Go Greece!

Obviously, our family is a tad excited about the World Cup. Well, imagine our joy when we remembered that Mia has a Greece soccer jersey! My dad and stepmom brought her back a whole kit from their last trip to Greece. It's still a little big for her, so she's only worn it a few times here and there. But today - today! - was the perfect occasion! Things didn't turn out so well for Greece. They lost 3-0 to Colombia. But Mia has at least two more times to sport the white and blue. Opa!

Running around

I have some good news about this weekend: I didn't die. For me, this is a big deal. 

We went to Dallas this weekend for my fourth half-marathon. It was such a fun weekend! My dad and Nancy came up from Victoria to hang out with us, so that made it even better. 

We stayed at a hotel with a pool as basically an apology to Mia for taking a long car ride. She thought it was fantastic - maybe the best thing ever. She also enjoyed jumping on the beds in our room. 

So no matter how the race turned out, at least Mia got to do that. At least she's not old enough to remember that the whole building smelled like smoke and it's probably a hideout for prostitutes. 

Somehow I have no photos of us kicking around in Dallas with my parents. We ate some delicious food, including pre-race pasta. If there's anything I'm good at, it's carb-loading. 

I'm going to be honest: this race wasn't the best. The temperature was barely above freezing and it was windy. I took this picture of myself waiting at the start line. Clearly, I was no impressed with you, Dallas.

 

It took 30 minutes - 30 minutes! - for the crowd to cross the start line. Finally the pack made it through the gates, and my dad snapped this picture. Obviously, I was happy to start warming up. 

  

Lord knows I'm not the fastest runner, but this race was a real challenge. The first 8 miles was uphill. Eight. Miles. Uphill. Up. Hill.  How can this town be all uphill? Is it just one giant slant?

I wanted to quit. My shins hurt. It was cold. No hills ever went down. Then I thought about the logistics of quitting. I'd have to basically stop somewhere random, call my parents and then wait for them to pick me up. In the meantime, I'd get colder and colder. To warm up, I'd probably have to jog in place. In that case, I might as well just keep running. I decided just to finish the stupid race.

Then the clouds parted, the land flattened and the last five miles were lovely. I stashed my hoodie in a bush and enjoyed the rest of the run.

 My dad documented my finish. Weirdly enough, I felt so good at the end, I think I could have run further. (What?!) Not, like, another 13.1 miles further, but maybe another few miles. It was crazy.

 

I set a personal record by 4 minutes! I have no idea how that happened. Seriously. How did that happen?

It was really special to see my dad and Nancy at the finish line. It meant a lot that they came. Leigh and Mia weren't able to make it in time for the finish. (Trying to find parking at the Texas State Fair and then getting a 3-year-old to cross 30 miles of parking lot is no small feat.) But we found them just a few minutes after. I saw this smiling face running to me ...

... and then running past me. She wanted to hug Nancy. Whatever. Thanks for the congrats, Mia.

South Africa: Safari 4

We crammed one last safari drive into the day before we had to head back to Cape Town to meet our friends coming in from America. (My parents decided to delay their flight by a day so they could fit in two more drives. Excellent!) So our last drive was a continuation for the hunt for elephants.

We started off with a herd of giraffe.

Then we spotted something pretty special: a serval. It was poking its head out of some brush. I seriously have no idea how our guide spotted him. We stopped the car and then it came out in full view. Spectacular!

But what could be better than a serval? TWO servals! A friend popped out and joined him.

Our guide spotted a small herd of elephants on a nearby mountain, so as soon as the servals disappeared, we were off. Fast. So fast.

Our guide navigated as best he could, but the elephants couldn't be reached. They were in an area that was basically enclosed by thorn bushes. But, while we were poking around, searching for a way in, we saw this.

It's a kudu skull and spine, and the jawbone was nearby. It had been eaten by predators and scavengers just a day or two before. It was fascinating!

So I asked if we could get out of the truck and touch it. Because you don't go all the way to South Africa not to touch a kudu skull. Our guide obliged, and Leigh and I were the only ones interested. Weird.

As afternoon drew near, our guide decided that we'd head back toward the game lodge and hopefully spot some elephants on the way. He wanted so badly to find that for us because he said we would appreciate it. He said some people come on safari and spend all their time on their phones. Their PHONES? WHAT! Who are these people? Sick. Just stay at home, jerkfaces.

We spotted lots of amazing animals on our way back.

And then this happened.

I had to narrow down the 200 photos I took of those lions to my favorite. I was out of control. I wanted to hug them, but Leigh reminded me they'd eat my face off.

We packed our bags and got ready to go. Before we left, I decided to try achieving one last feat: hugging a wild hog.

The hogs were not intersted.