13.1 ... need I say more?!!

YES! My first Half Marathon! I have been training for this since August 4th so it was thrilling to see it through today!
My neighbor, Stephanie, got me back into running when I moved in 2 years ago...thanks Steph! She and I have run together for 2 years but this was our first race together. Kathleen, my sis-in-law, suggested the Silver Comet Half Marathon on October 25th so we all started training....

Dawn, Stephanie, Camille, Kathleen, and myself. We didn't get to train together much, I either ran with Steph or Dawn while Kathleen and Camille still have little ones at home so they had to find a time throughout the day that would work for them. We all worked hard and it PAID OFF!! This was a first for all of us and wow, was it fun! My goal was to make it in under 2 hours.......I came in at 1:59:04!!

We met at 6:15am in Canton and drove to Mableton, GA (abt an hr away)....laughing the entire time! We all stared out together and ended the race within about 15 minutes of each other.

Steph and me after the race.

Dawn, Kathleen, myself, & Camille.

Kathleen, Dawn, & me showing our "Sports Bean" mouths!

We are lucky enough to have husbands who supported us in the race so that when we each crossed the finish lines, our families were waiting for us. It was hard, but so worth it! I think we all came away with enthusiasm and are ready to find our next HALF!! :-))

Kathleen, Me, Steph, & Dawn

Thanks girls - I couldn't have done it without you!

Jekyll Island

We spent this past weekend on Jekyll Island. My sister and bro-in-law invited us to tag along on Big Al's birthday weekend.
We stayed at the absolutely fabulous Jekyll Island Club Hotel (http://www.jekyllclub.com/) , sometimes referred to as the Millionaires Club.
The island has a lot of rich history that I found fascinating.
It was bought by a group of wealthy families who built the resort in 1888 as a vacation spot in the winter.
To become a member of this elite club you had to be filthy rich. Among some of the members were JP Morgan, William Rockafeller, Joseph Pulitzer, William Vanderbilt, Frank Goodyear, Charles Crane, etc.
Two major events that occured on the island were: 1. In 1910, a secret island meeting was held in which the Federal Reserve System was initiated.
2. In 1915, the club participated in the first telephone call across the United States. They say that when the members of the Jekyll Island Club dined together, 1/6th of the world's wealth gathered in one room! We even saw two Ellsworth families listed as members .....hmmmm, wonder if we're related.
We got into the hotel Friday evening, after making a stop in Macon (Al needed a few more harmonicas) and Savannah (we took a historical tour) along the way.

We had dinner and walked around the hotel.


Saturday was our only full day on the island so we had to make the most of it. We couldn’t fit in everything we wanted to do but that didn’t stop us from trying!!
We had breakfast and then took off on a bike ride….which ended up lasting 3 hours and covered more than 8 miles. We rode past some ruins on the island,
went out on the fishing pier, stopped at Driftwood Beach,
and made our way to the main beach where we finally stopped for some ice cream.
Then, we headed back to the historical district where we checked out a museum and tour before returning our bikes to the hotel. There was just enough time to take a quick swim at the hotel pool before making the 3pm historical district tour, but we had to skip lunch. (Check out Danny coming out of the pool......this is his GQ moment! We were laughing so hard!)
The historical trolley tour was incredible. There is just so much history there! If you do nothing else while on the island, definitely take the tour! After the tour we stopped by the Sea Turtle Clinic where they rescue sea turtles. Neat, and something the kids would enjoy, but by this time we were worn out.
We went back to the hotel to check football scores and then headed to dinner. The remainder of the evening we spent just relaxing at the hotel…on the patio, veranda, and eventually in our beds J. We took our time getting up and out on Sunday morning, absorbing the beauty of the hotel and grounds once more before leaving.
On our way home we took a quick detour through St. Simon’s island where we stopped at the lighthouse and then at Waffle House. I now have Janet and Al hooked on their Fiesta Omelet……of course, I ordered mine with extra jalapeños. The last stop of our whirlwind weekend was the Krispy Kream in Macon.
Danny had never been to a Krispy Kream store and had a fresh hot donut right out of the oven…and for those of you who know my sister, if there is a Krispy Kream anywhere nearby, she will find it!
We had an incredible weekend and are already making plans to go back. They have a campground on the island so we would like to bring the boys back next time to camp. We will bring their bikes since there are over 20 miles of trails on the island and so much the boys would love to see. Now, if we can just fit it into our schedule sometime……

FALL anyone?!!

How much can you cram into ONE weekend?!! Well, we are out to try! We spent this past weekend in the North GA Mtns. We camped at VSP - Vogel State Park, one of the oldest State Parks in the Nation and an absolutely beautiful place! Danny & I went Mtn Biking with Rusty & Kathleen on Friday before packing up for our camping weekend. So, by the time we got to the campground, we were exhausted. Luckily for us, Rusty had some extra wood so we were set while at the campsite. Jared was more than happy to spend his time chopping wood (remind me to bring more next time!) Because we camped up North near so many neat places (Helen, Dahlonega, Suches, Blairsville) it was hard to decide what to do during the day. We walked around the campgrounds but decided to hike to the top of Brasstown Bald, the highest mtn. in Georgia. At the top is a museum which all of the boys enjoyed, esp. Reed since it had a black bear exhibit (we saw a black bear on our week long Smoky Mtn backpacking trip last summer.


Before heading home we stopped by Burt's Pumpkin Farm and BJ Reece's Apple Farm. We let everyone pick out a pumpkin and when we got to the apple orchard Reed begged to pick apples.......so, we did. It was a first and it was so much FUN! We all enjoyed it. You could eat as much as you wanted while picking so the boys would climb the trees to get the best apples that were on top while taking a bite now and then! And I can't leave this last picture out......Reed filled up his bag of apples and then started filling up his pockets! His pants were falling down with all of the weight so he walked around holding up his pants! What a kid!

PCB Beach Trip

We went to Panama City Beach, FL. with the Marcom Family over the school Fall Break in September. They have children similar ages to our three and they all had a great time together. It was my kind of a beach trip.....we stayed at a fantastic condo on the ocean and pretty much played on the beach, at the pool, took naps, read books/magazines, went combing for seashells, and basically just hung out and relaxed. We did get out of our swimsuits in the evening to go out to dinner but that was about it. What a relaxing vacation! Hurricane Ike had just come through the Gulf so the first couple of days we were there the surf was very wild. In fact, they closed the water at some points. But, eventually it calmed down and looked like the Gulf again.......like a big lake. Because of the storm, there were TONS of shells that were churned up. The boys had a great time bringing me handfuls of shells to sift through. We found lots of olives, auger shells, sea bonnets, lady slippers, a couple of sharks teeth and even some in-tact conch shells! They boys boogie boarded the first few days when the water was rougher and when it calmed down they skim boarded. This was new to us but they eventually started to get it. Reed especially liked to swim out to the sand bars because you look like you are way out in the ocean but it's only knee deep. Jared saw lots of hermit crabs in the water and even saw a sting ray. Danny and Jared Marcom kept themselves busy building a pyramid. It was a great trip, not long enough as usual.