Talladega Half Marathon

Bib #415
Time:  2:07:22
9:44/mile
Gender Plc:  255 of 414
Overall Plc:  371 of 808
Males 30-34:  41 of 62

This is me at the end of the Talladega Half-Marathon. This is a little after I was almost puking around mile 10 and 11. I have now learned that I need food somewhere during a two hour run.  Energy is important.  Next Race is hopefully the full marathon in February.  

Rocket Derby

Oh Yeah!  Rocket Derby time again.  It was a hot and sunny day for this year's rocket derby.  The boys are getting more experienced and not wanting Dad's involvement as much (can you imagine...me helping Sam with duct tape...not necessary).  All in all, we had a great time, and both boys got to shoot their rockets at least three times.  There's did not win the distance battles, but Sam did ALMOST get nailed in the head by a falling rocket.  

Davis gets a Turtle

So Davis has always wanted a turtle, well always wanted a pet...OK all of our kids are starving for a pet, and perhaps one of these days as we read this we will laugh about all this cause their mom will have 36 cats, and I will have a dog...and nevermind, we don't like animals very much, or maybe it is just responsibility for animals.  I blame this on my dad and many saturdays shoveling turds in a small pen.  OK I think this was a story about davis...

Our neighbor Tammy had found a small turtle on the side of the road, and knowing Davis' passion for these creatures, brought the turtle over for us.  The kids were super excited, and I was really trying to pump myself up for a pet.  The turtle stayed with us and the kids just sat huddled around that turtle for hours...really.  Then at night, Davis asked his mom if he could "sleep outside with the turtle, just this one time".  He was not able to, but they did get to sleep in bags in their room.  We went to petsmart the next day to find out that turtles have a start up cost of about $400, and tend to live longer than my hopeful timeframe of a week.

This led to my responsibility to tell my boys, that both had tears in their eyes, that we could not keep the turtle, and that it would want to be back with its family.  They truly understood this twisted cheapskate lazy logic that I had provided, and even helped our turtle friend back to the creek behind our house.  I think the Junkin clan are getting closer to being ready for a pet...just not yet...and perhaps not a bacteria infested turtle...maybe a fish.  Nah, we'll just take them to the zoo.

Last Days of Summer Break

Just a few pictures of the last few days before those long days at school...

Below is Sam's first picture in the paper.  He was very excited.  This is Pack 353 with the State Senator from Vestavia who presented us with a state flag.

WELCOME TO MOES!

Daddy Daughter date at Chuck E Cheese

My first AWS off-day that I have taken in awhile at work, and I was excited as my cute little girl, because the night before, I shared with her the secret that we were going to Chuck E Cheese.  YEAH!  She was so excited that she was up in time to help me get the boys on the bus that Friday morning.  

I found that this is the perfect time at Chuck E Cheese...9:00 on a Friday morning during school.  Nobody was there so we had the whole place to ourselves.  I ended up getting us $20 worth of tokens, and at $0.25/ride...I did not realize what I was in for.  That little girl has my heart with those sweet smiles.  I just sat at a table and watched as she went from ride to ride...coming back to dad to get a few more coins as she needed them.  She fell in love with the carousel horse, hugging it many times, then riding both it and the "hoonicorn" at least 10 times each.  We both rode a "roller coaster" ride together, me a little afraid that she would be scared, but then laughing at her little giggles the whole time.

After our time at CEC (2 hours), we went to Jason's Deli where we practiced our apple smiles, then went to Kohls, where she talked me into getting her a little stuffed kangaroo.  I love days like this one.  :)

Meet the Teacher

New school (Forest Oaks Elementary School - FOES)...New teachers.  Sam is now in the 3rd Grade, and loving class and his new teacher Mrs. Meeks.  He is in a double class for the first of the year until the new school building is ready...45 kids in one room...Mrs. Meeks and Mrs. Sweeney have their hands full.  

And so does Mrs. Anderson.  Davis is also loving his teacher, but not so much the school part of the day.  They make him sit all day and work...sometimes no recess...what is this place?  I think they both have good teachers, and both are already receiving good marks and recognitions.

Airwalk - Jump Jump Jump...

Where was this place when I was a kid?  A warehouse made of trampolines...YeeHaw.  After signing our waivers and hearing news that the ambulance had not been here in a whole week, we all ran out into the jump area.  Davis ended up doing a flip into the foam blocks after practicing a bit.  But then he got a little scared, and tried a flip without actually flipping, so he landing on his neck, and was sore for a bit.  I tried to do a back flip off of the ramp up to the basketball goal, and then realized I am old midway through the turn and (like Davis) also landed on my neck.  Sam and Belle had some trampoline burns, so a fun day and we all walked away with our own sore signs of a fun day.