Ben's First Marathon!

Here's Ben's post from his Daily Mile site about The Flying Pig Marathon today.  We are so proud of him!

Observations from my first Flying Pig and first marathon ever:

1. There will never be enough bathrooms before a race. How about y'all just let us pee in the river?

2. Rain during the race was a mostly good thing. The soles of my feet suffered down the stretch because of the wet socks, but it kept us all pretty cool considering the mid-upper 60's we were running in.

3. There were so many little things that went right on race day. I was dressed just right. I'm glad I took my water bottle and hydration was not an issue. Gu's went down well and I had no stomach issues and no nausea at any point. I suffered no light headedness or instability.

4. The big hills were not a problem while I was in them. I took it easy and thought my strategy was sound. Only in the end did they get me. 1500ft of hills was more than I was expecting.

5. The only problem I had the entire race is that I hit mile 22.5 and I just could NOT run any more. I walked most of 1.5 miles before resuming something that somewhat resembled running for the last 1.7 miles. I was steady...just REALLY slow. I don't think that any different strategy earlier in the race could have saved me from hitting the wall. I just have to go back and train differently last time.

6. The taper and carb loading seems like a load of crap to me. I had a faster and stronger 21.5 miles a few weeks ago with a normal diet and 30 miles that week before the long run. Unless it was the hills that did it to me.

7. The naked guy: Andy P. and I were running back into Ohio around mile 3 and noticed a guy ahead of us whose shorts were falling down in the back...bare assed. He pulled them up a couple of times, but they just wouldn't stay up. He took his shirt off and the shorts seemed to be holding...and then he veered off the course, presumably for a bathroom break, but he returned to the course totally naked. He ran about a mile and a half before we saw the cops coming...he was about a 1/4 mile ahead of us at this point. When we found him again, he was lying in the middle of the road, bloody, and cuffed...still naked. From what I hear, they had to taze him. I have no idea if running naked was his plan, or if it was just the last resort. Regardless, he obviously didn't want to stop or put his clothes back on. This might have gone unnoticed in NYC, but the repressed Cincinnati folk couldn't handle a naked guy in their race.

8. The worst part of the day was slowly watching my pace expectations disappear during the last few miles. I was passed by the 3:30 pace group at mile 14, then by the 3:40, 3:45, and 4:00 groups during my walking. I was also passed by a lot of runners in that last stretch, including a couple girls in tu-tus, and a guy running in a full kilt. My theoretical goal was 3:30. A more realistic goal for me would have been 3:50. Now I know.

9. The best part of the day was seeing my family waiting for me at finish line. They were so patient and waited WAY longer than I'd told them they had to. I got some good pictures which I'll post in a few.

10. The medal is awesome! The backpack was unexpected. The shirt...is somewhat disappointing. It's kinda "blah" and cheap looking. Otherwise the SWAG was pretty good.

11. It was an honor to run with Brandon B. , Andrew P. , and Andy S. They have been amazing training partners and it was so rewarding to see them finish ahead of me. Andy P. and I ran together for the first 6 miles but he attacked the course and did very well. Brandon passed me right before mile 22 and I got to chat with him. Andy S. passed me at some point in the race, but I'm not quite sure when. Great job guys!

12. I hurt. My legs really hurt and I'm still exhausted. We'll see if work is a possibility in the morning. I'm more tired and sore than I could have imagined. I'm taking a few days off, okay? :-)

13. Finally...I don't know if I'll do this again. It was an amazing experience, but if I do attempt another marathon, I'll be on a different training program. I don't like "the wall". I don't want to run into it again.

Sam's Field Trip

Today was Sam's 2nd grade field trip.  We went to see Disney's African Cats at the Dublin theatre, then went to a park to have lunch and learn about wildlife.  It was about 50 degrees and sunny, but the wind was pretty chilly, but at least it wasn't raining.  It's rained almost every day of the last two weeks, so even though it was cold, we still considered ourselves lucky.

Several weeks ago Sam asked me if I would go on the trip with him, since Ben went on his trip last year. Parents had to drive themselves - there was no room on the bus - and we didn't have to be at the theatre until 9:45.  That gave Dolly and I time to stop at Panera bread and have coffee and bagels, and it was so nice to have some just adult time!

