Iron Man 70.3 Augusta, GA

We spent the day Sunday watching our nephew, Jason Wyatt, prepare for and complete the Iron Man 70.3. It is really a big deal to complete this race and Augusta can be proud of the good job done putting on this race. The Iron Man 70.3 includes a 1.2 mile swim, a 56 mile bike ride, and a 13.1 mile run.


We arrived at the 5th Street Marina at about 5:30am and many participants were already there preparing for the swim. Jason was in the 24 and under men's group; they were labeled the "Young Guns" as they were called to get into the water to swim.


Racing Fact that I did not know: all participants have their number written on their left arm and their age written on their left calf.

Getting into the wet suit is not easy. They have to spread deodorant on their arms and legs to allow the suit to slip over their skin and to make it easier to take off after the swim before getting on their bike.

Suited up and ready to swim. His girlfriend, Milissa, is great for moral support. She runs in triathlons herself and has come in first in at least two.

You can't pick out individaul swimmers but this is Jason's 'wave' in the Savannah River.

After Jason finished the 1.2 mile swim, which he completed in 30 minutes/22 seconds, he got on his bike and rode 56 miles in South Carolina. He completed the bike ride in 2 hours/35 minutes/40 seconds. No pictures of the bike ride cause we could not follow him.

As if that was not enough, then he had to run 13.1 miles, which he did in 1 hour, 51 minutes, 38 seconds. We all were so proud of this young man.

Jason was really, really tired and his feet and legs were very painful at the end of the race. I tried to get him to go over to the massage tent to have his tight muscles worked on but he just did not want to walk that far and just wanted to sit.

Jason completed the Iron Man 70.3 in a total of 5 hours, 3 minutes, 21 seconds, which made him #505 out of about 3,200 racers. That is an amazing finish for the first time competing in an Iron Man race!!

Jason found enough energy to smile for his proud mother even at the end of the race.

1st Annual Girls Weekend-Savannah, GA

We had our First Annual Girls Weekend in Savannah, Georgia this past weekend. We plan to take a weekend trip with the "girls" every year. The girls" (and I use the word loosely) are myself, Kim, Dawn, Crystal, and Sara; my two daughters and two granddaughters.

We stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn right in Historic Savannah. It was a great location and the hotel was very accommodating. We had to Valet our car because of the lack of parking in "Historic Savannah". The young man who took care of the car also told us he would bring up all our luggage, so we went up to our rooms to wait for the luggage. When he arrived it was evident that we had a lot of stuff, because traveling with a 14 month old requires a lot of stuff. He was so polite and ask, "How long are you ladies planning to stay with us?". We told him just two nights and explained that we are on a "Girls Weekend" and we left the "boys" at home. Then he said, "...yet you brought all their luggage." It was really funny but you probably had to be there.

We then got ready and took a walk on River Street. It was beautiful and the shops were so nice. We seem to spend an inordinate amount of time in the candy shops, but you can see why from the pictures below.

Candied Apples

Pralines

We did see a rug that was shaped like a dog...

...only to find out it really was a dog.

Sara made quick friends with the dog.

We shopped for a while...

Crystal and Kim 'looking'.

...then had dinner at Spanky's.

Spanky's had the best chicken fingers I ever ate. Really great! By the time we finished with River Street it was time for Sara and Grandma to hit the sack.

The next day's goal was to eat at Paula Deen's "The Lady and Sons" for dinner.

OK, let me tell you there is a process to obtain this goal. First you have to make reservations, which can only be done at 9:30am each morning outside the restaurant.

Of course, we were not the only people in Savannah that had that idea. The line was already around the corner when we arrived.

We stuck Kim in line and walked around to take pictures. The line really moved fast so it was not as bad as it looks.

We got seats at the 5:00pm dinner buffet and were told to arrive at 4:45pm and stand across the street from the restaurant and someone would come out and call your name. When your name was called you could go in to eat.

When our name was called we were directed to the third floor. We were seated and got our food and I have to say the food was all GREAT!! If you like home cooking you will love this food. Everything was seasoned perfect and the sweet iced tea was great. You can see by the pictures we did not diet this night.

...except Sara who wanted no part of anything after she tasted the Ho Cake (corn bread). If it was not a Ho Cake she did not want it.

During the day we all took a tour of Historic Savannah.

The best part was after the tour guide pointed out the place where the movie, "Forest Gump" was shot, she said, "Who is that!" and an actor that looked exactly like Forest Gump came running alongside the trolley and got on. 'Forest' said he needed a ride to met Lt. Dan and when he got off he started running down the street again. Very cute!

We had a great weekend and plan to have another "Girls Weekend" again next year.

...so a toast to us "Girls" until next year!

Happy Birthday Sara!

Friday Jim and I drove to Alpharetta to help Dawn prepare for Sara's first Birthday party. On Friday Dawn and I pulled things together and completed the cakes for Sara's party. The theme was a "Ladybug Picnic" so we made Ladybug cakes. This was the first time we had tried to use "Fondant" to ice cakes and it worked out very well. It was not as hard as I thought it would be to work with the Fondant. Jimmy "bonded" with Sara that day as he kept her busy while we worked on the cakes. She became quite a "Grandpa's girl".

