Swim Team Halloween Party

Ben and Carly love the annual Halloween Party that their swim team puts on... it's at a local bowling alley and they always have a blast!  

As I've mentioned before, Carly is all about the Peace Sign, and of course, wanted to be a Flower Child Hippie.  Shocking, she had most of the "costume" in her usual repetoire!  I did have to make the vest, which was easy enough by cutting up an adult sized brown tshirt, and adding a few iron on patches from JoAnn's.  I think she will keep it forever!

We watched the original Karate Kid with the kids last week... really need to show them the updated version! (That was for you, Mom!) Of course, Ben thought it was HYSTERICAL, and was SO impressed when we told him Uncle Edgar is a Black Belt in karate.  He was kind enough to share his karate clothes with Ben... thankfully the pants have a very big drawstring and the shirt was easy enough to tie together! 

Dancing at the party... this girl didn't stop moving for a couple of hours! 

And the whole crew... and for anyone who remembers me talking about Dana, she's standing right in front of Ben... Got to talk to her mama tonight and made sure to tell her how encouraging I found their cheering this summer... and also how sad I was to see that she no longer does the butterfly stroke as if she were a real butterfly, because THAT was hilarious! 

Clermont Swim Meet

Ben and Carly enjoyed a VERY successful swim meet today in Clermont.  They both worked REALLY hard and we are very proud of them!  It was a beautiful, breezy day... so sitting on the pool deck was actually quite enjoyable!  Check out their times... Personal Bests all around!  Previous times in BLUE, today's times are in RED.

Carly (in the "Cone Lane") shows off a perfectly executed flip turn!

50 free:  50.98   TODAY 46.57

25 back: 30.50    TODAY 27.71

50 fly:  1:07.89   TODAY 1:06.99

Ben (also in the "Cone Lane"), in the 200 freestyle.  We decided he MUST have been sleeping the first time he did this race since he took SO MUCH time off today!  We told him that if he took time off his race, he'd get an hour on Roblox.com (his favorite website) and if he came in under 3 minutes, he'd get another hour... Apparently that was all the motivation he needed!

200 free:  3:32.99  TODAY 2:43.45

50 back: 40.11   TODAY  39.76

We are really proud of them and EXCITED that they did so well!

They say it's your birthday....

... it's my birthday too!  Ok, of course it's not.  My birthday is in December.  In Michigan.  But it was RYAN's BIRTHDAY, and we had fun celebrating with him!!!  To start with, Carly hung the card she made her dad on the kitchen cabinet.  A week ago.

Then when we got up, we found that Betty Caroline Crocker had been to visit our kitchen, too.  Sadly, she forgot that she isn't supposed to be baking muffins when not supervised by an adult, but it was the thought that counted, right??  Plus, muffins were yummy.  Apparently she didn't get her mad baking skills from her mother.  She DID, however, get the whole "easier to ask for forgiveness rather than permission" thing from her mom.

Ryan's day REALLY started out with the 15 miles he ran for his marathon training... best time ever.  I told him he would be faster when he was 38!  With running out of the way, we headed to Tijuana Flats for lunch. The picture of the chips is for you, TRACY!  I know, mean.

Headed to Orlando for fun birthday getaway.  I'm telling you, last minute on hotels.com is where it is at for great hotel reservations!  This time we got a "Kids Suite" at a random hotel, and of course, our little nuts loved it!  You'd think it was THEIR birthday!  This one had a fort in the room for them...

Twin bed in the fort, and bunk beds... their "own tv" and gaming system. 

Ryan's pick for a Disney park, Hollywood Studios.  We got dessert at the Sci-Fi Drive In diner, which was very fun!  Ok, AND yummy.  Our waitress was kind enough to snap a photo...

The "Lights, Motors, Action" car show, which was excellent! 

And the Toy Story Ride, where Ryan got the best score, of course.  You don't have to let the kids win on your birthday!!!  Not that he ever lets them win, anyways...

The Rockin' Rollercoaster and Tower of Terror rounded out our afternoon at the park, followed by dinner at a very odd Chinese restaurant.  Ben and Carly picked out their own presents for their dad, and Carly had been planning her's out since May.  T-shirt from The Flats!!  Ryan wore it proudly!  I find it slightly disturbing, but I guess it adequately reflects the hot sauce he loves from there! 

On our way home this morning, we stopped at a Halloween store to try to find costume items (unsucessful), but Carly loved these glasses, and it was worth a photo... She is completely obsessed with the Peace sign (still not sure why, although she IS a very laid back, earth friendly girl) which she refers to herself as "Rockin' the Peace Sign" whenever she wears anything bearing said symbol... you know, which is daily.  Here she is Rockin' the Peace Sign via glasses.  Oh boy.



Happy Birthday RYAN!!!  We love you and love celebrating with you! 

