Frostbite 1/2 Marathon

I am trying to get catch up with our "adventures" so (hopefully) there will be lots of blogs in the upcoming days.

(This is one of my favorite race pictures of us)

This is Mo and I at the Cedars of Lebanon Frostbite Half Marathon on February 12th. It was the first half for both of us...ever! Originally, Mo was doing it alone because I had my "first half" coming up 2 weeks later. On Friday before the race, I decided to join him because I had a 12 mile training run planned for that day. I figured that I would just add an additional 1.1 miles to it.

Wow...if we had have only known how difficult this particular half was going to be, I'm not so sure that we would have done it. For the first 10 miles, it feels like nothing but hills! Neither of us had done any hill training. Now...add compacted snow and ice!!! It was crazy hard...and cold!

But...we did it! Our first half was "out of the way". Mo's time was 2:24 and mine was 2:06. It's nice to have a base number now to work towards a PR (personal record)

Zoo Run Run

Ok...so...I suck! This I know! It is the middle of March, and I have not blogged since January. Well...all I have is today. So that is where I will start...well, actually, I am starting today with a race from January...but you get the point!

This is the fam from the Zoo Run Run. IT. WAS. COLD!!! (Hint: see the snow!) Anywho...we ran this 5K at the Nashville Zoo. It was actually a really neat race. They closed down the zoo for the run, so you kinda felt like you were getting away with something. LOTS of people thought they were!

Mo and I did something a little different and a little scary. We RAN the race and let the girls WALK it together...without us! For those of you that know me in "real life", that is a HUGE accomplishment for me. I am ridiculously protective of my little monkeys. They did gr-8 and had a gr-8 time!

In typical Lexie fashion, she savored the moment, enjoyed the scenery, didn't rush the "ride", and took pictures. LOVE that kid! She has taught me so much about enjoying life! Here's one that she took of Lauren:

Here's another one of an animal...not sure what it is:

I had decided that I wanted to PR this race (for non-runners, I wanted to set a Personal Record). What I didn't realize was how many HILLS this course had. However, I was pleased to see that I did it!!!

Mo HATES hills! No joke...he was raised in flat areas, so these hills kill him. However, he did pretty darn well himself!

The cool part of letting the girls go at it alone...I was able to see this:

What a BEAUTIFUL site!!!

Lauren was so sweet to walk this race with her sister. I asked how it went and she replied: "Lexie talked the ENTIRE way...and I just listened and occasionally said 'Really, wow!'" Thanks, La for being such a good big sister. You make me proud...just for being you!

Vacation Withdrawals

By Tamara
We are back from vacation and are trying to get back into our routine. Problem is...our area just got 5 inches of snow! The kids have been out of school and the city practically shut down for a day or two. It would be very easy to get really bummed out about now. The high today was 27 degrees...the high in CR this day last week was 85 degrees AND the sun was shining! Big difference! But that's ok...I made my own sunshine! Yellow snow and all! LOL! (Don't worry...it's from a spray bottle filled with mustard and water!)

For the next couple of days, each of us is going to blog about our favorite part of our Costa Rican vacation. One of my favorite things was the zip lining...for numerous reasons. First, it was the day before Lauren broke her arm. So, it was the last day that she was able to enjoy the vacation "normally". Second, we all really enjoyed doing this. It was a lot of fun, and such beautiful scenery too. On this tour, we zip lined in Jaco. We would like to do it in Manuel Antonio and Arenal next time. It would be cool in Manuel Antonio because we heard that you see lots of wildlife on that tour. Arenal would be cool because there is one line that is one mile long and you zip by the volcano.
*Side note: We didn't go to Arenal because they were having unseasonable rainy weather. We were told by numerous other tourist that they couldn't even SEE the volcano..and it was cold...and it was rainy. Enough said!

This was another one of my favorite things because it is where I sat greeting the new year with my hubby while watching the fireworks and bonfires. Awesome memory!

And...of course, the monkeys are one of my favorites!

I will always remember watching this sunset with 2 of my most favorite gals in the world!

Now, this is one of my favorites! There is nothing hotter than seeing a man in the jungle doing his daily devotional! Just sayin'

¡Pura Vida!

by Tamara (the mom)
**Warning- this is a long post**

Pura Vida translated in exact terms means "pure life". The slang for this term is "This is living"!

For those of you that know me, I am a bit high-strung (understatement). You also know that the pic above is my signature "I am completely relaxed" pic. Do you see the view that I have? How can you not be relaxed???

I feel that I haven't kept you in the loop on our whereabouts. Christmas and New Year's are a BIG deal here. Needless to say, the hotels were full and our "coming here without hotel reservations" kinda backfired. Luckily, when we stayed in Jaco, the staff at Morgan's Cove made accommodations that allowed us to stay from Wednesday until Sunday. In Jaco, we went spent New Year's Eve, went zip lining and horseback riding (well, kinda...mostly just visited the local hospitals).

