Run, Forrest, Run! (and bike and swim)

May. That was many weeks ago. Well, months ago at this point. It was a busy month for sure. I still took the time to take several photos, but I can't find them to save my life. :( I don't know why I would have erased them from my camera without loading them to my computer first, but I can't find them anywhere. That's very disappointing, but not terribly surprising considering how air headed I can be when I'm busy and overwhelmed. May was pretty overwhelming, and probably always will be with camp just around the corner.

In May I was attempting to finish school with the kids, help plan staff week, get together two horseback riding certification clinics, and  a variety of other things both important and not that took up the rest of my time. I'm always amazed at how the little things eat up so much of each day. They are usually things that can't be scheduled into a daily planner (which I use religiously, of course...cough, cough, ahem). Things like spills that can't wait, forty bazillion toys in the floor that took 7 seconds to get out but 45 minutes to put away, wet pants (usually not mine), and general directing of foot traffic (size 13 and under). Sometimes I think it would be cool to be super organized and schedule each day on paper....then I think of all the unknown variables that would get me so far off track and frustrated that it would end up being a curse to my sanity rather than a saver of it. Perhaps I need a life coach. Nah, probably just a maid and a cook, that would do it. 

A few things that did happen in May are sinus infections for all (except James and I, thank goodness), and recurrent nose bleeds for Amelia. She's had them before, but with the onset of the sinus infection she ended up with there was a period of about two weeks where she had no less than 15. It was crazy. I mention it because of how thoroughly it messed up her performance of Welcome to the Jungle (not of the Guns 'N Roses ilk for those of you hard rockin' fans out there). It was a short musical her choir class at our home school co-op performed in May. She had been practicing for weeks both in class and at home, then five minutes before they went on stage....yep, a nose bleed. The entire performance only lasted 20 minutes, which is exactly how long it took us to get it stopped. There would have been pictures of her onstage, but she never got there. We did get to watch it from the back of the room, tissues in hand. Fun!

 Here's where you would have seen pictures of Amelia's end of year ballet performance, also through the home school co-op. The girls were cute and danced a few excerpts from the Nutcracker. It was awesome- full of stage whispers to each other about where each girl was supposed to be standing and what they were supposed to be doing. We got the idea anyway, and it was fun to see what they had learned going from clueless beginning ballerinas to slightly less clueless slightly more experienced ballerinas.

May 18-20 I ran a horseback riding clinic through CCHI (Christian Camping Horsemanship International), an organization I have been involved with for 13 years. A co-instructor who we imported from Colorado for part of the the week helped me run the clinic, and we put 11 people through it, all going to work at various summer camps. Clinics are always fun but labor and time intensive. I ran a second one at Camp Skyline in Alabama where we used to work full time the following Monday through Wednesday. Mom helped with the kids during the Strong Rock clinic, then went home that Friday to finish planning my Nanny's 85th birthday party. In the true Himstedt spirit of probably trying to do too much, our family spent Saturday evening with the Davidson family at Vogel State Park where they were camping. This is where you should see some fun pictures of kids playing in the creek. Except you can't, because I don't have any. We like to camp vicariously through our friends instead of actually camping ourselves. Someday we'll pack everybody up and give it a try.

Sunday morning I helped with Sunday School (did I mention I was the second teacher in Kindergarten Sunday School all year?), then loaded everybody up for the drive to McDonough. Except for James, who naturally had to stay behind with a group at camp. We went to Nanny's birthday party at Uncle Ned and Aunt Dawn's house. The pictures I took there that I can't find are truly the ones I'm most bummed about. A person doesn't turn 85 everyday, especially not a sweet and precious one like my Nanny. To have those pictures poof into thin air is depressing. The party was fun, and the kids enjoyed playing with second cousins they don't get to see much. That evening I kissed the kids, put them to bed at my folks' house, then got up and headed off to Alabama about 5:00 that morning. It was weird driving away without any of them, not something I've ever done before. God's teaching me a thing or two about faith. Turns out they can live without me, and even have fun. I know, I was surprised too!

