Greenbriar State Park

Once a week during the summer the women at my church all meet at a state park called Greenbriar for the day. They have built a beach with sand swimming areas. It is all nice and roped off and they have lifeguards as well. It is only 3 dollars per person, unless you are in any kind of safety seat than you are free. So for me and the kids I only have to pay 6 bucks. This is a steal for a nice clean fun place to play all day. The kids love it. Hailey loves playing in the sand and is slowly learning that eating it is not so fun. I have always loved laying out and relaxing by the water. With Hailey I don't get as much down time as I would want, but we still have a blast. I brought along my good friend Cynthia as well. She and I usually go everywhere together. I tell her all the time she is turning me Mexican. Corey and I put hot sauce on everything and my new favorite candy is Mexican candy. They are usually suckers that they cover with chili powder and then put it in the middle as well. My mouth is actually watering just talking about them. Strange I know, but oh so good. So every week I have something fun to look forward to for the summer.

Not only does Hailey look like her daddy, she seems to have inherited his taste for Mt. Dew. I only drink the diet stuff, so she had to settle for that. I had left this almost empty can on my blanket and when I turned around this is what I saw. She was trying to sneak by with it. When she saw me coming toward her she tries to run away from me. So cute.

I honestly don't see the boys at all except when it is lunch time. They play the whole time we are there. I love it. We both win.

Can't have a post without a picture of Cynthia and I.

The girls play some in the water, but they mainly stick in the sand and make things. Today they decided to bury each other.

Hailey just likes to play with it and of course as I mentioned eat it.

I am loving summer here in Maryland.

Where Is Everyone?

Is it just me, or does it seem like the blogger world has been deserted lately? I mean, no comments on post, people not posting for a month or so. What has happened? Has Facebook pulled everyone away in it's grasp? I do look at Facebook, but I always look at blogs as well. For those of you who haven't posted in awhile, I say bring it. I miss reading about people and what they are doing. This is my way of keeping in touch with everyone. You don't have to be doing anything out of the world to post. Just little things that have made an impression will do. So if you actually read my blog (which I am scared to find out because it might not be any) could you please either leave a comment so I know you are alive? Or better yet, could you write a post of your own so I can have something to read?

Memorial Day

Maryland....the land of endless state parks. It seems the whole state is just a huge state park with town in between. So I thought that going to one for Memorial Day to swim and have fun would be relatively easy right? I guess once you narrow down the ones with a decent lake to swim in, there are only a couple of options. Well being new to Maryland I did not realize this until we drove around all morning trying to get into one. It seemed everywhere we went the park was closed due to being full to capacity. The kids were getting super bummed, I was getting bummed. When we reached Cunningham Falls we were rejected and drove up the road to turn around. Once we got back down they were allowing people back in. So we hurried and drove in and got a spot. It really wasn't that crowded and I think they were keeping it that way. The beaches were man-made, but they had lifeguards and everything there. It was sunny and warm and the kids jumped right in. I was content to just lounge in the sand and wade in to my ankles. You should have seen this water. It was practically black. You could not see a thing below the surface. Plus it was really stinky. But I was fine as long as I didn't have to swim in it. We brought our lunches and ate there on the sand. It was perfect, the kids had a blast and I had fun watching them have fun. It is crazy how your definition of fun changes as you have kids.

So here are some photos of us having fun. We went with our friends the Robello's and Corey was so glad because she brought homemade chicken tostados that I have to admit were wonderful. Made me feel small compared to my little sandwiches. After we were done swimming we came back to our house that evening for a BBQ. We had the usual hamburgers and hot dogs. Plus I had some lobster tails in the freezer that I took out and Eddie cooked for everyone. I couldn't taste them, the fish smell was too strong. But everyone else loved them. It really was a nice beginning to the summer.

Hailey testing her limits. She would just keep wading out deeper and deeper until someone came and got her. What a pill.

Don't we just look so cute together. It will be 11 years in two weeks...can you believe it.

Oh Hailey, she kept trying to eat it. Ended up with the nice sandy goatee.

Cynthia making me pose with her. But I have to put in that I am wearing my most favorite swimsuit. Best thing I have ever bought at Ross's.

My gross husband eating grapes. Trying to look seductive, but he really needs to work on it.

She really wanted to go out with the kids in the water.

This is Cynthia lounging with her hubby in the background.

You can never have enough photo's of her.

Even though the lake was stinky, the park was beautiful. So many trees.

Logan mid catch, well as you can see he missed it. I am signing him up for football this fall. He is so excited.

