Beach fun at dusk.

I cannot remember the last time we had a summer with so many fantastic beach days and the best part is the weekends have been awesome too! And with the girls now at an age where they enjoy the beach AND Sarah and I can enjoy the beach at the same time, we have taken full advantage this summer.

This video captures some of the fun from a recent vist to "Grammy and Papa's beach". Their family house is within walking distance to a popular beach in a town south of us. It's kind of cool forming memories with my girls at the very beach I used to frequent in my high school days.

Petting Zoo Visit.

I'm playing a little catch-up on some videos I've taken since I got my FLIP back from repair. This is a clip from a recent visit to a local park we love for several reasons. The girls are getting "comfortable" feeding carrots to the goats, llamas, horses, and Mr. Mule. Check out this cute video clip.

Helping daddy wash the car.

I may be going the Youtube route going forward for my video posts. My summer class ended last week so I made a little time to figure this Youtube thing out. (I know Youtube isn't difficult - I just didn't have the time.) Anyway...here is a cute clip of Anna and Emily helping me wash the car. Allie didn't participate as she wasn't feeling herself that weekend. Oh, I must not forget "Little Lion" - he kept a watchful eye on Emily!

Running with emotion.

On most runs I wear an armband with “Abbey” sewn onto it. My mother-in-law made the armband for my running of a road race in 2006 - two months after our Abigail was born still.

I am currently training for that August race again (as I have every year since 1996). And, while out on a run the other day, I started thinking about the upcoming race and Abigail. Abbey or Abigail? I most often refer to her as Abigail rather than Abbey. We never got to find out what she would have wanted to be called. She probably would have preferred Abbey. But, because I can be such a traditionalist, I would probably call her Abigail.

This year’s race is for Anna, and like every other year when I run this race, I will run with a heavy heart. I will be thinking of my now deceased dad who, along with my mother, came to the race every year to cheer my brothers and me on. I also will think of my niece Julie who, due to complications from cystic fibrosis, died at the age of 13 in 2003. And, of course, I will think about Abigail.

I will run the race in August hard. I will run strong. I will run with purpose. Most importantly, I will run with my heart open to those I love.

FLIP it.

The issue with my FLIP video camera finally got resolved by TARGET sending me a gift card to purchase a new one. This was after not having a working camera for about two months! LONG story so I will only say two things: 1) I am extremely happy that Sarah purchased the “extended warranty” when she purchased it for me as a Christmas gift and 2) I am equally displeased with TARGET for their deceptive practices and poor customer service with regards to this issue.

Now I am having issues uploading videos to BLOGGER!! I have tried several times with two or three different clips with no success. Very frustrating.

If anyone has had issues of late uploading video clips to BLOGGER and has a solution, please share. In the meantime I will do my own trouble-shooting.