We had a fun July 4th. Went to church then spent the afternoon taking naps. After nap time we went to Melody's house to swim and celebrate her birthday. While Greg and the kids stayed and swam at Mel's house I headed off to the airport to welcome home some friends and their 3 new daughters. It was a fun day.
I am a little behind with blogging to say the least. On June 26th, our little girl turned 3 years old. Where does the time go to? I can still remember coming home from South Korea with her 2 1/2 years ago like it was yesterday. I remember sleepless nights and lots of laughs. I remember many days of speech therapy with Miss Laura because she wouldn't talk and now she doesn't stop. I think I am going to like 3 years old. She is communicating and playing such elaborate fantasy games and she is so very excited about going to pre-school in the fall. We celebrated her birthday with Greg's family. Lunch, cake and then swimming in Aunt Melody's pool.
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.
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.
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!
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 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.
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.
TERESA HAYWORTH #11414
Today I ran the Papa John's 10 miler. Not the first time running this distance, but the first race at this distance. I had high hopes of running under 1 hour 30 minutes, but my mental state got the best of me. I ran 1 hour 35 minutes and 51 seconds. Not too bad, but still a little disappointing. It is amazing how I could be running with 8000 people and still be running all alone. Several of my friends ran, but we are all at different levels and so I ran by myself. The first 3 miles were hard because there were so many people to dodge. The second 3 miles were through Iroquois Park, which is 3 miles of hills. Literally! There are no flat sections in the park. It is either up or down. The ups are long and the downs are over far too quickly. The last 4 miles were all mental. It started pouring down rain at about mile 7 and I kept telling myself "anyone can run 3 miles!" It took us 9 minutes to get to the start line after the race's official start time.
While I was running Greg and the kids were waiting a the Papa John's Cardinal Stadium. He was less than excited to be spending the day with 2 small children in a crowd of people. Top things off with a thunder storm and when I finished the race they were "finished" too. We stayed for the kids 50 yard dash. By that point Naomi as not interested in anything except going home, so Josiah ran it and got his participation medal. He is quite the little sprinter. He may take after his mother after all!
