Cruise Continued: Tortola, British Virgin Islands

On to day 4 of our cruise.  This day we stopped at Tortola, part of the British Virgin Islands.

We had another excursion planned - this time, it was more of a touristy one. We had some time to shop around for a little bit before.

We got to ride in this open-air taxi type truck and toured what seemed like the entire island.  I know we went pretty much all around it.  So today was full of scenery shots.  Sometimes those are boring when you weren't there yourself.  But maybe you'll enjoy them. 

Marveling more at these GInormous ships.

Our company for the day - minus my brother-in-law, Steve.

Our ship at the port in Tortola.

One fun part of the tour was that we goto make lots of stops along the way for local food and drinks.

At this little bar in the hills, we spotted an orange tree.

One of the locals got us one and cut it open for us to eat - yummy!

I couldn't believe how far away it seemed we were from our ship.

We stopped here for lunch.

"Wow this place looks like a screensaver!"...I'm not a big movie quote person - I never remember ANY of them.  But this one is fresh enough in my mind I did. Anyone know what movie it's from?

We enjoyed lunch in the shade.

And then got time to swim or relax before heading on.

here's the trucks we were in...

It was a fun day!  And our ONLY day out of all 7 of them that we were NOT on a beach or by a pool.  It was a nice change.

Someday I'll be done with our cruise pictures I promise.

diary of a running girl

All is better at my house now.

And our taxes are done too. Man, we are such procrastinators.
And we started working on our garden!
We are adding a NEW area this year, because we've loved it so much and the space we have had is TOO small for all we want to do - I'll show you more on that later.

I am also trying to get ready to run a 5K in less than 2 weeks.
Some friends and I are going to try to run it.
We started talking about this in December and knew we needed to get started training THEN.

Can I please tell you how HUGE running this 5K is for me?
I ran one year of cross country in high school and was an alternate at state. I hated it.
I only did it because a track coach watched me run the 400m and said I'd be a good distance runner.
REALLY - because the 400 is still a sprint. And that's what I did was sprint.
100m, 200m, 400m, 4x100 relay, 4x400relay
Notice a pattern here...NOTHING over 400m. That's once around the track.

But I tried a year of distance running.

I think my friend and I (who ran with me most days) spent more time trying to figure out how we could NOT run than we did actually running. As in...which buildings around town had water fountains so we could run in and grab a drink as we ran by, more time complaining and wondering if we just jumped out in front of a car on accident and got hit maybe we wouldn't have to finish our run, OR we'd cut through a field where the weeds were over our head - we knew exactly where our coaches would be sitting in their truck waiting for us to pass, and we knew they couldn't see us dash into this field. We'd run straight through on the path that had been there from running it before, and out the other side - taking a good chunk of distance out of our run.
Man, that makes me sound like quite the rebel, huh? I really was a good kid. I followed almost ALL rules.
And I will admit I was a follower on this one...once we saw a few of the senior boys do it - we figured we'd do it too. So at least we wouldn't be the only ones in trouble.

I did get up to 5,6, and 7 mile runs. But it was NEVER fun. I hated it. But I'm not a quitter so I wasn't going to quit the season.

I was in great shape in high school - I played 4 years of Varsity basketball and ran track. And I loved working out and lifting weights.  But I guess we're all in great shape when we're that age, huh?
Then in college I think I can count the number of times on 2 hands that I worked out - in 4 1/2 years.
After that - absolutely NOTHING.
When I started my Butz and Gutz class this past fall - it's the first time I had worked out in probably 5 or 6 years.
Now as far as running goes - I haven't done that since those days of cheating my runs and cutting through the fields.

I tried to get a few LITTLE runs here and there on the treadmill while it was still cold - but I wasn't getting very far or even CLOSE to prepared for this 5K.
Then April 1 hit - WHOAH - we have 3 weeks.
The weather also finally became nice.
So I have slowly been trying to get some runs in.

My first day running outside was horrifying.
I don't know my distance - so I've just been going by time.
I ran for 8 minutes and about fell over dead.
My lungs hurt more than anything. I could barely walk or talk.
And I came to the conclusion that running on a treadmill and running outside is very different. 
Outside was much harder than I thought.
Dave put his money on the fact that I would NOT be running this 5K.
But things have gotten better!

