Kayaking

Here are some pics of our kayak trip in Amelia Island. We paddled around in the marsh. We saw a couple dolphin, a shark, lots of birds and thousands of these crazy white clawed crab! The crabs had one giant white claw that they waved in the air trying to attract a mate. There were so many of them on the muddy shore that they looked like ribbons waving.

We also saw a bunch of oyster beds - see pic. They were all over the place. But they were not oysters for people because they were really small. They call them racoon oysters because the racoon hang out in the marsh and eat them up. I saw a racoon and it was the scrawniest looking racoon I ever saw.

It was so beautiful and peaceful.

Shark!

This is the second shark we saw in Florida. The first was on our kayak tour (pics to come later). This one is a bonnet shark and was caught by a guy on the beach....where we were swimming!

I wanted to bring him home for a pet. Marty said he would expand Hank's pond and we could name him Nabby!

Golf cart adventures

This condo comes with a golf cart that we use to get around the plantation or just go out for adventures. The first time we used it, we got hopelessly lost and wore out the battery! This is Drew and Gracie pushing us up a hill because there was not enough guts left in the battery!

A little investigation revealed that there was no water in the batteries, so we did a little repair job and fixed it up! The owners didn't know that they got repair people in the exchange.

Ghost tours

We did a ghost tour last nite. It had a lot of history mixed with dead people. It was really interesting and a different way to learn about a city. It is no wonder that these really old cities that are steeped in war and violence have ghosts!

Grace was really apprehensive to got on the tour but it wasn't that scary!

Birthday Dinner

Last nite we had my birthday dinner at a GREAT place called "The Pink House" in Savannah. It is an old haunted historical building. The server told us that last week one of the servers was upstairs closing up when "someone" left a cabinet door open that should have been closed and as soon as the server closed it, the fire alarm went off. The people who were downstairs got an alarm saying there was a fire on the floor he was on!

Jim had a giant flounder (see pic). It is a trade secret recipe that they won't give out. The food was outstanding!

While in Florida and Georgia, Ahi and Daisy are staying with Tina and Marty. You can see from these pics that they seem to have adjusted ok to us being gone.

But it was not without drama. On Sunday nite, Marty and his nephew, Jake, took the dogs to the school for a run. They let them off leash which is not a problem, unless Ahi has a chiweenie brainfart and suddenly realizes that Marty is not her mama! She would not come to Marty to be leashed back up. So he called Tina, who is Ahi's other mother.

Tina rushed over to help, only to have Ahi have a case of total amnesia! Ahi was thinking, "Who is this woman??"

Ahi ended up running all the way home! She jumped on her pillow and refused to look at anyone.

She really is a dope!

Amelia Island

Don't have much time to post but here are a few pics from Amelia Island. We are in a great two bedroom condo right on the beach. We literally walk out and are in the sand within 100 feet. You can see our view out to ocean in one of the pics.

New combo

We have a new offering at the gym and I tried it out this morning after my spin class. So after I did 1 hour of spin, I did one hour of power yoga. It was the toughest yoga class I have done and I think it was particulary hard after spin because my legs were already fatigued. I am going try it again next weds and see how it goes.

The only bad part is I am STARVING!

Happy Graduation

Instead of a normal graduation gift like a laptop or money, we got Drew a white water rafting trip down the Tuolomne River! He and Jim went together last week - Gracie and I would NEVER go!

The had fun but Drew said it was scary and he would probably never do it again. At one point, everyone but Drew and the guide were thrown out of the boat. That left Drew to pull everyone back in! Way to much pressure for him.

In this pic, Jim is in the front left and Drew is behind him.

Muddy Buddy 2010

Muddy Buddy 2010 was a huge success....which means we were able to finish it!! And actually we did the course in 1 hour 7 minutes and 44 seconds and finished 509th (509out of over 1200 teams) overall and 19th in our group (19 out of 57). I am thrilled.

