Cheap Orlando Fun

We try to make the drive to Orlando every month to attend the temple, but since it's a 4 hour drive, and schedules are usually pretty full, our trips end up being really quick. We found out that the last minute that the temple was about to close for the rest of the month, so we figured we needed to head down last weekend. Dan's schedule wasn't too bad, so we decided to Priceline a hotel and go for a full 2 days - kind of a luxury. We drove down on Thursday morning and I took the kids to a nearby park while Dan attended the temple, then we switched and he took them back to the park while I went. We then had the rest of the evening to hang out at the hotel, go get dinner, and swim at the hotel pool.

Jeffrey and Caitlyn do surprisingly well sleeping in the same bed (once they fall asleep). Dan and I don't do so well with arms or other appendages falling in our faces. They don't seem to mind!

Andrew does better when he can't see what's going on around him. Cover the pack and play and he's out in no time!

Friday morning we took our time getting ready, ate breakfast and did Disney the really cheap way...Downtown Disney. Of course, since we've never been to the 'real' Disney World, the kids thought Downtown Disney was great! They thought the dinosaur in the water was the coolest thing ever!

At the Lego store they were working on a life-sized building of Buzz Lightyear, so the kids got to build a small piece for the "Master Builder" to add to the project. They were excited to get certificates saying that they had participated.

The kids getting their certificates and standing in front of where the Buzz will be built (the project was just getting going, so not much to see yet...)

With Jeffrey as the photographer, you never know what you'll get. He didn't do too bad of a job!

They thought the "Pooh Bear Bush" dumping water out of the honeypots was great. Grumpy Caitlyn didn't want to be in the picture.

So we decided to try for a family photo - which we rarely attempt, and this is what we get! We've known for awhile that we needed a new camera - I think this picture will speed up the camera-buying-process.

So it was a great way to experience a little bit of Disney - totally free and the kids can handle a couple of hours. After carrying Caitlyn half of the way and hearing Jeffrey talk about having to walk so far, we were really glad we hadn't spent $200+ taking them to the real Disney World. Jeffrey keeps talking about going back to Downtown Disney. Ignorance is bliss, and if they don't know that there are better things out there, we'll keep going the cheap way for a few more years!

My Half-Marathon

So my sister, Crystal, has run several half marathons and I've always thought it was neat, but didn't really want to try to do one. Well, back in August, she convinced me to run the next half marathon in Greenville, SC, with her. At the end of August I started a training schedule and started looking forward to/dreading the race day: Halloween. Training went well, and I really liked having a schedule tell me exactly what to run. Any time there was a long distance that I wasn't sure I could handle, Crystal would tell me, "Have faith in the schedule. If it says you can do it, you can do it." She was right!

So a few days before Halloween we made our 5th trip of the year up to SC for the race - spending Halloween with family was a big plus! Of course, I forgot to take my own camera on the trip, and haven't acquired the pictures taken on other cameras yet...shocker. So I don't have any pictures of the kids dressed up in their costumes or trick-or-treating yet, but I'll get them one of these days.

The race day was really perfect running conditions most of the time. The temperature was in the low 60's and it was a little misty. It did rain a little harder during part of the race, which was a bummer, but it was still WAY better than being hot!!

Crystal and I the morning of the race.

Andrew got up to see us off too - a little too chipper for 6-something in the morning.

The race finished up in the Greenville Drive baseball stadium. Kind of fun to run into a stadium full of people. The is me coming in, waving to our awaiting fans: Dan and the kids, my mom and dad, and Dan's mom and dad (drove down from Durham to spend Halloween with us). It was so nice to have fun people around to celebrate the fact the Crystal and I didn't die during the race!There are professional photographers positioned throughout the race - taking lovely pictures!

Crystal coming across the finish line.

Crystal and I right after finishing.

Back at home with our medals. Totally rain-soaked, but glad to be done!

So it was a great experience! I had decided that if I finished in 2 and a half hours I would be happy. I managed to finish in 2 hours and 19 minutes, keeping a 10:40 pace - so I was pleased. I don't know whether or not a full marathon is in my future, but I am certain that it's not in my immediate future. However, I DO think that Crystal and I are going to run another half in Tybee Island in February. Almost time to start training again!