We are now in Manuel Antonio. This is my ABSOLUTE favorite place in Costa Rica. It feels like Gilligan's Island to me. We went into Parque Nacional Manuel Antonio (or the national park). The park is the 2nd most visited national park in Costa Rica. You hike through the bottom of the rainforest that opens up to the most beautiful beaches.


When we were here 14 years ago, there were monkeys and iguanas EVERYWHERE. Due to the increase in tourism and development of the area, the monkeys and iguanas were absent. We had really built this up with the girls, and they were so excited! Needless to say, we were all pretty disappointed. Until...we saw this at the end!



There are very few things that I can be a snob about...BUT I absolutely LOVE 5 star hotels!!! As I was explaining to the hubby, you pay to get pampered by the staff and for the super duper comfy beds! With that being said, we are staying at the La Mariposa! (It means "the butterfly) We toured the hotel when we were here on our honeymoon. It has always been a dream of mine to stay here and...it has been worth the wait! The view is amazing! I give this place 5 Ludlam Smiles!
(This is our view! Pictures do not do it justice!)

(I woke up before everyone this morning to have my morning devotional and watch this!Isn't God amazing???)

How about having breakfast and coffee to this view:

We are definitely...¡Pura Vida!

by Lauren

This is me in one of the funniest chairs that I have ever seen...but it's SO cool! We are staying at a hotel that has a gorgeous view. The beds are so comfortable! I guess life doesn't get much better than this.

After the horseback riding incident, I haven't been able to swim. I have had to wear a plastic bag over my hand. Now, I have figured out how to keep my arm out of the water so I can still get into the swimming pool.

I have always liked horses...until now! When we first started out on the horses, I thought "This is going to be so fun!". Then something moved in the jungle and scared my horse. I wasn't holding on tight enough and flew off the horse. Somehow, I was able to land on my hands instead of my head. I immediately jumped up and said "Mama, I broke my arm!". Then it hit me that I was scared and in pain! Three hospitals later, I got to meet the coolest doctor! Now, I don't want a horse anymore!

by Lexie

Hi, people of the blog...it's me, Lexie, again! I am here to tell you about an amazing thing that happened yesterday. So, here it is...we saw MONKEYS! They were everywhere! It was like monkey here, monkey there! Everyone was feeding them bananas even when the signs said not to. I thought it was funny because everyone knows that monkeys like bananas. One was trying to drink out of a coconut but he dropped it. Another monkey stole it. I thought that was pretty mean! Now, about the above picture, these monkeys saw their reflection in the bus window. They were mad because they thought it was two other monkeys that might steal their food. Or...they might have thought that they were having a bad hair day!

This is a picture of me drinking the BEST LEMONADE IN THE WORLD!!! I meant, literally, I am not joking! This restaurant was built around a HUGE plane. It is a C-123 Cargo plane.

Costa Rica...here we come!

We are getting very excited about the Costa Rica trip. The last time that we were there was in 1997 when we got married. We are learning that the area has changed dramatically. I fell in love with the place when we were on our honeymoon. It felt "undiscovered" then. I am keeping my fingers crossed that some of that character is still present. I hope that it hasn't been ruined by commercialism.

What is making this trip even more "interesting" is that we have made NO hotel reservations. We did this on our honeymoon also, and it worked out gr-8. We were able to move around more without the constraints of reservation commitments. Luckily, the hubby speaks fluent Spanish from growing up in Panama (the one in South America, not Florida! LOL). I hope this doesn't bite us in the butt...or freak the kiddos out!

We are landing in San Jose on the 29th and immediately heading to Jaco. Hubby wants to surf as soon as possible. Our plan is to stay there for a day or two, then head to the Arenal Volcano.

The Arenal Volcano is one of the ten most active volcanoes in the world. There are numerous facilities that have encompassed the hot springs in pools. It is so relaxing to sit in these hot springs pools and watch the volcano erupt. The girls are a little nervous about this, but I can't wait for them to experience it. The volcano was one of my favorite experiences.

From there we are heading back down to Jaco, then to Manuel Antonio National Park near Quepos.

This place reminds me of Gilligan's Island. The girl are most excited about this place. In our honeymoon pictures, there were a lot of pictures of iguanas and monkeys from the beach here. Of course, they will be so disappointed if the monkeys are not there anymore. (Please God, let there be monkeys!)

From there, we are heading down to Dominical.

I have never been here before but it appears to be more primitive than the others areas that we will be visiting. The hubby says that there is a gr-8 place to go zip-lining here. I have also read that this is a good place to go whale watching and snorkeling. Hubby doesn't realize that I also know that this is a popular surf spot! He has worked hard to sell this place to me...now I know why! Tricky guy!

All of us will be adding pictures, videos, and posts throughout our trip (as long as we can get internet service). Feel free to post comments or questions. We are hoping to share this wonderful land with all of our friends and readers.

Thanks all for now,
Tamara