Foto Friday

Obviously, a very serious conversation going on about swings and physics.

 Just like that, the first year of preschool is done.  And if we don't get potty trained this summer, there won't be a second year of preschool!

New Moon Quarter Marathon 2016

Y'all?!?!?  I am having one heck of a racing season!

Saturday I ran the New Moon Quarter Marathon.  I had no specific plans or thoughts for this race, expect go out conservatively and finish strong.  Oh, and my fellow life guarding friends were running it with me so of course I wanted to beat them.

Between the long drive there, parking forever away, picking up my packet, and using the bathroom, I had less than 10 minutes to warm up.  I took a stroll around the block and did some pickups.  Everything felt great.  It was going to be a good day.

I started out what I felt was comfortably.  Dave said the look on my face would disagree with this statement.  However, I was able to have a conversation with him and everyone around me early in the race.  At the first turn, the girl in front of me, who was running the half marathon, got a bike escort for first place so I knew I was cruising and doing well.

Mile 1 - 7:36
Mile 2 - 7:40

This is where I saw Dave and he told me I was in 4th place. 

Mile 3 - 7:29

I passed the lead half marathon female going up a hill here.  I saw Dave somewhere again in here and he told me I was in third.  Actually I was in third the whole time since he didn't know the girl initially in front of me was doing the half marathon.  I was now hunting down the girl in second.  I was FLYING and felt great.

Mile 4 - 7:19
Mile 5 - 7:13

I caught the second place girl in the sixth mile and was now within sight of the first place girl.  I wanted her bad.

Mile 6 - 7:31

I chased and chased in the last half mile (0.69 miles according to my Garmin).  I was now going full-on and basically sprinting.  I was putting everything I had into it.

Last 0.55 (0.69 Garmin) - 6:45 pace

 

I did not cross the finish line first.  She was right ahead of me.  But she started in the corral ahead of me and each corral was held for 30 seconds, so in the official results I won.

I FREAKIN' WON!!!!

Wouldn't you know, there were no awards for this race?  What the heck?  But, my medal does glow in the dark which is really cool. 

Oh, and I beat my friends from the Y.

Just Another Day at the Oval Office

Fridays are track days.  The kiddo is at preschool (for one more week) and I am able to spend a little bit of time by myself usually without interruption.  The last couple of weeks the track and football field have been filled with middle and high schoolers playing games and running around.  It has made for an interesting time, but I've been able to get in my workout.  This week it was one minute to five minute intervals at fast times.  The one minute interval was done at a sub-6:00 pace and the five minute intervals was a 6:26 pace.  I was moving!  Getting faster!

But that's not the most interesting thing that happened to me at the track.

Another runner came to the track that morning and he looked serious.  He warmed up off the track and then came back and did some drills.  The dude could drill.  I stopped to get a drink and he started talking to me.  He asked me about my Hokas and if I liked them.  Funny, considering he was covered in head-to-toe Saucony.  Literally - shirt, shorts, shoes, spikes.  Everything.  He asked me what I was training for.  I then said, "you look pretty serious."  He said, yeah, that he trained in Ann Arbor (boo!) that he ran the 1500 and that he was heading to Philly for a race this weekend.  He asked me my name, I asked him his, we shook hands, and went about our workouts.  I watched him run.  Holy crap was he fast!

When I got home I googled him.  Of course.  And I found out he's kind of a big deal.  His name is Julian Matthews and he runs for New Zealand's national team.  Yes, he's sponsored by Saucony.

And he's a nice guy.  I left him a message on his Facebook page and he responded wishing me luck at the aquathlon world championships.  He listened and seemed to care.  Cool guy.

So maybe I ran those intervals fast because the training is paying off and I'm getting more fit.  Or maybe it's because one hell of a stud athlete was sharing the track with me and I wanted to save face.  Either way, it was a great day at the oval office.

April Totals

Every month I hope for a hundred miles of running and so far I've fallen short.  I either get sick or have a total meltdown and lose momentum.  April was no different.  I had one week where I just said fuck it and tried to survive life.  So here's the numbers, in all their glory.

Swimming - 16,800 yards ~ 9.5 miles
During vacation I did not swim at all.  Then I had a week where I just didn't want to do anything.  This number should have been higher.  I still had a great swim test, though.  Swimming is coming along.  I'm getting faster and learning new things.  There might even be a swim meet in my future.

