Bucket of balls

We bought an unlimited driving range pass 2 days ago. So far we have hit 11 baskets of large golf balls. I wonder if we will be golf pros by the end of the summer?!?!?!?! Come join us!

YUM!

Last night we broke out the fire pit and made some smores. Who says you can't have smores in your backyard!?

GREECE Part 2

A nice little church high in the mountains of the Peloponnese.

The fallen temple of Zeus, Olympus Greece. This was one of my favorite sights. I loved learning more about the first Olympics which had nothing to do with sports.The column you see was re-constructed and polished to show what the entire templelooked like at one time, over a thousand years ago!! The temple was completely destroyedafter an earthquake in like 450 AD.

The coolest drinking fountains outside Olympia, Olympus, Greece. I need these in my

backyard. A common sight. Goats all over the place!! We almost took out a goat herder

and his cane on our way to the beach one day. We could not stop laughing at the poor man running across the street with hiscane trailing behind him. I'm sure he thought his life was coming to a close, very quickly.

I loved the yiayia's all over the place. We saw a lot of them on the islands.

They all wore their black clothes but I have to say I loved the knee highs on this one.

She was just chillin' on the front porch.Another party at the beach. I think we were getting ready for our

calendar shoot, or not!! We were just enjoying the great water and weather.
My amazing view at Porto Katziki. Take note of the rocks, not sand!

Ragnar Relay-I LOVE YOU MAN!!

"Green Eggs and Sam"

I had a party running this weekend. I know it doesn't seem right that a person could actually have fun while they run but I promise you, I did.

I have done this race for the last 5 years and it always amazes me how much fun I have. By the time I get to leg three I am so ready to be done but still ready to run it again the next year. What I love the most is you don't have to be a "fast" runner to have a good time. This year we had the BYU team literally "fly" past us at a 5:25 minute mile. We stopped three of the guys at the following stop to talk about their flying ability. It was unreal. At one point we run up a serious mountain and the BYU team had to slow down to a 5:45 minute mile. Can you say AMAZING!!!??? I think that is one of my favorite parts, watching the elite runners do their thing.


If you are a runner then next year this is your race. Just do it!!
This is my oldest brother. He has ran on the team with me for the last 3 years. This year he was in Van #2, I was Van #1. I missed being in the same van. I hear he kicked some serious trash on all his legs.
Good Job brother!!
This isn't a very good pic, he has his eyes closed. oops.
We all looked trashed because it is 9 am and we have slept maybe 2 hrs in the last 24 hrs.
I just finished running my last leg, he is getting ready to start #3.

Mud Puddles

The canal road + a few mud puddles + a bike = happy muddy children

GREECE Part 1

I hate to post too many pictures so Iwill try and keep it to a minimum. I have over 8oo so this will be hard.

We ferried between a couple of the Ionian islands which is on the west side of Greece. These islands are very green compared to the Cyclades(Santorini, Mykonos etc.) which have zero vegetation.

Messaliani Lake

This is an underground lake. The water is crystal clear. Amazing blue color.

The town of Agia Efthimia.

Our hotel is about dead center of this picture. It was amazing!

The water in Greece is so blue I never got over it.

Perfect for snorkeling.

Myrtou Bay.

I had my first experience with topless beach goers at Myrtou Bay. I was surprised to see Moms going topless with youth aged children but it prepared me for later when there were completely nude people just walking around. I guess you could say we Americans look at the body differently than the rest of the world. It was really interesting.

This beach is not sand as most beaches in Greece are not sand. Instead it is made up of white pebbles, all different sizes. The salt water in Greece is so salty when you get out of the water you are covered in white.

Here we are getting ready to investigate and swim around these rocks. It took us a lot of time to get the nerve to actually start swimming. It took one question, "What's that dark thing?". We all took off swimming back to the shore so fast and then we laughed our heads off. The water is so clear that it's like you can almost see what is lurking but not quite. We eventually made it around with no "shark attacks".

Lefkada-another island.

We sea kayaked and snorkeled to several spots on this island, this is just one of them. I know I've already said this BUT the water was crystal clear. I could not believe the snorkeling. It was so much better than any other snorkeling I've done. I promise I won't mention the water again!

Porto Katziki-another wonderful beach.

This is at the top before we hiked down to enjoy the water.

The waterfalls on Lefkada. It was a great hike there, extremely green.

(If you want more pictures of it just let me know, I have plenty!! haha) To be Continued.....

Still no pictures!

I know all three of my readers are wondering where my pictures are. I wish I could tell you they were coming but I might be another day. I am having troubles downloading. I hope to have it done tonight.

On another note, I did make it through my run yesterday.

We went to "Night at the Museum #2". Abe Lincoln gave the following advice, "A house divided cannot stand". Is that not wonderful advice for three children who seem to get on each others nerves all day long??? I had to quote him about 4 times in one 24 hr. period. I wonder how long I will be able to use my one liner without the three children going A-wall on me!!

Where did it go???

Have you ever noticed that it takes a really long time to get into good shape? Have you ever worked really hard to get into shape? And when I say this I mean like you exercise everyday just so you can "take first in your age division" kind of hard. Then you go on a few weeks vacation and you don't really do much of anything and BOOM! you get back and you would have thought you didn't exercise a day in your life.

Now, normally, this would not bother me but this weekend I am participating in one of the Ragnar Relays. If you haven't heard of it you really should go check it out. It is the sweetest race I have ever competed in. This will be my 5th year and I have the time of my life. There are 12 people per team, 2 vans, 6 people per van and 24 hours of running, eating, sleeping and repeating, three times!! It is the best, I mean if you are weird like that.

So you are wondering what my problem is, right??? I don't think I can run one for myself right now, let alone run one for the team!! Tomorrow will be my first run in about 4 weeks. I hope I don't die. If you don't hear from me again then you will know I didn't make it past mile 1.

Reality Check

So it is officially time to come back to reality. I have tried to postpone this day but unfortunately, Ted is no longer on board with me. I have had the best three weeks of my life and I will post pictures to prove it, just not tonight.

I know you are wondering where I have been so let me give you just a small peek into my life. The first two weeks of my missing from reality started in Greece, yes you read that right, GREECE!!! It was absolutely amazing, no other word for it. Me and a long time friend decided to take a trip to visit another long time friend that works for the U.S. Embassy as a diplomat in Athens. We went all over the islands, Olympia, Nemea, Marathon, Athens, more islands and basically had the time of our lives.

My third week was spent camping with my parents and older brother's family in Fort Bragg, California. We took a short detour to visit Ted's Mom and sister in the bay area before hitting the coast and camping. It was a great time relaxing with family. The weather was great and I loved being with the nieces and nephews.

While I was gone I started reading the Twilight series. I was sucked in and had to read the entire series in like 4 days. I had a couple of sleepless nights, literally. I am anxious to see the movie. I could go on but I wont, let me end by saying, I loved them!! I think Ted was just as happy that I read them as I was!!

Pictures to come, hopefully tomorrow.