Durhamtown

A few weekends ago we went back to Durhamtown with Brad's brother and his family. The first time we went was back in the spring...I'm fairly certain we'll make this a bi-annual trip. It's so much fun being in the woods, hanging out with family and having no schedule.

We spent a LOT of time at the pee wee track with David and took a bunch of rides on the other trails. Unfortunately, I got us deep into a trail with me on my dirt bike and Brad following with David in the cart that way WAY too muddy for a dirt bike. It was challenging and the place of my first crash (directly into a pine tree)...but our friend, Joe, said I handled the mud well since it was my very first time really riding my bike. :) I was pretty sore for a week after we got back from that ride alone.

Leslee, Heather and I went for a guided night ride. It was great - we went on trails that are typically closed to the public....there were lots of hill climbs and freaky/scary places to some of these trails. It was my first time really riding the 4-wheeler and with the exception of it stalling the entire way down a VERY steep hill - it was great. It's definitely on the schedule for our trip to DT in the spring.

David had a little crash too. His training wheel got caught in a whole and it kind of flipped his dirt bike over. He cried for a few minutes but got back on and rode it out of the woods. He's a little trooper and knows he was safe because he had on all of his safety gear.

Pa wasn't able to go with us on this trip - he had a wreck on his street bike the week before and he thought he broke a rib....riding in the woods with a broken rib is no fun....so he stayed home. Hopefully in the spring he can join us again.

Below are just a ton of pictures from the trip with some explanation of them.

David on the pee wee track - he was catching some air -
This was the next day after it had rained for about 8 hours. He loved the mud -
Savannah, me and Leslee after our girls only ride -
Typical -
Brad -
This is me on my first mx track -
David watching Brad come down from Monster Mountain -
Playing with trucks. This is what he did if he wasn't on the dirt bike, in the cart or playing with Z. (his new friend) -
Our cabin the quadplex...we were on the left side, R&L on the right and two other friends families were on the backside of this cabin -
David and his buddy Z. They were playing Monster Jam with their bicycles -
The mud ride (Brad and I took a nap while these crazy folks went out in the rain for a ride) -
Girls ride only (plus Joe). Check out Denise's hot pink cart - LOVE IT -
Radar...the newest member of the family. He hung out on the porch most of the time...he was a great dog this weekend...everyone fell in love with him -
Rich on the big mx track - Brad on the mx track -Leslee on the mx track -
Rich and Brad -
Cleaning up. David cleaned his own bike and did a pretty good job at it -We had a GREAT time and can't wait to go back.

Davidisms

David is becoming such a ham and loves to make us laugh. I wouldn't consider Brad or myself really funny....so I'm not sure where he gets it from. Here are a couple of the most recent things he's been saying:

"I'm tired of y'all talking." - he typically says this when we are in the car and he just wants us to be quiet. Guess he'd rather listen to the hum of the tires then to mama and dad talking.

"You're not making no sense." - he'll say this randomly when he doesn't understand what we are saying....we might be making complete sense but in his 4 year old mind he can't understand us.

"Holy word." - this is his exclamation of choice. I guess it is a combination of 'holy crap' and 'oh my word', which I say all the time. I'm trying not to say 'holy crap' anymore...and am going with the more appropriate 4 year old version of 'holy smokes'. It's hilarious when he says this because normally it's used when he's very excited about something. Appropriate.

"Do I have batteries in my bones?" - not sure where this came from - TOO CUTE!

"God makes me laugh!" - we were in the bathroom at church on Sunday and he was laughing out loud and hard and couldn't stop...I kept trying to get him to hush because we were close enough to the santuary that I was certain everyone could hear him. I asked him what he was laughing at and he said that God was making him laugh.....I'd love to know what He was making David laugh about! To be 4 years old again....

Happy 4th Birthday David

So it's been almost a month since David's birthday party - and I'm late in getting these pictures posted. What's new? :)

The party was fun - he had some neighborhood friends, church friends and school friends over to our house. They kids played in the backyard and seemed to have a good time.

