Eatin' Ice Cream

Get you some!

Is this how I am supposed to do it?

All of the children enjoying a cool treat

Uh...Jac, where did your ice cream cone go sweetheart?

That's how I roll...

Liam and Jac are a couple of Ice Cream Gangstas

So Laura and the girls met The Shupings for some ice cream the other day and I believe this was Jac's first official ice cream cone. Delainey is a pro at eating ice cream. So Brusters gives the kids a free cone if they are under a certain size and thankfully all of the kids still qualify. A good time was had by all and the only mishap was Delainey falling down and scrapping her knees, but she lived.

Next up, pictures and video of Jac eating spaghetti.

Gone Fishin'

D trying to catch the big one.

Jac of course has to do whatever her big sister does.

Don't worry, she isn't snacking on crickets.

Doesn't she look so excited to catch her first fish?

Saturday of Easter weekend we spent most of the day at Mimi's house. We spent the first part of the afternoon planting some flowers in Mimi's yard and cleaning up. After we were done, Delainey wanted to do some fishing in Mimi's pond. Since we had some crickets leftover from a recent fishing excursion, I pulled out a couple of poles and headed to the backyard.

Well, Laura has never been fishing in her life and has never expressed any interest in it until that Saturday. So I baited her hook and she cast right on out into the pond and caught a nice size bass. Of course, Laura caught all the fish that day; all two of them anyway. It was a nice relaxing afternoon with Mimi and the girls.

I have evidence!

See, I wasn't making up the squirrel story! These eggs were collected from the next door neighbors front yard. I hope the squirrel that got the candy had a serious stomach ache!

Easter Festivities

Taking advantage of Jac's birthday present to head to the Easter Egg hunt.

Annah is ready to hunt for some eggs!

What a ham!

Delainey and Kadin are helping each other find eggs

Kadin's got one!

Jac even got in on the egg hunt

Liam and Jac enjoying the post hunt festivities

Leaving carrots for the Easter Bunny

Since the Easter Bunny was not allowed in the house, he had to leave the girls baskets outside on the stoop.

Jac loves what the Easter bunny brought her!

And she is off....on another Easter Egg hunt!

More candy!

Mommy and Jac

"Yeah, so my shirt is off...who cares?"

Daddy is full and watching the Masters

The rest of the gang also watching the Masters

What a busy Easter weekend for The Columbia Fam! We are so blessed to live in a country where we can celebrate the fact that our Lord rose from the dead and gave us new life.

On Saturday Aunt Sarah, Annah, and Liam invited us to join them at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church for their annual Easter Egg hunt. We loaded the girls up in Jac's wagon and made our way up there. Delainey had to put on her pre-Easter dress and cape for the event. They did a good job of breaking the older and younger kids up to hunt for eggs. Jac, Liam, and Annah all hunted in one area while Delainey and her friend Kadin hunted in another area. Delainey and Kadin did a very good job of helping each other hunt eggs. After all the eggs had been collected all of the kids were invited to a story about Easter, a huge snack, and a craft. We had a great time hunting eggs with the Shupings and Hogues!

We spent the rest of the day at Mimi's planting flowers, fishing, and just hanging out. I will post those pictures later. When we got home, Delainey had to put out the carrots for the Easter Bunny, but gave her Mommy strict instructions for the Easter bunny. The instructions were to very clearly say, "Easter Bunny, please do not come inside the house. Leave our baskets outside." No idea why she all of the sudden didn't want the Easter Bunny in the house.

Sunday morning we were up way to early to see what the Easter Bunny had brought us. Delainey was not allowed to hunt for her eggs until her little sister woke up, but she was able to see what the bunny brought her. In the mean time, some sneaky squirrels decided to steal some of the plastic eggs that the Easter Bunny had hidden outside. (By the way, two of the kidnapped eggs were found on Tuesday evening with the tops chewed off and some of the candy missing. I hope those squirrels have indigestion for a week!) After Jac woke up she got her basket and then we hunted for eggs before heading off to a very crowded church.

After church, we had ANOTHER egg hunt where more candy and stickers were collected. After the final egg hunt, the Olivers and Allens got together for a great Easter lunch and socializing. We had a great Easter weekend with both of our families!

Delainey is someones favortie comedian...

Obviously Delainey can make her little sister laugh without doing much.

Cooper River Bridge Run

Before the run

Some of the vendors awaiting the runners.

Jac waiting for her Daddy to finish so she can go back to sleep.


Stage for awards ceremony

Brian Cendrowski, Jac, myself, and Andy Fleming after the race.

So last year I decided my goal for 2009 would be to run and complete the Cooper River Bridge Run. I started running on a regular basis and trying to train for such a feat. I competed in a couple of 5k runs and really started enjoying running outside. The best part was I even managed to lose a few pounds along the way.

Saturday was the 32nd Annual Bridge Run and I was nervous. I had never been involved with a race that was so long and so big in numbers. There were over 31,000 people signed up to compete and I am glad to say I had more than a few friends there to run. Friday we went to downtown Charleston to pick up my race packet and then headed to the Isle of Palms where The Shupings graciously allowed us to stay at their house. I didn't get much sleep Friday night and woke up at 6am ready to go. Laura got Jac up and off to the starting line in Mt. Pleasant we went. My wonderful wife dropped me in Mt. Pleasant and then drove herself and Jac over to Charleston to wait for me to finish the race.

The race itself was awesome! Promptly at 8am the starting gun went off and the race began. It took a few minutes to get the whole crowd going, but once we were off I didn't stop running until the end. Running with that many people was challenging, yet exciting at the same time. There were people of all sizes, ages, and races there and we all wanted to conquer the Bridge. I tried to take in the sights as much as I could, but at the same time you had to be careful as to not run into someone else. I am proud to say that I ran the entire distance without walking and completed the run in 59 minutes and 43 seconds. I had hoped for a little better time, but next year I will do better.

Who's up for the 2010 Bridge Run?

We have a walker....sort of!

She is really trying to get this balancing and walking thing down. I guess she figured out how to cheat.