I ran my first half-marathon today!

Wow.  I never could have imagined that I would actually do this.  I ran the Niagara Falls International Half-marathon!! It was so hard, but what an amazing feeling of accomplishment now that I have successfully completed the course. It is a beautiful course that follows the Niagara River on its 'twisty, turny' way to the falls. The best part was sharing the experience with these great friends!  We had so much fun during our weekend here and took so many photos that I'll be sharing them all week...

Niagara Falls Road Trip

Somehow these ladies managed to get me into that little yellow glass elevator and up to the rotating dining room at the top.  Considering the fact that I am afraid of heights and claustrophobic, this is pretty close to a miracle.  Ahhhh...but the view from up there was quite incredible!

"Let's hear it for the kids from Maine!"

Nashville is the only town that I know of where they play in the bars all day, as well as all night long.  At first the kiddos were shy and couldn't believe that we were going to let them go into this adult world, but then they were thrilled!  This performer, Duncan Houston, started teasing them about being in the bars instead of in school as soon as they walked through the door.  The girls played along and explained that they are on vacation.  He played their song requests, and finally he got them to get up on stage with him where he autographed their CDs!  They'll never forget him.

Embracing Nashville

All of the kiddos are thoroughly enjoying this trip, but perhaps none so much as our youngest son.  When I gave him the opportunity (even though climbing on the fence at Fort Negley Park is technically against the rules) to embrace the 'Bat Building', he jumped up there really quickly!

"The best part of waking up..."

This morning we woke up in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania!  And my husband sang me that old Folger's coffee jingle as he handed me my cup.  It's gonna be a great day!

Now they're singing, "On the Road Again..."

Who taught them that?!

Tonight's the night!

Guess how many days left until we leave on our road trip?  ZERO!!!!

And we're off!  Everyone's looking a little bit sleepy because it's just after midnight...