Memorial Day Weekend Update #1 - Hunter Mountain

Yes, it's been almost a week since Memorial Day...but we've been busy...

I promise I'm keeping really good notes on any progress.  The potty-training post will come...eventually!


For now, I return you to our original programming..Memorial Day Weekend...

Nothing kicks the summer off better than a good old fashion road trip, right?  When we were invited up to my Aunt and Uncle's "Country House" in Hunter, NY for the day Saturday, we couldn't wait.  Okay, maybe that's a bit of an overstatement...I was slightly worried...but was still excited...honest!

We loaded up and were on the road at the crack of dawn by 10:30.  In just under 2 hours, we were on one of the most beautiful roads in the Northeast...Route 23...heading up the mountain.  It was breath-taking...view and Shane's driving!  Seriously, he was so busy pointing out rivers, mountains and waterfalls to the kids that he wasn't even watching the double yellow line.  This is about the point that I really wished I'd insisted on driving!

We arrived safely and hit the ground running.  Actually, it was more like...tip-toeing. They shyly (is that a word) explored the house and walked around the yard while the rest of us got lunch set up.  Zoe had barely swallowed her last bite and she was off with (my cousin) Louise to the river.  Sure enough, children started following...

Helen and Cole just checkin' things out

Ava and "Ma Puh-dool"

Shane couldn't collect rocks fast enough for Cole to throw.  At least he was polite and would give one to Helen, too, "One you...One me..."

Eli liked helping Aunt Georgia keep track of any wildlife that was collected (i.e. Minnows) 

You'll never guess who was the first to fall in...I won't say his name, but it starts with a T and ends with a Y.

Cole and Uncle Tim checking out the view down river

Ava scooped water like it was her job.

Louise and Zoe

Eli

Ava

Cole

Grammy and Granddad

After everyone was sufficiently wet, it was back up to the house for some DRY relaxing time.

Some gardened...

Uncle Steven

Some played baseball...

Some read on the porch...

Helen and Ava learned all about the crazy adventures of Curious George

And some drew next year's fashion lines...

After dinner, there was another trip down to the river for the crazy kids and the crazy cousins (i.e. those over 3 y.o. and under 30 y.o.).

By 730p, we were back on the road, headed home.  What a success the day was.  Even without naps, the triplets were pleasant and well-behaved.  We had minimal meltdowns and no real temper tantrums.  No more than 10 miles down the road, all "babies" were sleeping and it didn't take long for Zoe and Ty to follow suit.

It was a great time with family...the way all holiday weekends should start!  Thanks so much for your hospitality, Aunt Georgia and Uncle Steven.  A big shout out to Louise and Helen, too.  Without you guys, Zoe and Ty would have been begging for fun parents, or Shane and I would be recovering from hypothermia.

Patriotic Chapel...Again!

Every year, each grade level is responsible for one "special" chapel at Eastern Christian Elementary School.  This year, the 2nd Grade (Zoe's class) did Thanksgiving Chapel. When Zoe was in Kindergarten, it was Christmas Chapel (holy cow, have I really been blogging that long?) and First Grade was Patriotic Chapel.  Every year, the chapels shuffle up.

This is Ty's first year having a chapel responsibility as a class.  And guess what the Kindergarten was dealt...Patriotic Chapel!  Not to worry, they were much different than Zoe's Memorial Day interpretation last year.  Yesterday was his big day...

Ty was VERY excited, to say the least.  He could barely sleep the night before.

The kids each were dressed to represent an aspect of our culture.  Ty was an American Indian.

Mrs. Johnston (Ty's teacher) and Mrs. Boonstra (the aide)

These brave women did an excellent job...keeping the 20 crazy Kindergartners from poking each other's eyes out with the flags...helping the kids learn and perform.  Ty was nervous, I could tell.  The hands in the pockets was a dead giveaway!

We all were proud of our kids.  Even Zoe said Ty did a good job!

Thank you, Mrs. Johnston!

Eli...The Goof Ball

In the past...I've been told I'm hard on Eli on my blog.  Apparently, I post a lot of pictures of him crying.  I looked back through about a years worth of posts, but couldn't find many.  Still, this weekend I found myself giggling at him a lot so I thought I'd show you why...

First...there's this crazy hat.

He wears it all the time...around the house...and even in his crib.

And anytime I take out the camera...all I hear is "cheeeeeeeeeese!"

But what really kills me is his love for leaf blowers.  This isn't a toy leaf blower.  And if it's EVER brought out...he claims it.  And until that battery dies...there's NO sharing it.

If you listen closely, you can hear Eli's answer when I ask him "Whatcha doin'?"  He says, "Messy..."