Running - 78.38 miles
The week I was on vacation I totally rocked my runs.  Of course, I had baby sitting and didn't have to figure out when to go to the Y and run on the treadmill or when the track would be available.  The week after I hardly ran at all.  One of these days I'll put it all together.  I did have a great 5K while on vacation.  That's fun.

Strength - 1.75 hours
I'm trying harder to do basic strength training, mostly core work.  I know this is important for being able to race fast and to keep from getting injured.  These workouts only take 15 minutes.  I hope to keep this up.  My abs are starting to look pretty good.  :)

YMCA Visits - 12
Cost per Visit - $3.14

Week in Review

I had a pretty good week last week.  I'm trying to not get caught up in all the details of life that are dragging me down and just be.  Here's how it all went down.

Swimming - 4950 yards
I bailed on one swim that was not going well.  And then I had a meltdown.  Then I was able to put together two good swims including one that included lots of fun stuff.  Hopefully more on that in a few days.

Running - 16.93 miles
I didn't get to do my long run this morning as I had the world's longest in-service at work and spent over 4-1/2 hours in the pool without a break.  I plan on doing this run tomorrow.  The week did include an amazing speed workout that was 4 x 6 minutes at descending paces.  I hit my last one at a 6:35 pace.  That was after 50 minutes of running!  Now why can't I put that together in a race??

Strength - 0.25 hours
I only got in one strength workout but it was a doozy.  The whole thing was done with a kettlebell and was basically all squats and lunges.  I was sore for days.

Next week is a fall back week.  I couldn't be happier about it. 

I'm Losing My Shizz

Y'all, I've had a rough couple of weeks.  Last week I said f-you to my running shoes and swimsuit and sat on my couch eating myself into a tizzy.  I told my coach I hated "fucking" multisport.  I worked a gazillion hours, ripped out all of my landscaping, and slept more hours than I care to admit.  I was a mess.

And yesterday I flipped my lid in public.

I have gotten my haircut by the same girl for more than 6 years.  She works at one of those uppity salons where everyone has to wear black, has made up names so no one has the same name as someone else, serves champagne or whatever, and charges and arm and a leg for a stupid haircut.  She doesn't really fit the mold there though.  I've never seen her wear a skirt or dress.  She's never pushed me to buy any products (and has even told me she hates that part of her job) or get my hair dyed for the sake of making more money or tried to sell me on any other services.  I like her.  She does a good job.  She always changes the price for me so I'm paying for just my haircut and no other up-charges.  I almost wish she didn't work there.  I wish I knew her real name so I could seek her out outside of the salon.

Anyway, yesterday I made an appointment to just get the back of my hair trimmed.  I'm still growing out the stupid pixie cut and the mullet grows daggone fast.  This was going to be a 5 minute haircut that was going to cost me all of $13.  I made the appointment as late as I could, 3:15, hoping that my mom would be able to watch Anderson.  Unfortunately, my mom wasn't going to be able to (should have checked with her first) and I had to take Anderson.

Here's the rub...this salon has a no child policy.  Yep, you read that right.  If you're child is under 10 and does not have an appointment, he/she must be attended to at all times. 

I took Anderson with me.  He had a monster truck in his hand and I had my iPad in mine.  They have free wifi there and it was my intent to have him watch Mighty Machines on Netflix ON MY LAP while she cut the back of my hair.  Therefore, he would not be unattended and I would be following their stupid policies.  We walked in and I tried to check in.  The stupid greeter was not happy to see my three year old and reminded me of the policy.  I quoted, verbatim, to her the policy and told her he would not be unattended.  She told me I'd have to talk to a manager.  That's when I lost my shizz.

I told her, "YOU'RE POLICY IS BULLSHIT!"  I told her she could pay for my child care and my haircut, that she was bullshit, and that I was leaving.  We went out to the car and I cried.  Cried and cried and cried.  Who treats you like that in front of a child?!  And my child, in all his lovingness, says "why won't they let us in there?"  God, that hurt.  I was livid.  I was angry.  I was mad at them.  I was mad at me and my stupidity and my inability to control my shizz. 

Today I'm still angry but a little embarrassed.  The thing is, I still need a haircut.  And I don't know what to do now.  I don't really want to go back there with my tail between my legs and give them and their stupid policies my business.  But, I don't know anyone who will cut my hair or who has hair like mine that can give me a recommendation. 

