Summer Vacation

Look at me, blogging twice in one year.....I miss this!  But my kids are big,  my town is small, and privacy is apparently coveted by some?  Not by me, but by some in this house.

This is my largely pictorial vacation blog:  Disney/Destin 2015.   And I am super proud that we did it on a shoestring budget---relatively speaking.   We have been loyal Chase Disney Visa users for about 8 years.  We don't use our debit card, we only use this credit card for 99% of our purchases.   This gives us cash back in the form of "Disney Dollars", which equal "very inexpensive Disney vacays".  This is our second in four years.   Now, if you're going to run up a balance on your credit card, this probably isn't the best idea.  But we're not into credit cards, and we treat it just like cash and pay it off each month, and it works for us.

Park Tickets (5 days for 5 people) = Roughly $1660
Souvenirs = $250
Food/Drink/Snacks for 5 days = Approx $800 

All.  Free. --- Courtesty of our Disney Dollars.  

We rented our condo for the week from Florida Dream Homes.  If your family has more than 4 people, this is a great way to go.  Disney requires families of 5+ to either get two rooms, or a suite of some sort.  They blame an Orlando fire code---and why would the home of the $9 hot dog lie to us?    The condo is great though.  Separate bedrooms, washer/dryer, kitchen for breakfast, private pool and community pool, running trails (We're "those" kind of vacation people), and it was only about 8 minutes from the parks.

Ava settled in quickly,  spreading her pony tchotchkes everywhere.  She's a hoarder, but she's just darling.

Magic Kingdom is Day 1, and we find the ferry the most romantic way to get there.  And by "we" I mean "me".   The monorail makes me a little claustrophobic.  Add that to my long list of charming issues.

I love the castle.

Big Thunder Railroad will give you an idea of how Cooper's first day went.  Concern.  Caution.  Hidden tears.   He actually clung to me and hugged me during the Haunted Mansion ride.  And I totally loved it.  After Day 2 he was a pro.

While eating lunch at Pecos Bill's Cafe, Ava was randomly chosen to be Deputy of the Day.  They threw a little parade in her honor.  She was a good little sport, shouting "Yee-haw!" every time they insisted.  Cooper would have melted into the floor.

This pic made Johnny and I laugh so hard, like only parents can laugh at their children.   Poor, left out Cooper.   (Just goes to prove that everything is not always as it seems.)

Any pic of the kids in jail is always a good idea.  Remember Zurg?  Buzz Lightyear's arch enemy?

Johnny and I wanted a few pics of us as a couple.  We made the mistake of assuming our kids, who built complicated universes in Minecraft on the drive down, could work a simple camera.  Wrong.

3D glasses are fun---and so are all of the 3D shows.  Love them!  I am a dork, though.  I always think, 'I wish I could show someone like Laura Ingalls this kind of technology!  It's so unreal!'

And just to show that we're all good Disney sports, we tried on hats after Mickey's Philharmonic.

My gorgeous husband and beautiful offspring.

We are big advocates of not buying every cute Mickey hat you see.  Try them on, take a pic, and move on.

I love when the Disney employees took our pics, so we could all be in them.

A little secret about me.  I think food trucks are the bomb!  And if my friend Jen Sieve ever gets one, like she dreams, I may quit my job and work there with my girlfriends.  These food trucks were at Downtown Disney.  We ate dinner there a few times.

My family and a dinosaur.  I like saying that.

My children climbing a dinosaur.  Because we're adventurous like that.

Cooper's silly side, that very few outside of family get to witness.

 And, behold my favorite thing in all of the Disney parks:  The Tree of Life!

Look at my very cool swimming kids!  Their Dad took this pic, because this triathlete does not like to get her hair wet.

But Disney had to end.  And we were kind of glad because we were exhausted.  So we moved on to Destin for a couple of days.  But with Destin came a hotel room, not a condo.  And all 5 of us in one room.  And I was kicking myself for forbidding Johnny to book two rooms.   I get all frugal and ruin my own good time sometimes.   I got a little enamored of the idea that all of my babies and my husband and I would be basking in the togetherness of one room.  I wouldn't even have to get out of bed to check and see if they were all breathing during the night.  (I don't think this is a crazy mother thing.  I think it stems from 9 years of walking through my patients' rooms on the night shift making sure that everyone was still alive.)    Anywho, I digress.  It turns out that I need to drink pina coladas in order to tolerate all of my family in a teeny tiny room for 48 hours.   Oh, and throw in the queen-sized bed.  We are king-sized bed people.   I love my husband almost every day, but when I shut my eyes at night I will turn into a ninja if you try to spoon me.  And, as it turns out, my husband sleeps like a deranged toddler and does not stay on his very adequate side of the bed either.   So yeah...we are travelling in October and I already told him to call ahead and get his children their own cell.  With an adjoining door.  I don't need CPS breathing down my back.

