Iceland

I have just returned from an amazing 5-day trip to Iceland. Here are the pictures from the trip. For the stories behind the pictures, visit my Iceland blog.

Iceland

Joshua Sings and Plays Baseball

Joshua has been busy. Last Thursday was the 1st grade Patriotic concert. We thought we had a good view from our seats but were as far away from Joshua as we could possibly be, and my camera can't handle the distance. I'm hoping to get some better pics from a friend with a better camera. Maybe I'll upgrade to a better camera this year.

Baseball is going well and Joshua is having a lot of fun. He hits well and his fielding has improved. He's had quite a few rained out games lately, which is sometimes a good thing because they play for 2 hours!

Finally, I gave him one of my old check books because he was asking if he could write checks. He has been writing checks to Stuart and me, which is very amusing!

Joshua Sings and Plays Baseball

Pictures from Capon Valley 50K

OK, so I look like a goof in most of these, and appear to have had my eyes closed much of the time, but I guess you can't always look good when running 31 miles!

Capon Valley 50K

Capon Springs

Capon Springs

We spent last weekend at Capon Springs in West Virginia. I ran the Capon Valley 50K on Saturday, which started just down the road from Capon Springs and Farms, the resort where we stayed, and actually ran through part of the resort.

Staying at Capon Springs and Farms was like stepping back in time...way back before we were born! I have never been to Butlins, but it was just how I imagine Butlins would have been in the 50s...perhaps on a smaller scale. If you've seen the movie Dirty Dancing, just imagine the Catskills resort where that movie is set. (Although it wasn't actually filmed in the Catskills but in Roanoke, Virgina!) I digress..

Let me tell you about a typical day at the resort: Flag-raising along with playing of the National Anthem over the loudspeakers at 8:25am. Breakfast in the dining room from 8:30 - 9:30, served by your lovely white-haired waitress who has been working there since 1962 and brings your food on a trolley. Everything is white or mint-green, including the waitresses' uniforms and the chairs (green).

After breakfast you can sit on the porch and watch the world go by or go and play shuffleboard, tennis, badminton, or ping-pong. You can borrow a fishing pole and go catch a fish in one of two ponds. If the fish is longer than 8 inches you can bring it to the kitchen and they will clean and cook it for your dinner. If not, throw it back. You can go hiking. You can swim in the pool, which is spring-fed and is a cool 62 degrees. Hope you brought your wetsuit.

Lunch is served from 1:00 - 2:00. The music begins playing at 12:00 and there's a "get ready" bell at 12:30 followed by the "come and eat" bell at 1:00. Dinner is from 6:00 - 7:00. If it's your birthday they will make you a cake and play Happy Birthday over the speakers. On Sunday it was Mother's Day and they played a tune that sounded like it was recorded in 1957.

On weekend evenings you can join a singalong complete with hot dogs (only allowed after the singing) and marshmallow-roasting. I was surprised at how much Joshua enjoys a good singalong!

The 50K went very well. I really wasn't sure what to expect as I knew this would be the longest I had ever run and I also knew it was very hilly. I ended up with a great time - 5hrs 27 mins and was 3rd female and 28th overall out of 150 participants. I won't bore you with all the details but if you want to read my race report it's on my Racingtales blog.

Don't forget to click the image at the top to view the whole album!