May 26, 2010

Today I'm thankful for off the wall, unpredictably fun days.  Instead of getting out of bed at my normal time . . . I forced myself to sleep in.  I ended up staying in bed until 9:00 a.m.  (Which I haven't done in YEARS!)  Dave brought me breakfast in bed . . .

and then I took the kids outside to play.  Eli has been looking forward to warm weather for quite some time.  This little battery powered tractor is his favorite toy.  He rides it for HOURS . . . or until the battery runs down.

Then Bayleigh wanted a little of my time . . . so we played a game of Sorry.  Then we all cooled off, ate lunch and rested, until the weather cooled down a bit.  We had to run some errands in town, so we decided to take the kids to the park while we were in the area.

The beaches are all still underwater, and there is an ecoli warning out until the water receeds some more.  There were lots of vultures sitting around the tower at the dam, and I thought they would make an interesting shot.  

We ended up going to the park, where Bayleigh and I ran the 5k in April.  While Dave supervised the kids on the playground equipment, I went for another run with my camera in tow this time around.

This is just about where the course begins.  More of a cross country style course, with gravel and dirt.

As I was running, I caught a glimpse of a heron off to my right.  I stopped, backed up and tried to get a shot.  You can barely see him, just left of the tree towards the center.  (Wish I'd had my zoom lens on me.)

There were a few stairs . . .

and lots of beautiful scenery.  I'm glad the sun was shining this time.  Last time I ran this track it was pouring down rain!

There are lots of curves, LOTS of inclines,

and several varieties of wildlife running around the area.  I made the 3 miles in 35 minutes, even with a few stops to take photos.  So I'm thinking that wasn't too bad.

When I made it back, I stopped down where they let the water out of the dam.  The little bridge that crosses over to the other side was under water, but it didn't look like it was deturing the fishermen . . .

The kids played on this (a Nikon would have come in handy on this shot! lol) . . .

and then we headed off to the ice cream stand for a little something to cool us down.

Next we stopped at the library, and then it was on to the grocery store!  Bayleigh and I did a little dance in the meat isle of the grocery store, but I made sure no one was watching. lol 

It was a fun and enjoyable day all around.  It's nice to throw the schedules out the window every now and again, but tomorrow it's time to get back on track.