33 Things To Do In The Next 33 Years

In honor of my 33rd birthday (in no particular order):

1. Learn to surf

2. Catch a trophy fish

3. Return to Lake Wawasee for a week (where I spent summers growing up)

4. Get PADI certified

5. Run a marathon...

6. In Hawaii

7. Return to Cabo de Palos, Spain (when I was 16, I went on an incredible motorcycle ride with a super-cute Spanish boy, the Mediterreanean Sea on either side of us... beautiful!)

8. Go on a mission trip

9. Return to Fiji

10. See both of my boys graduate from college

11. Meet a grandchild of mine

12. Finish a triathalon

13. Ski out west

14. Learn to slalom

15. Sail to Bermuda

16. Master a castnet

17. Learn to trailer a boat

18. Learn to clean fish

19. Visit Alaska

20. Climb to the top of Table Rock Mountain and complete the Jones Gap Loop (not big tasks, but opportunities I didn't take advantage of when I should have.)

21. Run with (or at least meet) Dean Karnazes

22. Complete each leg of the trip from Toledo to Charleston with my dad on his boat (I am on my way... 3 out of 7!!)

23. Instill in my boys a love of the outdoors and all it has to offer

24. Watch the August meteor shower from the roof of Pretty Place

25. Build my chocolate tasting business

26. Swim the Lowcountry Splash, a 2.4 mile Charleston Harbor swim

27. Own a vintage, burgandy Mercedes convertible, just like my grandmother's

28. Be an incredible mother-in-law to two incredible daughters-in-law

29. Learn to speak spanish fluently

30. See Elton John sing live again

31. Help my boys build a sand castle as tall as me

32. Give back to my friends and family as much as they have given to me

33. Live each day appreciating all of the blessings that God has given to me

Help!!

I am one of three class moms for the Halloween party at Jackson's school. The other two moms are very creative when it comes to the holidays, and I am, well, not. One of them suggested that I make some fun salty treat, like "popcorn hands" or something like that.

What is a popcorn hand? Does anyone else have any creative Halloween ideas for a salty treat???

Happy Birthday, Mary Kathryn!!

We hope you have a happy, happy day today, and we are looking forward to celebrating with you on Sunday!!

Love,

Jackson & Harris

(Mommy & Daddy, too!)

The Pumpkin Patch

A little over a week ago (yes, I am behind... I'm sorry), we took the boys to the Legare Farms Pumpkin Patch. Jackson loved running through the patch and checking out each and every pumpkin, trying to find the very best one. Harris just loved running through the pumpkin patch!!

After looking at about three thousand pumpkins, we narrowed it down to two, one for each of them.


Harris and I took a hayride while we were there (Jackson was not interested!). The hayride took us out to a field where we were encouraged to feed the cows with the provided "cow food". These cows knew exactly what we were going to do, and they couldn't get to us fast enough. While the other two boys on the hayride loved feeding the cows, Harris was mortified and screamed the entire time. I don't blame him... those cows have some scary faces!!
After the hayride, the boys played on the "race course" that was set up for big wheels and tricycles. Neither child was happy when we decided that it was getting late and we were getting hungry... I think they could have stayed and played for hours.
We ended the night with a BBQ dinner at the Hickory Hawg (why do they have to call their BBQ plates "Piggie Platters"???). It was a great afternoon, and both boys were totally worn out. Thank goodness it was an early night for them, as we were totally worn out as well!

Newsworthy

Check out this video from ABC News... http://www.abcnews4.com/news/stories/1006/367909.html

Our team is the burgandy team. There are many shots of our teammates, one great one of Nancy, and a glimpse of me here and there. Too funny!

Progress

My dad has done a fantastic job keeping up with his blog for his journey from Toledo back to Charleston. He is currently somewhere between Baltimore and Norfolk with his brother, John. On Friday, I am leaving again to join him from Norfolk, VA to Beaufort, NC... just me this time. I am so looking forward to the QT with Dad.

If you are interested, take a peek at his blog... some of his pictures are amazing!!

C'mon, AGAIN???