Here are my people in front of the Gulf.  Like how I am hiding behind everyone?  No one needs to see my bikini shots because I forgot to embrace an eating disorder this Spring.   The Gulf was rough due to Tropical Storm Bill and we didn't get to play in the ocean too much.   Red flags and lifeguards warning people of riptides.   It was the first time I've ever felt uneasy at the beach.

The pier at Destin.

And, just a little aside, this is how Ava's friends roll.  A seat at the table for dinner.

Our closing pic.

And that's a wrap for the Family Vacation of 2015.  Will we go back to Disney?  Probably.  I love that place.  Yes, it is ridiculously expensive.  But you get what you pay for.  And the customer service at Disney is off of the charts.  Customer service is a BIG deal to me.  HUGE.   A few examples:

1.  The kids' peanut allergy was not a problem.  Every restaurant either let me speak with the chef, or provided me a list of allergens at their establishment.  Fabulous.
2.  The day we ran out of Dramamine for Ava.  I went to go buy some in the park (Ouch!).  But it turns out you can't buy it.  You can, however, go and speak to their nurse at First Aid who will give you some for FREE.  Got some pepto for Aidan, too.  Again, for FREE.  Are you sensing I like free? 
3.  Everyone, everyone, everyone is happy and nice.   No RBF (resting bitch face) on employees.  No employees, excuse me, "cast members" ignoring you, or not speaking to you at the cash register.  Lots of helpful tips offered.
4.  Water.  We brought our own bottles into the park in a backpack.   If you want to buy bottled water at Disney it is $3/bottle.  But if you ask for a cup of water, it's free.  Big cup with ice and a lid.  Yay!
5.  Random acts of kindness.  I was given free Doritos by a cast member just because she heard me tell Ava that they didn't come with her meal.  So sweet and unnecessary. 
6.  Lines were minimal for the most part.  We stood in a few for longer than 10 minutes, but not many thanks to fast passes and good organization on behalf of the Park.

Okay, I have rambled enough.  Currently driving in the car with 10 hours to get home and it's time to take a nap.  Peace.

70.3

The 70.3 Triathlon, aka "the Half Ironman":  1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run.

It didn't sound too terrible.   I mean, I have run 13 miles lots of times.   And I like to bike with my friends because it makes me feel like a kid on my pink Huffy with the white leather banana seat---only now the kid can leave the cul-de-sac.  Swimming is not really my thing, but I am a firm believer that you can do anything you set your mind to.   So I signed up.  And I spent months training.

The morning of the Tri I felt very calm.  I had asked people to pray for me, and I knew that I was prepared.  Jen and Traci picked me up to head to Clinton Lake about 4:45a.m.  We talked and joked the whole way there.  Jen and Traci brought electric scooters because it's a really long walk from the parking lot to the transition area.  This added to my amusement for the morning.

Being my first big Tri, my "coaches" wanted to help me set up my transition area.  They had done this race the last two years.  But they were told "no" by the race official because they didn't have a magic green bracelet like me.  So the rookie (me) proceeded into the Transition area with my only friend,  the bike.  Three minutes later the girls tapped me on the shoulder and said "Hi!".  Because no one is the boss of Jenny and Traci.  And that is why I love them.

I found Maribeth before the swim.  Maribeth is my good friend who is a cross fit beast.  Her muscles have muscles.  She did a 70.3 last year, and had decided to come back for a repeat.  For some crazy reason, she wanted to start the swim with me.  I tried to talk her out of it, because she's awesome and fast, but she insisted.   My husband showed up right when we got to the swim start to give me a big hug.  I was so glad to see him.  I have THE most supportive husband in the world.  He is at every event, snapping pictures, watching out for me, herding the kids....he is selfless at these events.