Sam wasn't too excited about the movie, mainly because the concession stand would be closed, and I think the large bag of Skittles is his main motivation to go to any movie.  But the boys sat still and watched, although I did wonder if Sam might drift off a couple of times.  (I, miraculously, stayed awake, although it was touch and go for a while there.)  Anyway, the movie was very well done - its hard to remember that they took the footage and then told the story - the story flows so well its almost like they told the wild animals how to act.  It really reminded me of The Lion King - good lions, evil hyenas, and fighting to be the King of the Pride.  Afterward I asked Sam what he thought.  His answer:  "It was sad.  A lot of animals died."  Which is true - there was a lot of chasing and hunting, but I did think they were good about leaving out any gore with all the killing.  They did have to show animals eating other animals, though, and I guess that bothered my sensitive son.


After the movie we headed to Coffman park for lunch and a nature walk, which was not the park we had intended to visit, but the better park was flooded.  The disadvantage, however, was that there was no wildlife at this park - it was mainly a big field - which meant the lectures about spotting wildlife was seriously lacking, since there was nothing to spot.  Add to that situation a bunch of 8-year-old boys who are biding their time until they can get to the playground anyway, and I'm not sure they got much out of it. 

But Sam was able to spot a nest in a tree, and wanted me to take a picture since it was the only sign of any kind of wildlife whatsoever.  Ironically, when we did get to the playground, the kids found a mallard duck just hanging out in the mulch there, so they were pretty excited about that. 

All in all, a typical field trip experience for me.  Felt good about spending time with Sam, but wished it had been about an hour shorter.

Happy Easter!

Report Cards

Time Capsule

Donald Duck has been Sam's favorite Disney character since our first visit to Disney World in June of 2004 (Maria was 5 years old, Sam was 21 months).  Every time the kids want to see a character I think back to that first visit, when Donald was the only character that Sam would walk up to hug on his own.  Couldn't resist posting this picture from almost 7 years ago - where does the time go?

SB 2011: Day 5: At Sea

This morning we let the kids sleep in.  Ben still ran, and I still  had coffee on the veranda, although after Pirate night I was feeling a little rough around the edges.  At 10:00, the kids were still asleep, and they were going to miss breakfast.  More importantly, I was going to miss breakfast.  So I woke them at 10:00 and we slowly made our way to Cabanas.

We spent what was left of the morning taking care of some little things before we got off the boat tomorrow, like looking at our pictures at Shutters (we bought only two, but you could certainly spend a fortune there), and shopped as this was the only full day the shops were open.  The kids also did a "Midship Detective Agency" activity, which required them to find clues at each moving picture on all decks, and then use the clues to solve a mystery.  It allowed them some freedom to walk around the ship, and they each had a different mystery to solve even though they traveled together.

We spent some of the afternoon at the pool, where the kids rode the Aqua Duck for the last time and we ate a late lunch at the snack bars.  After a while we dropped the kids went to the Oceaneer club while Ben and I went back to the room and packed (I did sneak in a quick nap, for the first time on our trip).  Later we picked the kids up, and then took all four kids to the show while the Holthouses had their massage.  Tonight's show was called "Disney's Believe," and was awesome again.  Dinner was at the Enchanted Garden, and was delicious again.  The boys went to the Oceaneer club for a short while after dinner, but the girls stayed with us and had dessert.  Then we the girls and Ben and Kathy headed back to the rooms to put out our luggage to be picked up by Disney people, and Ross and I picked up the boys.  We all met back at the lobby to take family pictures for each other and say goodbye.  We all agreed it was an an incredible vacation, and promised the kids we would get together again before too long.  The girls especially became very close friends over the last few days.



It was very sad to say goodbye not only to the Holthouses (who we'll see again), but also the ship (who knows when we might do this again).  But being sad about leaving means that everyone had a great time.  Sam told me he wanted to live on the ship, and they didn't even have a Play Station!

SB 2011: Day 4: Castaway Cay

 We tried to get an early start this morning and were off the boat by 9:00.  We headed toward the main part of Castaway Cay with the intention of meeting characters and getting the shopping out of the way so the rest of the day would be more relaxing.  That's not quite the way it turned out, but we did get our shopping done early, and we got to see Mickey and Goofy.

