Here's hoping day 2 is even easier!!
Wednesday, January 28, 2015
Potty Training with Declan - Day 1
Today we started potty training. Finally the idea of having no one in diapers is becoming a reality!!!! He did really well today - only a couple of accidents - much better than I remember the other kids on day 1. Also - the house behind us was being torn down today with a big yellow digger! That kept us entertained for quite a while.
Saturday, January 24, 2015
Saturday Morning Basketball
Emmy's been playing basketball in the Saturday morning league. It's very low key and she is having so much fun developing her skills and spending some good quality time with Daddy!!
Monday, January 19, 2015
A Cold Day at Mt. Vernon
Gramma and Daddy Jim had given us a membership at Mt. Vernon for Christmas so we visited on one of the warmer days - still January though! We had a good time - it was pretty empty and we got our own personal tour of the mansion! We also saw a couple of bulls, a pig and lots of geese!
Saturday, January 17, 2015
The Taylor Tornadoes
Aidan has been playing basketball for a bit now. The team hasn't won a lot of games but they are having fun and have gotten a whole lot better! It's fun to go to the games!!
Thursday, January 15, 2015
Texting with Daddy
Tuesday, January 13, 2015
The Girls' First Ballet Recital
Emmy and Aoife had their very first ballet recital today! It was postponed a week because of bad weather and I was so happy that I was back from Florida and could go!! They were adorable and danced with their ballet class and a ballet/jazz class that is the same age. Aoife led the dancers out onto the floor and did a fabulous job - she was so strong and confident!!
The recital was held in the synagogue where they have lessons but the Spring recital is going to be in a real theater with a real stage - so exciting!!
Before the show
Waiting in the wings
Aoife leading out!
Emmy all the way on the other side!!
taking a bow!
After the show
The recital was held in the synagogue where they have lessons but the Spring recital is going to be in a real theater with a real stage - so exciting!!
Before the show
Waiting in the wings
Monday, January 12, 2015
Run Disney Marathon Weekend - Day 3 - Part 2 - Post Race
I wasn't sure how I would be doing after the race but one of the worst things you can do after running that far is to just sit. You need to continue to flush toxins out of the muscles and walking is great for that! We took the water shuttle from our hotel over to Hollywood Studios and ate an early dinner at The Brown Derby. After that we walked (slowly hobbled) around the park and went on the Tower of Terror. We finished up the night at the park at Fantasmic and then headed back to the hotel for a second dinner of burgers and milkshakes! We slept very well that night!!!
Monday morning we headed back to the airport and flew back home. Brendan had to leave again to go on a business trip and didn't even leave the airport. The kids were very sad that Daddy didn't come home with me but they were happy to see me and I was happy to see them - it was a long four days!!
Monday morning we headed back to the airport and flew back home. Brendan had to leave again to go on a business trip and didn't even leave the airport. The kids were very sad that Daddy didn't come home with me but they were happy to see me and I was happy to see them - it was a long four days!!
Sunday, January 11, 2015
Run Disney Marathon Weekend - Day 3 - Part 1 - THE RACE!!
So -- after months and hundreds of miles of training, the race is finally here!! The start was at 5:30 am but with all of the roads being shut down and so many people trying to get to the starting area, we were nervous that we would be stuck in traffic so we took the 3:30 am shuttle like they recommended. We got up at 2:30, showered, had a little to eat and drink, got dressed and headed out from the hotel. There were lots of other people on our same timeline so once we left the hotel room it didn't seem so crazy to be up so early!
We got to the Epcot parking lot with plenty of time spare - hours in fact since it only took us about 20 minutes to get there! It was pretty cold - I would definitely bring old sweatpants and sweatshirt to ditch next time. Thank goodness we had long sleeved shirts at least!!
We got into our corral at about 5:00 and waited for the start at 5:30. Since we were in the very last corral, it took us an HOUR to cross the starting line. Once we got up there it got more fun and once that gun went off it was ON!!
Brendan ran with me for about 20 feet before saying goodbye and speeding on ahead! I was pretty sure my IT band wasn't going to be able to hold up for 26 miles so I was going to try to go slow and extend the life of my IT band. The first few miles felt pretty great! The sun came up - evidently - sometime before I hit the Magic Kingdom at mile 5. I wasn't really paying attention - there was so much to look at! Lots of bands, music and characters along the side of the road.
Running through the Magic Kingdom was fantastic! Running back through the castle was great - Anna, Elsa and Kristophe were waving from the balcony and it was snowing inside the tunnel!!! It was nice to get a fun little boost even that early on! I took another picture at mile 7 - that was farther than I had been able to run since November so I thought I would get a picture! Any distance of running beyond that was a bonus!!
