Our First Date

I got an idea from a blogging friend to take time every once and a while for a special Mommy and Holden date.  Last night we had our first.  It was a little spur of the moment so next time I'll do a better job on the planning end.   We went to get him a haircut which yes you can point out isn't very fun, however he got to watch Looney Tunes, sit in a fire truck car and received a prize and lollipop afterward.  A lot more fun that when I get a haircut.  

We followed up the trip with a visit to the local toy store on a mission to find Thomas the Train stickers.  No luck, what toy store has everything Thomas but no stickers?  Holden's response "we go to Target".   Yep, that's right, my son thinks everything comes from Target.  In our house, its a pretty good bet that it did since our house has pretty much been furnished by Kohl's or Target.  We followed up the evening with a trip to Chick-Fil-A for some chicken nuggets and waffle fries.  


It was a pretty good first date.

Another First

Holden has been very much into Cowboys lately that we had an opportunity to go to a Cowboy Church Fun Day this weekend.  I'm not exactly sure what a Cowboy Church is, however it was a place where Holden got to see horses and Jeremy got to break out the neglected cowboy hat.   Holden loved the horse and he didn't ride very long as both of use were a bit concerned about the lack of Helmet (much to Holden's dismay).  Another first that was much earlier in his life than I would have imagined.

Not Sure I Can Parent a Boy

I have a boy and not sure if I'm up for the challenge.   We were out and about today and Jeremy wanted to take a test ride at Harley Davidson.  We indulged him since he was kind enough to sell his bike when we had Holden.  Plus they always have free food at those events.   Holden and I were getting him a hot dog and he wanted to go sit down.  As I'm making his hot dog up (i.e. Ketchup) he is about 10 feet away and tumbled from the picnic bench to the asphalt.  Normally this wouldn't phase me too much, a little crying and calming of a little boy's nerves usually does it with a tumble.  Not today, he cut the back of his head when he fell and I'll tell you a head wound is REALLY bloody.   I felt terrible.  He's fine and recovered well after being shook up a little.  But I'm not sure I'm going to let him do anything for himself again (not really that would cause more temper tantrums then necessary).  

I got all kinds of advice from strangers about rushing him to the ER.  Instead I called my mom.  They offer the best advice right?   Anyway, he seems to be just fine, case in point, I better just accept that I have a boy, and in 2 short years we have a dislocated elbow and a head wound.   Can't image what will be next.

And now for an update on the cuteness.

 Helping Dad loading the empty Keg.

 

Our Little Cowboy (the boots are most likely the culprit for the fall today)

I have found the most wonderful place

On the Internets there has been a buzz about a site called Pinterest. So I finally checked it out this weekend. It is the most wonderful, happiest place to waste time. It is a total time suck, not blocked by my company's IT department. AND I have already found an idea for my sister's Christmas presents, and Holden's third birthday cake.

I know I'm a bit late to the party on this one, but if your even later than me, totally look at it. A great place for new ideas.

I am a Warrior

I survived Warrior Dash and will sign up again next year. I did the 3.1 miles and 11 obstacles in 1 hour 10 minutes. We didn't run much but the obstacles took the wind out of you so running was not really happening.

Before

Here is taste of our obstacle course, I have photos of the last few courtesy of our friend Diane but that is the only place for non-racers to stand and cheer:

• 5 foot walls followed by crawling under barbed wire
• Up and into and over 4 roll off dumpsters (empty) with tires between. This was difficult, I'm about a 1/2 foot taller than the side of the dumpster so on the outside there was a foot hold, on the inside there wasn't. A kind competitor helped me on the last 2 to get my leg swung over the side
• Balance beam like the ones you see on survivor
• 11 foot wall with a rope. This is the one obstacle I couldn't do. Tried really hard but couldn't get started. However, Stacey did awesome and conquered not only the wall but her fear of heights.
• Cargo net
• Crawl through a dark tunnel
  
• Scale a platform and slide down a fire house pole
• Waist deep pond (green algae and all) and up and over logs
• Soaking wet up and over another cargo net
• Scale another platform and over
• Jump over fire
• Crawl in mud under barbed wire
  

After

A taste of the characters at the Dash. We also saw a group of men in superhero boxer briefs.

IT WAS AWESOME!

Preparing to be a Warrior

Tomorrow I am running (walking?) the Warrior Dash with some awesome women. I have no illusions of grandeur that I will be crossing the finish line without collapsing. However, I have been running/spinning/lifting for five days a week the last 10 weeks. Even though I don't expect I can run all 3.2 miles in August Carolina heat and humidity, I feel like I'm headed into the race with the overall fitness of above average.

My race day gear includes:
Clothes and shoes I'm willing to toss after the race
A colored bra so I can change in the parking lot
A towel to put on my friend's car seat for the ride home
A change of clothes and shoes

Our heat is at 10am, and the Dash is a place for us amateur athletes to run through some mud, crawl under some barbed wire and jump over fire. And when its all done, we get to eat turkey legs and drink beer. My kind of race.

I am excited (suppose I should be more scared than I am). My awesome women and I are going to do the course together and finish together. We didn't find awesome costumes to wear but I'll make sure to get some photos of other competitors. Holden and a friend kind enough to watch him are going to cheer us on at the sidelines (Jeremy will be drinking beer at the Nascar Race in Bristol). Stay tuned for a follow-up post with photos of the Warriors!

Weekend fun

We are Bank of America customers and they are running a promotion that on the first weekend of the month they pay the entrance fee to hundreds of museums. We have been wanting to check on the Nascar Hall of Fame here in Charlotte and it was on the list of free museums through BofA. So we took advantage of being BofA customers since there isn't much else in the way of advantages to big banks.

It was a good hall of fame and I would recommend it to race fans and visitors to the city. Its very interactive. Holden loved all of the race cars and I'm pretty sure he is going to follow in his Dad's footsteps when it comes to the love of all things mechanical. And their mutual love of Kyle Busch the driver of the Number 18 M&M car.

Also, we learned this weekend that Holden is over his fear of bubbles. Just like that he wanted bubbles in the bath and has so much fun. He's a strange one sometimes.