Another 5k

I ran in my second 5k yesterday morning (my first was in May).  Everything was great and I was happy with how I did (28:12 - a little over 2.5 minutes off of my May time!) but the funniest thing was something Conner said as I was getting ready to leave the house to go to run.

Me:  I'm leaving!
Conner: Win the race!
Me:  Oh, I'm not going to win. There are going to be a lot of people.  But I'm going to do my best.
Conner: If you see a friend, say hi. Then run past them.

It's all about the winning. :)

Our last week!

I can't believe how quickly summer went by!  (If only the school year would go this fast, too!)  The kids and I have had a busy (but great!) week together.

On Monday, we started the morning by going to the dentist (boo!) but then headed to the library to get some books and to Wendy's for lunch.  Then after we got home they decided to get the sprinkler out (which reminds me, I have pictures on my camera - need to get those uploaded!).  I had a softball game that evening, so I dropped them off over at Doug and Marge's to play while I was there.  They had fun and even talked Papa Doug and Uncle Greg to take them swimming.

We went to Coney Island on Tuesday with Amber, Brenden, and Emery.  It was a beautiful day - not too hot - so we went over and rode some rides after swimming and lunch.  Before leaving I told the kids they could go do the slide a few times; Audrey got halfway up the ladder and freaked out, saying she'd changed her mind.  She wouldn't budge!  I ended up climbing up behind her and carrying her down.  Conner had soccer practice that evening - it was a beautiful night!  Eric ended up meeting some friends for a happy hour, so the kids and I went to Gold Star for dinner (it was kids eat free night) and then to a park to play.  Fun!

Wednesday was a little cooler and cloudy when we got up; after a quick trip to the kids' doctor to pick up some schoolwork for Aud, we went to the water park at Woodland Mound.  It was chilly when we got there and I wasn't sure how long we'd last, but the sun finally came out and the kids warmed up.  We ended up staying for about 3 hours, which is quite a long time there.  It was great, though - they played and I read a book.

Today was a busy busy one.  We went to Coney again (with Amber and the kids) and had a really good time.  Audrey's still not crazy about the slide - she did go once but I had to climb up behind her - but she discovered the fun of the diving boards!  I go first and then wait for her in the water.  The first time she was really  nervous and didn't want to do it, but I talked her into jumping to me and she absolutely loved it.  I swim with her until we're about 5 feet from the ladder, then she can swim the rest of the way.  Conner was practicing his diving off of the side (and occasionally off the board).  He had a friend there (the daughter of a friend of mine) so they were off sliding and swimming together.  We ended up staying at the pool until 3, then rushed home and got ready for karate.  Class was from 4 - 4:30, then Conner had soccer from 5 - 6.  While we were at karate, Amber called and asked if I wanted to drop Aud off at their house to play with Brenden.  What a life-saver!

Almost forgot - when I came downstairs this morning (both kids were already up) Audrey was in the living room playing with her "babies". She had them all arranged in different chairs and sitting in a circle.  When she saw me, Aud told me that today is her baby Molly's birthday and that they were having a birthday party (but the strawberry cake was all gone).  What an imagination!

I'm not sure what's in the plans for tomorrow (aside from a trip to school to get stuff ready for next week) but I'm thinking maybe a quick trip to Kings Island.  We'll see!

Catching Up

If you had asked me 9 years ago what I would be doing today (on Eric's and my 9th anniversary), there are a few things that never would have come to mind.  Running 3 miles and watching a bluegrass band in New Richmond probably wouldn't have made my list.  And yet those are just two of the activities I did today!  (Eric said "taking two kids to Kings Island" but that could've been a legitimate thought. Did that today, too!)

So, rewinding and summing up our week so far....

The infamous slide

Monday:  Met the Athans at Coney.  We had fun, did lots of swimming and playing, and as they were getting ready to leave I told Conner and Aud that we would go down the slide twice before we left (they'd been asking).  The first trip was successful; the second not so much.  I was at the end of the slide waiting for Audrey to come down when I heard a bit of a commotion back by the ladder.  I looked over and saw a little pink thing flying through the air - it ended up being Aud's water wing.  Unfortunately, it was still around her arm.  She was about two steps from the top of the ladder when she either let go or her hand slipped and she fell off.  Fortunately, she fell off to the side (instead of straight back into the shallow water) and a woman close scooped her up.  I got to her as soon as I could and grabbed her (she was crying).  Conner still hadn't come down the slide - he'd been right behind her on the ladder - so we went back to the end of the slide to get him, then headed off to the First Aid station to get Audrey checked out.  They gave us a bag of ice to put on her scraped-up side (the only signs of being hurt) and we headed home.  She fell asleep on the way home (I'm sure the whole ordeal took a lot out of her!) and after some protesting once we got home, took a nice long nap.  My girl's tough - she woke up chipper and happy and perfectly fine.  Phew.

Tuesday:  I was determined to get the kids back to Coney and Audrey back on the slide.  She told me that she didn't want to go down the slide, but when I promised that I'd follow her up she got pretty excited (I've never done it before).  It was the first thing we did once we got there.... I'm not sure what the attraction is to the thing (at least for an almost-35 year old mom) because it wasn't particularly fun for me.  I ended up with a wedgie and water up my nose.  But Audrey was happy and everything was good.

Me and Conner at the concert

Conner had his first soccer practice at 5... oh, and did I mention that it's been crazy hot this week? Upper 90's with high humidity does not make for a fun soccer practice - even for those of us just sitting and watching!  I felt bad for the boys (and coach) out there running.  Yuck.  After practice we grabbed some dinner at McDonald's and headed for Riverbend, a concert venue just behind Coney Island.  A couple of weeks ago we'd received some free tickets from Coney for a Jonas Brothers concert.  Conner's not a huge fan (it's one show he doesn't choose to watch) but he knows who they are and I thought he might enjoy seeing them.  Despite dripping sweat we had a good time, although I think he liked hanging out with some of our friends and eating their candy more than the actual concert itself.

Modeling some hats at Walmart

Wednesday (today): I thought taking the kids to the water park at Kings Island would be something different - normally we only go there when we're at KI and run over to the water park to cool off for a little bit.  We had a great time; the lines were great so we were able to do several different slides and swim in the wave pool before lunch. After eating, the kids were running around in one of the smaller kiddie pools when it started raining - not a big deal when you're already wet (and it's still super hot).  Unfortunately, though, the rain was eventually joined by thunder and lightning, so we decided to take off.  Eric's folks had offered to watch the kids tonight so Eric and I could go to dinner, so I dropped the kids off there and headed home.  It had rained here and cooled off a bit (I think it was about 75, but the humidity was still out the roof) so I went for a run before Eric got home. Then we headed down to the Front Street Cafe in NR with some of Eric's old teacher-friends to listen to some bluegrass.  I'm not a big fan, but it certainly was interesting watching them go on those guitars/banjos/mandolins!

No big plans for tomorrow.  Conner has soccer at 5, so I'll head up to Milford some time before that to get the kids (or meet them somewhere) and then we have our small group at a friend's house.  I'm definitely planning on sleeping in (which means I'll probably wake up at 7 and not be able to get back to sleep!) and maybe hitting up the mall.  Shopping by myself = my current idea of heaven.

A pic to end on...

Audrey's been doing a lot of singing and dancing lately, but only if she's wearing this skirt!  It's very cute.