Then we headed to the bike rental.  Sam was getting grouchy - his water shoes were giving him blisters, and even though we put band-aids on them, they still hurt.  So we got the bikes, and the first part of the bike ride went pretty well.  We stopped at an observation tower and got to see a lot of the island from a few stories up.  But after, that, you couldn't really see much on the bike trails, even though it was sold to us as a great way to see the island.  Sam's mood continued to deteriorate, and that brought everyone else down as well.  So we returned our bikes and headed to the beach.  We picked up our snorkeling gear and tubes to float on, and found seats under umbrellas on the beach.  Ben left us there to go back to the boat and get another pair of shoes for Sam.  The kids messed around in the ocean for a few minutes while I sat on the edge of the water.  We couldn't get over how clear the water was, and the sand was different that other beaches we've been to as well.  At one point, Maria brought me a beautiful shell she found, but freaked out a little when I pointed out that there was still a creature living inside it.

Ben returned, and he and the kids put on their snorkeling gear and headed to the snorkeling area.  I stayed behind with all of our stuff.  Soon, Sam came back to me crying - apparently he and Ben were not getting along as Ben tried to help him to snorkel.  I think maybe Sam got scared when he couldn't breathe through his nose, and then wouldn't do what Ben asked him to, and they both kept getting more and more frustrated with each other.  But regardless, this did not help everyone's mood.  Maria, by the way, was a natural at snorkeling and seemed to enjoy it too.

So we headed to lunch where we decided to try to start over.  After lunch we killed a little more time at the beach and then headed to our Stingray Snorkeling Adventure.  This didn't sound nearly as much fun now since Sam decided he wanted no part of snorkeling.  But he promised me he would try, and I promised him I would stay back with him if he felt uncomfortable.  We had a nice long lesson on stingrays, and then we got into the water where we each got to feed them.  Sam wouldn't even come all the way up to the table, and would not feed a stingray.  Of course, it didn't help that Maria and I both got bit during our feeding time (they say stingrays don't bite, they use "plates" to grab the food, but these plates left marks on our fingers for several minutes and hurt).  During the snorkeling time, Sam did not want to put his mask on and I didn't make him. Instead, he stood at the waters edge and watched me snorkel in shallow water.  The water was so clear you almost didn't need the snorkeling equipment.  Ben and Maria went out to deeper waters.  After about 10 minutes, I quit snorkeling and Sam and I went back into the hut.  I returned with the camera to get pictures of Ben and Maria, and by the time I was done Maria and Ben were done snorkeling as well.  The kids and I headed back to the boat while Ben headed to another snorkeling area.

Back at the boat, Sam and I headed to the Aqua Duck while Maria showered.  Once we all got cleaned up, the kids went to the Holthouses room (Ross and Kathy took the kids to the show) while Ben and I went to a "Couples Swedish Massage."  Neither one of us had ever had a massage before, and it was wonderful.  When you're done, they give you an analysis, and they determined Ben and I are both very tense and should get regular massages.  What a surprise.  Pretty sure that's not going to happen, though!

For dinner it was Pirates IN the Caribbean night, so we dressed Pirate-like and had a Pirate menu for dinner.  Before dinner there was a Pirate dance party, and then after dinner there were fireworks (although not many), and another dance party at 10:30.  The kids really enjoyed this - Sam really got into the line dances.  The adults hung out and danced/drank.  Then the kids went back to their clubs for a little while, and Ross, Kathy, Ben and I tried a different night club area, where I got the worst drink I have ever tasted.  Ever.  But we still had a great time.  Vacationing with the Holthouses, even though it happened by accident, was great fun.  We did our own family things during the day, but then had adult time in the evenings, and we spent most of our dinners telling stories and laughing a lot.  We had a very late night - 12:30 when we all got back to rooms - but we planned to sleep in tomorrow.

SB 2011: Day 3: Hello, Bahamas!

This was the first day we woke up on the ship.  We all had a late night last night, with Sam and I getting to bed by 11:45, but Maria and Ben didn't get to bed until 1:00 a.m.  Still, we can catch up on sleep when we're home.  So Ben got up at 7:00 to run, but before he started he took a short walk to loosen up, and got me a cup of coffee that he brought back to our room for me.  So while he ran and the kids slept, I sat on our veranda and had a cup of coffee, watching the waves roll by.  This would be our morning routine during the next two days as well.  Should I have been running?  Probably.  But I don't regret that decision for one second - it was an awesome way to start each day.

This morning, I went back into the stateroom to shower, and when I returned, we were approaching the islands.  I woke the kids up so they could watch the ship pull up to land.  Originally, I didn't think we needed a veranda on our room, and would have done without to save some money if there had been any cheaper staterooms left when we booked the cruise.  But it was incredible having that view, and I'm so glad we had it.

