The Kugler Family Adventures: Pounding Thunder Road, Boughman's BeerBQamp 2013, and PATRIOTS v Panthers....

Well, I did it. Half marathon #6 is under my belt. I ran the Thunder Road Half Marathon course on Saturday morning, for the third time. This time I was proud to be on "Team Libstrong," supporting Libby Jones (3), who is battling leukemia. With a little convincing, I talked my neighbor, Nick, into running it with me. He's not a runner, but he's young. And in great shape. And he cooked a pasta dinner for us Friday night. I actually held him back, as he pushed me. The weather was awesome. I had several other friends, and extended family, who also ran it. (3 from our beach crew: Amy Tisdale, Jon Topham, and a PREGNANT Jill Garman Talevska were out there. Congrats to them, and double congrats to JILLY!) Brian and the kids met me at the finish line, holding signs they had made for me :) Finishing time: 1:57:03. With my recent injuries and lack of training, I was thrilled to break the 2 hour mark. It was a good morning!

PINK, for Team Libstrong!

Less than 1/10th of a mile to go to the FINISH! I was just about out of juice...

WE DID IT!!!

They had Krispy Kreme at the end! How could I not? (But I wished I hadn't! Made my tummy angry!)

Iron Man Jon

Payton deciding if she wanted to make friends...or not.

Other friends who ran...Me, with Wally B, Jordan, and Paul

Well earned COLD finish beers :)

After hanging out with friends at the finish for a bit, we headed back home for lunches, naps, a much needed shower for me, and prepping and packing for Qamp Boughman! Cheryl and Jeremy's annual BBQ, kickball, and bonfire party. The weather cooperated. The people came. Kickball was played. LOTS of food was eaten. And the bonfire was bigger than ever. A fun night for sure!

She was "making" a garden with some other girls.

I love the concern from all the kid's faces in the bounce house.

A sad Raegan with her grandpa Joe

Stonie, Me, Julie

With my crazy busy morning, we missed Juliet's first birthday party :(

MaTTie playing kickball

P's turn

G wouldn't leave my side and wanted to play...so he did (kind of)

The cute Richardson Family...Janice, Jon, and Baby Nolan

Nick, Andy, Chasity, Me, Brian

Walter and Terri

Jordan, Walter, and Teri

The ever popular wagon rides..

Me and my bestie, Cheryl...the hostess with the mostess!

Monday night NFL. Always an exciting game, but even more so when it comes to YOUR town! Confusing as it may be, I'm a Pats fan. We all know that. I live in Charlotte. I'm from Charlotte. I tried to be a Panthers fan...I did. However, my heart has always (well since 2003) belonged to Tom Brady, Bill Belichick, and all the Patriots. Well, this MNF, MY PATRIOTS came to Charlotte. I was lucky to have been invited by Bill Roosenberg, and family, to take their extra ticket. Um, yes please! I knew I was setting myself up for lots of harassing, but here's how it all went down...we tailgated. Everyone was nice, and the harassing was at a minimum. We had great seats. There were TONS of Pats fans in the stadium. It was a great game...until the end. We had a chance to tie. Even to win. But unfortunately there was a bad call, and the game was over. Sad face. We.Got.Beat. We shouldn't have let it come down to the final call. It sucked...but I'm a glass half-full kind of girl, so just seeing Tom Brady made my night :)

That morning, prior to the game, I dressed the kids up in their Pats gear for school. There were a couple kids in their Panthers stuff, and we got a few "boos." lol. I was hoping they wouldn't get bullied. Ha. I had the girls in P's class all cheering for the Patriots before I left...

My view from the tailgate.

Lots of Pats fans :-) We were happy, at the time.


#12. My boyfriend.

This is Katie Guthrie. Uncle Gary's cousin, who is a Top Cat.

In the middle of all the tailgating, Brian sent me a text picture of a thermometer, which was reading 102.6. Griffin caught a cold on Sunday, and my poor baby was running a fever. By Tuesday morning, he was 100% again, although I had to stay home with him because he had the fever the night before. To add to a rough start of the week, Brian played golf on Sunday. One of his buddies accidentally ran over his foot with the golf cart. His foot and ankle is the size of a baseball. The x-rays didn't show a fracture, but he's definitely in pain, and using a crutch to get around. Hopefully he'll be back to normal soon!

My dad has had an even rougher time this past week...his week "off" from all meds. He's lost 9 pounds in the past WEEK, so they've given him another week "off" to see if he can get some food in his system, and keep it there. They are going to back off the infusion for a bit, and decrease the amount of pills he's taking. Basically, my dad put it this way...they are giving him as much poison as his body will allow, without killing him. Although on most days it feels like they are. I feel horrible for him, and no one can really do anything for him. So, little by little, he's going to start his recovery by eating some rice, toast, and anything else bland, drinking Ensure, and keeping hydrated. This sucks.

Please enjoy these 2 videos of Griffin...hopefully they will put a smile on your face :)

Griffin sings "The Itsy Bitsy Spider"

Griffin LOVES his superhero shirt (hand-me-down from my friend's son, Lucas, which explains the "L")

Here are the kid's school pictures, 2013-2014 (I took a picture of them with my phone, so they are not great quality)