Vegetables and Chocolate

Ewww, doesn't exactly sound like a tasty combination, but the pictures I just downloaded are of the few veggies I've managed to coax from a very dry garden that's struggling in the extreme heat - extreme even for Washington in July - and Hershey Park, which we visited last week.

Veggies and Chocolate

The boys had a blast at the park, riding lots of roller coasters that at best made me lightheaded and at worst made me want to puke (look straight ahead, don't close eyes!) but I was a good sport and rode with them every time...well, once I got off after 3 trips on the same coaster...the worst part of which wasn't the death-defying drop but the sudden stop it made right before the end! It was a HOT day at the park (every day in July has been HOT!) but we stayed cool by spending some time getting soaked at the water park and visiting the chocolate museum.

Now the veggies... I've just been outside removing a load of dead (possibly diseased) vegetation from the zucchini/courgette plant and spraying it for powdery mildew. Should have caught that earlier but I've been literally running outside, soaking everything, and running back in without looking too closely. We've had a few tomatoes from a very sad and spindly looking tomato plant. Thankfully the tomatoes are very good, even though the plant is suffering! And I finally got some blueberries from our blueberry bushes, which clearly LOVE the heat as they look great. I think the peppers will be good when they finally appear, as the plants that almost died in the Spring when the nights dropped below 60 are just thriving in the heat and humidity.

Wish I were a pepper plant or blueberry bush right now! We are absolutely dying in the heat that has descended on us. I went running at 6am this morning...at Burke Lake so we'd be out of the sun. When I got up at 5am it was already 80 degrees. Doing anything outside involves discomfort and copious sweating. It really is nasty. I took the boys to Chuck e Cheese (indoor playplace that I usually steer clear of because of its germ-infested qualities) yesterday and a movie is planned for today. We've been listening to Halloween music in the car just for fun and all I can say is roll on Fall!!!

Funny Videos

In addition to documenting Daniel's races yesterday, I also took a couple of fun videos before and after he swam. He had a very wiggly tooth (which finally fell out last night) and so was constantly playing with it. He even showed it to the girls waiting in line behind him for relays...talk about ladykiller! ;)

Race Through Tuscany 5K

Race Through Tuscany 5K

Here's a link to a small - but challenging! - cross-country race I ran last weekend. I was 2nd female and 4th overall. They called it a race through Tuscany...well, if Tuscany is hilly, they were right on! The night before and morning of the race featured torrential downpours, making some of the downhills very slick. I switched to my trail shoes at the last minute, after realizing I was going to need good footing on those hills. It paid off as the girl who came in 3rd told me that she was sliding all over the place in her road shoes!

Of course, since we were at a winery, we had a fun post-race wine tasting, and then enjoyed a glass and lunch on the patio overlooking the grapevines. I must do more of these winery races...much better than the post-race bagel and banana!!!

Daniel at the Swim Meet

Here are some videos of Daniel swimming breaststroke, backstroke, and the 2nd leg of the relay at the South Riding Stingrays' July 14th swim meet. He's the one in the black and white swim cap (kinda looks like a cow!) You may want to turn the volume down...you know how loud parents get when they're cheering for their kids! ;)

Incidentally, there's no video of him swimming freestyle because I couldn't remember how to work the video camera in time for that. Shame, because he swam a PR of 22:19, finishing 3rd!

We're so proud of his accomplishment this year. He has worked very hard in all his strokes and has qualified in backstroke for the All Stars swim meet - reserved for the best swimmers in Loudoun County! Only 2 other 8 year old Stingray boys have qualified, and team-wide only 13 boys have made the All Stars cut, so he's in an elite group!

Joshua's 15 minutes

I got my copy of Washington Running Report this week and eagerly scanned the pages for info on people I know or races I've run. What I didn't expect to see was a picture of Joshua! Yes, at just 6 years of age he has already made it into a running magazine! He's featured in an ad for The Great Pumpkin 5K; the picture was taken during last year's kids' run, where he placed 2nd in his age group! Here's the link to the online ad: http://www.thegreatpumpkin5k.com. Look for him in the bottom right photo, right behind the kid in orange. He's wearing a white shirt (that happens to say "My Mom ran the Boston Marathon and all I got was this lousy shirt!) and blue shorts.