Urbanna Oyster Festival 2015

This picture starts off the post because it started off my weekend and it's one of my most favorite mugs ever. 

I took Friday off of work because it was the annual Urbanna Oyster Festival! My first experience of this Virginia tradition took place last year, and it was fun, but this year was much more fun. Mostly because my hubby got to go this time and B was a year older and he was much easier to deal with all day. While he still takes a daily nap, we knew he wouldn't take one today so we just powered through.

About 70,000 people attend this festival in tiny Urbanna, Virginia every year. It takes place the first Friday and Saturday of November. We go on Friday because it is the less crowded day. The weather this year was AMAZING! It was a record high in the 80's! I was super happy to walk around in flip flops all day.

B got to experience his first pony ride! He did great and held on tight.

Virginia is for Lovers! 

There is so much here. Lots of vendors and lots of food! I do wish there were more local vendors. They have a fair amount of food vendors that are the ones you see at the state fair and sell you one corn dog for $5. We found the Lions Club stand that was selling yummy food for a fair price and it all goes to charity. There are also some food vendors that are local which was nice. Always try to hit those up.

There are quite a few other vendors selling the same odd things...like weird puppets that look mass produced in a back room in Mexico and those funky hippy/poncho hoodie things that all the stoners wore in the 90's. I'd really like to see more home made vendors. I bought 2 Christmas ornaments: one was a shell made to look like a snowman with a Santa hat on that was made from a Steelers pattern and one that was an oyster shell that looked like a beach and had a little sign in the sand that said "Urbanna". I tried to convince dad to get the dried out crab wearing a Santa hat but he wouldn't go for it. 

They also had a stage with different bands. B hopped out of the stroller, grabbed 2 sticks and took a dance break! This kid LOVES to dance. I have no idea where he gets it from. 

Eventually we made it down to the harbor where our friends had their boats docked. This was probably the most fun. The festival is big and it is nice to have a home base where you can sit, relax and drink a beer. I loved boat hopping. 

Dad and I continued our Jell-O shot tradition we started last year! Thanks Marsha for bringing those!

Uncle Rusty, Michelle, Me, Mom

Our buddies who are hysterical! Love hanging out with them. Also great because B has so many people watching out for him and mama can take a break.

My little captain! Seriously, how great is this picture? I had to take about 10 pictures before I got this one, but it is perfect.

Oh heeeeey! Just pretending to drive this yacht the size of a house!

Before we left we went over to another marina and found another friend who was there on a boat he bought that he is fixing up and re-selling. He does this with everything. There is nothing this guy won't sell. This boat was 51 feet long, had 3 state rooms (bedrooms) and a head (bathroom). There were 2 seating areas with tables and benches. I could seriously get used to that. I don't know if I would ever want to own a boat like that, but it would be hella fun to go out on it once in awhile.

See? It was huge. (That's what she said.) Apparently it was owned by a the owner of the Redskins at one point.

I greatly enjoyed spending the day with my man and family. It was too pretty of a day to be stuck at work, so I was happy to off. This has felt like the longest weekend ever and I've loved it. 

He finally crashed when he decided to head back to the car. He was such a trooper. We are so blessed that we have such a smart, easy going kid.


http://www.urbannaoysterfestival.com/

Deltaville 5K 2015 and everything else

Hello friends! This has been a crazy and hectic last few weeks! I thought my life would be a little better after school let out for the summer but boy was I wrong. B has kept me on my toes along with everything else going on.

First, I got new prescription sunglasses! I've never had prescription sunglasses before but I am loving it. I also got new glasses as well. It has been an adjustment because I have developed an astigmatism and now I am supposed to be wearing glasses all the time instead of just to see distance. I am very slowly getting used to them and still being stubborn about wearing them all the time, but I am loving the prescription ones for driving.

Stylin'

My parents' 40th wedding anniversary was June 28th so I threw them a surprise dinner with their closest friends. It was perfect! They thought they were just meeting us for dinner...hehehe.

Surprise!

My "aunts and uncles"

Everyone had a great time, and even B was semi well behaved. The empty outdoor dining area helped because he could run around out there.

Argg!

June 30th was our wedding anniversary! We waited and celebrated with dinner in Urbanna. We went to a place called The Works and it was soooooo good! It was also so good to have some kid-free time.

4 years and counting!

Crabby hat. Crabby baby.

Friday we went out on the boat and B wore the best hat ever. We went out in the bay and it was a gorgeous day! Since there were storms the night before the humidity was low. I liked swimming out in the open water and even (finally!) got to drive the boat!

Saturday morning I had the Deltaville 5K. It is a fun race with an out and back course. I think I could have had a better time if it weren't for the guy who decided to dress up in sleigh bells (not jingle bells, legit sleigh bells) and a Santa hat and run near me through the whole race. The bells were absolutely maddening. I had 2 choices: go ahead of him or let him pull ahead of me, because he ran my EXACT pace. I tried pulling ahead and that worked for a little while, until my app told me I ran the first mile in 8 minutes 57 seconds. I knew I had totally screwed myself. I slowed down so I wouldn't hurt myself and here comes Sleigh Bells again....every time I got away from him he would catch up. Or if I let him get ahead, he stopped at the water stations and then started running when I got near him again. It was honestly horrible. I can understand dressing like that for a Christmas race...but not in July. It kind of ruined it for me :-( Next time I will just wait and move back into another wave so as to avoid that annoyingness...All in all though I was super happy with my finishing time. 31 minutes 48 seconds is really good! If I could run a consistent 9 something mile I could probably pull in at 30 or less like I have been trying so hard to do. Maybe next time...