After that first time, it hasn't hurt near as bad.
I did 9 minutes - it was HARD!
Then 11 minutes - getting a little easier
Then 12 minutes.
Predicting that I was running anywhere from a 10-12 minute mile.  I hope no one is laughing at that time.
Today I took off, and decided to get out of my neighborhood.
See, until now, I wanted to stay IN my neighborhood, close to home, because I wasn't really sure how far I could make it and I didn't want to have to walk too far to get home if I had to stop running.

I don't have a watch with a timer, so I've been using the timer on my phone.
But I don't take my phone with me (b/c I don't have anywhere to put it). I just leave it with Dave, and he yells out to me as I approach the driveway how much time I had run.
The bad thing about this is that I know the clock is close - all I can think about is the clock - how long has it been???  I wonder if I've hit 5 minutes yet?  I wonder if it's been 10 minutes.  My mind is consumed on the clock that I can't see.
I got an armband for my ipod and now I run with music so that helps.
I was so consumed by the time, and was really just focused on beating my previous time (meaning being able to run longer than I did the day before without stopping).

So today I left it with him and decided to venture further - hoping to just increase the 12 minutes I did yesterday, but not really knowing where I was going and when I'd turn around to head back.

The good thing about getting away from home is that I actually forgot about the clock. 
I wondered how much time it had been, but I also realized that I was feeling okay.
And when I knew I had run longer than I had EVER before, it got me excited to keep GOING and run more.

I found my way back home - to find Dave waiting in SHOCK that my timer read 22 minutes. 
He just figured I had been walking a lot.  But I only walked for 1 minute!

I was then super excited, and proud of myself and very curious to know how far it was since we haven't measured my distance at all up to this point.  So we got in the car and drove it.  I was PRAYING it was close to 2 miles, but I really didn't know.

And it was - pretty much 2 miles exactly!!  WHOOOHOOOO!!

I still don't know if I can run 3.  But I'm way closer than I thought. 
We'll be okay if we have to run some and walk some.
But I'll see what I can do in the next 12 days.

A few things I am learning through this new little running phase:
*running feels good - physically (not DURING, but later) and mentally
*I kind of get hooked, even though I just ran a few hours ago, I'm already looking forward to my next run so I can "beat it". 
*I don't know if I could run without something pushing me - the clock, a person, a goal?  I'm competitive, so I don't know if I could just go out and run for the heck of it.  Right now I'm being super competitive with myself - trying to beat what I did the day before.
*I need some new music to run to - anyone have good running songs I can put on my ipod?
*My daughter now wants to be a runner like me - she puts on her shoes and wants to run all over the driveway, and she loves to run laps in the cul de sac near us.  She makes me feel good. She makes me feel like I'm a REALLY good runner and it's something that I've been doing for a long time.  When in fact, she doesn't really realize that it's something mommy just picked up 2 weeks ago - and who knows how long it will last. She's good for my self-esteem.

That's about all I've come to so far.

Hopefully I didn't completely bore you with my "diary of a running girl".
There may not be much more to this story - until the day of the 5K.

So I'll leave you in suspense.
Do I make the 3.1 mile run or not?

easter eggs and strep

We interrupt this presentation of paradise to bring you 3 cases of strep and a double ear infection...and Easter.

Our Easter weekend started out wonderfully....

And it continued to be wonderful as we enjoyed easter baskets and an egg hunt before church services at Dave's parents church early and our church at 1l.

Then onto lunch at the Breadbasket.

While we waited for family to get there, we played at a near by building.  Neither child was ok with having their picture taken, so I had to go with all candid shots. I BEGGED them to do one together - NO way Mom!

Taylor and her cousin Paige

By the time lunch was over Dave was not feeling well at all - barely ate.  And Taylor was VERY warm and not feeling well either. She sat on her daddy's lap while we all ate - both of them just sitting there, not talking, not eating, not looking good at all.

So I took them home, helped them both get to bed and took Mason onto Papa and Nana's for an easter egg hunt.

He was VERY excited about all his yummy treats. I had to get him back on track after finding each piece of candy, because he would beg to open each one.

I was sad Taylor and Dave couldn't be there - but it was really fun having Mason there alone.