I wasn't too surprised when my IT band started hurting right at mile 8 - I wonder if I would have been able to go a little farther without pain if we hadn't had a really steep downhill and then uphill into the car racing track. At any rate - that was when I started walking - probably about 1 hour and 50 minutes in. Up until that point I wasn't making great time but as well as I had expected with the knee issues. The next 18 miles were not going to be a picnic.
From 10 miles to about 20 is kind of a blur - I wasn't in any pain with my knee when I walked which was good but I couldn't run without excruciating pain - which was bad. I hit mile 20 at 5 hour and 15 minutes. It was very convenient to start 1 hour behind the clock - it made calculating my times a breeze!! Mile 23 was 45 minutes later but it took me an hour to go the last 3 miles. We ran by our hotel and Brendan was waiting for me - he had already finished, showered, and eaten something. I was starving and couldn't stand the idea of another gel. It was so nice to see him and get a hug - it made a big difference in the last few miles!! By mile 24, my other knee was really starting to bother me and at mile 25 - just heading back into Epcot, I could barely put any weight on it. That last mile took me 20 minutes - no wonder it felt like forever!! I did manage to run the last 100 yards across the finish line - it was so incredibly painful but worth every step! I finished under 7 hours which was my goal! After months of not being able to train and having my longest run be 15 miles - 4 months before the marathon - I was happy to just finish. Hopefully next time, I'll be able to train correctly and set another PR!
Thank goodness the med tent was right after the finish line. I hobbled over and a lovely woman wrapped ice packs on both of my knees! I got my medal, some food and limped over to the bus to head back to the hotel.
A shower, a little bit of rest and a new pair of compression socks and we were on our way to dinner. We were both starving!!!!
Waiting to head to the corrals!
Fireworks for the start of every corral:
The starting line!
My first real milestone - only 21 more!
Magic Kingdom at sunrise!
mile 7!!
10
HALFWAY!!!
Very happy that I didn't throw my long sleeved shirt away - it rained on and off and it was nice to have while walking!
I found Brendan!!
THE FINISH!!
Off to get some FOOD!
We did it!!!
We got to the Epcot parking lot with plenty of time spare - hours in fact since it only took us about 20 minutes to get there! It was pretty cold - I would definitely bring old sweatpants and sweatshirt to ditch next time. Thank goodness we had long sleeved shirts at least!!
We got into our corral at about 5:00 and waited for the start at 5:30. Since we were in the very last corral, it took us an HOUR to cross the starting line. Once we got up there it got more fun and once that gun went off it was ON!!
Brendan ran with me for about 20 feet before saying goodbye and speeding on ahead! I was pretty sure my IT band wasn't going to be able to hold up for 26 miles so I was going to try to go slow and extend the life of my IT band. The first few miles felt pretty great! The sun came up - evidently - sometime before I hit the Magic Kingdom at mile 5. I wasn't really paying attention - there was so much to look at! Lots of bands, music and characters along the side of the road.
Running through the Magic Kingdom was fantastic! Running back through the castle was great - Anna, Elsa and Kristophe were waving from the balcony and it was snowing inside the tunnel!!! It was nice to get a fun little boost even that early on! I took another picture at mile 7 - that was farther than I had been able to run since November so I thought I would get a picture! Any distance of running beyond that was a bonus!!
I wasn't too surprised when my IT band started hurting right at mile 8 - I wonder if I would have been able to go a little farther without pain if we hadn't had a really steep downhill and then uphill into the car racing track. At any rate - that was when I started walking - probably about 1 hour and 50 minutes in. Up until that point I wasn't making great time but as well as I had expected with the knee issues. The next 18 miles were not going to be a picnic.
From 10 miles to about 20 is kind of a blur - I wasn't in any pain with my knee when I walked which was good but I couldn't run without excruciating pain - which was bad. I hit mile 20 at 5 hour and 15 minutes. It was very convenient to start 1 hour behind the clock - it made calculating my times a breeze!! Mile 23 was 45 minutes later but it took me an hour to go the last 3 miles. We ran by our hotel and Brendan was waiting for me - he had already finished, showered, and eaten something. I was starving and couldn't stand the idea of another gel. It was so nice to see him and get a hug - it made a big difference in the last few miles!! By mile 24, my other knee was really starting to bother me and at mile 25 - just heading back into Epcot, I could barely put any weight on it. That last mile took me 20 minutes - no wonder it felt like forever!! I did manage to run the last 100 yards across the finish line - it was so incredibly painful but worth every step! I finished under 7 hours which was my goal! After months of not being able to train and having my longest run be 15 miles - 4 months before the marathon - I was happy to just finish. Hopefully next time, I'll be able to train correctly and set another PR!
Thank goodness the med tent was right after the finish line. I hobbled over and a lovely woman wrapped ice packs on both of my knees! I got my medal, some food and limped over to the bus to head back to the hotel.
A shower, a little bit of rest and a new pair of compression socks and we were on our way to dinner. We were both starving!!!!
Waiting to head to the corrals!
