6 blisters, 2hr and 7 min.

On Saturday, after not near enough training, at 5:30 in the morning we awoke to embark on an adventure of...pain! ;) Actually it turned out to not be so bad. We drove to the Deck, took a bus up to Two Harbors and waited for our waves to start our 26.2 mile trek. Arlie's sister Amie and brother-in-law Joe were also doing the marathon. They started in the wave before us, 3 minutes before our wave. We had to catch up to them right from the start so we could all skate together. We caught them and skated with them for most of the marathon. For lots of the miles, we drafted which was great! The last 10 miles or so they took off and we stayed at our "slower" pace! :) My knees finally got warmed up and stopped hurting at about mile 5 which was great. Arlie's lower back started to bother him not too far into the race. By mile 16, I could feel my feet getting blisters around all my ankle bones. Every time I'd put down my skate, it would feel like little knives poking at my foot. I didn't want to stop and chance having my legs freeze up, so we carried on. Right about mile 20, we really had to motivate ourselves to keep going. We were both pretty tired, but after going that far we didn't want to give up! It was an absolutely perfect day for blading. Not too hot, not too cold! There was hardly any wind. We got to watch Lake Superior as we skated. It was fun to people watch as well. It made the miles go fast. (However, we did notice the farther we went, the longer the miles felt:) ). There was also people along the whole thing cheering you on! Arlie and I crossed the finish line together (we talked about if we wanted to race across or go together and we opted for the second) feeling very accomplished! Surprisingly, after sitting for about 2 minutes and taking off our blades, we didn't feel too bad. In fact, besides my knees, my legs weren't really that tired or sore. I had a wedding that I went to photograph after the marathon, the only thing that hurt was bending down ;) Sunday we both felt fine and went for a nice hike in the woods! I'm not sure if I'll do the marathon again...but it was great to do and see if I could finish it!

Stretching before the marathon
Getting ready
Trying to figure out what to wear so we weren't to hot, but were warm enough

We didn't realize we matched until we saw this picture. It wasn't planned :)
At the starting line...wave 8
Skating with a view of the lake

Going over the starting line for the half marathon...only 13.2 miles left!
Just crossed the finish line! We did it!
Our finisher shirts...it's proof we finished!

Blessings come in all sizes

One very large blessing was a hot tub that was given to us! Arlie's parents got a new hot tub and decided to get rid of their old one. They gave it to Arlie's sister. Awhile after they gave it to her, she asked if we wanted it because they weren't going to use it. We looked into how much it would cost to run it and then jumped all over that one! We've had it at our house for almost a year because we didn't get an electrician out here to rewire. Finally, last week the electrician came. Tuesday we added water and last wednesday, we felt incredibly lucky and blessed as we soaked in "our" hot tub! It's been great for my back after photo shoots and holding pounds of equipment! We are so thankful that we get blessed in such amazing ways!

Great Visual Picture

We got the privileged to go and see Arlie's grandpa Ohman last Saturday. I love hearing all the stories he has to tell. He could write books on end with stories, as could most Grandparents (FYI: I think they all should!). He was telling us a fabulous story of when he was younger. He lived where they had to farm. They had fields and needed a horse to help farm the land. Well, his dad didn't know much about horses and back then they had what they call "Horse Jockies" which he equated to "Used car salesmen" of today. He said they would give them a shot so they were high energy and look like they were a great horse. His dad, not knowing about horses, didn't know how to check and see if a horse was old or not (didn't know to look at their teeth), so he purchased this horse. He brought him home and the horse seemed great. The next morning when they woke up and were going out to begin working, the horse could hardly move. The shot had worn off and now the true age of the horse was shown. There was no way the horse would be able to plow the fields. They hooked up the horse anyway and it couldn't even pull the plow. His dad's brother came over. He realized the problem and strapped the plow onto his back and walked along side the horse helping him plow the fields. That year, the fields were plowed with a horse and his uncle both strapped to the plow. What a fabulous visual picture and what sacrifice they made back then!

Cousins

Jordan and Sydney love their cousins. Here are some pictures of the newest one: Dayton Campbell. Angie and Scott's little guy!

The things I hear throughout the day....

Jordan: "Mom...I have a very strange, and you may think it's crazy, question. Do you even know any scientists? Because I'm wondering if you think it's possible for a scientist to invent a potion that you can drink and while you're sleeping you can grow very large and transform."