I saw this on Facebook later and will be looking for it next year. They had CRAB RACES at the race!! I so wish I had seen this in person!

ouch

Saturday night I was super tired and my feet were so swollen. I understood why when I looked at my FitBit app. I haven't had that many steps in one day in a long time.

Sunday we went out on the boat again and went fishing for cobia! Apparently they are hard to catch because they don't school and they are extremely picky about their bait. But we got one!! Unfortunately he snapped the line before we could get him in the boat, but it was fun trying to get him in. Cobia can get very big and we weren't sure if he was a keeper anyways. I think he was just shy of the 37 inches they have to be to keep them.

Check out that mouth!

Feisty!

You can kind of see him below the water.

Personally I was happy just to drive

 

Hope everyone had a great Fourth of July weekend!

Hello March!

Well, this March has definitely come in like a lion. I hope it goes out like a lamb!
The last three weeks have been ridiculous. We've had so much snow and ice it's been unreal. On one hand, I love it because I am a teacher and have loved the time off. On the other hand it has really messed up my training. Throw in being sick the last few days and it doesn't add up to a lot of miles.

This is what I saw last weekend on my run. When they plowed the cul de sacs in the neighborhood they just left the snow in mountain piles. I know its nothing compared to what Boston and that area has had to deal with, but to us southerners it is a lot.

We have also had the winter crazies around this house. Oh and add to that that the kitchen has been undergoing renovations for over 3 weeks now. No kitchen + stuck in the house + a toddler=so much fun.

Today was so much better. Despite being sick the last few days, I managed to get out the door and get about 5 miles done. At least I hope it was 5 miles. My phone charger stopped working so I haven't been able to plug my phone in at night to charge it and it died somewhere during mile 4. I at least know I got over 4 miles done. I ran without a jacket and even though it was windy, it felt so wonderful. When my phone died, I had to run without music and I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. Just me, my thoughts, and the spring air. It was peaceful. After my run, C had stuff to do so I took B to Panera for lunch, hit the grocery store and then came home just in time for his nap. After naptime we took a little walk up the street. B walked with me, holding my hand. It was so sweet. He picked up leaves and carried them for a bit and then tossed them into the breeze when he was done with them. Even though they are a lot of work, toddlers are also a lot of fun.

We also found a frog in the yard today! He was moving slow and probably should have stayed underground a little longer. In spite of all this snow and ice, maybe it really will be an early spring? That would be awesome.

B was not a fan of the frog getting close to him even though he was enthralled by it.

Only 3 more weeks until it's 10K time!!! I'm so not ready.

Crawlin' Crab 5K

Last Saturday we were in Hampton, Va running the Crawlin' Crab 5K. The weather was iffy but turned out to be a beautiful day. It rained that night and it was super humid during the race so we were all soaked when it was over.

This race was extra fun because not only did C run it, but my friends Jess and Emily were in it as well. It was Jess's first race and Emily walked and pushed B. I ran the whole thing and even though I hadn't really been training I feel like I did really good. I came in at 32:28 and only walked at the water stop. That's only 2 minutes slower than my fastest 5K. Also this was a bit of a milestone race because it was Jess' first race and she is QUITTING SMOKING SO SHE CAN RUN BETTER!!! Now you're screwed Jess, you have to quit. I told you running is addicting.

I don't usually like out and back courses, but I really liked this one. It was quick and easy and I totally zoned out while running. It was just nice to see where you came from I guess and knowing how close you were to finishing.

We hung out at the post race party and it was a lot of fun. They moved it inside which was a change from the first year I ran it and was so much better. The AC felt great.  We ate our crab chowder and drank our free beer before heading back to the hotel to check out. It was a fun overnight trip.

Our one picture.

The battery in my phone decided to "bloat" and broke my phone, so we got like one picture, but I got a whole new phone for free today so it's all good.

I noticed that J & A made some changes to their races and I think the Virginia is for Lovers is done. This makes me a little sad because even though it was in February, I actually really liked that race. Even though they are getting rid of one, they are starting the Harbor Lights half and 5K in November and we are planning on running that as well. I'm so excited. I wish I was in half marathon shape but maybe next year. My knees just aren't what they used to be. I am also thinking of running the Surfin' Santa again in December. I did this the first year they had it and it was a 10 miler. Now it is a 5 miler and is at 5PM so when you run through the lights on the boardwalk, you will actually be able to see the lights! I think that would be a lot of fun. It feels awesome to be excited about running again after feeling like a bump on a log for so long. I got my race fever back!

The Bacon Festival

Ahhhh the weekend. I do love it so. I especially loved this past weekend. Saturday morning I woke early and went for a 2.5 mile run, the farthest I've gone in awhile. The weather was perfect and the big thing I noticed was how quiet it is that early in the morning. It was nice to run my usual route without cars whizzing by and only a few people outside. It really set the pace for the rest of the day. I have a 5k in one month and I hope for that to be a great race so I really need to get back on the bandwagon. 

Today I was again up before everyone else. I took the opportunity to curl up in the chair with a Runner's World, coffee and my dog. It was a great start to the day. I'm super excited for this upcoming week to be done and school to be out so that I can have the mornings to be more like this one. 

Today was also the Bacon Festival! Even though it was kind of humid we had a great time and got some good bacon food! I was surprised that B liked the salted caramel bacon brownie ice cream from Gelati Celeste. We also got some goodies from Deep Run Roadhouse and Halligan's. And of course beer ;-) 

I hope to have more updates in the next few weeks as I train for my upcoming 5k in July. Seems weird to say I am training for a 5k after running 5 half marathons. I guess you have to start somewhere!