Random Picture #2

It seems after the sad ending to the RAYS season, we needed something to smile about...
*an email forward sent to me by my friend.  And come on, it's HILARIOUS!  You are welcome!

My Life wth Shadow

*Another essay by Carly, who was instructed to write about her Summer Memories...  Photos if from Aunt Renae's blog... thanks for "letting" us lift it!

     As soon as I saw my Aunt Kristi with Shadow, I bolted outside like lightening bolt!  When I met Shadow,  she jumped on me like a kangaroo.  "Shadow! I'm all dirty now.  But I still love you.", I said.  Her eyes twinkled with joy and I knew I would play with her while I was in Michigan.  This dog cost $100 so I have to spend time with her!

     Shadow had brown eyes.  She had silky black fur that was as black as night.  She was a black labrador, she had a blazing red tongue.  She had a black nose, as black as a black berry.

     On Saturday at 10:47am they had a.... PET PARADE!!!!  The parade was very noisy.  We heard people clapping, cameras flashing.  I was a little bit scared.  Then all of a sudden Shadow started running fast as a cheetah!  We almost ran into the crowd!  But we managed not to go there.  They had an enormous line of animals.  There were three bunnies, 12 dogs, evena  mouse on a skateboard who on the funniest animal and a huge brown dog in his owner's t-shirt.  The prizes were free ice cream and five dollars.

     Ten days afer I came home, while I was playing "Speed Slice" on the Wii, my mom pulled me aside and told me, "Honey, something sad happened to Shadow.  She passed away, and they don't know what happened to her, she just passed away in her sleep."  I felt really really sad about Shadow.  I mean, I really did not get to spend a lot of time with her.  I'm really going to miss Shadow. 

*Sigh*  Losing Shadow was really sad for Carly, and seriously, she cried for about 2 days and it wasn't even our dog!  She finally said, "If I feel this sad, imagine how sad Isaiah and Adriana feel!!!" Her sweet little cousins, who saved up their money to buy Shadow.  It made her really want to pray for comfort for them... and their aunts and uncles in Florida really wanted to buy them another dog! 

Random Picture #1

Do not think for one minute that I did not want to run out there and scare him just to see if he really WOULD play dead!  Seriously, WHY is there a possum in my back yard running on the fence???

UPDATE:  Because it's so entertaining:  Comments from my Sister!

Carly's a Wonder

*Carly's teacher read them a book about a little boy who was learning about the Seven Wonders of the World and was wondering why there weren't any NEW wonders now... well, his friend encouraged him to find WONDERS in his own neighborhood and life, things that were really important to him.  (I'm sure I got that REALLY wrong, but you get the idea!)  So, her teacher then assigned them a project to find their OWN wonder, and write about it.  They had a week, and she immediately got busy, giving up Friday Free Time to get started on it... she was a little excited about her chosen subject matter!  Photo's by Carly.

Carly’s Story
MY BLANKET

     “Tap tap tap .”, said the sewing machine. My baby blanket is, well, a wonder to me. It’s one of the things I’ve loved, for my whole life. It only has two holes in it. That’s good!

     It all started out, in September 2001. My mom and my grandma wanted to make me a baby blanket . But they didn’t know whether or not I was a boy or a girl, so they thought ”red and yellow! Good for both.” So, they came out with a starry fabric on one side and the other side has bears on it.

     The day I was born. [November, XX ,2001 at 11:16 am] I received my baby blanket. All of my relatives were huddled around me asking “can I hold her, can I hold her?” My relatives yapped. I was so annoyed I wrapped my blanket around my head . I felt like a Baby Ninja. As soon as everyone left I went to bed in the hospital. I snuggled with my mom and my blanket. When I was 2 years old, my Dad was playing around with me and took my blanket and I started crying and I yelled “BLANKY!!!” I shouted and from that day on that was her name.

     Blanky helps me sleep in the night. I snuggle her close and she gives me a good feeling inside, something that calms me. So if any one tries to take her away from me, I would throw a fit! She also helps me when I’m scared or upset. I will never let go of my blanket and if I do it will be when I’m 90 years old !!!!!

*This girl really really loves her Blanky...

ALDS Game TWO

Have to focus on the positives, right?  Well, Game 2 was, well... huh.  WE had a good time.  By "We", I mean, the kids and I.  I think Ryan was a little bummed.  I know he enjoyed being at the Trop with his family, he always does!  But it goes without saying that he wanted to see his "Friends" take care of business:)

Ben picked a hankerchief for a souvenier... and it entertained him for the whole game!

The Rays have gone a little crazy with the Plaid... they repainted the Rays Team truck!

James Shields was pitching... he is one of Ryan's favorites.  And there was even an incident in our house a while back regarding someone pulling their sister down the stairs by her "Shields Shirt" and an injured foot which required a day off school and lots of ice.  So he's kind of famous in our house.