The Race:

The first half of the swim sucked.   The water was very choppy and when the waves washed over me I panicked.  I was getting rocked and felt a little nauseous.  So I thought I would lay on my back for a minute and collect myself---worst idea ever.   A little wave washed right over me and I swallowed a lot of water.   So now I'm choking, gasping, heart racing, feeling seasick, and panicking.  I waved a kayak over and held on for a second to compose myself.   Maribeth was by my side the whole time talking to me, coaching me, calming me....and she had to keep it up the first half mile while I desperately fought to get my sh*# together.  I did every stroke imaginable just to keep moving forward.   Finally a little before the half mile point I could breathe again.  I put my face in the water, started to freestyle, and got the feel of it.  It's so different swimming in open water, with choppy waves, and other swimmers.  You have to keep sighting the buoys, so you can't just put your head down and go.   I just kept watching for Maribeth's little green swim cap in front of me.  And finally, FINALLY, I finished the swim.    How do you thank a friend like that?   Maribeth could have done the swim in half of the time.  She threw her time to help me.  Every time I tell her that she saved me she gets mad and tells me to stop it, but it's the truth.  It's almost enough to make me have another baby so I can name him or her Maribeth.  Except that I'm old.   Maybe I will build a little Maribeth shrine in my flower bed.  Ha!  Seriously though, I will owe her forever.

The bike was okay at first.  Miles 0 to 15 were fun.  I was flying, and I was loving it.  Then I got some disturbing stomach cramps that kept up for a long time.  I think it was from drinking 3 gallons of lake water?  Thankfully they subsided and didn't get any worse, because I am not sure I could have ran like that.   By the end of the bike I was feeling kind of angry.  I was hot, and the hills were epic.  At one point, about mile 52, I was climbing a hill so steep that the guy next to me got off to walk his bike up.  And I swear to you I would have except #1, I wasn't sure my legs would work if I unclipped, and #2, I was pissed off and I was not going to let that course get me off of my bike.  I was cursing at the hills, the course designer, my friends for encouraging this nonsense...and then I saw an ambulance.  And I actually thought, I wish I would wreck badly enough that I could get a ride in that thing.  Then I could lay down.  And I swear to you, I was serious.

Any time you have a hobby that leads to these thoughts, question what the hell you are doing.

Next up was the run.  13.1 miles and it was about 90 degrees. Mother Nature is kind of behaving like a little B this year.  Mild temps and rain every day, and then summer shows up hot, humid, and sunny on June 7th?  Really?  I am going to sound whiny, but these are not ideal conditions for girls from the Pale/Freckled tribe.   I had on my long-sleeved shirt for sun protection, a visor, goggles, zinc....just forgot to put any on my legs.   Ouch.  I kept getting chills while I was running.  This is how my body says, "Walk.  You are too hot to run you 40 year old masochist."  So I would.  I had to walk a lot.  I was not happy with this, but every time I ran far I got dizzy or cold.  What do you do?   Well, you suck it up and keep moving forward.  I never stopped moving forward, but I went awfully slow.

The finish line was good.  My family was there, my friends were there.  I cried.  I was just so glad it was over.  

Lessons learned:

1.  This picutre is a lie.  It can always get worse.  For example, when you are biking and you've settled into the misery of sunburned legs, or an aching back from being in the aero position, you can get stomach cramps because you swallowed gallons of lake water.   Or, perhaps you're on the run, and it's unbelievably hot, so kind children are spraying you down with hoses....and this causes your socks to get wet....voila!  Blisters.  So, no more flowery inspirational posters about pain.   If it were so great, we would not have invented the epidural.

                                                                                      
2.  Don't compare yourself to others.
I wasn't very happy with my performance.  I wanted to be a lot faster.  I wanted to not panic in the water.  I didn't want to disappoint my friends.  But I prayed a lot about it today, and God has given me peace.  This is what my journey looks like.
One year ago I was scared to ride a bike in aero position.
Six years ago is the first time that I ever ran more than 2 miles consecutively in my life.
Eight years ago I did not know how to swim, so  I took lessons at the Y.
I'm really glad I didn't give up.  I don't want to be scared of anything.  Ever.

                                       
I don't know what God is trying to teach me on this fitness journey.  I keep checking with Him to make sure I didn't take a wrong turn somewhere.  But so far I keep showing up, and so does He.