July 4th Parade and Dinner

We had a very busy day for the 4th of July.  It was so much fun and I hope these are memories our children will cherish forever.  Even though they look slightly undone in this photo, they were really excited to leave the race event and head over to decorate our golf cart for the independence day golf cart parade around the plantation.

 This cracks me up.  What is Hunter doing?

 Lucas getting ready and trying to do his part for decorating.

 Aunt Noelle putting things into motion and making the coolest cart ever.

 He might have worked harder blowing up this balloon than he did running the one mile fun run.  He worked and worked.  This was one of the first times he was able to do this by himself.

 More decorations are going up!

 Tadaaaaaa!!!!!  Ready to throw some candy and parade around the island.

 The cool girls get to ride in the front.

 Off we go.

 Are we having fun yet?  Another awesome daddy kicking it up for the parade of parades!!

 The Ocean club hosted a fun all american dinner to tap off our red, white and blue day.  There was a colossal storm that rocked the event, but none the less, we finished off the night dancing the night away.

He must have gotten these moves from his dad.

Kayaking at the beach. BIg boys only.

An adventuresome crew set out to kayak in the canals around the plantation.  I should get David to narrate this blog, but well, that would probably NEVER happen...so I will do the best I can since I wasn't invited.  :)   

Very happy the boys were able to spend some time together.  I think is was a great trip and the kids, big and little truly loved it!

 Uncle Kevin and Eli.

 Sweet Hunter in the front.  I think he was nervous in the beginning, but ended up having a blast.

 Resting on an island?

 Awesome Daddy!

 Sweet Eli.

Headed home.

July 4th Independence Run

Last year Noelle and I ran the Amelia Island Independence 5k.  Kevin and David were our awesome supporters dedicated to manning the rest of our support crew (all 4 kids).  This year I had decided that David would run the race and I would man the kids.  To make a long story short, we both decided to run and David would push Lucas in the stroller.  Noelle joined us for the run while Hunter, Eli, Linden and Kevin cheered us on.  Now, mind you David is a great runner and he was pushing...let me say it one more time, PUSHING Lucas in the stroller for 3.1 miles.  I had the liberty to run on my on.  I was running really fast too, the fastest since babies, when who pulls up beside me and continues on to pass me, David, PUSHING Lucas in the stroller...not even our jogging stroller, but a semi jogging stroller.  I couldn't believe it!!!  What made it even worse was the fact that I couldn't keep up with them!!  I was so mad!!!  He crossed the line about 20 seconds in front of me.  He and Lucas were 4th overall in the race.  I was 5th and the first female finisher.  Despite the fact that I got beat by my husband pushing the stroller, I was very happy that I was able to break 20 minutes in the 5k again, 19:40 I believe.  I haven't seen those numbers since pre babies.  Mark my words...I will NEVER let my husband beat me in a race again PUSHING one of our children in a stroller!!!!

Here is Lucas getting ready for the big race.  This guy really does enjoy being pushed in the stroller while we run.  He joined me for most of my morning runs while at the beach.  He also loves riding here in Abingdon on the Creeper Trail.  Another difference in our children.  Hunter would just fall asleep, Lucas enjoys the scenery and the conversation and would NEVER dream of taking a nap when out for a run!

Our runners geared up for the event.  As much fun as David and I had running the 5k, I think the highlight for us was watching and cheering Hunter and Eli and they ran in the one mile fun run.  I was so proud of them.  They ran the whole way in 90 degree heat without complaints.  They had the biggest  smiles on their faces when they crossed the finish line.  Lucas earned a complimentary number for his coaching efforts in the stroller.

The Simmons running family.  Yes, Lucas was doing everything he could to get off my lap. He wanted back in the stroller to "run fast."

TIRED.

Go Eli!!!

Hunter and mom finishing up the last quarter mile.

Here are the big finishers!!!  They were so happy to have that blue ribbon.  This was a really fun morning.

July 4th Beach Trip!

 Kids boogie boarding on the beach, what could be more fun?  Fun times, even with a broken board.  The bigger boys like to ride the waves, while the little ones like to be pulled around in the tide pools.  The only distraction were tiny fish trapped in the pools.  It didn't take too long for a little fish search and rescue.

 Lucas enjoyed the sand and the beach much, much more this year than last.  He was a sour puss for most of the trip.  I guess it just goes to say it is hard being the smallest with the biggest attitude!

 Having a fun moment trying to scoop up lost fish in his bucket.

 Relaxing by the pool.

 Our little cheese at the Marche'.  There were so many activities here.  We attended a fun and delicious fish boil.  We ordered these huge plates with the usual shrimp boil ingredients.  We had yummy veggies and 9 HUGE shrimp.  This was Lucas's first experience with shrimp.  Not thinking he would like them I offered him a bite of mine.  Do you know that little monster ate every one of my shrimp!!!  He devoured all 9 of them like it was nobody's business..impressive for the little guy.

 Late night smores on the beach.  Lucas and I had to retreat for an early night.  Little guy gave it his all day after day, but by 8pm he was toast.

 Yummy smores!!!  Always perfect over an open flame on the beach with family.

