Pacific Coast Triathlon 2011 | Sprint Distance | Race Recap

Before the race: Tiff, Maria, Karoline, Me, Kim 
Fun fact: We are all moms and if you add all our kids together there are over a dozen.


1/2 mile swim | 12 mile bike | 3 mile run
My first triathlon. Done.

Well I am told I get to call myself a Triathlete now which is pretty stinkin' cool!! Even as I am typing this I have a huge grin on my face. I still can't believe I did it. 

My biggest fear as you know was the ocean swim. Swim in general is not my strength but when you add the challenge of swimming in the ocean it just compounded my fear of the swim portion of this race. Ten weeks ago I was doubtful I could complete this race because of my insane fear of the ocean swim. After my first ocean swim I made the choice to train scared. Scared of the ocean and the challenge ahead of me. And now that I did it the feeling of accomplishment is amazing. I pushed through the self doubt and fear and realized how mental this sport can be and how I have what it takes to persevere! 

The day before the race my nerves were intense. The worse pre-race jitters I have ever encountered. Every time I talked about the race, picking up the packet or just thinking about the race made my stomach turn. I barely slept. I kept visualizing the swim and then I started worrying that I was too focused on the swim and that I needed to focus on the rest of the race too.

I packed all my things on Saturday the day before the race. My buddies told me to lay everything out by sport on a towel. I took a quick picture on my phone so that after I packed it all up I would be able to double check what I had packed instead of rummaging through my bag. I don't have a tri bag so I used a duffle bag. I really like how everything fit in my duffle bag. 

Here's what my layout looked like:

Swim stuff: Tri Suit, wetsuit, race belt with bib, timing chip, swim cap, extra swim cap, goggles, extra goggles, body glide, shot blocks, water bottle to clean feet, sunblock.

Bike stuff: Helmet, sunglasses, socks, straw for water bottle, shot blocks, water bottle to fill aero water bottle.

Run stuff: Hat, shoes, water belt (I didn't use this but I wanted to have it just in case I wanted it).

Race morning. I was up at 4:30 a.m. My friend Tiffany picked me and Karoline up at 4:45 a.m. We loaded the bikes in the van and headed to Crystal Cove. It's about a 15 minute drive and I probably said  two sentences the whole ride. I felt sick to my stomach from all the nerves. Tip: If you carpool with at least three people in the car and get to Reef point parking lot by 5:00 a.m. you get to park for free and you are the closest to the transition area which was awesome especially after the race!

When we walked down to the main area we quickly noticed all the American flags it was a beautiful display and it was a great reminder of what a sad day this was for our country ten years ago. I loved that they dedicated this race to all the heroes of 9/11.

As we entered the first thing we did was get marked. Race number on your arm and age on your calf. Then you get to go back to the transition area and set up. This was fairly smooth since we were there early and were able to pick the spot we wanted. We set up closest to the bike exit since when you go out and come back you will be running/ shuffling with your bike shoes on so the shorter the distance the better.

Potty break. Since it was still really early we took a quick potty break and it was a good thing we did because within 20 minutes the line was really long to use the restrooms. I also appreciated being the first to use the port-o-potty it was as clean as they get.

We went ahead and got our wetsuits on to head down to the swim starts since one of our friends in the group had a son racing too! Which was pretty cool! He is fourteen and he did an amazing job. I finished my breakfast on the beach saw a dolphin swimming. Got to watch all the rescue crew get in position. I still couldn't shake my nerves. 

I kept looking around for my husband and kiddos because they were originally planning to come down but since it was early and the parking was a little tricky I had texted and told my hubby not to worry about coming out it may be too hard with the little ones. I didn't know what he decided since I needed to get down to the beach. 

My very experienced friend Tiffany had us warm up running a bit on the beach and then jumping in the water and swimming out parallel to the first buoy. I was unsure about doing this I thought it would freak me out. But it had the complete opposite effect. I felt great getting through the waves and swimming a bit. Then when we got back to the shore my nerves were gone!

Before I knew it the horn sounded and off I went into the ocean. My plan of attack was to stay to the left (away from the buoys) and in the back of my wave. My goal was not to stop to keep moving forward. I did not stop at all...I had some moments were I felt like I was stopped because I was moving slow but I was moving. The water was pretty smooth and the waves were not that bad. The water temp was great it was warmer than it was during my practice swims which helped me get my face in the water and swim.

