John Adams Football v Sissonville

Lexy's Birthday Party

Lexy made her own party invitations.  They ended up being emailed and texted to her friends.

Charleston Distance Run 5k 2013

The kids and I ran the 5k event at the Charleston Distance Run on the 31st.  It was pretty great.  Both kids worked hard on the run.  

Isaac finished before Lexy and I.  He missed a goal a bit but was not too far off.  A little more practice and he'll be there.

Lexy and I stuck together for the most part.  We ended up finishing together.  She said that at the last bit of the run she couldn't feel her legs 'cause they were numb.  I'm proud of her for pushing through.  She beat me by 0.1 seconds on the official record.

I think that it's pretty cool that the sports photographer snapped this post race hug. I can't say it enough, I am super proud of Isaac and Lexy for running these races with me.  I hope to instill some healthy habit in them.

What a fun way to track

Pretty cool find with my workout tracker that I have been using...  Please take a second to pause the ones you don't want to watch at the same time.

There's a fly by of the mountain bike ride I took with a friend last night. Funny thing is, this fly by isn't quite as dark or wet as it was when we finished.

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This is the loop from my house around the Fort Hill area... Not sure why it tracks off to the side of the road, but it's still pretty dang cool...

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This is a little row down the Little Coal River. I've been having a blast with that adventure..!!

Kidless July

The kids have been gone... That's always a bummer... But I have been staying busy.  Ran 29 miles, biked 128 miles.  Cooked some epic meals.  Visited the Boy Scout National Jamboree, drove to Kansas and back.  Even managed to work a little bit too...

Got the boat back... Been working on getting it ready to float again.

Used one fantastic Bandaid...

Been helping a friend build an outdoor kitchen.  I sure love building.  It's good for my soul.

Still have to put on the roof and attach the stone to the outside.  It's going to be stinkin' AWESOME...

Ms Wood's Recital : Spring 2013

Here are a couple of pictures of the kids after Ms Wood's Spring Recital.  I always love to hear the kids play...!!!

I need to get the video uploaded...

Biggest Loser :: Charleston WV 2013

I typically don't like to post about just me.  But I have been getting into some fitness routines the last several months.  I enjoy looking forward to an organized run and love the way I feel after a workout.  This run was a bit to commercialized for me, but at the same token, the pictures were free.  I guess that balances out.

I am not blazing fast, I feel ok about my 10 minute miles on these kids of runs.  I like to push the first mile to the 8:30 -9:00 range, then pace out the rest.  For this run I wore the Isaac inspired orange shorts and the bright green shoes that Lexy gave me.  It's always fun when they join me for these runs, but they didn't make this one.

Here's a shot right after the start.  I'm pretty sure that I am trying to adjust my headphones in this picture. Ha.

 This is, by my calculations, near the 3 mile mark.

 And here is the big finish line picture.  Yeah, yeah, yeah, we finished.  I don't like the hype, but I love the feeling about 10 minutes after this point.

If you ever want to join me for one of these just let me know.  I'll find one for us to run.  However, I will not train with you or run with you at the event.  Something about the other persons rhythm that really distracts me and kills the fun for me.  But... I would totally enjoy pre and post race with you...!!!

River Time with the Adkins

We've been spending some time on the river with a canoe and some kayaks.  It's a pretty good deal, I drive them up the river, drop them in the water, and pick them up downstream.  All the kids love it.  I enjoy having them out and in the water.  Great times. Here's a picture of Lexy in the canoe.
Steve and Noland Adkins.  Noland is 2.5 years old.  He wasn't quite sure at first, but LOVE it once they were floating.

Lexy navigating, Steve paddling and steering, and Noland loving the ride.

Camillo and Isaac in the 'rapids' in kayaks.

Here's Lora and Reagan with the canoe coming down the river.
Pretty great time.  Thanks for coming with us Adkins family...!!!

Volleyball

I got a call one Saturday morning from Mrs. Payne.  "Do you play volleyball?  Or do you know any guys that do?"  

"Why?"

"Well, some of my friend and I have entered into a volleyball tournament and we need a guy for our team."  She says.

Isaac was at a friend's house, so Lexy and I drove down to the park where they were playing and I joined in.  Lexy had a pretty good time practice with me in between games and cheering for our team during our matches.

Here's a quick pic or here and I on the sand court.

 

I had Lexy take some picture to get actions shots, etc.  Here she captured our team strategy meeting.  Mostly had to do with making fun of the other teams.

Here is an action shot.  Me reaching for the ball at the next.

And there's Mrs. Payne and I waiting for the serve.

Here is the team photo.  "The Comic Relief" was our team name.

Take me out to the ball game...

