Orange Belt

On Saturday Josiah was invited to test for his orange belt in Tae Kwon Do. Part of the test was to break a board with his foot. Here it is

A First And Some Fun

This week I was outside playing with Naomi. She wanted to ride bikes so I got her tricycle out for her to ride. She does OK with it, but not great. Several months ago we were given a 2 wheeler with training wheels on it. She has been way too small for it for the longest time so we just had it hung in the garage. On Friday I decided to let her sit on it while I pushed her, thinking she would still be too small for it. I got it down and sat her on it and low and behold I had to raise the seat up for her. She took off on it right away and is loving her new pink princess bike. The other thing that is new with Naomi is that she refuses to sleep in her toddler bed. She wants a big bed like Josiah. The past month we would put her to bed in her toddler bed and then she would sneak into the guest room and sleep on the queen size bed in there. Today we went out and bought her a twin bed, a new comforter and sheets for her room. She is happily sleeping in her own room again tonight. She is very excited about the new bed. I don't have pictures of it yet, but will post them when I do.

Trains, Planes and Automobiles.......And One BIG Boat!

We just got back from a wonderful vacation during which we used every form of transportation possible. Early Sunday morning (April 25th) we drove to Cincinnati airport with Greg, myself, Josiah, Naomi, Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Melody and Leah. Once there we took the shuttle bus to the terminal. After check in we took the train to our gate.
The plane rides to Atlanta and then to Melbourne Florida were fun for the kids and grown ups alike. We got a van ride from Melbourne to Cape Canaveral where we spent the night before boarding the Monarch of the Sea. The kids were beyond excited about getting on board and going swimming. We toured the ship just a little so we knew where things were and then got into our swim suits and head straight for the pool. I had no idea that the water in the pool of a cruise ship is salt water!
Naomi was not very eager to "swim" so we called the pool play water and emphasised that there would be NO swimming, just playing. That made her happy and she gladly got in the water. Once the kids were in it was difficult to convince then to get out.
Dinner time was a highlight of the trip. It was even listed as one of Josiah's favorite things. It seems he really likes "fancy" dinners. Our wait staff was excellent, friendly and funny. Anytime one of us couldn't make up our minds what we wanted to eat, whether it be an entree or a dessert, our waiter brought both choices to the table. We ate so well I think everyone gained at least some weight that week. I personally gained 3 pounds.
We set sail at about 4:30pm and sailed all night. I was the only one that got sick and I ended up taking Josiah's dramamine. The seas were too rough for us to make our port of call at Coco Cay so we continued on to Nassau, Bahamas. We spent the afternoon shopping for t-shirts for our kids and then spent the rest of the day in the pool. The next day we took a taxi to a local beach where Leah saw the ocean for the very first time. She was so excited about playing in the waves and in the sand. All three kids had a blast. Very late that night we set sail again to go back to Coco Cay. The next morning we stopped just offshore from Coco Cay and were taken by tenders to the island. It was a beautiful, restful island. We spent the whole day on the island playing in the water and sand. We each took turns snorkeling and walking around the island. the kids got to ride motorised cars for a while and we had a fabulous BBQ lunch on the beach. The seagulls were on form and were stealing food off people's plates all over the place. In fact one swooped down and took Naomi's hot dog right off her plate. It was so quick she didn't even know what happened. What a fun day. That night we sailed back to Port Canaveral where we got our taxi back to the airport and back home. Cruising is a ton of fun and I would do it again tomorrow if I could. I think this might become a family favorite vacation. While walking on the beach one of the days Josiah asked me when we were going on vacation again. For those of you that don't know that would be in July. I am flying with the 2 kids to South Africa to see my family. Greg will join us 2 weeks later. I can't wait.

Kentucky Derby miniMarathon

Last Saturday was the big day. I had been training for the mini Marathon for several months and it was finally here. I felt well prepared for it and was ready to run. The night before we got together with several of our friends to have a pre race party. We got our shirts that we ran in and had a great time eating and being goofy. The shirts we ran in were in memory of Jonathan Cunningham. Becky is wife ran the race with us.
The kids slept at grandma and grandpa's house so that we could get up bright and early. We picked April up at 6am and made our way in the rain to the start of the race. April and I decided to run with a pace team to help us reach my goal of a 2 hour mini. The pace team started out really fast and didn't stick to the average pace posted. We kept up with them for a long time, but this was a mistake and my undoing. We had planned to gout relatively slowly and then pick up the pace, but that didn't happen. at about 6 miles I was so tired and sore that I felt a little defeated. I did run the first 10 miles faster than the Papa John's 10 miler a few weeks ago. After 10 miles though I found it very difficult to keep running. April would run up ahead and then walk back to find me. She was very encouraging and is a true friend. I kept telling her to go ahead and run better time for herself, but she kept telling me that we trained together so we would finish together. She truly kept me going that last 3 miles.
Next year we are going to do longer runs and run at least a 15 mile run before the race so that my brain and body knows it can make 13.1 miles. I can't believe we are strategizing next years training already. It was a good experience and I will definitely do it again.

TERESA HAYWORTH #11414
LOUISVILLE, KY
Age: 39 Gender: F
Distance HALF MAR
Clock Time 2:14:02
Chip Time 2:11:34
Gender Place 1502 / 6093
Division Place 241 / 874
Oall 4105
Ctz USA
10K 58:00
Divtotal 891
Sextotal 6093