Mother's Day 2011

Mother's Day May 8, 2011

This Mother's day happened to be an absolutely beautiful day and I have been wanting to venture out to some of our parks and go hiking for some time.  Since it was MY day, I got my wish... it was wonderful.  A friend of mine suggested Blydenburgh Park to us so we checked it out and thought it would be a great place to go.  It is located about an hour from us in Suffolk County, Long Island (we are in Nassau).  We parked by the boat ramps but were disappointed they were not renting the boats out yet, maybe next time we go we can go out on a boat:)  So we headed out on the trails!  We went on the foot trail closer to the water, kids got their walking sticks and we were set. 

It was a nice walk, not too difficult for the kids, even Elijah walked the WHOLE time!  As we walked we saw (and heard) many birds, lots of dogs, a couple of people on horseback and a beautiful swan on the water. 

We walked all the way down to the "lake" area where the dogs liked to wade and cool off.  Leia striked up a conversation with a lady there (go figure), the lady ended up being an art teacher so Leia was talking it up about the Louve and seeing the Mona Lisa and how much she loves art!  Then the kids had to go potty bad and we could not get Elijah to go in the woods, come on... you are a boy!!  So we headed back but down a different trail and it lead us to the open field and the dog park (and the bathrooms).  After everyone took care of business we went over to the open field and threw around the baseball for a little while.  Then some more kids came and Elijah and Jacob went to play with them... then Leia followed shortly after that.  We then wanted to check out the playground so we headed off in the direction of the car and found the playground, unfortunately the playground had lost of wasps flying around so we didn't stay for long:(  Kids (and myself) were a little disappointed, it was a nice playground!  We then returned to our car, pretty hungry at this point so we headed over to 5 Guys (we saw it on our way to the park) and had lunch.  On our way back I remember seeing a Veteran Memorial I wanted to check out so we visited there for a little while. 



Armed Forces Plaza Suffolk County, NY

 It was a very nice area with memorials for each War plus a beautiful enclosed garden area dedicated to Suffolk County victims of 9/11.  Leia enjoyed the WWII memorial more than I expected, she wanted to read everything and learn what happened!  I told her we have plenty of time to learn all about it (and that made her Daddy very proud!). 



WWII Tribute

We then headed to the mall to get a few things and then went home to finish up our day.  It was a wonderful Mother's Day, one I wont forget for a long time!

Run for the Wild 5K

This weekend the Morrissey family participated in our very first 5K!  Run for the Wild at the Bronx Zoo which was designed to raise money for the Penguins. While Daddy pushed Jacob and Elijah in a stroller (which I believe was just as much work if not more than running) and Leia walked, I ran it!  I have been working on running since the beginning of the year.  I started with getting a treadmill and doing the Couch to 5K program, which I suggest to any one who has not ran in a long time or ever. Once I completed that the weather started to warm up enough to be able to run outside which was perfect since I was up to longer distances.  Chris and I have since signed up for the Disney's Wine and Dine 1/2 marathon so now my training has been extended to a 1/2 marathon!  The Run for the Wild came at a perfect time in my training, I have been running 3 miles for awhile now but this was great because it pushed me to get my time up, running with a group of people motivates you to "keep up".  I completed it in 31 mins which is 3 mins better than my best time to date, go me:)  As a team we raised 300 dollars, I am so proud of my kids for doing this, it is so important to teach kids about health and fitness and charity, and all that the same time is just bonus! 
Here's to many more races as a family and as individuals.  Just another way we are living our lives to the fullest!!