Full report on the Blessing is in the works, but I'm too tired to write it out now.
We spent all day yesterday at the beach, and it's a good thing we did, because today turned out to be pretty miserable and rainy. Scott's dad was there yesterday, and Gabe and Dante had a great time playing with him. And Scott and I enjoyed the fact that we got a little quiet time to sit and relax while they boys played with Granddad. Quiet time at the beach is something we rarely get anymore, so when it does happen, it feels kind of unnatural. Unnatural, but very, very nice!
It was a fabulous beach day, except for the fact that Gabe got stung by a jellyfish. It also brushed up against both me and Dante, but neither of us got stung too bad. Gabe got the worst of it - right behind his knee : ( The poor thing was so upset. I know that I barely got stung, and my legs really hurt, so I can only imagine how painful his leg was. The lifeguards put a little something on it, and he seemed to feel better pretty quickly, but he was really shook up by the whole experience.
He did go back in the water, though, which I was happy to see. It took a little while, and he was a little tentative at first, but before long he was back in there splashing and laughing, so although he's asked us a million and one questions about jellyfish, and keeps asking us if the jellyfish is still out in the ocean, I think he's mostly gotten over it. As the title of this post references, though, I'm not so sure I've gotten over it.... ugh.
We planned to be back at the beach today, with AM and K and the kids, who came up to visit from CT. But it was raining and thundering when we woke up. But then it got sunny and looked like it was going to clear up, so we figured we'd give the beach a try. But then just as they pulled into the driveway, it started looking like it was going to rain again.
We headed down to the beach anyway, figuring we'd see if we could at least get in the water for a little while and build a few sand castles. But just as we got there, it was starting to rain and thunder again. So we sat up on the pavilion and ate our lunch, and as the rain cleared, we went down on the beach and got about 15 minutes on the sand before the next thunderstorm moved in.
We dashed up to the pavilion with our stuff, and sat up there and watched one heck of a storm - one that included wind-driven torrential rain, spectacular lightning bolts and claps of thunder, and even some hail!
It wasn't quite the beach day we had planned, but it was pretty awesome to have a front-row seat to a very intense, very impressive thunderstorm. It was amazing, too, to feel how much the air temperature dropped as the storm moved in. It went from being warm and sticky to being downright cold in a matter of seconds!
The storm went on for quite a while, and we just sat and watched and oohed and aahed, and calmed the boys (they were pretty good, actually - a little scared, but mostly calm. Dante was absolutely clinging to Scott, though, and wouldn't take his eyes off the storm).
When the rain let up enough that we could run out to the cars without getting completely drenched, we packed up our stuff and headed back home and had an early dinner. Despite the lack of real beach time and the awful weather, we had a great visit, and the boys definitely had a fun time with their aunt and uncle and cousins.
Today also marks the end of Scott's vacation. I wish we could have ended it with a long day at the beach, but like I said, at least it was a fun day.
And amazingly enough, it's STILL thundering here. Not a full-on thunderstorm, but there's been thunder and lightning and rain on and off since noon. Crazy day, weather-wise.
Anyway, it's been a very full, very exciting, very fun weekend, and I am pooped as a result.
I had planned on going for a nice long bike ride this morning, but went out to the garage and found a flat tire on my bike. After a bit of struggling, I got the tire and tube off, and attempted to put the new tube and tire on, but that's where I failed. I just couldn't get it done. I'll work on it a bit tomorrow, but if I'm still unsuccessful, I'll be making a trip to the bike shop. I really need to learn some basic bike maintenance, because if I get in a situation like this in a race, I'm done for.
After getting really frustrated and annoyed with the bike, I headed out for a run, but that had to be cut short due to the thunder and lightning. It was pouring almost the whole time I was running, but I didn't really mind that. I would have been fine continuing for more than the 4 miles I managed to get in, but although I don't mind getting wet, I definitely don't want to get struck by lightning, so I cut it short. It was a nice run, though. My sore muscles were very glad to get a little warmed up and stretched out.
The plan is to swim tomorrow, because now that the Blessing is over, I have to turn my attention to that triathlon I'm doing on Sunday. That's just 7 days from now! 7 days! What was I thinking????!!!!!!!!!
You were thinking, wow! I can do a sprint triathlon in a hurricane with no problem :-) Truth be told, I haven't given the jelly fish much thought. I don't THINK they are a problem in November in the Gulf, but I have heard people talking about them before at IM Florida.
Posted by: Wes | July 28, 2008 at 09:39 AM
Great job with the 10-miler!
As for the jellies, I could certainly do without those.
Posted by: Chad Aaron Sayban | July 28, 2008 at 04:27 PM
Wow... scary about the jellyfish. Hope you all are feeling better.
Posted by: Julie Sayban | July 28, 2008 at 04:28 PM
Wow!! I never have to think about stuff like that in the lake here! Crazy! That is an amazing picture!
Posted by: J-mom | July 28, 2008 at 06:04 PM
Thats why I am wearing a wetsuit for my tri!!! That was an awesome storm yesterday!
Posted by: Shawn | July 28, 2008 at 06:19 PM