Butterfly Wonderland

In case you haven't heard, its birthday month for Miss Lily.  She has been waiting well.......all year for this month to come around again.  I too have been waiting, but for much different reasons (no I don't feel guilty saying it :)).  The birthday celebrations started with the arrival of Grandma and Grandpa Longmire last weekend.  Oh the girls were both ecstatic to see them and to start the festivities.  

Lily is into mermaids BIG time this year.  She pretends that she is Ariel all of the time and practically has the Grotto song memorized.  She dreams about and tells stories of mermaids and is constantly inquiring as to whether or not mermaids are real.  She has been asking and asking and asking for a mermaid tail to swim in the water with. I knew Grandma and Grandpa were on it, but had to keep the suspense up for months.  She waited, ever so patiently.  Its been hot here which lent itself to pool time and I am very grateful because she got her purple mermaid tail and quite literally wouldn't take it off!

Of course we always have Halloween right around Lily's birthday so both of the girls spent time dressed up as princesses for school parades and parties.  Their social calendar is quite hopping.

We went to the zoo for their Halloween night and the girls had a blast.  Lily was beside herself that the Moon Mermaid made an appearance and they were simply delighted with the candy row, magic show and spooky carousel ride.  It was a blast and the girls left with plenty of treasures and sugar.

Bob and Grandpa got to play some golf during the days when the girls were in school which was a great time of reconnecting for them.

One of the biggest highlights of the weekend (other than getting a date night for Bob and I), was the Butterfly Wonderland.  I have wanted to go to this butterfly conservatory ever since we moved here.  It is incredible and so amazingly peaceful.  Right off the bat the Butterfly Princess showed up and the girls were both mesmerized by her.

We started our tour with an incredible 3-D movie teaching us all about the migratory patterns of Monarchs and how their generations function.  It was incredible and the girls were so giggly trying to "catch" the butterflies flying towards them.  They were so happy.

Inside the actual conservatory was the most peaceful and beautiful experience.  The building is simply filled with hundreds of butterflies that fill seemingly every space.  If you are quiet and calm they quickly land on you and either rest or take a ride.  They were very much drawn to white so Grandpa and Daddy REALLY made some friends.

Lily and Ev

The experience was a highlight and we discovered that the nearby Aquarium was having a sort of Halloween Festival with costume clad princesses to top off the day.  

Memories were made in abundance last week and we ended up with 2 very tired kids (SCORE!). It was so much fun to have the Longmire's out to kick off the birthday shenanigans.

Journey to IRONMAN: 2 Weeks: The Run

The IRONMAN marathon is harder than any marathon you could do.  Most marathons 

start great and turn ugly around Mile 20. The IRONMAN marathon starts ugly.

I love this quote.  It makes me laugh out loud and now that I am completely trained for this race I laugh even harder.  

I am a runner.  The thing that started this entire IRONMAN dream was a marathon.  I have done 8 and LOVE them.  I love distance running.  I just love running.  So I have always had the mindset of........"no matter what.....I can run."  

But now I am here.  No longer a solo sport athlete.  I am a triathlete, which translates to "Good at 3 sports."  

My running has changed.  It had to because I had to learn to be strong in many different ways.  Each sport has had to lend itself to the other and I am no longer just a runner running a marathon.  Now its an IRONMAN Marathon.  It is the 3rd leg of a very, very, very long day.  It's different.

It's harder.  

Yes,  I am very ready to run my IRONMAN marathon, but I am also not a fool.  Its gonna be challenging, and its also gonna be glorious.

Oh how excited I will be to get off Lady Dash and head to the transition tent for my running shoes.  There is something about getting to the run that just makes me smile.  That will be my victory lap that will be the final sport leading me to the finish line.

My biggest concern as I exit my bike and transition to the run is the state of my stomach.  Nutrition is so VERY critical and no matter how much training and distance I have on my legs, nutrition will be the true piece of the running puzzle.  I have a plan in place and will be focused on executing it during the bike ride.

The run is a 2 loop course that has a few out and backs.  Too many, this would seem like a nightmare, but it is heaven because of the spectators.  At that point in the race the support of people is what makes it an incredible experience.  While the bike ride is long and fairly lonely, the run will be packed with people cheering and surrounding us as athletes.  I cannot wait!  My parents will be there, my in laws will be there, my friends, my tri club and my community will be out in full force.  I am just so excited for the marathon.  My strategy for the run is to start chill, settle into the run and just soak up every second....no matter what.  There will be pain and fatigue but my goal is to smile through it all for when I finish the race I will be an IRONMAN.