in and out of the ocean.  Crazy Uncle Ryan and cousin Gabe actually went swimming in the ocean.  Here are a few photos from our beach adventure.  




Sunday, December 14, 2008

Twin City Ten Mile

Way back in early October I ran the longest race of my life to date.  The Twin City 10 mile.  I loved it!  Never considered myself a runner until this year.  As I type this post I'm wishing I had kept up my runner as I'm feeling very out of shape after all the extra eating over the holidays.  I hope to do this run and many more next year.  I had so much fun.  Here is a little video of the race, you can see me at the very end.   One interesting note is that just 5 seconds after I crossed the finish line it started pouring rain.  Thankfully Mike could not find a parking spot so he missed me crossing the finish line but he was ready just two blocks up to pick me up and drive me straight to Starbucks for a much deserved Peppermint Mocha!