We are an active family.
My twins are basketball and softball players and they love to wake board, surf, snowboard, ski and swim.
My son loves football, skateboarding, biking, swimming and motorcycles.
Alexis ... she's our little gymnast and swims like a little fish.
My husband loves to snow ski and will water ski and wake board. He loves to fish and hunt (sorry about the picture - eeeek!).
Me ...
I mow the grass.
I do like to swim, but I don't enjoy water skiing much anymore and I am not brave enough to give wake boarding a try.
I do love to snow ski.
That's it.
I work in my yard - A LOT - and that's the most exercise I really get.
Well ...
That and ...
Chasing after 4 kids and going up and down flights of stairs all day long.
So ...
Being the "athletic" family that we are - we have so enjoyed watching the Olympics!
Not because any of us has ever done swimming - competitively.
Not because any of us has ever done gymnastics - competitively.
Not because any of us has ever high-jumped, thrown a discus or played beach volleyball in skimpy swimsuits.
NOPE!
We've just loved watching all those fantastic athletes do their "thang" and we've been livin' our dreams through the games!
Well ...
Not me - really.
I've watched.
I've cheered.
I've even cried.
I have NEVER honestly dreamt of actually going to the Olympics.
Well ...
Maybe when I was 12 and 13 years old ...
And made a make-shift balance beam in my back yard in Virginia and me and my bff, Trish, would put on our leotards (HA!), climb up on that 2 x 4 piece of lumber we mounted between those stacked up cinder blocks - did a cartwheel and then splits - dismounted to the grassy ground, threw our arms over our heads, puffed out our flat chests and smiled BIG and waved like crazy to the ... CHEERING crowds ...
Maybe I had a dream ... once.
But ...
Not a REAL dream - you know.
Not like a REAL athlete.
Not like that woman that ran/won that marathon race (Constantina Tomescu-Dita) ...
When I saw that woman marathon runner ...
Did you see her?
Running ...
Running ...
Running ...
Running ...
Running ...
Running ...
Running ...
It was unbelievable to me.
Hard to watch.
IMPRESSIVE!
I turned to Courtney and said, "How does she run that fast for so long - HOW - HOW IS SHE DOING THAT?" totally astounded at her stamina - her energy - her abilities!
"She's not running as fast as it looks - she's pacing herself - she'll run faster at the end - really ... they are all sort of jogging, right now," Courtney was certain.
I looked across the room.
I smiled at my darling 16 year old daughter.
I said ...
"She has run for 15 or 16 miles ... right?"
"Yes," Courtney answered.
"She never slows down?" I ask.
"No," Courtney answers.
"Well ... she's jogging," I stand up from my chair, "As fast as ... I. CAN. RUN!" we giggle.
And then ...
I got up and went outside and ...
Mowed the grass.
On the upside ... I ran - and ran - and ran - and ran - and ran ... that lawn mower ... all over that yard (*hears loud roaring crowds applauding - CHEERS - WHISTLES - WAVING OF THE AMERICAN FLAG - SCREAMS ... then the mower hits a rock - snaps the 40-something year old Olympic-wanna-be-yard-mowing-mom ... back to suburban REALITY! sad sigh*)