Summer of 2015 Bucket List

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Here it is! Our first seasonal bucket list! I am so happy to share this with you! I spent many, many hours scouring Pinterest for fun things that would work for our family. As the weeks go on I will be posting our adventures and will link the posts to this page. So here it is, our:

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Summer of 2015

bucket list

Outdoor Activities:

Visit 10 different parks

Go Swimming

Watch Fireworks

Draw with Chalk

Bubble Guns or rent a bubble machine

Go get sno-cones

Watch a sunrise

Watch a sunset

Catch Fireflies

Go on a picnic

Make Smores

Pick Fresh Fruit

Read outside

Water Balloon Fight

Ride Bikes

Play in the rain

Lay in a hammock

Stargaze

Wash the Car

Fly a kite

Play Frisbee

Plant a garden

Picture Scavenger Hunt

Bonfire

Water gun fight

Slip and Slide

Play Catch

Rent a bouncy house

Ice block with toys

Giant Bubbles

Sponge Ball War

Melt Ice Cubes

Bury a Time Capsule

Indoor Activities:

Finger paint

Color Big Pages

Read Lots of Books

Singe Lots of Songs

Make a Paper Bag Puppet

Make Popsicles

Make a Fort

Make Ice Cream

Make Jam

Make Lemonade

Make cheerio necklaces

Play with Lego Blocks

Marshmallow Shooters

Make Ice Cream Sandwiches

Make Sno Cones

Make Paper Wind Sock

Make Jello Jigglers

Crafternoon

Make suckers

Home made Root Beer

Do a science project

Banana Splits

Nerf Sword Fights

Places to go:

Moody Gardens

         -Whole Family

         -Bear Bear

         -Palm Beach

Zoo

Observation Tower

Children’s Museum

Galveston Beach

         -Dolphin Tour

         -Build a sandcastle

         -Bury dad in the sand

         -Feed the seagulls

         -Ride the Ferry

         -Visit the Board Walk

Surfside Beach

Baseball Game/Sporting Event

Visit 5 Splash Pads

George Ranch

Frobergs Farm

Alvin Animal Safari

Visit Farmer’s Markets

Arboretum

Sam Houston State Park

Visit a lake

Go to the Library

Free tour of the Ship Channel

Aquarium

Visit Dad at Work
Parade

Visit the police horses

State Fair

Feed the ducks at a pond

Amusement Park

Visit a historical site

Tour a fire station

Tour a factory

Splashtown

Bay Area Waterpark

Discovery Green Concert

Discovery Green Movie Night

Miller Outdoor Theater

Taco Truck

Drive In Movie

Kemah Boardwalk

Go to a Festival

Demolition Derby

Go to a Carnival

Tour historic home

San Jacinto State Park

Mom and Dad Only:

Go bowling

Ropes Date at Moody Gardens

Mini Golf

Wii Date Night

River Trip

I really doubt that we will able to complete all of this but I am sure this summer is going to be the best yet!!! I can't wait!

4 Miles of Awesome

Today I hit a milestone in my training.

I have always wondered how long distance runners maintain such a punishing pace over long distances. I'm okay with trotting along at a leisurely pace for miles and miles, I can do that. But how do you push yourself for 10, 15, 26.2 miles? I can practically sprint two miles and I'm really comfortable pushing myself over three miles. But that is kind of my comfort zone.

I smashed that comfort zone today.

Its kind of like when I ran ten miles the first time. After that point it became clear to me that I have no excuse to walk during a single digit run ever again. 

Today I ran four miles at just over a 10 and a half minute per mile pace. That is pretty amazing for me. And if I can do that for four miles, I can do it for three. And if I can do this for four miles, there is no reason I should run two miles over a ten minute pace ever again. 

I'm starting to find myself in the realm of "no excuses" and it's pretty awesome. 

I really needed this kick in the butt today. I've been having some serious get-up-and-go issues lately. This is a perfect example why you just keep running, eventually you are going to have an awesome run that will change everything.

I have a seven mile run on Sunday. My distances are starting to creep up and I'm loving it.

2015 Racing Season

I am so thrilled to share this with you guys! Here it is, my official 

training and racing schedule for 2015 into 2016!!!

I have been playing around with the dates for two or more weeks and it's been driving me crazy. The half marathon training plan is 6 months long but the marathon season ends in late February here in Houston so it took some pretty serious effort to get all the scheduling figured out. I'll have to cut my 10k training short but since the half marathon training plan is so long I'll have plenty of time to adjust. 

Last year the biggest fault in my training was that I tried to do too much too quick.  I'm hoping the long training plan will help me gently increase my mileage and give me lots of prep for the marathon training. 

And then there's THAT! A marathon! I had originally planned to have completed a marathon by now but it just wasn't in the cards. Like I said, too much too quick. I wasn't really prepared for the physical requirements and the time required to truly train for a marathon. This time I'll have two years (!!!!!) of running experience behind me and I think I'll really be able to do it this year. 

I'm so excited to finally have hard dates, you all know how much I love a good plan. I'm also playing around with the idea of getting sponsorship from family members to help cover the cost of running gear, race entries, and babysitting costs. But more on that later. 

Time to get to work!!!

-Ri

How would you guys feel about me doing weekly updates on how my training is going? Maybe bi-weekly?