Anyway, even with the excitement of getting to Nassau, we had planned to not get off the boat there.  I didn't hear very many good things about the city, and all of the excursions they offered were very similar to Castaway Cay, the Disney owned and much cleaner island.  We were hoping crowds on the boat would be small if most people got off the boat.  Our plans changed slightly, though, as we found we needed a couple of things - Sam needed flip-flops (his Crocs gave him a blister), and we got some cheap alcohol after realizing how very expensive drinks were on the boat.

So we spent the morning at the pool, and rode the Aqua Duck early with a short line.  The breeze was a little too cool if you were in the water, so the kids and I spent time in the lounge chairs, in the sun, watching Disney movies on a huge screen above the pool.  Eventually the kids got bored and went back to the room to change and then to the Oceaneer club while Ben and I spent another hour at the pool.  Maria was really enjoying the freedom of being able to walk around the ship on her own, as long as they went straight to a place and then let us know when they got there.  The kids were really the perfect age for this trip - old enough for some independence, but still young enough to get excited about kid stuff like characters and ice cream all day.

After another wonderful lunch at Cabanas, Ben went shopping off the boat and the kids and I played more of Goofy's miniature golf - they had a "Sports Deck" with mini-golf, basketball, Ping-Pong, and Foosball.  We accidentally ran into all the main characters on the walk back to our stateroom, so I got pictures of them with all the main characters with very little waiting.  Then I dropped the kids at the Oceaneer club so I could have a quick run on the treadmill in the fitness club (it was too hot to run on deck).  I ran 3.5 miles while looking at the ocean, which was pretty cool.  It would end up being my only run during the entire vacation.

When Ben returned we picked up kids and went back to pool for a little while - more Aqua Duck riding.  Then it was time to change for our show and dinner.  "Villains Tonight" was the show, which was great - better than last night's show, I think.  Dinner was at the "Animator's Palette,"  where they had screens that opened up while Crush (turtle from Nemo) came on screens and had interactive chats with the diners. The kids loved this.  This boat is brand new, and the technology was incredible.  This restaurant was an example, but so was many other things - like the pictures near the elevators that came alive when they sensed motion, and the way our own pictures that Disney people took showed up on our own TV screen (well, technology and great marketing strategies). 

Anyway, after dinner the boys went to Oceaneer's club, the girls to Edge, and the adults went to see a ventriloquist/comedian act in "Evolution" lounge.  We made a point to pick up kids by 11:15 so we could have an earlier evening than last night - we all had along day at Castaway Cay planned for the next day.

SB 2011: Day 2: Disney Cruise Sets Sail!

This morning we headed to the Disney Terminal early to get all of the registration chaos taken care of as soon as possible.  I had done all of the registering online that I could, but we still had to wait in lines.  Overall, it was run very smoothly and we got through several of the lines - security and registration - fairly quickly.  We had a Boarding number of 4, out of 36, so we took that as a good sign.  By the time we had been through all but one line, we had over an hour to kill before getting on the boat, so the kids and I waited in line to get them registered for the kids area - Oceaneers Club.  For some reason this line moved very slow.  The kids were hyped up on adrenaline, and driving me crazy, but I didn't want to give up and then have to spend precious cruise time in a similar line, so we waited.  And after an hour, finally made it through.  The younger kids - Sam and Ryan - had to wear an electronic ID bracelet which they would use to sign in and out of the Oceaneer Club (along with an adult from our group with identification).  Maria, being a tween (ages 11-13), was allowed to roam the boat freely and check herself into and out of the tween club Edge.  The girls - Maria and Madelyn - were also allowed to go to the Oceaneers Club as long as they were with their younger brothers.  That was nice because the Oceaneer club was much bigger and cooler that Edge.

Anyway, when they started to board the boat we only had to wait 15 minutes until it was our turn.  When you board, they ask you our family name, and then announce you through a microphone and a bunch of Disney workers applaud you as you walk on board.  The person who announced our name was British, and so what he said sounded like "Please welcome the Killer family."

Once on board, we couldn't get into our stateroom for over an hour, so we had lunch at "Cabanas," which would be our usual lunch and breakfast place.  It was a "free flowing Food Court," which is really a lot of small buffets with short lines.  They had a lot of different food, and it was all pretty good.

