Do Kids Have Nerve Endings?

So, this past weekend, Friday through Monday, was spent at the Isle of Palms, SC. For years now, our tradition is to run the Cooper River Bridge Run, which is one of the largest 10K's in the US. We rented a 6 bedroom house in the Isle of Palms, which is one of the beaches near Charleston, SC, where the race is held. It was absolutely beautiful, the weather and the house! A little windy and cool on Friday and Saturday, but Sunday was perfect! Check out the blue skies in the photos! My feet ended up getting something close to sun poisoning, yet we were able to keep Payton well protected, using lots and lots of sunscreen. She still refuses to keep a hat on her noggin though! This year was one of my favorite Cooper weekends ever! The weather and crowd were awesome...it was the Kugler Family, Mom and her friend Sherri, Shana and Lucian, Beth, Nate, and Baby Gil, Jon and Janice, and the McLeymore boys....Greg, Scott (or "Ted" as Shana dubbed him), and Jason. Cheryl, Jeremy, and Raegan were unable to join us. They had a very sad decision to make, and ended up having to say goodbye to their most precious dog, Mace...one of their boxers, 14 years old, and the sweetest dog ever. So they were missed, and thought of all weekend. Next year, Raegan and Payton will be a force to be reckoned with! Helllllooooo "terrible twos!!"

The run was Saturday morning, 8am start. It begins in Mt. Pleasant, goes over the Ravenel Bridge (In 2 pictures above...Google it if you are unfamiliar....great architecure!) and ends in the historical downtown of Charleston. There were over 40,000 participants this year, and because we had a stroller, that automatically put us in the last "corral," with the walkers. We didn't cross the START line until almost 9am!! It was fun, but presented its challenges...Payton was mostly content, as long as we kept feeding her blueberries, graham crackers, or Cheerios. At one point she decided it would be fun to turn around and stand up, and that's when Daddy put her on his shoulders. He was the hit of the walk while she was up there. I heard MANY comments about how she had the best "seat in the house" and "that's the way to go." In the meantime, I was aggressively trying to maneuver the stroller through lots and lots, and lots of walkers. It was frustrating, and challenging. At one point I carried Payton, maybe a mile's worth....what a sight. Me, 5 months pregnant, doing a 10K while carrying a 25 pound baby :) My usual running time for this is around 54-58 minutes. We finished STRONG, after a diaper change, multiple parent carrying changes, feeding snacks, and entertaining Payton, at 1 hour and 39 minutes :) Not a personal record, per se, but what a fun time! Payton's usual morning naptime is around 9am, so she hung in like a champ, for the most part. We took a boatride back over to Mt. Pleasant, and she LOVED that. By the time I went to get the car and come pick everyone up, Payton was asleep on Daddy's shoulder. She was a trooper! I can't imagine what it's going to be like next year with a DOUBLE stroller!

At our beach house, we had a pool. A very, very cold pool. Payton kept walking over to it, and reaching for the water, so I finally let her stand on the first step. My feet eventually went numb, and I was able to swish her around there for a while. Then she wanted the next step, then the next. She would have been full-on swimming if I'd let her. Seriously, do kids have nerve endings? On Sunday, our warmest day, we spent most of the day on the beach, and judging by my feet, that may have been a bit long! Payton LOVED playing in the sand. We went down where the tide pools were, and she played in those. Then she discovered the ocean. We went there, and she liked when I helped her jump the waves. She liked to splash the water, and didn't mind the salt. She loved to sit in the ocean and let the waves splash her. We definitely have a water baby on our hands, and I LOVE it!

Enjoy the pictures...I wish I'd taken more, or gotten video, but we were having too much fun in the very, very cold water :)

NEXT UP: Payton's ONE YEAR birthday!!!! Thursday is the big day. Again, where does the time go? This time last year I was anxiously awaiting her arrival in the hospital. If you want a good laugh, go back and read the posts from Brian as we went through THREE days of induction...and here I am, 5 months pregnant. Wow.