The course went like this:

First leg: I rode 1 mile up hill while Cindy ran. The transition obstacle was a rock wall.

2nd leg: I ran 1.3 miles over a dry, in the sun, no wind trail on the top of the mountain, while Cindy rode. The next transition obstacle was a balance beam.

3rd leg: I rode downhill 1.3 miles while Cindy ran. I was singing hallelujah after that hot run! I sped down the hill barely in control at times. Next transition was an inflatable with a rope ladder on one side and a STEEP slide on the other (the slide was the scariest part of the whole day)!

4th leg: I ran 1.4 miles while Cindy rode. This leg felt like it went on and on. The obstacle transition was crawling under a cargo net....in the very dry, hot grass.

5th leg: I rode 1.3 miles while Cindy ran. This is where I saw a man down and being attended to by paramedics - it was hot! I met up with Cindy at the end and we ran to the mud pit and dove in!

The mud pit was an interesting experience - I had never crawled thru mud before. It was cold, slimy and hard on the knees. Especially when my husband jumped into the pit and tackled me!

Jim and Drew were a team and they came up with a time of 1 hour 43 minutes!!!!! But we think the time is wrong. I think that they took Jim's time when he came out of the mud pit with Cindy and I after jumping in with us because they had already been in for a long time and went thru the starting line about 45 minutes before us. I suspect they came in around the same time as us. Although....you should have seen the victory dance I did when I thought Cindy and I beat them!!!! It was a mixture of the chicken dance, the macarena and a bad seizure!

Let me know if you are interested in participating next year. I would love to get a big group of people together and make a big party out of it! I will even share my 10week training plan with you!

Still Clean

Mud....

Muddy Girls

Muddy Buddy

Twas 2 nites before.....

Twas 2 nites before muddy buddy
And all thru the house
All the creatures were readying
So as not to be a louse

In the garage on a rack
were the helmets and bikes
In the house were the snacks
And 4 sizes of nikes

Come Sunday at the crack of dawn
All our hearts will be a flutter
With anticipation and dread
And hopes that we don't end up face down in a gutter

Stay tuned to this blog
For stories and pics of mud
As we decide if our partner
Is really, truly a bud....or a dud!

Graduation

Drew graduated yesterday from 8th grade. I had not really given much thought on what to expect from the graduation ceremony or the little dinner we had afterward but the whole day exceeded my expectations!

The ceremony was really nice - it was genuine and respectful. The kids were celebrating but doing so in a respectful manner. All the teachers were involved and the kids applauded and cheered for them! We all came home and had a nice spaghetti dinner and enjoyed time with some friends and family. All in all a really special time!

Snoozing

This is what a labrador looks like after too much swimming!

A nite out....

A nite out with a little too much beer and karoke! (The kids and I went home to take care of sick Ahi - so no one was there with any sense!)

Thanks

Here is the thank you pic that Gracie did for the vet staff that cared for Ahi!

Cherry Lake

While Gracie and I were playing nurse/vet for Ahi - everyone else was having fun at Cherry.

Sick Puppy

What a bummer weekend! We were supposed to be at Cherry Lake for a summer kick off of fishing season. But on Friday afternoon Ahi started to throw up and didn't stop! By Saturday morning, she was still throwing up and was really sick, so Gracie and I decided NOT to go to Cherry and take Ahi to the vet instead. It turned out that she was dehydrated and needed to be kept at the doggie hospital.

Grace and I were so sad leaving her there. Soooooo SAD!

She ended staying overnite and the vet still wanted to keep her another nite but she was so nervous that the vet ended up thinking she would be better off at home. So she came home with antibiotics, anti-nasuea meds, pepcid, flagyl and a special food.

She is feeling better each day but is still not quite herself. We are so happy she is feeling better.

These are pics of her in the 24 hours after she got home!

Sizzling Sixteen

For all those Janet Evanovich fans, her new book, "Sizzling Sixteen", comes out on June 22! I think I need to get it for my summer vacation read!