Here are some pictures from the day - in no particular order.

His cake...
K.C. and Reagan:David realizing what was under the blanket...
Showing off a toy...
Heather, me and Trisha...
Kelli, me and Melanie (these are my two oldest friends in Birmingham - and by oldest I don't mean they are old....just that I've known the the longest....but I guess they both ARE older than me)!

Kelli and Jeff...
Being goofy on his bike...
We gave him his dirt bike after almost everyone had left the party. He rode it around the backyard for about an hour.

We had a great day - the weather was nice and lots of our good friends (and David's little school buddies) came to celebrate his birthday. I'm thankful for the friends we have.

Happy Birthday big Dave!

Race for the Cure - October 11, 2008

Last weekend I did the Race for the Cure in downtown. I started training for it late this summer because I wanted to run the whole 5k without walking. I have done a bunch of 5k's and 10k's, but have never been able to run the entire thing - I have zero endurance. About 9 weeks into my training program I got really tired of running and got off schedule. I never fully got up to 3 miles....so I wasn't prepared to run the entire thing - but I was close. I am a very SLOW runner to start with (11:30 minute miles) but only walked for a total of about 5 minutes. My time was 37:30 - 5 minutes faster than my best time. Now I know what time to beat for next years Race!

The Ridge

We went riding this weekend at The Ridge with some friends. We had a great time. David, Brad and myself rode our new toys for the first time...and John and Trisha mainly rode the go kart. David did amazingly well on his dirt bike on the pee wee track. He did have his first crash - it was traumatic, but he got up and within a few minutes was riding again. He didn't accelerate fast enough up a hill and just kinda slid backwards down to the bottom until his bike turned over. He says he was safe because of the helmet and gear he was wearing, and he's right.

Our friend, John, took my bike on the pee wee track and jumped it a couple times, but I couldn't let him show me up. So I tried as well....I didn't get much air but it was...SO. MUCH. FUN.

Next weekend we are going to Durhamtown to ride with Brad's family. I am really looking forward to that and hoping for no broken bones.

Here are some pictures from The Ridge. It was an absolutely perfect day outside. We rode, ate a picnic lunch and rode some more.

I think in this picture they were watching me ride the pee wee track. Brad is probably laughing at me for almost wiping out in the sand in one of the corners.
Brad...

David's first ever trail. He got stuck on some ruts a little further up on this trail and Brad had to push him out.
Brad and little man.
David is winning the race on the pee wee track.
The boys.

Who is Jesus?

In CHEMISTRY, He turned water to wine;
In BIOLOGY, He was born without the normal conception;
In PHYSICS, He disproved the Law of Gravity when He ascended into Heaven;
In ECONOMICS, He disproved the Law of Diminishing Return by feeding 5000 men with two fishes and five loves of bread;
In MEDICINE, He cured the sick and the blind without administering a single dose of drugs;
In HISTORY, He is the beginning and the end;
In GOVERNMENT, He said that He shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Prince of Peace;
In RELIGION, He said no one comes to the Father except through Him.

The Greatest Man in History, Jesus, had no servants, yet they called Him Master. He had no degree, yet they called Him Teacher. He had no medicines, yet they called Him Healer. He had no army yet became King of kings. He won no military battles, yet He conquered the world. He committed no crime, yet they crucified Him. He was buried in a tomb, yet He lives today and can never taste death again.
-------
I saw this on a website today and wanted to share it. You should also check out the replica of Noah's Ark that this guy built. It's pretty incredible. It's in the Netherlands or else I'd take my family on a road trip to see it.

Birthday cake - part 2

So I was there when he was born (in 2004) but for some reason I put Happy 3rd on David's birthday cake. Luckily, my 9 year old neice caught my error about an hour before the party. I had a chance to fix it before everyone got there.

Here's the WRONG age....
Here's the finished cake that correctly says "Happy 4th Birthday David"!
Little man about to blow his candles out (or maybe he just did).
I'll post more pictures from his birthday later on this week. I was out of town all last week and we had a very busy weekend....so that's my excuse for the delay. :)