Saturday, May 23, 2009

Keys 100

The Keys 100 is not for the light hearted. Ninety degree plus heat, blistering sun, humidity soaking you to the bone and cars going by at highway speeds requires a certain dedication and awareness. Many racers have used it for preliminary Badwater training, and some runners have called it a “suffer fest”. ~ Lisa Smith-Batchen Blog

With that said, we had a BLAST! 100 miles, team of 6, from Key Largo to Key West, 15 hours and 51 minutes. It was sooooooooooo hot and so humid, but we had such a great time with our friends. We rented a 15 passenger van, called ourselves 'Buns on the Run', and packed the van with tons of yummy food and drinks. We each ran 2-3 legs of the race with a total of 15-18 miles each. I ate so much food and was never full. Thank you so much Cece and Chris who organized everything and let us stay at their hacienda.

Buns on the Run Team
The Finishers Miami
The Party Van (check out our little buns with running shoes!)
The Van
My Man!
Matt in the Keys
100 miles of THIS!
The Keys
We took the boys along too (they had a babysitter the day of the race), but they had some fun too. Our friends Chris and Cece have two fun boys to play with, and we were able to hit the alligator farm, beach, and several trips the to key lime shake place.

At the alligator farm. There were seriously thousands of them!
Aligator 2

Aligator 1
This is the best shot I got of Jack with the gators. Sorry it's blurry.
Jack and the Aligator

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

New York, Mother's Day and Birdies, Oh My

Two weekends ago we went to NCY to one of Matt's high school friends, Todd's wedding. NYC is only about 7 hours away, so wee packed up the kiddos and headed to the big city. We got a lot in, in just 2 days. We went to the Manhatten Zoo in central park, went Toys R' Us, which is 4 stories and has a ride in it and a life size dinosaur. The kids thought they had died and gone to heaven. Then we went to the wedding which it down poured. I thought it was kind of fun, but I am sure Todd's wife , the bride, was devastated. Then we decided to go see Mary Poppins the Broadway. The kids loved it and we still have all the songs in our heads.Matt and his high school friends at the wedding. Todd is the one in the green tie.

Jack and Matt in Central Park
The kids in Central Park
On the subway
At Central Park Zoo
At Central Park Zoo
The Big City
Getting ready to see the big showSitting in the theatre
Mother's Day was so nice. Matt and the kids brought me breakfast in bed. Lily had buttered one of the pieces of toast and it still had big chunks of butter on it when they brought it to me. It was so cute. I wish I had gotten a picture. The kids gave me so many fun things they had made at school and Matt and the kids gave me a huge hanging pot of flowers and a huge sitting pot. They are so pretty. Here is a picture of me and the kids right before church on Mother's Day. I am a spoiled mom and have the best kids in the world. I hope that they forgive me one day for all my inadequacies and all the times I yell at them. I just love how Lily, Jack, and Cole have so much unconditional love towards me and can be sad at me one minute, and the very next minute are my best friend. I wish I could be more like them. I love being their mom and feel so blessed by them each day.
Finally, remember those Robin eggs from my previous post? Well, today they hatch...still waiting for one more. Here is a quick picture I took a minute ago. I'll take more as they grow.
We are heading to Miami tomorrow to run in a 100 mile relay from Miami to the end of the keys. I'll post when we return!