New Running Toy!

First, a quick weight loss update. The last few days I've been around 131-132 after eating a lot of treats this weekend (there was actually ice cream in our house!), but last week I got down to 130.6 - my lowest ever!! Looking forward to seeing sub-130 soon!!

I can't remember if I mentioned this yet or not, but I decided to buy a GPS watch for running! I originally thought I didn't want one, but now that I'm keeping closer track of my pace & trying to work on speed, it's going to be handy for a data lover like me. And during my trips this summer, I've realized how convenient it would be to have a watch that tracks my distance rather than having to plan my routes in advance (when I run at home I always run the same few routes, so I know the distance).

So I took the Garmin (Forerunner 410) out for its first run today, and I was pleased. At first I thought it was a bit bulky on my wrist, but it didn't bother me at all while I was running.

Watch I normally wear running...

New Garmin - huge!

And the best part is the data!! The watch automatically uploads to me computer, and then all the data can be stored online. For example, here's my pace chart on my run today (I had no idea I was so inconsistent, but maybe some of that is due to the watch?):

Not sure what those random spikes to zero are... but whatever :)

My average pace was 8:55/mile - I'm excited that my speed has definitely improved this summer. I'm hoping I'll be even faster once its not so stinking hot!! But my favorite part was the elevation chart.... gotta love Southeast TX! I probably should find a way to do some hill training at some point?

I'm pretty excited about it, especially since I'll be in Houston quite a bit for work over the next week and a half, so this will make it much easier to get my runs in there without just having to use the hotel treadmill.

Cottage Weekend in Wisconsin

Our trip to Wisconsin two weeks ago was really fun! About 25-30 of Sam's family members gathered for their annual "cottage weekend" and we were excited we were able to go. The weather was awesome, and we did lots of boating, swimming, and eating of course. Here's some pictures from the weekend:

The set-up - great weather the whole time!!

Cake for the five July birthdays - Sam & Maddy (photo-bombed by Theo)

Dinner time!

Sam boxing his cousin Kyle... I think Kyle has the advantage
with real boxing gloves vs. Sam's washcloths + Scotch tape?

With Sam's cousin Mitch - ready for a cruise on the pontoon!

Unfortunately the pontoon, at times, had to be towed haha

Everyone out swimming in the deeper water

Tubing with Sam's sister Kelly (left) and cousin Bri (right) -
we look crazy! Eventually this ended painfully haha.

A (slightly) calmer tubing expedition with Sam's cousin Cathi

Sam wakeboarding

I was so glad to get to meet more of Sam's family (and glad they took all of these pictures and put them online since we took NONE! haha) and hopefully we'll be back there next year!

4th of July in NC

For 4th of July, we had a great visit in NC with my family. I basically have no pictures but I guess thats just because we were having too much fun to take them?

We spent a lot of time at the beach & being lazy around the house, but Sam also got to meet most of my family on my Dad's side which was nice. We celebrated by Granddaddy's birthday on the 4th and saw some great fireworks just a few blocks from the beach house. Sam was totally up for anything (including winning the family poker game at my Nenaw's house) and my Dad & brother even got him surfing! Here's the few decent pictures I do have from our time in NC:

Sam & I on the front porch of the beach house

Sam (center) getting up on the surf board!

Babson family tradition - singing hymns at my Granddaddy's house

Siblings with my Granddaddy

Sadly I have no pictures from the visit at my Nenaw's house, because we got to see a good amount of family and there were some funny moments when my cousin Paige's 2 year old foster (soon to be adopted!) daughter Jackie basically fell in love with Sam.

We had a great time and I'm looking forward to seeing everyone again at Thanksgiving! I'll actually be back in Cary in a couple of weeks for a wedding and then at some point again in the fall for one of Taylor's band competitions, so there will be a lot of family time this fall!