I think it's about time to talk to my therapist again.  I'm, obviously, a mess.

Pinwheel 5K 2016

Where have I been?  On vacation.  And what's a vacation without a race?!  I have been to Florida more times than I can count and yet, I have not run a race there.  This year we finally figured it out.  We traveled Friday to Friday and were able to pick up a race nearby on Saturday. 

The Pinwheel 5K was a smallish race at a beautiful rowing facility in Sarasota.  The two things I love: rowing and running.  I was in heaven.  The weather was sunny and not so hot, which made for great racing. 

There's not much to say about a 5K.  I went out hard and held on for a dear life.  Actually, I felt pretty good for about 75% of this race.  At the turn around I was able to count and see that I was in 5th.  Dave was right behind me and my dad also let me know my position.  I quickly caught 4th place and then spent a mile-ish hunting down 3rd place.  I really felt like I was on the hunt the whole time and felt great.  Until I caught everyone I could and then it was everything I could do not to get caught.  Each time we had a turn I looked to see my position.  It was close but I was able to hold on to third.

This is the second time I have placed in the top three at a race and also the second time there were no awards for top three - only first place.  And I wish I could have caught that girl.  First place got a $100 gift card to a local running store.  That's a heck of a lot towards a new pair of shoes! 

Anyway, I did win my age group.  My final time was 22:09 which is a 7:0-something pace.

It was a good day for Dave and my dad.  They both took home 1st in their age groups too.

I'm starting to like the 5K.  Don't get me wrong.  It sucks.  It's hard and painful, but at least it's over quickly.  I hope to race some more soon.

Pictures from vacation coming soon!

Bad Boys, Bad Boys

Saturday we got pulled over by the cops.  We were not even two miles from our house.  A police woman had pulled out behind us.  Dave was super careful to go the speed limit so we thought it was a little odd when she put her lights on and pulled us over just down the road.

"Did you know you're tags are expired?  Is your birthday in December?"

Dave has not had to get a new license since we moved so the state believes he still lives at our old address.  Therefore, we never received our update about our license plate tags, and therefore, Dave did not update them in December on his birthday.  He thought he had updated them for two years.

"Can I have your license and insurance card?"

I got out the insurance card and it was expired.  Awesome.  Our new ones were obviously sitting at home.  Luckily, she was able to look this up because it is the same insurance.

In the end we got off with a warning but had to drive around for another two days before the BMV was open and we could get new tags.  She told us we may get a ticket in that time.  And funny enough we were both followed by cops in those two days. 

As of Monday, we're no longer fugitives from the law.

Best Swim Test EVER!!!

I did a swim test yesterday.  It was a CSS test, which stands for Critical Swim Speed.  After 1200 yards of warmup I had 400 yards all out.  I had a goal in my head, and I went for it.  I pressed hard, needing to breathe every stroke in the last several laps.  My legs were going numb; I wasn't seeing straight.  I was swimming as hard as I ever had.  When I hit that wall I was all...

5:54!!!!  That's a 1:28 per 100 yards!!!  I have never been able to average under 1:30s!!!

Then I did another 400 yards easy and then it was time for another test.  This time it was 200 yards all out.  Again I went for it breathing hard, kicking and reaching, and swimming for all it was worth.  Eight laps later and this...

2:53!!!  Eff yeah!!!! 

Of course, now I have a threshold pace that scares the crap out of me and I have no idea how you even do threshold repeats with your head underwater.  For now, I totally won the gold medal.

Being a Parent is Hard

I came home from work yesterday and Dave was giving me the look that I give him nearly every day when he returns from work -- Take the kid. I need a break!

We easily broke Anderson of the pacifier last week but we've struggled with naps ever since.  And by struggled I mean, he hasn't taken one in a week.  It's not really a big deal except that he's not sleeping longer at night and therefore, he's pretty grouchy and cranky by the end of the day.

Last night he threw a fit about something.  I don't know what it was, but it really upset him.  So much so, that he cried so hard that he vomited on himself.  I stripped him naked, threw the clothes in the wash, cleaned up the floor, and put him in the shower with me.  By the time we finished it was after 7:00pm so I wanted to put him in his pajamas and settle down for bed.  The boy did not like that idea one bit and fought me.  Finally we settled on just a diaper and he went out to the couch to watch some TV.