He rarely gets individual attention and I know I wouldn't have gotten to watch him hunt for eggs as well if his sister had been there too.

He was instructed to only find 9 eggs - to be fair for his cousins.  When I told him he was done, he kept saying "more egg".

I love Dave's parents backyard.  It seems that if I have my camera on me when I'm back there - I just click away, I can't help it...always curious to see what I end up with when I get home.

He had lots of fun with his cousins by himself.

We headed home for a nap to find the other 2 out cold.

Both with fevers.

So Mason and I got to enjoy ourselves Easter evening.

We got drive-thru dinner and then I took him to Blockbuster to rent a movie.

He was so stinkin cute in Blockbuster - I really just laugh out loud at him lots of the time.

He was a little rowdy.  He couldn't walk anywhere - he HAD to run.

Movies got knocked off the shelves.

Many got placed back in the wrong spot.

But he found his movie after holding up about 25 movies, one after another to see if I'd say yes or no.

He walked out with A Bug's Life and he wanted to get Cinderella for Taylor - on his own, he spotted it, picked it up and said something that I didn't understand.

I said "you want to get that for Taylor?" and he shook his head yes VERY big.

I wish I had more time with him on his own - he is just so much fun!

I had to remind myself of that today.

Today was a rough one.

Dad was home sick - in bed for 20 straight hours.

2 kids, back and forth from completely fine to horribly fussy.

Taylor was feeling better but kept saying her throat hurt.

Daddy got up at noon and drove himself to the Dr - barely able to walk out the door.

He came back with a confirmation of strep.

So with Taylor having all the same symptoms we decided to take her to get checked out too.

While we're at it - it didn't hurt to have them check Mason too.

To our surprise - he had a double ear infection.  We had no idea.

Both had yucky looking throats.

Everyone's on antibiotics but me.

I sure hope it stays that way.

Maybe I should just go back to the Caribbean.

Samana, Dominican Republic

Day 3 of our cruise, we woke up to finally see land.

We were anchored off of the coast of Samana, Dominican Republic.

That morning Dave woke up and watched the activity going on outside the ship.

Life boats lowered into the water, tender boats (we had to be tendered to land - meaning we had to get on a small boat because there wasn't a place for the ship to actually port on land), and this cool ramp that was brought in also. 

We used this ramp to get on our little boat.

It was pretty cool being right up against our huge ship as we drove off.

We had heard from others that had taken this same cruise 2 weeks before, that Samana wasn't the best place to be on your own.  One girl said she didn't feel safe.  So we were advised to make sure we were part of one of the boat excursions this day, instead of trying to explore on our own.  Who knows if this was accurate or not, but we took the advice.

And instead of going to the town of Samana - we took the Cayo Levantado Beach Excursion - to another island nearby.

When we docked, this friendly guy welcomed us...

 drinks awaited us on shore..

as well as some local entertainment...

This was our new friend Pablo.

Not the statue above - the guy in the picture below.

He is trying to sell us his snorkel equipment so we don't get it from someone else.

Dave became quite good buddies with Pablo.

We got good deals on snorkel equipment for our whole group.

And instead of going up to the bar, Dave used Pablo and his connections to get us anything else we needed during the day.

Including this coconut drink.

Although Dave was really only interested in getting to taste actual coconut milk.

This was one of the things on his "things I want to do in the Caribbean" list for quite a few months before we left.

So this was cut open right in front of him and he got to taste it.

He brought some to us in a cup - it tasted like salt water.

He had them put something more yummy in it for me.

The coconuts looked weird, not what we're used to, but they were still coconuts.

I enjoyed mostly just laying in the sun.

Dave tends to need to be a bit more active than that.

So he enjoyed lots of snorkeling.

That was another thing on his list of "things I want to do in the Caribbean"

Along with "make friends with locals" - thanks to Pablo for helping him knock out that one.

"Making friends" to Dave means - he would rather use their services than any services provided by the ship or non-native people, he wants to talk to them, find out about them, ask them where they live, what they do, etc. Even if he can't speak their language he is still pretty good at this!

Dave and his sister Stefanie

I was still amazed that we were really on that huge ship.

Look close, it's in the distance.

Our first beach excursion was wonderful.

We really were in paradise.

Right in the middle of a postcard picture.

And our trip had JUST started!

4 days still to go!