Catching up

I have to get over the fact that I can't always dedicate a whole post to a specific group of pictures. I've take a ton over the last couple of weeks so I figured to relieve myself of the burden of a loaded memory card, I'll just post them in one big post with a (brief) description of the happenings of my life in the last few weeks. I didn't have the time to edit the photos at all so here they are straight from the camera. Here it goes...

Visiting Kelly, MJ and Maddie in Northern VA.

Maddie getting rid of some gas...

Hangin out on the floor

Impromptu girls night with Nikki and Jen and their little girls (little over a week apart) Kaelyn and Brooke.

They're leaning in like they're posing for the pic. so funny.

Alexis eating a fudgecicle. Aunt Jen helping her get it all over her face!

The end of the night, we played Wii boxing after the husbands joined us after their Bible study.

I knocked Matt out

We had the Gibson girls over for dinner with Dad Stan and our friend Ken. We played in the backyard and the girls were SO sweaty at the end of the night.

Macy chased this "butterfly" (moth) around for 30 minutes

Jenna trying to keep cool (notice the sweaty hair)

Macy playing cornhole with Jenna and Matt. Notice the intensity on her face

Cute Macy

Sadie B feeling SO hot

Forcing Jenna to smile. it looks like she has to go the bathroom.

That's better

Jumping Macy

Piggy backs for Jenna and Macy

Drawing

Sadie just played with the colored pencils

Sadie the athlete

Last weekend on our way back from DC (for work) we stopped in Baltimore at the Inner Harbor for Phillips All-you-can-eat seafood buffet!

before

after

Wyatt playing the drums in grandpa's office. He also plays the guitar. I'll post videos later.

Watching his shadows on the wall

coloring

I met my friend Heather (mother of the Gibson girls above) at the mall one night for dinner and she brought along her 4 year old, Jenna. FULL of personality.

Chowing down a Cinnabon!

This is how she walked through the mall for a while

Throwing pennies in the fountain

Garden update

One thing I've enjoyed this spring and summer is trying my hand at gardening. I haven't updated in awhile so I went out and snapped some pics during my daily walk through my garden. I'm absolutely amazed that these things came from seeds! Enjoy these before and after shots and see the growth thats taken place!




I also transplanted some of my flowers along with some new ones to my make-shift planters. We had some old soda crates downstairs that we used for planters. This weekend, I picked up a couple more 7-up soda crates that I'll be adding to the deck.

I Like Smoothies...

So I've been pretty lax on my blogging lately....not because I forget that I am a self-proclaimed blogger, but because I've been doing something that consumes my time recently. The Smoothie Challenge. Let me explain...

About a month ago, I purchased a Nike+ running sensor. It came with a sensor that plugs into my ipod nano and receives a signal from another sensor tied to my shoelaces. As I run, the lovely lady in my headphones tells me my distance, my time and my pace. At the end of my run, the info can be uploaded to Nikeplus.com where I can track my total miles, total calories, and my average pace. It records personal bests like fastest mile or longest run in a trophy case too! I can even join challenges with other Nike+ users that keeps me motivated - i.e. The Smoothie Challenge.

We agreed that the last person to reach 40 miles would have to buy everyone else smoothies. So, last tuesday, we were off! The competition was neck and neck and I can't believe how it got me motivated! It got me running longer and more frequently than I ever have before. It's only thursday...nine days after the competition started, and its already over! After a 7.25 mi run this morning, I sealed the win. The heated competition quickly became more of a race for first place, rather than just not being last. Here are a couple of screen shots of my account and the challenge results.

If you're a runner and thrive on self-competition, you'll benefit from Nike+.

overview of an individual run

total runs

Smoothie Challenge leaderboard
(Note* Emily had some technical difficulties with her iPod and really totalled 32 miles....shes a beast!)

A day in the life of a Parrothead

As defined by Wikipedia: Parrothead or Parrot Head is a commonly used nickname for fans of Jimmy Buffett.

Origin: The term "Parrothead" began at a Jimmy Buffett concert in Ohio. At the show, Jimmy commented about everyone wearing Hawaiian shirts and parrot hats and how they kept coming back to see his shows, similar to "deadheads". The term "Parrothead" was coined to describe each of those fans.

Description: The common stereotype is of a person wearing a Hawaiian shirt, flip-flops and baord shorts, or a grass skirt and a coconut bra while drinking a margarita.

This past weekend, Matt and I joined my brother-in-law and sisters-in-law for a Jimmy Buffet concern at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. Our tickets were a wedding gift from Matt's brother, Josh. The larger draw for this even, as I quickly learned, was the pre-concert tailgate. Shocked, as we drove through the parking lots filled with tents, cars with shark fins attached, baby pools, fake palm trees and LOTS of people dressed in their best Parrothead garb, I quickly understood the dedication of Buffett fans.



It was only a matter of time before we fit the part as we broke out our newly constructed cornhole set (aka, baggo, bean-bag toss, and started jamming the music. The day was HOT!

cornhole!

the girls and our "cigars"

At about 730, we made it to our fabulous second row seats...ahem, that is, second row from the top. Even though were caught in a torrential downpour about 20 minutes before showtime (which was an experience in itself watching 50,000 people scatter and take cover, in an open air stadium.

soooo many people!

I understood the Parrotthead dedication after the concert started and saw a stadium full of drenched (and mostly drunk) fans singing and dancing as if the conditions were perfect. You can see in the video below when the stage lights were shining on the crowd just how many people were there singing at the top of their lungs.

The future Mrs. McClain

Although this congratulations is long overdue, I figured better late than never. On Memorial Day, Matt and I joined about a dozen of our friends in a celebratory dinner with our friend's Lauren and Matt who got engaged that day! We're so happy for Matt and Lauren! I'm also flattered to be Lauren's maid of honor for her wedding in December of this year! Congratulations, Lauren and Matt!