A Much Needed Update

Sorry to have left everyone hanging, but a lot has happened since I left for Orlando.

Dalton and I arrived in Orlando Friday afternoon, checked into the hotel, went to get my event passes, and then caught a bus for Downtown Disney so that I could walk across the street to the gas station and buy gatorade and water. I 4 huge gatorades and a case of water for $10. One small bottle of gatorade at the hotel was $2.50. So, it was worth lugging the case of water across a busy intersection to get back to the bus. When we got back to the hotel, we grabbed something to eat and then waited for the rest of his teammates to arrive so we could get instructions for the morning.

Saturday morning we woke up early and ate breakfast in the room (I had packed the small boxes of cereal and some lara bars for me). We met the team by the bus stop at 7:15 to head over to Disney's Wide World of Sports. Once we got in and found our field, the boys warmed up. They won their first game 9-3. They had a short break before their second game which they tied 3-3 (the other team scored the tieing goal in the last 30 seconds of the game). Then we grabbed some lunch and watched another one of our teams before our final game of the day, which they won 6-0. The boys were looking great and ended up getting seeded 1st in their pool. This meant they didn't have a game until 1:00 Sunday, but that game would be bracket play, so you lose, you go home.

Sunday morning I let Dalton sleep in a bit. Then we ate in the room again and just kind of relaxed for a while. He ate a little more before heading to the fields, but not a big lunch. The game at 1:00 did not go their way. Every now and then you get a ref who seems to call everything against your team and everything for the other team. It seemed that was what was happening. You can't blame the ref for losing (they are human afterall), but the boys just seemed to get deflated by call after call not going their way. They still played hard, but ultimately, they lost the game 4-2 and were out of the tournament. The only good news about this was that meant an extra day for Disney. So, I headed to the lobby and bought our Disney tickets. And despite it being cold in Florida (lows in the 40s / highs in the 60s) the boys jumped in the pool for a swim.

Monday morning we got up and met one of Dalton's teammates in the lobby for breakfast at the hotel. Then we headed off for Animal Kingdom for a few rides before heading over to Hollywood Studios for most of the afternoon. We got in all the good rides - Mt Everest, the dinosaur ride, the Tower of Terror, and Rock'n Roller Coaster. The boys were having a great time. We didn't get back to the hotel until late and then were invited to a teammates room for some fun.

Tuesday morning we got up early again. Today we went to Epcot in the morning (Test Track is COLD when the temp is in the 40s!) and hit Magic Kingdom in the afternoon. At about 5:00, we ran into more of his teammates and hung out with them for the rest of the evening, ending the night with about 5 rides on the Thunder Mountain Railroad. Good times!!

Wednesday morning Dalton and I caught our flight home fully expecting to go pick up his new puppy that night. Yes, we finally found him a dog, but wanted to wait until after we got back to get him. However, the lady who was fostering him had some family come into town, so we couldn't get him Wednesday night. It was probably best, however, as we were both exhausted.

Thursday at lunch time my husband picked up the new dog. When we got the kids that afternoon, they had no idea. They were very happy when they found out. Dalton has named the new dog Tank. He is a little Rat Terrier mix that is between 12-14 weeks old. He and Roscoe took a little time to get to know each other, but they are doing fine now. The only problem we are having is that Roscoe wants to play and he's just so big he scares Tank. Tank doesn't run, though - he barks right back to let Roscoe know he's not going to let Roscoe hurt him. I think it's going to work out just fine.

And then this morning, I ran the 3M Half Marathon. It was high 30's / low 40s during the race. Perfect temps to run, but I'm such a wimp before hand that I wore my under armour tights and top. I could have done without the tights. I was hoping to PR this morning, but just barely missed it, coming in at 2:00:55. Last year's time was 2:00:40. I'm still hoping to break 2 hours in a half marathon, but just can't quite get there. I've decided to do the Austin half February 15th, so I'll try again there. Only it's a more hilly course. Then there is a new half marathon in April that I may do, but again on a hilly course. Hopefully I'll get there.

Then this afternoon I took Roscoe to his obedience class. He's doing well, but just wants to play with all the other dogs. He gets easily distracted. We'll have to work some more this week on his ability to pay attention to us.

Oh, and this weekend marks the start of the spring season for Team in Training. I'll be training for the America's Most Beautiful Bike Ride again. Details to follow soon. For now, I need some down time before bed.