Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Summer Rewind

Well, I can't believe summer is pretty much over for us.  The boys started back to school last week & this week they started all their fall activities (gymnastics, soccer & AWANA).  We had so much fun this summer & I didn't have time to blog most of it so this is a short summary.

Our summer kinda had a few stages.  We started with a few weeks of nothing planned, just doing what we wanted.  Then we had a few scheduled activities including VBS, soccer camp & Safety Town.  We then had another few weeks of nothing, then family came to visit us for 2 weeks.  We ended with one more unscheduled week & now we are back to our fall routine.  However, the routine won't last very long because we leave for Disney World tomorrow!  I will try to blog that trip as we go, but will see how it goes.

I was SO pleased with the scheduled activities that we did this summer.  We started with a week at Epiphany Lutheran Church for Sky VBS.  I signed the boys up for this because all of my friends were going & I thought it would be fun.  I was really impressed with their program & how much the boys enjoyed it.  They came home excited to go back every day & learned all the songs from the program.  We still listen to them.  The next week was soccer camp with Ohio South Youth Soccer Association.  Again, one of my friends was doing this & she was telling me how cheap it was & that both boys could play at the same time.  I thought it sounded good so we tried it.  I was again very impressed with how well this camp ran, especially since 2 of the 5 days it was 100*.  The coaches were great with the kids & the boys loved it!  After that we were back to VBS, this time Babylon at Tri-Village Church.  This program was really great as well although I don't think the boys enjoyed it as much as Sky.  I think the difference is that Epiphany only has VBS up to age 6 so it is totally catered to the younger set whereas most other churches have a wider age range.  The boys did enjoy Babylon & learned a lot at both VBS.  Finally AJ had Safety Town.  I forgot to sign him up for this & by the time I did the only town that had openings was New Albany.  It was little more expensive than other towns, but he got a lot more too.  He had 2 weeks of learning all about safety including bike safety, water safety, bus safety, stranger danger & animal safety.  He also got to tour the local police station & fire station.  Again, super impressed with this program.  I plan to sign the boys up for all 4 programs again next year.

On some of our unscheduled weeks, we enjoyed spending time with our friends.  We did a lot of play dates at our house & at our friends' houses.  We also went to the local parks (when it wasn't too hot!), Gym Skills for their open gym & Kingdom of Bounce for open bounce.  I started going back to the gym so some days we went there to play.  We also had a few lazy days where we just hung at home & played & watched TV.

We did a few big day trips this summer as well.  We spent a day at the Ohio State fair where we rode a ton of rides & ate a ton of food.  The boys loved the frog hopper & the ferris wheel & I loved the fried Buckeyes.  We also spent a day at Kings Island with a big group of family.  AJ & Daniel loved the log flume & we rode that a ton of times.  We also enjoyed our time in the wave pool in the water park.  Zak got to have some fun there & rode his first ride & went in the pools with us.  We spent a day at Entertrainment Junction.  They have a huge train display, play area for the kids & a fun house area with different circus themed things.  The boys had a blast running thru the different mazes in the fun house area.  Finally we took 3 different trips to the zoo.  I wasn't brave enough to do the zoo on my own this summer, too many kids to push/pull so I only went when I had help.

All in all it was a great summer!  I really enjoyed my time with the boys, especially since school kept looming in the fall.  Now we have a very busy fall planned, typically our favorite season of the year.  We'll do apple & pumpkin picking, corn mazes and Halloween events.  Plus we have our trip to Disney & Carl's wedding.  Before I know it this year will be over!

Monday, August 27, 2012

1/2 Marathon Training - Week 11 & 12

Had another 2 good weeks with my 1/2 marathon training, although my weight loss & exercise haven't been what I would like them to be.  We are just in a super busy season of our lives right now.  School started last week & the 10 days before that I just really wanted to spend as much time with my boys as possible.  We are also gearing up for a trip to Disney World this week so as any parent knows this is a full time job for me right now.  I've decided to only focus on my marathon training for now, the calorie counting & cross training is on hold until I get back for Florida.  I didn't make my goal weight, but I am able to fit into pre-AJ clothes right now so I'll take that win!!

I had 2 races this weekend & while they were totally different, both were a ton of fun!  Saturday night Adrian & I ran the "Tap N Run" which is a beer chugging event with a little running/walking thrown in.  :)  We enjoyed walking through downtown & talking without the little ones around...and we also enjoyed the beers & the buzz that followed.  It was a 4K (2.75 miles) & we did it in about 45 minutes, so about a 16:00 minute mile.  Adrian commented a few times about how impressed he was with my pace, this made me feel awesome!

Adrian & I with our finals beers

The second race was the Emerald City 1/4 marathon (6.55) Sunday morning.  I did this one with 2 of my friends from my MIT group.  We started out a little faster than we thought we would, but felt good with our pace so decided to go with it for as long as we could, which was pretty much the whole race.  We loved this course, very flat, quiet & beautiful!  I finished in 1 hour 43 minutes which is 13 minutes faster than my last 1/4 marathon.  I am so pleased with my pace & finish time!!  I have at least 1, maybe 2, more 10K races before the 1/2 so I'll be looking to get those down to under 1:40.