We've made it to a few WV Power Baseball Games this year.  One of the best was when Sammie was able to got with us.  She is such a great kid, so polite and fun to be around.  She and Lexy really seem to enjoy each other.
Here they are posing with the 'I'm Charlie West' sign.  This is a catch phrase that Charleston, WV is using to promote the town and all of the activities.  #cwv #charliewest
Take me out the the ball game to... Eat Pizza...???!!  Yep, they had pizza for dinner at the game.
Back to back, they faced each other.   Post game firework on the weekend are always a hit...!!

I'm pretty happy with the iPhone fireworks pictures.

Symphony Sunday 2013

Symphony Sunday is a big deal for the local orchestras and strings groups.  It's a day filled with groups playing at the University of Charleston to showcase their groups.  
Isaac played with the WV Youth Symphony Cadets this year.  He played both the violin and did all of the group's percussion.  He was even first chair second violin when playing his violin.
Here is a pic from the grass near the stage.  Isaac is standing in the back. 
The group posed for the Cadets group photo with the WV State Capitol Building in the back ground.
I even got Isaac to stand still long enough to snap this photo of just him playing on the bank of the river. I sure am proud of Isaac and all of his talents.

Paintball

Isaac introduced his buddy Camillo to paintballing.  I'm pretty sure that they had a blast because he wants to go again.  Isaac is really enjoying the paintball action.  He's been a few times this summer, I pick him up at lunch, drop him off at Scary Creek Paintball, and pick him up when they close.  Works out pretty good.

Isaac and Camillo.

Their friend from school Trent was there as well.

Begin in 5... 4... 3... 2... 1... Go Go Go...!!!

Old Pictures

I really like old pictures.  Something about the history, the work that went into getting it together, the simplicity of back and white or sepia photos.  I just plain like it.

This photo was shared with my by a friend here in WV.  It's a picture of the law gathering up a still in the woods.  That is some pretty sweet history...!!

Planting at The Payne's

Once the Payne girls say Lexy's flowers they wanted their own as well. Mr and Mrs Payne weren't interested in planting flowers, so the girls, Lexy, Isaac and I went shopping for plants and put it together. 
We got two small planter boxes from their garage and make these nice little arrangements for their front porch. I'm saying that the girls enjoyed themselves.
The other request was a salsa garden at the Payne Residence.  That took a bit more work. We put together a little planter box using the scrap wood from last Memorial Day's tree house project.  Dug up the soil, added two bags of garden soil from the store, and then about 6 trips with a 5 gallon bucket from the woods behind their house.  I am pretty sure that the forest duff will be great for growing a salsa garden.  Fingers crossed, we'll see how it all turns out.

Lexy's Flowers

Lexy has planted her flowers again this year. We went shopping at the Capital Street Market to find the best flowers we could for her flower bed. 
Look at this little flower.  There is so much color and detail in this flower that we couldn't leave without buying a plant that grew them.
  We even tricked Isaac into helping a little bit to get started on planing the flowers.
  Almost done.
  Ta-da... All done.
  And the lower portion.
These flowers got out of control big last year.  I hope that they do again this year.

Camp Amadeus 2013

Both kids got to do the Camp Amadeus Strings Camp at UC this year.  And they both seemed to really enjoy it.  The camp runs for a full week from 8:30am to 5:30pm.  What great times...??!!  It allows for a parent to actually go to work for the day. They, of course, learn new music, play in small groups and big groups; but they also have art classes, tie dye concert shirts, make videos, compose new music, etc.  It really is a great camp.   Here's a pic of Isaac post concert.  I love that design on his shirt.
Here is Lexy back stage after I caught up with her.  She had already put her cello away and was socializing.  Check out Lexy's shirt, who would have thought that she would have made hearts on hers...??    Our friend Ciara came to watch the kids play.  It was fun to have her come support the kids.  Ciara skates at the rink, sometimes coaches Lexy and often watches the kids for me.  She is ALWAYS a big help...!!
Here are the chamber music bits with each of the kids. Lexy was somewhat featured with her group. Isaac was the leader of his group. The highschool councilors for the camp put together this little bit for the show. I sure love to listen to the kids play.  They both have natural talent for music.

LAX Last Game

Well, a good season of Lacrosse has come to an end. Isaac ended up playing with the Middle School B Team. He was a great asset to them on the defensive end. He got that long pole out there and disrupted everything. No more running down the middle of the defense zone. He'll drop you for that. If'n you have the ball of course.
This was the team picture at the last game of the season.

Here is a post game (season) picture of Isaac with Coach Dave.  
And one proud papa pic. Isaac really enjoys playing lacrosse.  He doesn't enjoy the running at practice so much, but the playing is fantastic.