The kids and I arrived in KY on the evening of Friday, Sept 19th. The next night I celebrated my 25th year high school class reunion with the Meade County High School class of 1983. It was a nice night of hanging out with old friends and getting reacquainted but it wasn't as highly attended as our 20th year reunion. It was fun to get reconnected again (and get cell phone and email addresses this time!) and then be able to stay in KY for a while and spend even more time with some of my good friends.
Throughout the following week we did a lot of fun things with the family. Although continuing to homeschool during the morning hours we found time in the afternoon and evening for Joshua to spend time at his first skate park and for both the kids to have fun walking around Brandenburg and playing at the various parks nearby. Joshua spent the night with his Uncle Randy (and kids) one night during that week and had a blast with them. Along the way Joshua made new friends with a boy named Devin who lives within walking distance of granny's house. Joshua and I spent three mornings that week driving to Ft. Knox and training at their indoor pool (the closest one to my mom's house).
It was nice to spend an evening at my old high school because the choir there was hosting the 4th district choir festival. My niece, Krista, was performing so that was really cool. I ran into some old college friends that night who I probably wouldn't have even noticed if it weren't for Facebook! How cool is that? That evening Krista came over to my mom's house with her boyfriend Ethan - what a great kid....and a swimmer! We had a fun time talking about swimming and triathlons!
One night we went to "Jailhouse Pizza." Now, this isn't just any pizza place. This restaurant used to be an actual jail house. Back in 1974, however, the F5 tornado that ripped through my hometown left the city rebuilding and the old jailhouse continued to stand even though it never held prisoners again. Now you can actually eat in a jail cell! It is quite a unique restaurant but I'd be afraid of what would happen if the health department ever set foot in this place!
On the opening day of the movie "Fireproof" I went to the movies alone, got a "movie theater Starbucks" and sat watching the movie with tears in my eyes. Although the quality wasn't quite up to Hollywood productions the theme of the movie was quite moving. I would highly suggest everyone - particularly couples in a crisis - to see it.
On Sept 27th I decided that I would crash my sister's 20th year high school class reunion...and I did! What a great time. Since these guys were in 8th grade when I was a senior in high school I didn't know many of them - only my sister's friends. It was really great reconnecting with them as well and I found one couple who I just adored and really enjoyed spending time with. They have since then invited the kids and I to make an overnight trip to Owensboro, KY and spend the night with them. If we can find time in our schedule we are going to try to do that!
The week following my reunion "crash" was really fun. One night I went out with two friends from high school for dinner and we reconnected like no time had passed. I just love friends like that. How amazing to just pick up where you left off.
We spent two days in Van Wert, OH visiting my maternal grandparents. It was nice to see them again and the kids were able to spend some time running around in their huge yard and near all the corn fields. Joshua has been really working out since we've been here and even decided to take the "long route" running instead of the short one and while visiting his great grandparents he ran 1.5 miles on a training run. We're going to work on that this winter so he can do well on his spring triathlons in 2009.
I'm really enjoying spending time taking photos. My sister asked me to take some candid photos of her family and we spent one late afternoon doing so. I have some great shots which I can't wait to download and share with the world - my sister has such a gorgeous family!
Speaking of my sister and her family - it has been wonderful spending time with them and getting to know my new nieces (my sister got married a year ago and I have three new nieces by marriage that I haven't spent much time with!). Not only has it been great getting to know them but also reconnecting with my "blood" niece and nephew (when he is home from college!).
Another highlight of the week was going to the high school football game. It wasn't much of a thrill for me but Celeste had a blast with her pom poms acting like a cheerleader while Joshua got to spend time with his cousins just hanging out at a game. He felt like a real public school kid! :) It was cute when a boy came up to him and asked him if the girl next to him was his girlfriend. He turned to the guy and said "dude, that is my cousin!" Yeah, yeah...we are in KY I know...but actually this is my sister's husband's daughter from a previous marriage so actually they aren't related at all! :) Joshua thinks it is super cool to have cute girl cousins, though!
On Oct 4th we headed out of town for Lexington, KY. We spent the morning driving there, picking up my race packet and then chilling out in the nice fall air while sitting outside of Starbucks drinking a coffee. Now, I must tell you that although I have had some Starbucks since arriving in KY (the real stuff while traveling and then the "Barnes & Noble Starbucks" and "movie theater Starbucks") this was actually the first time I felt like I was having the real thing! The kids and I just sat outside sipping our drinks while Celeste made friends with a lady and her dog. Come to find out this lady, although from KY had spent years working in Reston with a contractor for Lockheed Martin! She knew our neck of the woods VERY well! That evening and into the next day is blogged below in my race report. After the race, however, we headed to Maysville, KY to spend some time with my dad and grandmother. That pretty much brings me up-to-date on our time here. The kids have been wonderful. They have adjusted to all the changes very well. I haven't heard them complain about missing home or their stuff or anything like that - they've just been enjoying life to the fullest. What seems to be the best part of this trip for them is being able to spend time with their cousins.
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