Jeff, Tammy & I after Emerald City

Here's my training for the past 2 weeks:

8/13 – Zumba class
8/14 – Zumba class, 2 miles on treadmill
8/15 – rest
8/16 – bike 20 mins, 3 miles on treadmill
8/17 – rest
8/18 – 8 miles on the trail with MIT plus a family trip to the zoo
8/19 – rest
8/20 – 2 miles on treadmill, bike 20 mins
8/21 – rest
8/22 – rest
8/23 – 3 miles on treadmill
8/24 – rest
8/25 – Tap N Run race, 2.75 miles downtown
8/26 – Emerald City 1/4 marathon, 6.55 miles in Dublin, OH
My bling from the weekend

Sunday, August 26, 2012

First Day of School!!

This past week was a very big week for the Jones house...both AJ & Daniel started school.  I'm hoping to write a summer recap blog, but for now I just wanted to share their first day experiences.

Daniel
Monday night we went to meet Daniel's teacher & see his classroom.  He wasn't overly thrilled while there, but later said he was excited to go.  Thursday morning came & I had to drop him off first.  He goes at 8:45 & when we got there, there was a line of parents dropping their kids off.  We finally got up to his teacher & she showed him his hook for his book bag then told him to pick an animal on the carpet to sit on.  He looked very skeptical, but sat down on the cow & didn't cry at all when I said bye.  I got a little choked up but held back.  I picked him up at 11:30 & his teacher said he did great!  He was excited to see me & ran right out & then to the car.  At first he didn't want to talk to me but then he opened up & told me everything they did that day!  His favorite parts were the fruit snacks for snack & "making stamps" for craft (he did a hand print).  About 3 hours after we were home he turned to me & said "Mom, my school is pretty awesome.  I like my teacher.  When can I go back?"  Success!!

AJ
Monday afternoon we went to sneak a peek of AJ's class room & meet his teacher.  We did a scavenger hunt & AJ got to get familiar with the class room & some other areas of the school.  After dropping Dan off on Thursday, we headed home to wait for AJ's bus (#25).  It was very late, not surprising since his bus is only kindergarten & it was their first day.  When it finally arrived, he jumped on super excited (he rode the bus last year & that was always his favorite part of the day).  He came back home a few hours later & his review was "It was fun, but I'm hungry from all the playing."  That was all I heard for a few hours (again not surprised, this happened last year) & then he finally filled me in.  He said he liked his class, explained the whole behavior chart to me & complained that he didn't get breakfast since it was a short day.  He also told me he met AJ B.  He is very excited that there is another AJ in his class & was upset we didn't meet him on Monday.  He's also very excited to go back this week!

AJ & Daniel being silly on the porch before we left

Daniel walking into Eastpointe Christian Preschool

Daniel & his class in circle time

AJ waiting for the bus in front of the house

It's here - bye Mom!

Quickly posing before they head off on their super long drive  :)

Zachary - 6 months

Well I am very late with this post & almost skipped it, but it's been such a big month for Zak that I wanted to send a quick update on him.  In the past 6ish week, Zachary has mastered sitting up on his own, crawling & getting from sitting to crawling & back!  He is moving all over the house & is getting very fast.  He's also starting to try to pull up on things & is really anxious to stand & walk.  In addition to these big huge accomplishments, Zak has also started eating baby food.  He did a few tries with rice cereal & oatmeal & was not a fan.  I decided to start veggies & he LOVED them!  He has had green beans, sweet potatoes, carrots, applesauce & bananas & loves them all.  So proud of him!!

Monday, August 13, 2012

1/2 Marathon Training - Week 9 & 10

So I have had an awesome past two weeks...too bad my exercise, calorie counting & weigh loss weren't involved.  :)  I had family here to visit & we had a staycation here in Ohio with them.  I hope to blog about that very soon & give you all the details.  But with all the fun things we were doing, I didn't get in near as much gym time & walking as I would have liked.  I was also sidelined with sickness towards the end of the 2 weeks, both me & the boys (which means no sleep for this Momma).  I know, these are all excuses, but I feel slightly better getting them out. 

I didn't even want to blog this update, but I promised I would keep myself accountable, so here it is.  I'm back on the horse today & with about 2 months left to go, I'm on it to stay.  1/4 marathon in 13 days!

Here is what I was able to do the past 2 weeks:
Mon 7/30 - 2.0 miles on the treadmill, Zumba class
Tues 7/31 - walked all over the zoo
Weds 8/1 - 2.0 miles on the treadmill, Zumba class
Thurs 8/2 - walked all over the state fair
Fri 8/3 - rest day (planned)
Sat 8/4 - 3.1 miles at Blendon Woods (with surprise guest - my Dad!!)
Sun 8/5 - rest day (weather cancelled my walk)
Mon 8/6 - 2.0 miles in my neighborhood, 1.0 miles downtown
Tues 8/7 - walked all over Kings Island
Weds 8/8 - rest day (planned)
Thurs 8/9 - rest day (lazy - here is where it falls apart)
Fri 8/10 - rest day (lazy)
Sat 8/11 - rest day (lazy) - missed my long walk with MIT because I was up 1/2 the night with sick kiddos
Sun 8/12 - rest day (focused on getting my house back in order after 2 weeks of guests)