I mentioned that I really didn't think it was possible. However, I have a child who believes in the impossible. "Can you ask a scientist? Because they can do almost anything. Oh and by the way, can you ask if they could make six different potions...one for six different transformers?" ;)

Jordan: "Mom, can a mosquito bite your eye ball?"
Me: "Probably not because you'd blink and killing it when you blink."
Jordan: "Can a mosquito fly up your nose and bite you?"
Me: "I would think they might be able to, but I don't think it happens much."
Jordan: "Because they might now be able to get up there. It's pretty small. My finger doesn't even fit up my nose...unless I push!" ;)

Sydney: "When I get to be an adult, I will be at the library a lot?"
Me: "That's good. Why will you be there?"
Sydney: "Because I'm going to be an author!"

Pretty

First day of School

Jordan and Sydney had their first day of Second Grade (Mr. Rodman) and Kindergarten (Mrs. Erne) on Tuesday the 8th. They were both very excited...especially Sydney. My worrier Jordan was a little nervous he wouldn't know what to do or where to put things when he got there. I asked them on their way to school what they were most looking forward to. Sydney: "meeting a whole bunch of new friends". Jordan: "Meeting 1099 friends". Seriously Jordan: "Sitting next to Simon (one of his friends from his kindergarten class). After school Jordan said his favorite parts were Math and Lunch and Sydney said hers were the Kissy hands (hm mm...should i be worried? ) They both had great days. There teachers seem to be a perfect fit for them and I'm very excited about this year.

Sydney running ahead singing, "It's my first day of kindergarten...yeah yeah" for 4 blocks.

I totally made them do this ;) Jordan was walking with me instead.

So happy to be a school girl.

Why I love the first day of school. You can't tell, but that's one group of people. 3 kids going to school with 2 sets of grandparents, mom and dad and aunts. So much excitement.

I love the crossing guards. So cute.

Jordan and Mr. Rodman showing him where things go.

Sydney at her class. No fear at all, nothing but happy and excited.

We may not have been the only ones who had polka doted back packs.

Labor Day Parade

I love small town parades. You never know what you are going to get. Tara, Jake and Reilly got to join us (On a side note...Reilly looks just like Tara as a baby...it brought back lots of memories). The kids are great candy grabbers (every parent secretly longs for this for their children) ;) ). My favorite floats were the "man" carrying the gorilla (because every parade should have one) and the 1/2 car. It was a great way to end the summer. Thanks mom and dad for coming with us!

Waiting for the parade to start (Arlie, dad and I played cards while waiting)

Here it comes...get ready to stand for the flags

Grabbing away
Even easier...looking cute so they give you a handful :)

Reilly watching with excitement

See what i mean? Does this just make the parade?

The best was the sign on the back "For Sale, 1/2 off"

Elton John...oh yeah baby! ;)

Reilly really wanted to be in the parade

Oh my...that will get thrown away in about a month when she forgets she has it :)

ummm..yeah...this too! ;)

Made me laugh out loud...i think they were afraid the house would fall down if someone leaned on it. I guess it's a good thing so they don't have to be liable for damages if it does. I might make one for my house too! :)

4th Annual Camping Trip

We embarked on our 4th annual camping trip with the Riggs family to Savanna Portage State Park. We stayed four days (well sorta. Kate and I drove back to the cities one of the days to attend a benefit for a good friend). The weather was...nice during the day and almost (literally) freezing at night. I think it got down to 38 degrees...in AUGUST. Something is just not right about that. The kids played great together. They biked, hiked, played by the "big rock", fished, went Geocashing, caught frogs, worked hard to complete their naturalist badges and all-in-all had a wonderful time. Us adults joined them on most of their adventures, but also enjoyed time by the fire and lots of time to just chatting and catching up on life. As always a fun time for all!

Very cold nights made the fire feel great!

Sydney making eggs over the fire.


Jordan's poor face and those mean mosquitoes!

Cute kids fishin'


The guys "hiking" or looking down at their GPS most of the hike!


Sydney, JJ, Adaiah, Jordan & Anakin


That's not quite right....

Geo Cashing

Adaiah and Jordan with their completed book and badges! Way to go kiddos!