Fall Break Fun!

When you have a child in school, life revolves around their school schedule. Our lives are definitely more routine when Bayley is in school, however, we love it when she has a break. This last week Bayley had fall break. I know that growing up we never had a whole week off for a break during the fall, but I actually think that it is pretty nice. The weather is still very nice and the kids can still enjoy a lot of outdoor activities. Bayley had big plans for this week and I have to say that we had a good time checking things off her list. Monday we decided to go to the park for a picnic, then after the park we went to the Anniston Museum of Science and Natural History...a local museum. The park was great...a little hot for October, and the museum was much better than I had anticipated. In fact, I would probably will go back. Currently they have a special exhibit, a T-Rex named Sue, so it was fun for the girls to see a dinosaur skeleton. On Tuesday, we headed to the local library to check out some books and Bayley was able to get her very own library card now that she is 6 years old. She was so excited and it was fun to listen to her give the librarian her information for her card. She is getting so grown up. Wednesday was our big outing for the week. We headed to Atlanta to see the World of Coke Museum and to go to the new Georgia Aquarium. The Coke Museum was nice, but the girls wanted to race through it. We had a nice lunch on the lawn of Centennial Park, then we met Alyssa, Erin, and Olivia to go to the Aquarium. The aquarium was very nice and the girls had a good time. Surprisingly, Kendal was our adventurous one wanting to touch all of the fish and sea animals, while Bayley was our chicken who would only touch the water. Usually it is the other way around. Thursday was my recovery day, so we stayed home most of the day and the girls played together and relaxed. Friday the girls had a fun day with the Dad. Jeff took them golfing in the morning and they went fishing in the afternoon. Everyday Kendal would ask if Bayley had to go to school that day and seemed very excited when I told her the Bayley could stay home that day. Kendal loves having her big sister around as much as the rest of us do. However, Bayley does love school and I do enjoy having a structured schedule. Last week was fun, but I wouldn't get very much done around the house if we did that every week.


Saturday was big day for us around here. Bayley had her first ever swim meet. We weren't sure what to expect as this was a first for all of us, but we knew that Bayley would do well. Grandpa G made the trip from Marietta to see Bayley compete. Bayley swam in the 25M Freestyle, 25M Backstroke and the 50M Freestyle. She competed well and finished 4th, 2nd, and 3rd in her races. For only starting serious practice 6 weeks ago she did great. She has realized that there is some room for improvement. There was one little 6 year old girl that was a monster in the water...she was fast. Hopefully we can keep Bayley motivated because she does have a great future in swimming if she wants.

Our Crazy Swimmer

Our Serious Swimmer

Bayley is in the far lane

Saturday was also a day of "firsts" for me. For the first time in my life I ran 9 miles. I think before that the longest I had ever ran was 7 miles at one time, so this was quite the accomplishment. After running on Saturday I feel like cardiovascularly I could finish a 1/2 marathon...physically I am still not there. My body wanted to quit on me at about mile 7....good thing I still have 1 1/2 months left to train. As the race gets closer I am getting excited...part of the excitement will come from not having to train, but that is how it is with any sport...the competitions are a lot more enjoyable than the practices.