13.1 miles is STILL a long way

Apparently, I'm not the fastest learner.  Remember last year when I ran the NJ Half Marathon?  I remember being proud that I finished.  I remember sleeping well that night.  I remember being sore the next day.  I remember saying to Shannon, "Hey...let's do this again next year!"  What I DIDN'T remember was the complete and utter pain of actually running for over 2 hours.

Last year, I didn't feel "ready".  This year, I did.  And technically, I was.  I was in much better shape.  I'd run more consistently.  I'd run with faster times.  I'd lost some weight.  I was ready.  But not for 85 degrees!  What a difference the weather makes.  There were people dropping left and right.  I'd love to know the official tally, but it felt like I saw at least one person down every mile from the 5 mile marker on.  My mom will be the first to tell you that I "don't do well with heat".  I've been know to...how can I say this nicely..."faint with style".  So I started taking the water stations pretty seriously around mile 6 and even walked through a few toward the end to make sure I drank a full cup of water.  When I rounded the corner onto the boardwalk to finish my last 2 miles, I saw a woman stumble and fall into the arms of her running partner.  She went down like a sack of potatoes.  That's when my goal became "just finish".  I really wanted to be able to call my mom and say "I didn't faint.  I finished on my own 2 feet.  I didn't need an ambulance."  Especially since this same weekend last year, the husband of a friend of hers collapsed during a 10k and eventually died a few months later.  And finish, I did!

I think the number I'm most proud of is my finishing percentile.  I was in the 24th percentile!  Sure, my pace was slower than I'd hoped.  And my finish time was slower than last year, but I finished before 75% of the other women.  Before 75% of the women in my age group!

This year, our friend Marisa joined us (and Shannon's husband, Dave, bailed! Wimp!  You better come back next year!)

Cool Shannon, Marisa & Me on Saturday afternoon...all smiles before Race Day

And we stayed right on the boardwalk.  Right at the host hotel.  What a view.  From our balcony, we cheered on Marathon runners the rest of the day too.

We kept the traditional dinner at Rooney's, too.  Who needs pasta when you've got fresh seafood?  Sure, some people would say we'd do better with some carb-loading, but it's just not as tasty as Rooney's!

Marisa's family came down Sunday to cheer us on.  They let us know that they'd be around the 9 mile mark and knowing that, kept me going!  There was NO WAY I was going to be walking when they saw me!  Thanks for making the trip down, guys.  You were such an encouragement.  I can't wait until my gang's old enough to cheer us on.

All-in-all, it was a good experience.  Sure, mile #s 6, 7, and 8, I contemplated just stopping.  Not walking.  Just stopping.  But then I realized, I still had to get back to the hotel somehow.  Any way I cut it, I'd have to walk, run, or crawl...so I might as well keep running. 

I'm so proud of Marisa for finishing her first "Half", too.  I know you're still in denial, but give it a few weeks, you'll agree to run it again.  It's kinda like childbirth.  You forget all about the misery when you start longing for that fuzzy and warm feeling that a baby (or in this case, a strong finish) will give you!

Where's Shannon, you ask?  Well...she ignored us when we said we'd meet her at the finish line...and she went back to the hotel for a shower.

Ready for 2011, girls?  May 1st...Shannon and I are in!  Who's gonna join us????

Abma's Farm

I love love love Abma's Chicken Salad.  And I've been craving it like nobody's business this week.  No...I'm not pregnant...just want me some Chicken Salad.  I don't like Chicken Salad.  At all.  Unless it's Abma's! 
But here's the thing.  How does a skittish mother of triplets (plus 2) "run into" a farm store to pick up some chicken salad?  Well...she doesn't!  Especially when there's a petting zoo right there.

Finally, the urge got to be more than I could handle!  So yesterday, I did it.  I bit the bullet and took the triplets to Abma's Farm to get some Chicken Salad and see the animals. 

What was I thinking?  How was I going to keep track of them?  How was I going to keep them from grabbing everything off the shelves in the market?  Was I suffering from temporary insanity?  How was this going to work?

Who cares...I have to start getting out with the gang if I have any hope of not losing my mind!

Thankfully, it was a beautiful day and the kids ran right up to the animals and started yelling out each name...

..."Buuuuh-kneeeee"...

..."Tuuuur-keeeeey"...

...and that's where the fun ended for Eli!  I snapped this picture right before the turkey snapped at him!  There were cries, tears and screams...and not all from Eli!  Nearby moms were horrified.  I was calm...sorta.  I quickly dropped the camera and ran to check Eli over...he was fine...the turkey didn't get him...at all.  When the coast was clear...I laughed.  Only Eli would be so enthusiastic that it would cause a turkey...at a children's petting zoo...to snap at him!