After lunch we roamed around the ship for a little while until we could get into our room.  Then we dropped off our stuff, changed into swimsuits, and headed to the pools.  We learned very quickly that the pools were pretty small, and so got crowded very easily.  Luckily, the pools weren't really the attraction - the "Aqua Duck" was the main attraction.  It's a water coaster, and the first of its kind on a cruise ship.  And it was really awesome.  But the line was always at least 20-30 minutes long - once Sam and I waited 40 minutes to ride.  But that first day all four of us rode without too long of a wait.

After some pool time, we got dressed and walked around the ship some more, checked out the Oceaneer club, attended the mandatory emergency drill, and then went to the deck for the big "Sail Away" party. This was the usual Disney characters dancing around deal, but we enjoyed it, although I was slightly disappointed that the ship doesn't actually leave port when we counted down - it was a good hour later before we actually set sail.  So we spent some time having ice cream - the self serve whenever you want ice cream stand was a favorite of the kids - and played mini-golf with the Holthouse kids while the adults stood around and talked.  Then it was back to the room to dress for the show and dinner.

Dinner attire was "cruise casual," so Sam only had to wear a polo shirt, khaki pants, and Crocs, and yet he still complained. I also think we didn't give him sufficient snacks needed since our dinner time wasn't until 8:30, and that also may have contributed to his grumpiness.

The show was called "Golden Mickeys," and as all of their stage shows would go, it was a loosely put together story giving the cast excuses to sing and dance numbers from favorite Disney movies, but they were funny too, and the kids loved them (so did I).  And they lasted almost exactly an hour, so they weren't too long either.  During the show, we did notice the boat moving, but none of us were really bothered by it.  Sam said it was giving him a headache, but once he ate dinner he was fine.

 Dinner tonight was at the Royal Palace, which was beautiful, although we felt slightly disappointed at our servers, who were challenged by the English language.  One was from the Ukraine, and one from Peru, and both struggled to understand the kids when they ordered their food.  The kids got their food first, and then the boys headed to the Oceaneer club, and the girls to their club Edge, allowing the adults to have dessert, coffee, and head to a night club for a drink after dinner.  The girls had "Wave Phones" with them, which were like cell phone that worked on the ship, and each adult had the other phone from the room.  This set-up became a dinner habit, and made everything better for the kids and adults.  This first night, Ross and I picked up the boys about 11:15 - they were tired and ready to go - while Kathy and Ben waited for the girls who participated in a special "Tweens vs. Teens" trivia game that didn't even start until 12:15.  A very busy, yet very fun first day of the cruise.

SB 2011: Day 1: Kennedy Space Center

This was an early day.  We got up at 3:00 a.m. and arrived at the airport at 4:30 a.m. for a 6:00 a.m. flight.  It was a pretty easy trip, with two flights - Columbus to Atlanta, then Atlanta to Orlando.  The only bumps along the way were Sam not understanding about a layover, and being impatient about having to wait an hour to board the second plane.  And I was seated next to an overly affectionate couple during the second flight, which was uncomfortable and gross.  But otherwise, the trip was pretty easy.

Once arriving at Orlando, we picked up the rental car and then headed to the Kennedy Space Center.  We were starving, but never passed anywhere to eat lunch on the way so we ate when we got there.  I spent most of the drive (about an hour) on the phone with Disney, setting up a change to our plans to get back to the airport on Thursday.  It took a while, but in the end it was an easy change and even saved us some money.

When we got out of the car at the Space Center, that's when we fully appreciated how warm the weather really was.  Ben and Maria changed their shoes, but we all still had long pants on from the flight.  We had dressed in layers, though, so we had short sleeves on top.  It was only about 80 degrees, but felt so hot to us - it was 25 degrees when we left Ohio.  It would take a few times of stepping outside to get used to the warm temperatures. 


After lunch, we went to many of the different buildings at the Visitor's Center.  The kids enjoyed it, although didn't take a lot of time to read the information that went with the displays.  Since we arrived so late, and had had such an early morning, we didn't do the bus tour or drive out to the launch pad (if they even let you do that anymore).  We were very disappointed when we heard on Sunday that the shuttle is currently on the launch pad waiting for its next trip.  But we were so tired, I'm not sure we could have handled to bus tour.

We headed to the hotel around 3:30, and so after arriving the kids wanted to swim.  I took them down to the pool while Ben had a much needed nap.  The pool was beautiful and big, and the kids had fun.  Soon we headed to dinner at Wendy's, and then were all in bed by 9:00 for our big day tomorrow.