The swim to the first buoy was quick the swim to the second was an eternity! Right before I hit the second buoy my right calf cramped up it was an intense cramp I flipped on my back to try and work it out while I kept moving. When the cramp was manageable I flipped back over and got back to freestyle but then I heard the loud noise of the next wave coming in behind and around me. All of a sudden I felt hands on my feet, feet on my hands and bodies next to mine. The water was extremely choppy from all the motion of the swimmers around me and I made a quick choice to move farther to the left away from the group. I knew if I stayed in the middle of all the commotion that I would have started to panic. I was happy with my choice until I realized I swam right into kelp patches. They were thick and slimy and it took a lot of effort to get out of it. I basically ended up swimming over the whole patch...it was a weird feeling. Then my left calf cramped. So I flipped to my back again to work it out. After I worked through the cramp I was realized I was really close to the last buoy and the end of the swim. My friend Karoline called out my name and I felt soo happy to see a familiar face. I tried to stay behind her following her wetsuit. The swim in was long. It felt great to see the swim finish but it took me some time to make it all the way in.

When I stepped on the mat for the swim finish I was super happy. Then up a steep hill to the transition area. I walked the hill to help myself recover from the swim. I got to my bike and got my glasses and helmet on and then realized I still had to finish getting my wetsuit off! My first transition cost me some time but I got on my bike and rode and it felt great. The view was beautiful. The ride is a small portion of PCH and you just get amazing views of the pacific. Before I knew it the bike was done.

The 2nd transition went much quicker. I put my bike up took my helmet and glasses off switched shoes, put on my hat and off I went. My legs felt yucky as they always do when I get off the bike and then run but I know it takes me about a half a mile to work through it. My calves were still very sore from the cramping in the water. I started on my run and not even a quarter mile into it I spotted one of my other friends, Tracey, (not racing this race) on the sideline and I can't even tell you how happy I was to see her smiling face!! She ended up running along side me the whole run in pants and with her purse on her shoulder. She ran me all the way to the end and gave me that extra boost to sprint it into the finish.

This was a great race! I had an amazing group of friends training with me, supporting me and encouraging me. Thank you ladies for all of your help!!

After the race. 

Pacific Coast Triathlon was a great race. There were a ton of volunteers all of them friendly, helpful and knowledgeable. The race was well organized. It was a small sized triathlon about 600 people which I really enjoyed. There was a great vibe from most of the other people participating. I would love to try this race again!

Below are my stats for this race.

Finish time: 1:48:29
Age division place: 17th (I'm not sure how many in my age yet)
Swim: 22:22
T1: 5:20
Bike: 49:13
T2: 2:17
Run: 29:14


Oh and my husband and kiddos didn't have a chance to make it to the race. I checked my phone after the race to see if they had made it and my husband had wrote that my son wasn't feeling well and I was lucky I wasn't home. We got back to the van got everything loaded and then I checked my email. And these two videos were waiting for me...

We all got a great laugh at the "poop allergy" and "diarreo" video. I love that we had just finished a triathlon and then got to watch my kiddos talk about diarrhea. I love all the hats we juggle as Moms. I wouldn't trade it for the world!

A little vacation time...

We just returned from a wonderful vacation in a peacefully quiet and small town of Haugen, WI.

Sorry for the no posts, I had planned to pre-write some things but I got busy trying to get out of town and for safety reasons I don't post that I'm on vacation. I'll try to do better next time.

I'll share some more pictures once I sort through the ones I took. The lake is small and there was barely any boat traffic. It felt like we had the lake all to ourselves. Our cabins were rustic with just the bare essentials. No TV's, no WIFI, no phones...ahhh unplugged.

This is a place where my husband and his family have vacationed since he was a little boy. His siblings still travel there with their families every summer. This is the first year we have been able to join them. It was a great time spending time with family, boating, fishing and just plain relaxing!

Happy to be home now just trying to get back into the swing of things and gearing up for the new school year.

11 years ago today...

I married the man I will spend the rest of my life with. 

Mary Basnight Photography

I am overwhelmed and humbled that he chose me.

I am grateful for every moment we are given together (even the challenging ones).

Last weekend we were able to sneak away and celebrate our anniversary. Thank you E & J for watching our kiddos! We spent the night at a cute little inn on the bluffs of Dana Point, CA. The name of the place was The Blue Latern Inn and we had a wonderful time there. The view was spectacular!! The service was great. We took little beach cruisers down to the harbor and explored the area a bit. Walked over and had a great dinner at The Chart House. The next morning we woke up and had a nice breakfast then headed up to the third floor of the inn for couples spa time. We left feeling pampered, refreshed and relaxed. 