The clinic at Skyline was fun as well. I stayed in the house James and I lived in for nearly four years, and aside from fact that they've remodeled pretty much every building in the 11 years we've been gone, it's exactly the same. A lot of the people we worked with are still there, so it was a terrific time of catching up. Again, it was really weird being kidless for two and a half days. I didn't know what to do with myself that first evening after we finished with the clinic participants for the day, or that first morning when I woke up bright and early after trying my dangdest (a word, no?) to sleep a full nine hours, without success. So I went for a walk/run, then came back and drank coffee in a rocking chair. By myself. Then I had breakfast. With adults. Who served themselves. And cleaned up after themselves. And didn't leave a pound and a half of breakfast on the floor when they were finished. I'm tellin' ya, it was WEIRD. It was also quite enjoyable, though I tried not to let my mind fast forward to the day when I can do that every day because all the little people are now big people who are no longer around. (Cut! Remember, I don't want to think about it.)

I got back to mom and dad's in time to put the kids to bed, then we got up Thursday morning and headed straight to Murrayville so Amelia could do her ballet performance, which I already talked about. I got a little out of order there. Staff training week began the next day. I'll save pictures of it and others from camp for the next post...which I plan to have all caught up before we officially start school back week after next. I am prepared to suffer the consequences of your wrath (all two of you reading this) if I don't follow through and do it.

Now I'm going to get out of order again and explain the following pictures, which are the only ones I have from the month. Mother's Day weekend we went to Panama City so James could race his first ever half-Iron Man distance triathlon. It was great! We went with Chris and Jill Baumgardner and their girls (sans Reed), and took our oldest three. Mom kept Elizabeth. It felt all wrong to be leaving her behind in McDonough (this is before my leave-them-all-four experience), but I kept thinking all weekend how glad I was not to be dragging her along. She had a much better time with Grandmommy.

We stayed in a condo right on the beach, with two pools and two hot tubs. Fun was had by all here. Chris has done this particular race a couple of times, so he and Jill walked us through the race scene.

There was a small expo with all kinds of running/biking/swimming gear. We walked though it the day before the race.

A booth advertising for an upcoming race at Amelia Island. Apparently Amelia Man is their mascot.

Amelia and Carsen.

Seeing friends at church every week isn't the same as getting to spend extended time with them on a trip. The kids got along great, and had a lot of fun together.

We got there on Friday, May 6 and enjoyed some beach and pool time, then headed out to dinner. The next morning the guys had to be up and out super early, so Jill took them to the start of the race about a mile up the beach. We fed the kids breakfast, then headed up there ourselves on foot.

Before the start of the race Daddy had some time to chill with us.

Jill, Chris, Sydney and Carsen.

Chris has been a lot of help to James through his transition into Fit Guy, and an integral part in getting him interested in triathlons. Chris has competed in many of them, and has finished a couple of full-distance Iron Mans. I think that's some combination of amazing, awe inspiring, and just plain nuts! An Iron Man triathlon is a 2.4 mile swim, a 112 mile bike ride, and a full marathon (26.2 miles)...all done with no breaks in between. The half distance is, well, half of that. A 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike ride, and 13.1 mile run.

Chris is also a help with the more mundane matters, like getting into a wet suit.

Chris, ready to swim.

James, ready to swim.

A couple of guys looking a bit more like aliens than serious competitors...

They sent groups out in shifts, basically, by age group.

And they're off! Keep your eye on the guy with the fish on his rear. That's James!

I'm really, really glad the water was calm that day. It made me nervous sending my husband off into the ocean to swim for over a mile.

It's hard to get a feel for exactly how far it was, but they swam past the end of that last buoy you can see, then over to another one parallel to the last, and then back down another row of buoys to the shore. You really couldn't see them for most of it.

Finally they're coming back in. James did it in less time than he expected it to take, 38 minutes.

Here he is coming through the shower (sort of) area after the swim, on his way to the bike.

Wet suit already half way off...38 minutes, yeah!!

Chris coming through after the swim.

By the time we got to the transition area James was already gone, but this is what it looked like. We headed back from the swim/bike area to the condo to set up a portable tent and watch for our guys to come running by later. It was nice to be there with someone who knew the ropes.

Jill and the girls.