Dave had locked himself in a room by himself (not kidding, and I've done it myself when I need a break).  I laid in bed to just settle down.  A few minutes later Anderson comes running into my room, no diaper on, and yells, "I pooped!"  What?  Where?  And that's when I saw the poop on his leg.  Oh my god.  "On the carpet," he said.  "Come with me."  I went out into the living room and there I saw it.  A big chunk of poop on the floor along with pee sprayed all over a pillow.  I picked him up, gave him to Dave, told him to clean him off, and then I cleaned up the mess in the living room.  After that we put him straight into bed.

This morning I cleaned up another mess of apple juice and water both spilled on the floor within a few minutes of each other.  And then I had to deal with a total meltdown over three, freakin', M&Ms that he wanted to bring into the Y with him.  Oh my god!  I could have pulled my hair out. 

I texted Dave and told him that if he didn't get a vasectomy this year that I might leave him.

Tossing My Cookies

This morning I hit the track while the little one was at preschool.  I didn't have a terribly long or difficult track workout: warmup, plyometrics, a few short sprints, and cool down.  The main set was 7 x 200 with decreasing recovery intervals, starting at 90 seconds and going down to 15 seconds.  I got my head out of the way and tackled this workout.  I stopped for nothing.  Rock in my shoe?  Keep going.  Snot on the face?  Keep going.  Super thirsty?  Keep going.  I was super consistent with my sprints, knocking out all of them at just under a 6:00 pace.  The last interval was super tough.  Fifteen seconds rest?  I barely stopped and then I was sprinting again.  I pushed and pushed and when I finished that booger, I tossed my cookies right there on the track.  Coach was so proud.  What a great workout.

March Totals

*sigh*

This wasn't the best month.  After my race in Myrtle Beach I got sick.  Really sick.  I got the flu, even after having my shot months ago, and spent five days in bed before I felt GOOD enough to go see the doctor.  Unfortunately, you just have to wait out the flu so I spent several more days in misery coughing and snotting and sleeping.  So, I missed a whole week of training.  Then when I did come back, the cough lingered which made it hard to run and I lost a lot of motivation too.  So, the numbers were low.  As Nature Cat says, Onward and Yonward!!!

Swimming - 21,400 yards ~ 12.2 miles

Running - 36.1 miles

Strength - 1.25 hours

YMCA Visits - 12
Cost Per Visit - $3.14 (pi!!!!)

I am DETERMINED to get it done in April.  April, you're my bitch!

Big Boy

The baby turned three on Sunday and everything has changed.  Yesterday started with a visit to the dentist for Anderson's first cleaning.  It went okay.  He didn't love how the twirly tooth brush tickled his lips.  But he did love the sucky thing.  I held it and kept putting it in his mouth, getting it stuck to his tongue. 

He has been a pacifier kid since day 1 and the dentist let us know that it was ruining his bite.  Instead of weeing him off of it and keep it around through our vacation coming up, we decided to go cold turkey and throw the dentist under the bus for the reason why he couldn't have it anymore.  It's been a little rough, mostly at bedtimes.  He cries and cries, "my pafier, MY PAFIER!!!"  He hasn't taken a nap since taking it away either.  Oy.

This morning we had our three year check up at the doctor's.  He weighed 31 pounds and was 37-1/2 inches tall.  He did well answering questions.  The doctor let us know that potty training was coming soon.  Please.  PLEASE!!!!

Now all we need to do is get him (a) potty trained and (b) into his bed.  He still loves to sleep in his crib and asks to sleep in it.  He's so big.

Whirlwind of a Weekend

You know how on HGTV the people looking for a house or those remodeling the house always say, "we love to entertain?"  Yeah, I'm not one of those people.  You'll never hear me saying that.  Inside I would love to be social and would love to have people over all the time, but the truth of the matter is that I'm socially awkward and that having people come to my house gives me anxiety.

So this weekend was just hell for me.  Friday we hosted a small birthday party for Anderson.  Family came over and we had pizza and cake.  Anderson opened a few small presents, mostly trucks and cars, and we surprised him with a new playground for home.  It won't be here for a few weeks.  He's going to love it.

Just last week my mom reminded me that I agreed to host Easter.  I did what?!?!  With my parents retiring next year, my mom has decided that my sister and I need to step up and starting hosting some holidays.  My sister loves to entertain; me not so much.  What fool decided to have a birthday and Easter in the same weekend?  Oh yeah, me.