WVA Ralph J. Reddington 10K and Kids Run- Race Recap

On the fourth of July I woke up early and met up with my girlfriends to run our local 10k. I had planned on running the 5k again this year but since I really hadn't done any speed work or really any training it was very unrealistic that I would have been able to run faster than last year. Plus all my friends were running the 10k and it's fun to run with friends.

We wore our cute sparkle skirts because they make any race a little more fun. But this race was not fun for me at all. It was hot and it was hard. I just couldn't find my groove.

It started off on the wrong foot. We stood at the start line chatting and taking pics and then the horn sounded to start and everyone was a little taking back the lack of warning before the start.

I can't really explain why I felt I couldn't run the route I run a couple days a week. My body just did not want to and my mind could not force it to get moving. I wanted to quit a handful of times especially when we ran past the road to my house.

I felt bad because my friends were staying back with me instead of leaving me behind. A couple of times I thought I was going to cry because I was soo frustrated with myself. My friends kept telling me to keep going and they were super encouraging and had it not been for them I may have just quit.

I have never felt this way before about a race and it was a totally bummer to have all those feelings. I finished with the time: 1:02:32.  My pace averaged 10:03.

So the best part about this morning was that my son Weston got to race in his first kids run!! It was a one mile race. I didn't plan on him racing until the night before when he told me how much he really wanted to race too. He has asked a couple of times but I have been waiting for a shorter kids run but this ended up being a fun race for him.

We were super proud of Weston for running this race all by himself! He ran the mile in 9 minutes and 7 seconds. 

So even though it wasn't a great race or a fun run for me I ended up having a good time after I finished and got to celebrate with my son.

Also I wanted to give a big CONGRATS to Tiffany (the one in the white hat above) for winning her age division at this race with a smoking fast 48 min time!

Have you ever had a race you just wanted to quit?

Women's Retreat at Tahquitz Pines

I attended a women's retreat a week ago and it was a much needed break. Up on the mountain you are free from everyday noise and distractions. You have ample time to be quiet and still. You can hear yourself and more importantly hear God.

We live in such a go go go society and it's very easy to fall into the routine of busyness. It's easy to smile and wave and move through your day. But when we are given time to be still we almost don't know what to do with ourselves.

I'm thankful for this time I had at Tahquitz Pines and I am completely blessed from the people who touched my heart during the retreat.

Leaving the retreat I could feel a season of change coming. God is doing a work in my heart and mind and it's a little bit scary (okay a lot a bit scary) and refreshing all at the same time.

School is winding down and summer is right around the corner. 

I'm planning on a slow paced summer. 

How about you?

Camping with kids in Big Bear California

The last time we camped was back in 08'. Sad right? Before kids my husband and I loved to go camping but after kids it wasn't really a top priority and it seemed like it would be a lot more work with babies.

My son has asked us continuously for the last couple of years if we could go camping again. We kept telling him we will go soon. Of course life just gets busy and camping is low on the totem pole of priorities. In January we decided we are going to start camping again that this was the year to reignite our love for the rugged outdoors.

Our first camping trip this year was at the start of spring break. We decided to camp our for two nights and three days after a little research online we decided on Big Bear to go camping. The funny thing is as we told friends that we were going camping in Big Bear most of them looked at us like we were a little bit crazy. You see most of the locals are still going skiing in April. It is true there is still snow in Big Bear but only on one mountain not the one we camped on.

Of course we had checked the weather and knew it would be a little chilly at night. So we made sure we had warm sleeping bags and a borrowed heater ...the heater was awesome!

My husband found a great campground for families called Serrano campground. This is a great campground for first timers and for families because it has bathroom facilities, showers and cleared campsites. It is not a rugged campground. I really appreciated the super clean bathrooms (they clean them three times a day) we did not use the showers because we forgot towels but they looked great.

After surviving the first chilly night my husband made a delicious breakfast and tried his hand at percolated coffee...it was not good. So he headed to Starbucks in town and brought back yummy coffee. Now I know some of you die hard campers are shaking your head at the thought of getting Starbucks while camping but I'm not an all or nothing kinda girl so I enjoyed my coffee guilt-free.