I had to get a picture of Shannon on the walk back to the condo. We've been collecting the tabs off of cans for Mimi, who sends them to the Ronald McDonald house to help raise funds. Naturally in Panama City there are a plethora of cans of all kinds all over the roadsides, so he stopped to collect as many as he could.

There was representation from every beverage group: carbonated, energy, and alcoholic. Most were even empty. Eventually I had him stop and just pull off the tabs and leave the cans in the trash. There's only so much a six year old can carry.

We had a great spot to set up the tent, on a grassy spot right next to the condo. We waited for awhile to see our guys since they had to finish the bike ride before they could start the run. It was too hard for us to get to a spot on the ride where we could see them, particularly with five kids in tow. We cheered on every runner as they came by.

The kids made signs for encouragement. Shannon's said, "Go Go Go, Do your best!"

You could tell which of the ladies who ran by must be mommies. They enjoyed the signs.

And finally, yet way before we expected,  came James running around the corner. That's because he KILLED it on the bike! Turns out he finished 23rd overall on the bike out of 740 something finishers.

He flashed us the "I Love You" sign as he ran by. Woo hoo, go Daddy!

Here comes Chris.

He took a few extra seconds to hug his cheerleaders.

Then he took a stroll in the park with his wife. Just kidding.

There really are no words for the next picture.

This guy did the entire triathlon in his rubber duckie Speedo. The swim, the bike (ew!), and the run. Props to him for his self-confidence. James says he was a nice guy who had lot of encouragement for everyone. The sunburn at the end had to be something else. No farmer's tan for this guy.

We were at the finish line when James came through. That was a cool moment.

He finished in 5 hours, 5 minutes, and 29 seconds. I was so proud of him! Of course, that time is only 9 hours faster than I could have done it, so really, how great was it?

 

Here's Chris!

 

Feeling a bit spent, but happy!

Good job, guys!

They actually had the energy left to go to the pool at the condo after the race. 

These next ones are a bit out of order, this was the first afternoon or the last morning...considering how long it's taken me to get this post done (three months) I don't think I'll take the time to figure out which it was. I just know there was no throwing of children the afternoon after the race. It was kind of like they were tired or something.

 James and Carsen.

Whee!

James and Sydney.

Ever seen anyone sit on water? Sydney can. It's amazing.

 Amelia.

Sydney and Amelia.

We also got to spend some time on the beach.

Here's what happens when you have your camera on the wrong setting and then your editing software only gives them swimsuits, no ocean background!

 

 
No trip to the beach is complete without a sand horse sculpture with a seashell mane.

That night we went to Jimmy Buffet's restaurant, Margaritaville. It's a place to eat AND a place to be entertained.

This dude was walking all over the restaurant on stilts making balloon creations for kids. Avery whispered to me, "That's the tallest guy I've ever seen!"

Good thing we were in a big booth since the hats took up so much space.

Hey, no sword fighting at the table!

A slightly out of focus picture of Chris and Jill. I think my camera was confused and didn't know whether to focus on them in the foreground or the bright yellow scuba tanks behind them. Or maybe it thought Jill was a scuba tank, since she appears to have a nozzle coming out of her head.

Us. Uh oh, looks like somebody trimmed her own bangs to get a little more mileage out of a haircut!

They played hard! This happened in the car two nights in a row.

Waiting to eat outside Red Robin. (Photos are still out of order!)

Carsen and Avery dance the Fandango. At one point Carsen asked us if she could trade Sydney for Avery.  I assured her she would miss her sister!

Sunday morning was Mothers' Day, and Carsen and Amelia brought Jill and I breakfast and juice in our rooms. Then they left. I didn't want to eat all lonely, so I brought it out where everyone was. They were sweet and thoughtful to do it. It was the nicest Mothers' Day ever, since I got to spend the morning sitting in a lounge chair by a pool, right by the beach, watching my kids play. I vote to spend all of them like that!

We headed out that afternoon, back to Cleveland, back to camp and all of it's mounting May craziness. Elizabeth had a good time with Grandmom too. She was glad to see us, but would have gladly gone back home with my mom.

Well, I did it. I finished up May. Since I have no more pictures from that month I'll let this be the end. Look for June, hopefully coming soon!