*sigh*  perhaps we were bummed (notice how I'm bummed now, too???) because this might be the last day we get to see Carl in a Rays uniform right in front of us.  His contract is up, and he's worth way more $$ than the Rays could pay him.  He's Ryan's all time favorite.  I'm thinking Ryan is not alone!

And to cheer us up... here's DJ Kitty.  We've decided (me and Carly, of course!!!) that you can NOT go wrong with DJ Kitty.  You are welcome for NOT posting his YouTube video.  It IS very funny, but out of respect for the McGregor Felines, I will not post it... if only we had thought of it ourselves!!!  Come on, Cassidy would have made an AWESOME DJ Kitty!  I'm sure he'd throw in a growl here and there, too!

Carly had the best time dancing around... entertaining the people beside us!

The sad ending. 

This might have been even sadder to me... Ryan was just unwilling to leave!  Those are VERY empty stands... I shouldn't be surprised.  He gets this way every year!  We DO love our time at the ball field, it is really great for our whole family.  However, I was getting nervous that they were going to make us clean up...

No one cares if you mess with the truck after everyone has gone home! 

ALDS Game ONE

 Our Boys managed to come in first place for the American League East and won themselves a spot in the Post Season... we entered our name into the lottery drawing to purchase Post Season tickets and were picked for the American League Division Series Games 1 and 2 tickets!  We enjoyed Game One this afternoon, even though we didn't enjoy the outcome:) 

We started out with a little tailgating lunch in the parking lot...

Starting Line Up...

Picture I took specifically for Evan Longoria.  That's him striking out.  In front of a packed house at Tropicana Field.  Which is what he wanted, right?  Although, I doubt he wanted to strike out. 

Not sure the outfield players are supposed to be hanging out like this...  ok, it was a commercial break.

Handsome McGregor Men...

 And the girls... wearing our matching sparkly pink Rays shirts!

Sad ending to the game...

As we were leaving,  we noticed that they had Matt Garza's motorcycle on display... The Rays organization had it custom made for him after his No Hitter this summer, the first in Ray's short history.

It's a Harley, and all the players signed it and there are some cool graphics on it...

We would have loved to see a win for the Rays, but they played some good baseball, and THAT is always fun!  We are never ready for the season to be over (even after 162 games!!!) so it is awesome to get a few more games in...

Disney Wine and Dine Half Marathon Relay

Ryan and I had a GREAT weekend WITHOUT the kids, in Orlando!  Of course, in order to "Get" this weekend away, we had to run a 1/2 marathon... but the 13.1 miles were well worth it!

Inaugural year for the Disney Wine and Dine Half Marathon, so of course, Ryan was all over that!  They had the option of doing a relay, which meant that Runner #1 (umm, that would be ME!) ran the first 5 miles, and Runner #2 (Sucker, Ryan) ran the last 8 miles.  We actually ran the ".1 mile" together at the handoff station.  VERY FUN being a "running" team... sadly for Ryan, I'm not much of a runner. 

Here are our running bibs... we were waiting to go in to the corrals to start.

And our self portrait... Adorable, I know.  Turns out, we are REALLY bad at self portraits with a cell phone camera.  I did NOT run with my actual camera.  Even though it was mostly walking.  The very fun part of this race was that it STARTED at 10pm!  Then there was a party afterwards at Epcot where they had the Wine and Food Festival open.  We really liked that because all the runners were out together, just kind of hanging out (you could get tickets for your friends and family, too... but we were there by ourselves).  Usually when we've done Disney races, everyone has already flown home by the time we are done!  Hahahaha... not kidding.

I had the distinct pleasure of watching these two spin past me while I was running.  Part of the course I ran went past the 6 mile marker (when I was near the 2 mile marker) and they were on the 6 mile side of it... really moving watching the wheelchair competetors leading a pack of runners.  It is just amazing to see, especially if you've ever tried to propel a wheelchair for any length of time.  It's not easy.  It also made me thankful to be able to run, even though I really stink at it!!!  I snuck a picture of them at the after party.  They were discussing their times (yeah, 1 hour 22 minutes!)

Ryan, just coming across the finish line and entering Epcot...  we both got medals:)

Our time was WAY BETTER than we thought it would be (remember: I'm no runner!)

We finished 482 out of 586 teams and our total time was: 2:55:27  (Transition Time:1:43)
my time was  1:12:31 and Ryan did his 8 miles in 1:41:14.  I was all proud of myself because that was 2 and 1/2 minutes faster than my marathon 5 mile marker time:) 

The day of the race, we spent the morning at the Florida Mall which probably sounds boring, but it was entertaining... they have an M&M store and we were very impressed with the giant tubes of candy!

We were, however, QUITE disappointed that they did not sell PRETZEL M&M's there!!!

Also, the night before, we went to Epcot just to eat dinner... we were really living on the edge and ate Fish and Chips in England.  They were REALLY good, though:)