I was able to use a dutch oven I won in a chili cook-off years ago for the very first time. I was super excited to use it. I ended up making a yummy pot roast and boy did it hit the spot!

The kids favorite part of the whole trip was a hike in the Woodland trail. It is a mile and a half long and perfect for little kids. There were sixteen markers throughout the hike that taught us about the plants and wildlife indigenous to the San Bernardino mountains.

Big thanks to the workers at the Discovery Center for steering us to the right activity for our kids. If you are ever in Big Bear make sure you stop by the Discover Center they have a ton of ideas, maps, activities, crafts, and adventure passes.

My kiddos had a wonderful time running through the bushes and "hunting" cheetahs, bears and snakes with their sticks. My husband and I enjoyed the quiet unplugged time we were able to share.

Everyone had a wonderful time even with the chilly evenings. We are already planning for our next trip sometime this summer!!

Spring break hiatus and other ramblings

Hello Friends!

We started spring break with a great camping trip in Big Bear, CA. When we returned to suburbia I decided to stay unplugged for the week. I hope that you all had a wonderful spring break and would love to hear about all you did!

I also took the week off from P90X. I can tell you that around week seven I started to feel burnt out with the program. I wouldn't say that it's because it's that tough because it's not as bad as I thought it would be although I have the tendency to build things up bigger than they are. Perhaps I'm getting tired of Tony Horton's corny humor...or all the push ups and pull ups...but maybe more than anything I think I just miss running.

So for spring break I took the week off of P90X (I didn't quit just a short break). I will pickup tomorrow with the start of the last four weeks. I will change from the classic program to doubles and instead of adding an extra cardio video I will add running back in because running makes me happy!


My spring break was nice. Camping, hanging out, a little spring cleaning, a visit from dear friends and of course to end with the celebration of Easter was great!

What where you up to for spring break?

Clever Craft Caddy by Angry Julie Monday

Recently the kids and I went over to a friend's house for a play date and as I was snooping around her house (with her of course!) I spied a clever little craft caddy. It's a lazy susan and the containers are fastened to the top. Genius!

Of course I voiced my opinion and gushed all over it and within a week or so I was gifted this lovely craft caddy all for me, well for the kiddos. Thank you, Angry Julie and Angry Husband!

Before the caddy I had the kids pencils/markers/crayons in multiple pencil boxes and mason jars. I love how everything is in one place now and easily accessible for little hands.

Angry Julie Monday claims that she's not crafty but she really is. Check out her site for an easy peasy tutorial to make one for yourself!

Surgery

Natalie's surgery came and went like a blink of an eye. She's doing great! I worried and stressed for really no reason. It's funny because I kept praying about her surgery mostly that everything would go well and that she would be okay. But even after praying and praying I still worried and worried.

This verse came up in church two weeks before her surgery: "So don't worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring it's own worries. Today's trouble is enough for today." Matthew 6:34

That verse stuck out to me but I still didn't listen. I talked about it to all my friends as if they could have prevented a bad outcome. I have had this surgery weighing on my shoulders since last summer and I never really released it until it was finished and I had her back in my arms.

Sigh.

And what I realize now is that I did a terrible job of truly trusting God to take care of her. Crazy right. He loves her more than I can ever love her. Why did I worry so much? I wanted to control the situation in a human way. In reality I had no control of the situation. I don't have much control over many situation and even though I love my God with all my heart I still have a hard time letting go and trusting that all will be okay.

Her surgery was minor. The lesson for me was major.

Hi Friends!

I haven't been abducted by aliens or fallen of the face of the earth I have just been knee deep in life with small kiddos!

The new year has been busy busy around my house. We started off looking for preschools for my youngest (Natalie) who will be four in May. Apparently you have to register now for fall. And even with early registration you may not get the time slot you desire or in some cases get into the preschool! Crazy. My son did not attend preschool. So this is the first time and most likely the last time we will deal with the preschool craziness. We found a school that we like and will turn our registration in today and pray that we get a spot.

I have been winding down my training for the Surf City half-marathon this weekend. This week has been a taper week. Two weeks ago I started have some intense pain in the top of my foot I thought that I was going to have to sit out for this race. The pain was not good and I took a couple days off to ice it and just stay off it in general. I am happy to say that my foot is good to go and feels just fine now. But I was pretty nervous. Last week I thought I was getting sick, something is going around my son's school. Fortunately I was able to ward it off with massive amounts of vitamins, water and plenty of rest. So Surf City here I come!!