Anyway, my family pitched in and brought over their cooking specialties while Dave and I prepared a ham and some other stuff.  We also hid hundreds (not kidding) of plastic eggs in the yard that contained money or candy.  The kids went to town and did very well.  I swear, Anderson has more candy from the egg hunt than from Halloween.  That is not good for my waistline.

I was so glad when the weekend was over.  Going back to work never felt so good.

Do you like to entertain?
What did you do for Easter?

Scariest thing EVER!

It was a typical Friday night at the pool.  Lots of kids, lots of splashing, short staffed.  We had just rotated lifeguards and I was on my 20 minute break.  I was cleaning up around the pool when I noticed a kid in a life jacket venture into the deep end - a big fat NO at our pool.  So, I walked around the deck to go talk to him and get him out of the deep end.  As I'm crouching down talking to him, the lifeguard in the chair screamed my name.  I looked up and the mom of this child had ventured into the deep end to get him.  She couldn't swim and she was actively drowning.

Shit!

I immediately left the kid (he was fine; he was in a life jacket) and jumped in the pool.  I swam to her quickly, grabbed her, and began kicking towards the shallow end.  Because I was not the lifeguard on duty, I did not have a rescue tube which means my only flotation was my swimming skills.  The woman freaked out and grabbed me around the neck, taking me down with her.  In my head I was totally panicking and doing what I could do to keep the both of us safe.  I kept hold of her, but I was trying to push her off to keep the both of us from drowning (we are taught escapes for this exact reason).  Finally I was able to catch a breath and ask her to kick with me.  She said she couldn't.  Yikes!  What seemed like an eternity later I was able to kick her the few feet to the shallow end where she grabbed hold of the rope and stood up. 

My husband and kid were swimming at the time and saw the whole thing happen.  Dave helped me get out of the pool, saying it was the scariest and coolest thing he's ever seen.  I talked to the woman about what happened and grabbed my manager-on-duty to help fill out an incident report.  There were several things we could have done better on this rescue - should have hit our emergency button, the other guard should have cleared the pool and thrown me a rescue tube, etc. - but the important thing was we helped the woman, no one drowned, and everything turned out just fine.

The rest of the night I was a wreck.  I literally shook and cried sitting in the guard chair for the rest of my shift.  I had a lot of adrenaline running through my body and thinking back to what I did was just scary.  That night I had a nightmare about it.  Looking back I'm so thankful we are so well trained, that I was in the right place at the right time, and that I'm in amazing shape and could perform the rescue without the use of a tube.  It was so scary; I don't want to do it again any time soon.

Bojangles 5K 2016

This past weekend was really all about the husband.  He ran the Myrtle Beach Marathon and I hope to post some pictures and thoughts about his race another time.  But, I was lucky enough to jump into a 5K, check off a new state, and pick up some hardware.

This was a night race.  I figured since it was around a shopping/entertainment center (Broadway at the Beach) it would be well lit.  It was, sort of.  There were definitely places that were DARK, but the lights from cars helped a lot.  I never felt unsure of my footing, but waiting all day to run a race and then doing it in the dark is not exactly my favorite way to race.

I started off what I felt was conservatively.  The legs were moving, breathing seemed okay, and the pace was right - 7:06 first mile.  And then things seemed to get tough instead of faster.  My arms were hurting.  My breathing was fast and labored.  Gosh, I hate the 5K!  The second mile was 7:24.  Come on, Mer!  You're supposed to be able to run this in the 6:00s!  The third mile I played all kinds of mind games - 10 steps of surges, 10 steps of backing off - whatever I could do to get to that damn finish line.  Finally I was there and got caught in quite possibly the best worst finishers photo of all time.

Regardless of what I would deem as a poor race, I finished second in my age group out of 67 and walked away with a cool glass plaque.

Two days after this race I had a temperature over 101 and it has continued for a few days.  Obviously I was catching something which may have affected my race.  There is another 5K in about 4 weeks.  Redemption!

Am I Training for Boston?

This morning I hit the treadmill for one bitch of a run.  It was a designed treadmill run which included 4 x 5 minutes at a 4% incline at a steady pace (8:30 miles).  Am I training for Boston?  This run was hard, sweaty, and yet, I kicked its ass.  I'm in such good running shape right now, it's scary. 

Here was my favorite moment from the run.