This is the Ladybug cake we made. We fixed one cake for everyone and a separate cake for Sara, as well as some cupcakes.

Big brother, Sean, also wished Sara a Happy Birthday.

Here is Mommy and Sara. No matter who is around Mommy is always Sara's favorite person by far.

Here are Dawn, Sara, Kim and Caleb. What a happy group.

This is Sara playing with her new toys. No need to take them out of the box.

Pictures taken during the Skydive

In the plane before the jump. My "guy" Frank is siting behind me.

Going out the door. Too late to change your mind at this point. Remember that Leslie is hanging onto the outside of the airplane to get this picture.

This is me...free falling @ 120 MPH. Don't judge...nobody looks attractive at that speed. It took over an hour just to get the tangles out of my hair.

Frank has already pulled the chute and it is getting ready to deploy.

Landing on the ground.

Adventure Skydive

I will mark the 16th of June 2010 down as one of the most exciting days of my life. Jim, I, Dawn (my youngest daughter) and David (her husband) made a Tandem Skydive. Yes...we jumped out of a perfectly good airplane... with a professional skydiver strapped to our back. I invited Kim, my other daughter, but she told me...and I quote, "There is not one cell in my body that has longed to jump from an airplane, so, no thank you." Some say she is the smartest one in the family.

In an attempt at full disclosure, I should tell you some of the things that I did not think all the way through until we were airborne. I actually paid an extra $10.00 to be taken up to 14,000 feet instead of "only" 10,000 feet. Well, I had no concept of height. After we were on our way up in the airplane I started to realize that 14,000 feet is very high. It is 2.6 miles straight up and during free fall I would be traveling at 120 miles per hour, straight down. Guess what...I loved it! But I do think about it more after the jump than I did before the jump.

Here are all four of us before the jump. From left to right are me, David, Jim, and Dawn.

This is Frank. Frank is my "guy" who took care of me the whole way down. He was such a nice guy and reassured me all the time. He only had one rule...DON'T GRAB HIS HANDS. Other than that, just relax and he would "fly" me home...and he did.

Frank told me he took his own mother on a skydive, which did make me relax a little.

Here is Frank and his bride-to-be, Leslie. They will be married in October. Leslie was my "videographer" and she was awesome! She actually hung onto the outside of the plane, at 14,000 feet, to get a picture of me and Frank coming out the door. She did everything we did only backwards and with a video camera. Like I said, "Awesome". I was so impressed with both of these young folks, in fact, all the guys and girls at Adventure Skydive.

This is David and Dawn all ready to jump. It was so nice that they came with us on this adventure. It really made it special. Of course the look on Dawn's face says, "Now just how did I get here again?"

This is David and his "guy" getting ready to jump.

Jim is getting instructions from his "guy", Tyler, before the jump.

This is how they pack the chutes. Looks so easy...but must be just right.

OK, this is after the jump...and your hair would not be looking so good either after being blown at 120 MPH! So don't judge.

AIRBORNE!!

Memorial Day in Ocala 2009

Jimmy and I attended the Memorial Day celebrations at the Veterans Memorial Park in Ocala. It was a very moving ceremony. Little Ocala is a very patriotic town. The pictures below are some of the highlights.

All services were represented and honored here, Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, and Merchant Marines. The Marines seen here are from a local Marine ROTC group. They did a great job and all looked like babies to me. I remember when the Lieutenants looked so young but when the Lieutenant Colonels started looking like they just got out of college, I knew it was time to retire.

All wars were commemorated, even the Civil War with representatives from both the Confederate and Union sides. These are the Confederate soldiers...

...and these are the Union soldiers.

The veteran's motorcycle club was a big part of the organization. They were helping with all aspects from parking to helping with the ceremonies.

This is the Monument to the Florida Metal of Honor winners. There are lists of names on all four sides.

They even had a fly over of vintage WWII planes.



For sure anyone associated with the Armed Forces knows that "Freedom is not Free" is a very true statement.

“Utterly Deadly Southern Pecan Pie”

Today we visited the home of the author Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings. She wrote several books about Florida, the most famous of which is “The Yearling” that won the Pulitzer Prize in 1939. I love to read but I have not read any of her books, but I plan to do so.

We took a tour of her home in Cross Creek, Florida and it was very interesting. The home was build about 1889 and is still the original house. It was formed from putting together three different homes and connecting them with a porch.

One of the books she wrote was a cook book. Just to give you a sample of her writing and her wit I will give you the recipe for “Utterly Deadly Southern Pecan Pie”

4 eggs
1 ¼ cups Southern cane syrup
1 ½ cups broken pecan meats
1 cup sugar
4 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla

Boil sugar and syrup together two or three minutes. Beat eggs, not too stiff, pour in slowly the hot syrup, and add the butter, vanilla and the pecan meats, broken rather coarsely. Turn into a raw pie shell and bake in a moderate oven about 45 minutes or until set.

The funniest part is the next paragraph,

“I have nibbled at the “Utterly Deadly Southern Pecan Pie” and have served it to those in whose welfare I took no interest, but being inclined to plumpness, and having as well a desire to see out my days on earth, I have never eaten a full portion”