Another crazy thing going on (I promise I will make a longer post about later) is that my daughter has to have a minor surgery in a week and a half. We have known that she needed it since last summer but have taken time to think about all our options. Long story short is that she is tongue tied. We never knew. She never had feeding problems and up until recently never had speech problems. The best option for her is surgery to try and correct the physical problem and then follow up with speech therapy. As you can imagine this has been hanging in the back of my mind since last summer. Now that the surgery is scheduled I am nervous and a bit scared. Because I am a Mom and I worry. Sometimes too much.

Sorry for the long post but I have a bazillion things to tell you and I'm just trying to get it out of my crazy head!

Goodbye 2010 and Hello 2011!

I hope the first day of the new year is treating you well. I have had a wonderfully relaxing and fun Christmas vacation. My husband took the last two weeks of December off and my son was on Christmas break. This break was long overdue and we had a wonderful time just hanging out together.

It rained the first week of vacation which was a bummer but also sort of a blessing in disguise. It really made us hunker down in the house and spend time together instead of running around like crazy people. We did 95% of our Christmas shopping online no lines or crowded stores! I did not really use the computer at all that first week, sorry for the neglected the blog. But I hope you had time unplugged and connected with family for the holidays.

On Christmas eve we surprised the kiddos with their first trip to Disneyland. This was our big gift to them we splurged and bought annual passes since we are only a twenty minute drive from Disney. We plan on hanging out at Disney a lot this year! 

The Christmas decorations at Disney were spectacular. It was hard to take everything in there was soo much to look at. We were there when it opened and there was hardly anyone there but by late afternoon early evening the place was packed!

Christmas day was great because the kiddos were very tired from Disney the day before they slept until 8:30!! So we had time to relax have a little coffee while we waited for them. My dad made it to town for a little Christmas brunch nothing too fancy: eggs, fresh hash browns, bacon, blueberry coffee cake and some mimosas. For dinner my dad and I whipped up a delicious dinner: beef tenderloin with a red wine reduction, poor man's gratin, green beans, garlic salmon with capers and a white wine and lemon sauce on top of a bed a wilted spinach.

I cannot believe today is January 1st!! This year went away in the blink of an eye. 2010 was a big and crazy year for us. It was filled with a lot of change and I feel like we have done a pretty good job embracing the changes. I can't wait to see what 2011 has in store for our family.

A little Thanksgiving preparations

Okay maybe not a little, I've spent most of the day preparing for Thanksgiving tomorrow. It hasn't really been stressful I've just been busy getting things done so that tomorrow I can relax and enjoy company.

I don't always get to cook Thanksgiving dinner. Most years we have been blessed to make it to Illinois to visit with family, this year it just wasn't in the cards.

I do love to cook holiday feasts! And it's even more fun when you get to have people over to enjoy the spread together. This year my Dad will be here and our neighbors who happen to be our friends. :) The kiddos love playing with their kids and even though there is an age gap they all seem to get along really well.

I used to stress out about big meals even though I really enjoyed cooking them. I just couldn't get it out of my head that things didn't have to be "perfect". These days I don't worry about perfect I'm just happy if the kiddos remember to flush. Sad but true.

Seriously though, it's much better to focus less on things being just right and focus more on enjoying the time you have with friends and family.

I keep my menu for Thanksgiving simple; it really hasn't changed much over the years. It's not very low fat or that healthy but it's fun to have a yummy sinfully delicious meal a couple times a year.

Here's what's on the menu:

Maple-Roasted Turkey with Sage butter

Mashed Potatoes (made with heavy cream, butter and cream cheese )

Sweet Potato Casserole

Haricot Vert with mushrooms

Corn Bread Stuffing

Baby Romaine salad with goat cheese and cinnamon almonds

Artisan bread (whole wheat and white)

Dessert brought by our friends:

Apple Pie

Pumpkin Pie

So if you are the one cooking the feast tomorrow I hope you don't stress. It's just food. So what if your turkey turns out a little dry or you forgot to buy cream cheese. It's just food. Add a little extra gravy to the table. No biggie. Love on your family and friends. Laugh be merry and have a wonderful relaxed Thanksgiving day and know that there is no such thing as perfect.

