April is already here!

Well, it's been a while since I've updated our blog, so here's a semi-quick summary.

In January I started training for the Austin Zooma Half-Marathon for Women. On April 4, I ran the race with Felicia and Laurie and we all finished just under the 2 hour mark, which was really great! The course was super hilly (you can see the elevation chart here if you want to see it). I was really proud of all of us. And Paul volunteered with the race, so he got up super early with me (as in 3am early) and was helping at one of the parking lots by 5am.

It was the perfect race day because it was cool and overcast the whole morning until about 9am, so we didn't have too far to run under the sun.

The Monday after the race Paul and I flew to Orlando, FL to hang out with Daria & Jason for 10 days (well, Paul only stayed for 7, but I got to stay for all 10).

The first day Paul and I went to Discovery Cove (we swam with stingrays and tropical fish, and watched dolphins from 20 feet away!). We only have pictures on land because we didn't have a waterproof camera. But it was really fun. And really COLD. But we were determined to swim as long as we could and make the most of the day despite the weather.

(Before we got in the water and turned blue).

The second day we went to Sea World, and went from show to show. It was super crowded because of Easter, but we managed to get to all the shows that they offered, plus we got to eat at the restaurant with the shark tank inside which was fun. Below are a few pictures.

Waiting for the Shamu show...

Here come the trainers!

There were 3 whales swimming around - 1 baby (not pictured) and 2 adults. The baby was learning as they performed, so that was pretty cool.
There's all 3...

How an animal that size jumps that high out of the water is unbelievable to me. It was really cool to see the power that they have.
And to think that the trainers swim with them, and can ask them to perform specific tasks - all for a little fish and ice.

This was the most comical show - 2 seals, an otter, and a walrus, along with 3 trainers kept us entertained for quite a while.

Waiting for the dolphin show to start.
The set for this show was so elaborate - it was definitely the most complicated show we saw. They had acrobats, trainers, parrots flying, dolphins flipping, and trainers swimming with the dolphins.

This was the best shot we could get of the sharks in the aquarium at the restaurant. It was a really cool place to eat though.

Easter Sunday - the day Paul flew back, and we realized we didn't have a single picture of all 4 of us together yet. We weren't very good at taking pictures of us hanging out.

Almost every night we played Settlers of Catan. This time Jason won, and Daria was thrilled for him, can't you tell?

The day they tried to drown me...I mean teach me how to surf. The waves were "mushy" according to the surfers of the family, so it was hard for me to learn since the waves kept breaking right after each other without any time in between to actually get on the board and try to ride in. The few that I attempted to catch, I found myself too far up on the long board, so my weight pushed the nose of the board underwater and I just flipped. I quickly decided that I wasn't going to learn to surf in 1 day, so there wasn't any point to getting clobbered repeatedly by the waves. So I let Daria and Jason surf, and I was happy to watch from the beach.

I wanted at least 1 picture of us together before I left. Daria's going to work, so that's why she's in all black, and a crewneck t-shirt (since crewneck t's definitely break her wardrobe rules).

The pictures below are of the guest room in their house. Mom, here are pics, but Jason says it still isn't done, so look for even more improvements in the future.

Now we're back in TX and are getting ready for summer camp. It's a bit crazy like always, but everything is coming together. But I probably won't get a chance to blog again for a few months. Until next time!