 Yummy, yummmy,yummmmmy!!  Mexican night at the Ocean Club.  This is David's favorite dinner on the plantation and he talks about it all year.  Thanks to the Yo-Sims for the perfect company and invitation.

 Okay, to fully appreciate this photo I need to post a picture of this tree.  It is the most beautiful Spanish Oak I have ever seen.  I noticed it on one of my morning runs and thought it would be a great place to take a picture of all the kids.  Well, it was a beautiful tree surrounded by tiny, blood sucking mosquitoes!  It was all we could do to snap this shot and get the H&^*%(&^ out of there!  I think Kevin may have done a burn out in the golf cart.  (PS.  Note all the happy faces to be here.)

 Our little turtle friend, Miss Amelia.  Note how she is actually running away from Lucas...smart girl:)

 Another fun activity for the kids sponsored by the kind folks on the plantation.  The kids had towels and had to run the beach, soak them in water and wring them out in the buckets.  The first to fill their bucket with water to the top won.  Great fun and as you can see Aunt Noelle did a really good job :)

 A really cute picture.

 Magic show at the Marche'.  The daddies gave the mommies a little break.  They enjoyed the show while we enjoyed finishing our drinks.

Golf cart ride out to Walker's Landing, another mosquito hide out.  This is a beautiful spot and we were lucky enough to spot a manatee swimming in the water.  Wish I could of gotten a picture of him.


We have the best beach vacations ever!  I hope in the years to come our boys remember all the fun times we had together at the beach.  Like last year our York-Simmons beach blast was over the Fourth of July.  It is a wonderful time to be on the Plantation at Amelia Island.  They have lots of fun filled activities for the kids and families.  I think that is what I love the most about all the festivities, they are all kid friendly!  We spent a blissful 10 days on the beach, running, eating, playing and sleeping.  This was the first time in a long string of family vacations that we were all 8 on the beach for longer than 2 hours.  We were able to go out in the morning and stay out until lunch and the nap retreat.  It was a wonderful trip, but like all good times they must come to an end...and sometimes these longer trips end with 8 folks screaming, "I am ready to go home!"  Don't get me wrong we are usually one big happy mess, but when you have 4 kids ages: 2, 3, 4, and 5, the days are anything but boring with guaranteed end of the day exhaustion!

Tweetsie, we gave it a good try this year...

We had a fantastic trip planned for Tweetsie RR this year.  Thomas the Train was in the Smokies for a visit so we planned a trip with all our buddies and headed out to see him.  Lucas loves Thomas, much more than Hunter did at the same age so this was going to be great, Right?  Nope, it was a rainy, dreary and really cold mess!!  Under normal circumstances we would have just canned the trip from the start but our group of friends all had the day off from work, a very rare occasion.  There isn't much to say other than we did it, or we did it the best we could.  The kids didn't seem to mind the rain and in between downpours we did manage to ride a few rides.  We never made it up the chairlift, that event will have to happen another day.  I felt like the day was a disaster, but the kids really did have a good time and we all got to hang out for a nice, dry lunch afterwards.

 On the 1925 version of the Ferris Wheel.  I think the boys liked it.  I had a hard time watching them go up on this thing.  It was all I could do to snap this picture.

 Our friends on the tilt a whirl.  We all loved this ride.  This was one of the few we could enjoy in the rain.  Lucas loved this ride!

 Hunter and his BFF Adam getting ready for our train ride with Thomas.  We were all in sweatshirts and jackets during the middle of June.  It was only in the low 60s.

Okay, we tried.  We have the same picture of Hunter and Thomas from 2 years ago.  Lucas was over Tweetsie by this point.  Oh, to go another day...

We are Iron Nuts!!

So, like I mentioned earlier we are trying to get back our racing form!!  The weekend following the Burn 24 David and I completed Abingdon's Iron Nut triathlon.  This is the event's second year and it is a race in progress, but still loads of fun.  David and I won last year so we felt the pressure to do just the same this year.  Well, now that it is officially over I can breathe a sigh of relief that we both won again...with faster times to boot.  This was a sprint tri, a 1/2 mile swim, 18 mile bike and a 5k run at the end.  My parents and sister came up to help with the kids and cheer us on!  Unlike the weekend before, it was CHILLY and I think my toes were frozen when I started the run.

 My good friend Tami and my toughest competition in the tri!!  She was on the Burn team with David and is an excellent athlete.  She has been whipping me into some road biking shape!

 There goes my fish!

 Freezing and waiting for my turn to start.  It was in the 50s that morning...YIKES

 I hope my head is up out of the water looking for the wall to climb out!  Poor form if I am in the middle of a lap.  Who knows, Daddy did a great job taking all these pictures.

 Hunter ran out to hug David on his first lap of the 5K..oh No!

 Finishing up the running portion of the tri.  Chloe was a great inspiration as she chanted each lap I say her, "Go Jaime, I know you can run faster than that!"

 Me and Tami!!

 Champs!


Despite our first place finishes we made some bone head mistakes.  David ended up swimming an extra lap, I think this is only fair since he is part fish anyway, and I ended up running the transition area twice because I went out the wrong way!  Ha, we both got a good laugh about this after the finish.