Those mean strep bugs have recolonized in the back of my throat... what the heck??? I finished my last antibiotic on Saturday morning, I felt great yesterday (I even ran almost 7 miles!!), and today I woke up with another sore throat. It has gotten progressively worse throughout the day and has been joined by a fever and headache. The doctor has thankfully called in another, stronger antibiotic... hopefully that will do the trick.

This is crazy.

Happy (Belated) Birthday, Sarah!!

Happy (late) birthday to you!

Happy (late) birthday, to you!

Happy (late) birthday Dear Sarah,

Happy (late) birthday to you!!

I'm sorry I am a little late (the whole strep thing has me behind!!). Hope it was a great day with lots of hugs ad kisses from your boys. We love and miss you tons, Sarah!!

Amanda, Jason & the boys

Happy (Belated) Birthday, Dorothy!!

I'm so sorry that this is so late, but we were on the boat on the 24th, and I was out with my sick week... excuses, excuses! BUT, I still wanted to officially say happy birthday!! We love you!!


Happy birthday to you, too, Gregg!! Hope it was a great one!!

Love,
Amanda, Jason & the boys

Kickball Update for Nancy

Nancy's sister, Jennie, playing in the outfield.
Me on first, hoping to get the guy in the black shirt out.
Nancy waiting for a good pitch. (These pictures are from a game two weeks ago.)


Last week, Nancy posted about the not-so-great game of kickball she played the night before (be sure to check it out... very funny!). I was at home sick and missed the game, although it didn't sound like I missed anything fun!

Last night, we had our weekly kickball game, and Nancy wasn't able to make it, so I promised an update. Well, we played the Three Dollar Bills (they are the pink team). Yes, any assumption you want to make about a team with that name wearing pink shirts is right on. Anyway, the game was not nearly as exciting as last week's. We did win (5-2), and there was some trash talk going on, but it was all in fun this week. No screaming at the refs or at each other or at the other team, and no checking of the basemen. What was funny were the refs standing with me at first base, drinking their "sports drink", aka vodka and lemonade. I'm not sure if it made their calls any better or worse, but they were pretty funny!

One observation I made last night: there are some players who seem to not trust their team members to do their jobs. They are good players, very supportive and encouraging, but one player in particular has repeatedly caught the ball at the pitcher's mound and run it over to first base (MY base) instead of throwing it to me. I am not scared of the ball, I can catch it and have done so many times, and I have gotten lots of people out. So trust me!! I will do my job!! Isn't that what teamwork is about???

Anyway, I was sad to learn last night that there are only three games left... I feel like we just started! Hopefully we will do well in the tournament and be able to keep going a little longer... I think kickball might be addicting. Or maybe it is just the Thursday nights out...

18 Months

Harris is (unbelievably) 18 months now (actually, almost 19 months!)... I can't believe he is so old! We had his 18 month appointment yesterday, and it went pretty well. He is 20.5 pounds (still a peanut) and 31 3/4 inches tall. Dr. T thinks that Harris is just so "on the go" that he doesn't sit still long enough to put the pounds on! I did have to take him for more bloodwork after the appointment to follow up on his anemia, but it went much better than the past few times. We still have no results, though, but are hoping all is well so we can quit these blood draws.
Harris has incredible fashion sense... he loves shoes and bibs. His outfits aren't complete without his camo bib or his blue Wellies or his Keds. He will bring me his shoes, turn around, sit in my lap and whine until I put his shoes on. For months we couldn't get him to wear a bib... now we can't get him to take it off. If his bib is messy after a meal, there had better be a clean one waiting to replace the yucky one!
Harris is wide open, all of the time. The boy doesn't stop moving. He climbs everything, runs everywhere, and is into everything. He loves Thomas the Train almost as much as Jackson, and we have had to break up many fights over who gets to play with which train. It kills me that they are fighting already... I didn't think that would start until much later!!