What a little cute blond beach babe huh?

Only the girls played in the sand, the boys stuck to the water.

Gabe showing his swimming skills. Thanks for swimming lessons.

The older girls made Hailey little swimming holes in the sand. She liked them.

So how did we rate the day....this says it all.

Antietam 5k

This morning was my 5K that I signed up for. I figure I might as well get some smaller races in during the summer. Shorter races are a whole other ballgame compared to a longer one. You are working more on speed than anything else. I wasn't sure how fast I was going, I didn't have a pacing watch, but I got 24 minutes for 3 miles. I was happy with that, I was glad it was that fast because I was feeling pretty crappy the last mile or so. It was such a cute race course. I love old battlefields and I am looking forward to doing Gettysburg next month.

The kids and I in front of the old Dunker church before the race.
Lexie and I at the starting line.

Just waiting

Getting ready to cross the finish line.

Corey and I afterwards, I am looking down because at that exact moment Hailey had pulled my shorts down. Thanks Hailey.

This is Corey being grumpy that he had to get up early and drive me to the race.

After the race we saw a little of the battlefield and then we found the little city park and ate our picnic lunch. It was a nice morning and lunch for our family.

Corey riding the alligator with Lexie.

Yes that is mom and dad.

Really liking that alligator.

This was the funniest part, Corey put Hailey in the swing and this is the face she made the whole time. She was screaming too. Did not (with stress) like the swing.

Lexie's Recital

Lexie had her recital this past Saturday. Who knew that recitals would turn out to be such a big deal. Lexie likes dancing, and I don't want to dissuade her from doing it. But when I asked if she wanted to play soccer or do dance again in the fall, she wanted to try soccer. Ok then, I am up for that. 35 dollars one time fee versus around 45 a month plus the cost of recitals, costumes and tickets to the show. This will save us lots of money. I figure when she gets older she might want to start up again. I can well imagine how much these parents spend when their daughters take multiple classes, but we will face that road when we get there.

In the mean time, here are the photos from her practice. we were not allowed to take pictures or video during the actual performance. She did so well. I was proud of her. The pictures of her in her costume are before her actual performance hence the make up. I don't want anyone to think that I gussy her up like that all the time. I did have flashes of what she will look like grown up and I have to say my daughter is gorgeous. I will have to keep an eye on her. Enjoy!!

In the dark theater, this is what I got from Hailey
Pretty good shot considering I didn't know where I was shooting the camera

Lexie and Gabe, he actually was nice during this photo shoot.

Ballet pose

Mom and Lexie

Hailey Dance

I had to post this.....Hailey is always getting down when music is on. She loves music. Her favorite show is the Fresh Beat Band on Nick and she will just watch and dance the whole 30 minutes. I might have a dancer on my hands.

Half Marathon Take Two!!

That is correct...I signed up today for another half marathon in September. I am really excited for this one. I get to run with a nice girl in our ward here who likes to run as well. This will help me with training so on long runs I won't get so bored. I know it seems a long ways off, but in reality I only have about 4 months till race day. Not very long if you are working to break your PR. So I have been researching and finding that most fast runners are rail thin....who knew right (inputting sarcasm here). We all know I am far from the body type for thin and fast. As my old track coach would say my butt is too big for running.

But even if I am not super fast, I can still improve my time. So I am taking that advice seriously in an effort to push myself and my time. I can still lose about 15 pounds and be considered healthy for my height and age. So I am going to attempt to shed that in order to make myself faster. I know people are probably shaking there heads thinking I have lost my mind in fitness fanatics. But I don't think it that way at all. I have a goal and I want to attain that goal. I crossed that finish line thinking that I wanted to do better. I should have crossed thinking "Yeah I finished" but I am competitive by nature and so you didn't get that from me. So I got back on the Weight Watchers wagon which has been a successful tool in the past with shedding some pounds for me. I should be able to attain my weight goal in a couple of months and still have about two months to train at that weight. So what is my time goal you ask? ( ok so no one really cares) Well since this is my post I can ask and answer anything I want. I want to get under the 2 hour mark. Do able according to my marathon running friends. Only 6 minutes to shave off the total time. So you might have to put up with an occasion post about my progress. If you are tired of hearing about my obsession with this, then just skip that post. The best part is that I will never know if you did.

And mom, as a side note. Don't worry. I can already see you thinking I have become obsessed about this and I am getting carried away. I promise when the holidays roll around I will be back to my current weight as I can't stand not to eat all my goodies for too long.