A Prickly Situation

Hazel had an unfortunate encounter with a prickly pear cactus today. Poor girl had two handfuls of tiny spines. She kept trying to wipe them off on her shirt and would cry at the sting. They were too small to pull with a tweezer and too many, too close together to get with my fingers. So, like a kindergartener with her own tube, I smeared her hands with Elmer's glue, let it dry, and pulled out the spines when I pulled off the dried glue. Still, it took two times of that treatment and I'm sure I missed a couple. But the "owies" are all better now.

Bees

Yesterday this swarm of honey bees showed up in our front yard! Kind of fun.

Lake Tahoe Half

I finished!! I was faster than I thought: 2:57:13. Not super, but this is the first time doing a half marathon. Maddy, Karl and I had a great time. The weather was perfect. The first 10 miles were great. I accomplished those in 2 hours. The last 3 weren't so good and took almost an hour to do. The last 200 yards to the finish line were torture. I just wanted to lay down and cry (I waited for Maddy and found some water and then cried). I learned a lot of things doing this half marathon. First, I need to train a bit more to be able to get faster and be stronger at the end. Second, I'll remember to bring my camera to the starting line and then the race people bring it to the finish line. I was sad to not get any pics of the gorgeous Lake Tahoe. Third, sunscreen. Last and most importantly, I discovered that I could do this. I was so nervous. But I did it. And I'll do it again...just not anytime soon.

Next spring...start training...in 2 weeks (I've got to recover first).
Here's a map of the course.

How to eat fried worms

My lovely children came home from school today and announced they wanted to

eat some worms.

I thought to myself, "I'll let them try; they really won't go through with that. It's gross!" But Nate had dared them and said he would give $10 to whoever ate a worm. So here's their story:

Isaac dug up some worms from the front flower bed.

They washed the worms.

They decided to eat them with peanut butter.

Aspen then put her peanut butter on some bread (you can see the worm at the top of the bread.)

Going, going, gone!! Aspen said she couldn't even taste it.

This is Madison (Aspen's friend). She actually ate 2 worms. One in a spoonful of peanut butter (she reports that she could taste it and it was moving around). The other she ate in the middle of a Cheerio! Again not so good, but not as bad as just in peanut butter.

Next the girls went to Madison's house to eat one in front of her dad. They used oranges that time. Said that it was very tastey. I guess Nate owes them $10

Where did I get this daughter of mine?

"Find joy in today's run." --- John Bingham

I have not enjoyed the training I've been doing these last 6 weeks --- until today. Finally, today, I enjoyed myself while running. I usually run in the mornings to take advantage of the slightly cooler (85 degrees as opposed to 97 degrees) temperatures. But that means that I must push my 25 pound baby in a 15+ pound stroller. I thought I was so slow and I was getting discouraged that I wasn't seeing any real progress.

Well, today, I ran after dinner, all by myself! It was so peaceful and enjoyable. I discovered that in the last 6 weeks I have shaved nearly 9 minutes off my 5K time. Each mile I ran today got faster by about 30 seconds. I was able to lose myself in the running and enjoy the beautiful weather, the sunset, and my music. So now, I think I actually like this running thing. I might keep doing it!

I'm excited about running at Lake Tahoe this weekend. It will be fun to see Maddy and Karl (who are running with me) and to enjoy the mountains, the much cooler weather and a weekend just for me. Special thanks to Nate for supporting me and being willing to take on the kids while I am gone. I love you.

Also, an update on the mileage:

Nate: 154.2
Betsy: 175.2

Finally....

I love crisp cool mornings. (They are so much better than the normal-muggy-already-89-degrees-even-though-it-is-only-8:30-in-the-morning mornings.)

So today Hazel and I went to the park for our morning run. She has actually never been to a park that she could actually play at, so this was a fun first!

Also, since it was cool enough, Hazel is wearing her great new fall outfit. (I only bought one new outfit because I have a great sister with great taste and she hands all those cute kid clothes down to me!!) I also love the outfit because I bought it all on clearance over the summer. Got to love a bargain!

Hopefully fall is really here and not just teasing. I hope you are all enjoying my favorite season of the year!

Get out and enjoy!

Where is Autumn?

Today's temperature is currently 97 degrees Fahrenheit; but it feels like 105.
There is 45% humidity, which makes it feel even hotter!
The weather is miserable.
When will it start to feel like fall??