Glen Rose Weekend

Bear with me, there are a lot of pictures here from last weekend that I wanted to share with you all. I'll feebly (that was one of my recent banana grams words) try to group them together in some semblance of order.

As I am training for this half marathon, I decided that this time around I really wanted to do what my training suggests, and run a race ahead of time. I have never done a 10k, so I found one in Glen Rose, TX, on Valentine's weekend. It's called the Sweetheart Run. aw. We decided to make a weekend of it, and had a really lovely time. The car ride was even pleasant, and only an hour and half or so from home.

Glen Rose is the "dinosaur capital of Texas"... I think they're milking it a little, but their dinosaur park (which we didn't go to, but is like a fake dinosaur version of Jurassic park) is quite the attraction. We talked to the town's souvenir lady, and Glen Rose really knows how to keep itself going. It is also the moonshine capital of Texas, made so during prohibition, so if there aren't jobs at any given point, Glen Rose will make some up just to stay on the map. We found it to be a charming little town :)

this is a dinosaur footprint. so they say...

This is James in the dinosaur footprint!

We stayed in an old railroad car! It was a unique experience, and we enjoyed it. Ron particularly appreciated the Boxcar Children book that he breezed through while we were there. I'm sure he felt a little closer to Benny, just staying in a boxcar ourselves. We also loved that it had a full kitchen (with quart jars of milk and orange juice!)... We just stayed in the first night and made pizza and relaxed, listening to the crickets. We found a neat restaurant the second night that was kind of fancy/casual (if that makes sense). It was converted from a big old house, and decorated beautifully. During dinner there was a violinist playing, and since we stayed so long (because that's how we do dinners out, and because James was being good!) he eventually wandered around when the crowd was thinner and played tunes for us. He played James two lullabies, which James loved :) and he chatted with us for a bit. Everyone there was so super nice, it was a great time, and our Valentine's dinner out! It's fun to meet random nice people and get to know them a tiny bit.

At the bed and breakfast, which is very kid friendly!

James and I after my 10k. I have to say, I was bit nervous going into it. We got there and I whisper to Ron, "There are REAL runners here!" which always intimidates me a little bit. But I have to say, I did pretty good. I did better than I thought for time, which I was pleased with. I had been a bit worried that the transition from the treadmill (which is all I had been on recently) would be harsh, but it wasn't bad. Also, I am used to running flat and there were a lot of hills on this course. But they were actually a good challenge, and preparing me for my half marathon coming up in March. One of the hills on the 10k course was called "Vomit Hill". That was fun. Oh, and... not to brag or anything, but I came in first for my age group. Now I must tell you that there were only 3 of us. It was a nice little local run, out on somebody's HUGE ranch. We ran past their castle once. I had such a great time and was encouraged for my upcoming run, too.

Taking a walk by the river to go downtown for lunch. We went to a little cafe that also is a bookstore, and read for a while to each other and to ourselves while James slept. Afterward we found a store that just sold pies! Imagine that! and shared a piece of strawberry rhubarb. We couldn't resist giving James some vanilla ice cream, and he LOVED it. Since he still doesn't eat his solids very well, it was funny to see him gobble something up :) Now we know he's capable, just holding out :)

we tried swinging at the park for the first time, I think.

He thought it was... ok...

the B&B had all these farm animals to pet and look at!

It was fun to show James!

This is one of those moments where Jo says, "Don't let him hold the fence, he might get bitten!" and Ron tells me not to worry about it, he's fine. He is fine, but still... so it begins. Below is a girl that tried to help us (and failed to, actually!) get the bunny out to pet it... James really seemed to like her, though!

thought my Grandpa Cawkins would like this :)

look, we're all waving!

Ok, I have to explain the photos below. Not much explanation is needed, I guess. Ron decided to run up the hill behind our train car before we left. It was steeper than he thought, but he was sure glad he did it. I just thought it was funny how much these first photos reminded me of bigfoot, as in Harry and the Hendersons...

Ron and James down at Big Rock City Park. They really are big rocks. It was hot out, and sitting in the shade of rock was quite pleasant and uncannily cooler than you'd think. We both tried out turn at climbing them, even Bean got to get up on a rock. It was a fun way to end the weekend :)