Thankfully, the trauma with the turkey didn't end our trip to Abma's.  Eli forced me to carry him for a whopping 60 seconds, then joined Cole and Ava as they continued around the zoo looking at the sheep,  pigs, ponies, goats, etc.  At the fence for each animal, the kids squatted down and talked to the animal like it was a little baby...

"Hi wittle piggy...hi...hi pig..."

They stared at the baby chicks for QUITE a long time.  I think they were drawn to them since there were so many "babies".  Maybe they didn't feel quite so strange being triplets since the chicks were like thirty-lets.

On the way out of the petting zoo (can I just mention that every time I go to type "zoo", I type "zoe".  I should've thought a little harder before naming her!), the triplets indulged my request to pose in the face holes of animals.  No...I was not successful in getting all three to look at me for a picture.  I wasn't even successful in getting their face in the shot.  They would look out the hole and then look down to see the animal.  I don't think they quite got the concept.  But Cole did get something...his head slightly stuck in the hole.  Oh the joy of having a GSM (Good Size Melon).

After being "good shoppers with hands in their pockets", the triplets were rewarded with home-made donuts!  And Mommy was rewarded with Chicken Salad!

Yes, Mom, I brought wipes AND antibacteria wash to use on their hands before they ate the donuts!

World's Best Waterboys

So technically, they weren't both BOYS and they didn't have WATER, but they were still perfect!

I'm running the NJ Half-Marathon again this year.  Saturday, I was supposed to run 12 miles, according to my training schedule.  Since I haven't done my "long training runs" for the past 2 weekends, thanks to Bethany's Wedding and Easter, I was pretty skeptical that I'd get very far.  Planning for the worst, I decided I'd piece together 2 of my running routes (for a total of 11 miles), bringing me right past our street after 5 miles. 

The first 5 miles felt pretty good.  Even still, I wasn't looking forward to going back out on another "loop".  Until I turned the corner and saw this...

Obviously, I don't run with my camera, this is a re-creation!

You can only imagine how much my spirit was lifted.  I might have even teared up a little!  I stopped for a few seconds, drank some of the Gatorade and headed back out.

I only wish the kids had found a way to wait for me at mile 8.5.  Right after the pretty substantial hill I had completely forgotten about.

Easter Recap

Happy Easter (a week late)!

I'm not really sure how Easter showed up so fast.  Actually...I do know...Spring Break...Wedding...Easter.  BOOM!  It's crazy, really.  I keep thinking that life will slow down, but it's not.  It will though, right?

So anyway...Easter...it was great!  We went up to CT to be with my parents.  Left on Saturday evening and came home Sunday night.  Whirl-wind trip.  But so worth it.

Before we left, I let the kids dye eggs: My least favorite tradition of the holiday.  Know what makes coloring eggs much less stressful?  Let them color the eggs OUTSIDE!  The weather was great, so I had them bring the stuff out to the driveway.  I gave them each 1/2 the eggs.  Then I went inside.  Ta Dah!  I couldn't care less about the eggs...or the mess!

Sunday morning we all headed to church in our "Easter Finest".  Cole and Eli even wore the Tuxes from Lindsay's wedding.  Hey, if a 2 1/2 year old can't wear a tux on Easter Sunday, when CAN he wear it?

Cole was NOT cooperative!  He had NO intention of letting me take a picture of him.  Grammy tried.  STILL not successful.

After church, a great lunch (thanks Mom!), and a nap for the triplets, we ventured back outside for a good old-fashioned egg hunt!  The triplet's first.  Oh boy.  Eli wasn't thrilled with the idea.  Two words: Melt Down.  Look at my attempt at a "Pre-Hunt Picture"...could Eli look any less excited?  Not to worry, he quickly caught on to the fun to be had by hunting for "More egg!"

After the hunt was over, the consuming began.  There were multiple times that my parents asked when we were going to cut them off.  Ummmm...well...I hadn't actually planned on cutting them off...

My favorite moment...Eli convincing Ava to share her jelly beans...(sorry about all the shadows, I'm still "perfecting" my SLR camera skills)

Lessons learned:

1. Don't expect a Family Easter Picture for at least another 3 years.
2. Less candy in each egg.
3. Set the candy-eating expectations BEFORE the hunt begins.
4. Oh...and count the eggs BEFORE you start hiding them.
5. Always pack tar and home-improvement clothes...you never know when your husband will be fixing a leak on the roof of your parents' home.