I was doing this run at the Y.  Anderson was at preschool and the Y allows me to fully concentrate on my workouts without getting caught up in what I should be doing at home instead of running.  Anyway, like everyone else, I have basically had a cold since Thanksgiving, which has included a lot of nasal drip.  It's worse in the morning.  As a run goes on, that drip turns into a lot of throat clearing and coughing.  I hate doing it and feel like an idiot.  And I especially feel bad for the people who are on the treadmills next to me.  However, the woman on the treadmill next to me this morning cracked me up.  I had been running for a solid 30-45 minutes so the cough was full-on.  The treadmill next to me had been empty for a while but was totally loaded up with my germs.  An older woman got on the 'mill next to me and started doing some walking.  Every time I cleared my throat or had a little cough, she would take a towel and cover her nose and mouth.  It was obnoxious and yet I couldn't help but giggle.  There one million treadmills at the Y and she could have seen I was grossing all over everything before choosing her treadmill.  Needless to say, she didn't last long next to me - three minutes tops.  Whatever.  The Y is a cesspool of germs.  My coughing is not going to change anything.

Goodbye to My Favorite Running Hat

In 2006 I ran Boston on my birthday.  My parents were there (I think my dad was running the race too??) and bought me a new hat to celebrate my birthday.  I loved that hat.  I wore it every week for 9 years.  I used it almost every race I've done.  It was lucky.  And if you've followed my blog for any amount of time you will see that hat in just about every picture.

Unfortunately, it's time to say goodbye to my favorite hat.  It has seen better days.

I once put my barrettes on my hat after a race and left them on there too long.  They rusted and left a good stain:

The bill has come unsewn twice.  Once I fixed it; this time I think it's time to just let it be:

The bill is quite frayed.  I look like a frat boy (or at least a frat boy from the '90s - I have no idea what those dudes are wearing now).

And, finally, parts of the hat are moldy.  Yes moldy.  Ick.

Do you have a lucky hat or other running gear that you just can't get rid of?

Fast Getting Faster

I'm not gonna lie, training has been tough.  Coach is really pushing me to new limits.  I'm doing speedwork that frankly scares me.  But I'm doing it.  And it's working.  A few weeks ago I did a run test where I averaged a 6:45 pace.  Since then she's given me long intervals where I have to average a threshold pace and then workouts with shorter intervals where I sustain an interval pace.  These are based on the Jack Daniels VDOT stuff.  (I don't understand it, but I know it works.)  I've been lucky to have some good weather where I've been able to get out on the track for the shorter stuff.  Even luckier, I've been out there while the lacrosse team has been practicing and the lights have been on and therefore, it wasn't dark!  The first time I ran I averaged around 6:30s and they felt hard.  The other day I noticed some paces on the treadmill that were starting to feel "easy".  This included a 6:45 pace segment.  Yesterday when I went to the track I had 5 x 2 minutes at interval pace followed by 1 minute easy.  As much as I tried to hold back and run correct intervals, I still busted out 6:20 paces.  My fast is getting faster.  I just hope this translates into some fast race times this year.  Next race is in a week and a half.

Anderson and Mommy Adventures

{Peers out the window at the snow falling}

It really hasn't been a bad winter.  It's not been all that cold; it hasn't snowed a lot; the roads haven't been terrible.  And yet, I feel like this has been the longest winter of my life.  Dragging the kiddo around and wrestling him into his winter coat (which he hates) has caused me to be a recluse.  The problem with being a recluse with a nearly three year old boy is that all I play is trains and trucks and watch hours and hours of Thomas.  Ugh!

A few weeks ago I implemented "Anderson and Mommy Adventures" which would help us get out of the house and do something different.  So far, we've gone on two adventures.  The first was toddler time at a local roller rink.  Each Tuesday you can bring your toddler for free and let him/her skate, play, and run around for an hour and a half.  We put on skates for all of about three minutes, and then he decided he would rather play with the toys and run around.

Today we went and played at a local community center where they have an awesome pool play area.  I had done my research and knew the price and yet I screwed up and didn't look to see if there were specific times available at the pool.  So when we got there we only had a half hour left of play time.  What was nice, though, is that they prorated my fee and we still got to play for a little bit.  Anderson had a great time pulling the levers and cranking the wheels and of course, splashing me.  I, of course, fell down the stairs and hurt myself.  Typical.

I don't know what next week will bring.  Maybe one of those trampoline parks?  Maybe ice skating (brr)?  Where do you like to adventure with your little ones?