Apple Orchards in California

We made our annual apple orchard trip. We were a little sad that we would not be able to visit our favorite orchard, Altapass on the Blue Ridge Parkway, in North Carolina. This year has been a year of change and since we no longer live on the East Coast we have to make new West Coast favorites. So we visited a local community of apple orchard's about an hour and a half away from Orange County. It's called Oak Glen. Have you ever been there?

The scenery was different but beautiful in it's own way. I love the smell of apple's ready to harvest and of the old historic cider mills that still make cider. It's just amazing that after a hundred years they still do the same thing they have always done. 

Oak Glen is a community of apple orchards. We wanted to visit Snow-Line Orchard. I liked this one because it was quite and quaint. Not a bunch of extra stuff there just apples, cider, a small shop and a local craftsman making wooden toys.

Snow-Line is known for their apple spiced mini donuts that they make in the little shop. The line was busy for the donuts so we stood there and waited patiently as the donuts were made. They were hot, fresh and delicious!! Well worth the wait.

You could not pick your own apples but you could pick your own raspberries. I was a little disappointed. We still bought a couple bags of apples and some apple cider to bring home. We bought Staymen Winesap and Braeburn apples.

We loaded up in the car and drove to another apple orchard in hopes that we could pick our own apples at this one. No such luck. Parrish Pioneer Ranch was very busy and hard to find parking. They had music, a few farm animals, wild west gun show, a couple stores, a cafe and bakery. 


We listened to a little bit of music and snacked on kettle corn. We gave the Wild West show a try. I didn't feel like it was a very family friendly show and for younger children it was too loud with all the guns and explosions. 

In another part of the Oak Glen community there was a little village area that looked like you could walk around and visit a bunch of shops and restaurants, it was called Oak Tree Village. We did not visit this area because parking was impossible. It was very crowded and busy and that was not what we were looking for.

I never noticed a sign for Riley's Apple Farm but I plan on visiting their farm next year. From their website it looks like you can pick your own apples. It looks like a smaller family owned farm and it looks like you can also make your own cider!

We had a wonderful fall filled weekend. When we got back to the house the kids went off to their AWANA club and hubby and I went out for a date night. We did a little shopping and swung into Whole Foods for a quick bite to eat (yummy sushi) before picking the kiddos up.


Do you have a favorite fall tradition? 

Rain, rain, wonderful rain!

The last couple of days we have had a sprinkle or two with rainy type weather but today it is officially raining!! It smells great, sounds great and feels great. I can't even explain how happy I am to have a little rain come our way.

If you are a rain hater, sorry. 

Now if I could just figure out how to shake this cold that has been lingering...

Simply Fit Mama- OC Blog Award Winner

This morning I woke up to a great email from Kelly and Colleen over at Just Spotted, they announced the OC Blog award winners today and Simply Fit Mama won for the sports & fitness blog category! Thank you Kelly and Colleen for allowing me to be apart of your blog community!! I was honored to be nominated and I really didn't think I had a chance at winning my category, there are so many amazing OC blogs out there! 

So thank you to those of you who read my blog, thank you for voting for me as a Simply Fit Mama, I hope you will continue to follow my blog. And if you have a chance you should take a look around at some of the other inspiring and informative blogs at Just Spotted.

Catch up.

Since Weston started school on Thursday my life has felt like the fast forward button has been stuck. I blink and the day is already over, I have to figure out how to stop blinking.

We spent the weekend in San Diego, CA. We spent one day at Legoland, it was a blast. We didn't get to finish the park so we are going back this weekend to try and make it through the whole park. Weston rode his first roller coaster and loved it. I don't love roller coasters but I had to go with him since Natalie decided to fall asleep in her Daddy's arms!!

I had big plans to run in San Diego, but it just didn't work out. On Sunday we met up with my sister-in-law and her family (they were in town from Chicago) we spent the day at SeaWorld.

We had a blast but it was an exhausting weekend. I forgot my laptop and was worried that I left it in my driveway. My neighbor had to reassure me that it was not in my driveway or my yard or smashed to pieces on the road. I left it in the living room. I had grand plans for blogging while I was away. But it just didn't work out like I had planned.

More to follow. I plan to review visiting SeaWorld with small children. What a fun place! I haven't been there since I was a little girl.

First day of Kindergarten!

Me and my handsome son.

Walking to school with his best buddies.

Going into class for the first time!

Leaving class.

Working on his "homework" with Natalie.

Full story tomorrow after Mommy has had some much needed rest. But in short the day was great!