He is definitely starting to talk... some of his words:

Ta: Thomas
Da tru: the truck
Chair
Du: dog
All done (yes, it is very clear when he says it, too!)
Rah rah: "Wipe my face"
Chi: chip
Apple: apple juice
Ba ba: milk sippy
Mama
Dada

He will babble in his own language, as well, and is always very serious about it... when he has something to say, he says it with incredible force!! I can't wait until the words really come... I know he is going to have some funny things to say! Harris has started school two mornings a week. While the first week or two was tough, he is really enjoying it now... every time I go to pick him up, he is having a great time playing with his new friends.

I love his smiles, his sounds, and his hugs... while he is a monster, he is a sweet one! I am looking forward to what the next 18 months have in store for us! We love you tons, Harry Bug!

The Erie Canal

Last weekend, Jason and I joined my dad in Syracuse, New York to do the Erie Canal leg of his boat trip back to Charleston. What an amazing trip! Neither of us really had any idea of what to expect... Jason had never been to that part of the country, and I had been to Syracuse once when I was in high school (to visit the university, not the canal). I think the whole experience was incredible and a great way for the two of us to just get away from things for awhile.
We met Dad at the Brewerton Boatyard, just outside of Syracuse, on Friday night. After some yummy New York pizza, we went to bed early to rest up for a long day. The first task of the trip was to cross Oneida Lake before heading into the Erie Canal. It was a pretty lake, and we were able to see the beginnings of fall in the trees.
Leaving Brewerton on Saturday morning.
Oneida Lake... you can just barely see the mountains through the haze.
It was so nice to get away and be "Jason and Amanda" again, and not "Daddy and Mommy". We haven't had anything longer than a night away together since before Jackson was born, almost 4 years ago. It was desperately needed!!

The "dug" canal... this is one of my favorite pictures from the trip.

It was a short trip before we made it to the canal. The canal consists of two parts: approaching from the west, the first is the actual "dug" canal, and the second is the Mohawk River. The dug canal is narrow and has a speed limit of 10mph, and you get a sense of being far away from any sort of civilization. The original towpaths where the mules pulled the barges are still visible, as are old dams and lock structres. The Mohawk River is a bit wider with no speed limit, but it seems just as isolated.
Mohawk River
You can probably tell that we had a variety of weather while we were there. The first day was pretty chilly, gray, and damp. The second day started clear, clouded over and rained, then warmed up and cleared again. Our last day, thankfully, was almost warm and sunny... we got to see typical northern fall days.
We traveled through 21 locks in 2 1/2 days to get to the Hudson River on Monday. We stopped the first night in Little Falls, the second night outside of Schenectady, and on Monday, we were in Troy, right outside of Albany. We flew out of Albany that afternoon. It was like nothing I have ever done before, and I would love to do it again. I know that I have a ton of pictures posted, and I might bore you to death, but humor me... it really was beautiful up there!

The Locks

This is Dad at the top of Lock 17. As we pulled into a lock, one person on the bow and one on the stern grabbed a line hanging from the wall to stabilize the boat as we descended (or ascended, in some cases). Soon, the gates would close, and the water would start to drain from (or enter) the lock. Lock 17 was a descent for us.
A view from the ride down. The walls were extremely slimy and mucky. On some of the locks closer to the Hudson, there were zebra mussels attached to the walls. As the water started to drain, the mussels began "spitting" at us. Thousands of them... it made the wall look something like a fountain!
At the bottom, waiting for the gate to raise. Most of the locks had two gates that swung open, but this particular lock had one that would rise and fall.
The gate is going up, and we are on our way out!
Looking back... Leaving Lock 17 and on to Lock 16!

More Lock Pictures

The original towpath, where the mules pulled the barges through the canal.
Sailboats have to remove their masts before they enter the canal, as there are tons of bridges. Some of them carry the mast with them, some ship them to a destination outside of the canal.

Making it look easy...
Each lock was treated like a museum... things were all freshly painted, lots of flowers planted, brass polished... the lock operators take pride in their locks and keep them looking as picturesque as possible.
This is one of the locks that had incredible damage done during the flood in June. It took 6 weeks before this lock could reopen. The lock itself is fixed now, but the surrounding area has a long way to go.
Doesn't it look like the gates are going to bust open at any time and swamp us??