The Dirty Dash

At the end of September this year, I ran a 10k called The Dirty Dash.  This is the first race I have ever run, so it was a big deal for me.  Trip was going to run with me, but got hurt his hamstring while training for the Philadelphia marathon, so he had to back out.  Luckily for me, Dan, Alyssa and a bunch of Alyssa's family had signed up to run it with us, so I didn't have to do it alone.  Trip was also able to watch Bean and take some pictures of me.  Unfortunately, he wasn't able to see most of the big obstacles, and I haven't gotten any of the pictures that Mumsie took yet, so you won't really get a lot of the obstacles here.  There were several wall that we scaled, a huge slip and slide, LOTS of mud puddles, and tunnels to crawl through, and plenty of hills to run up and down.  Here are the pictures :)

Me, Alyssa, and Dan just before the race starts

Our group was dressed as "Where's Waldo"

My hands are numb because it was pretty chilly, especially after getting wet

I don't know what I am doing with my arms here...kinda look like a zombie :)

The final mud pit

Jazz Game

A couple of weeks ago, Trip's boss gave him some Jazz tickets, and I was lucky enough to be able to go to the game with him.  My grandmother, Grammy, is largely to thank for that!  She came over with very little warning to watch Makaila so that I could go.  These tickets were nothing to sneeze at...they included dinner before the game, which was amazing!  We sat in the second row, on the floor, which made the game even more exciting.  Sitting there made it seem like we were a part of the action, and the players would even respond to some of the shouts or comments made by those around us!  During half time we also got to go to a VIP room and have even more food...it was pretty cool.  This was a very unique experience and we were grateful for the opportunity we had to be a part of it!

After dinner at the top of the stadium

View from our seats

Cahoots Duo Challenge

This spring my brother-in-law, Tim, ran the Cap City Half Marathon in Ohio.  He was such an inspiration to all of us, that we decided to start running some races ourselves.  One of the races that Trip did was the Cahoots Duo Challenge in August.  You had to run this race with a partner because the obstacles required 2 people.  Since Trip signed up last minute, and I was nowhere near fit enough to feel confident that I would survive, Tim ran it with him.  They put together their costumes and team flag and did a great job at this race! There are a couple of pictures and videos that mom has that I need to steal, but here is what I have so far :)

Go Team Beat Navy!!

This was the last time that these shirts were white

You can't tell from the picture, but the yellow cords were hooked up to a generator and would shock you when touched

Me and Makaila waiting for Trip and Tim to make it through the line at the zip line

Just after the zip line

Petronas Towers

While mom and Steven were visiting, we decided to do the typical Kuala Lumpur tourist thing and visit the towers...you know, the ones that put Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on the map :)  The visitor's center and tour itself weren't really that impressive, but the views from the towers were beautiful.  Here are a few of the pictures we took.

Trip and I on the sky bridge at the 43 floor

Trip on the 86 floor with one tower and KL Tower in the background

View from the 43 floor (similar to the one from our apartment, but much higher)

Same view but from the 86 floor.  Pretty amazing!

Babymoon part 4: Vietnam

Vietnam was the last of our weekend trips.  It was pretty cool and we enjoyed it, but didn't take nearly as many pictures as we normally do.  I guess there are only so many pictures of a city that you can take  :)  One of the best things about Vietnam was the food, but sadly, I didn't take any pictures of it.  It was delicious all the same.  Something that immediately stood out about Vietnam was the traffic.  We thought driving in Malaysia was crazy, but Vietnam took it to a whole new level.  I managed to get a video on the way to the airport that kind of gives a sense of what the traffic was like, but it really was crazier in person.

The family sandwich!  We see this in Malaysia a lot, but I haven't gotten a successful picture before.  At least in Vietnam they wear helmets.

Our first day there, we did a walking tour of District 1, which is where most of the activities, museums, and buildings of interest can be found.  The city is pretty diverse, with colonial style buildings nestled among high rises in one area, while just around the corner are street markets surrounded by a hodgepodge of houses crammed next to each other.  We found some great markets for shopping and stopped at some of the highlighted "tourist stops".  Most of these were museums, which were interesting because Vietnam certainly brings a different perspective to the table when discussing history.

The Reunification Palace, or Presidential Palace...very retro on the inside

The opera house.  Very different architecture than the rest of Saigon

Some cool boats on the Saigon River

That evening, we went to a Water Puppet Show that was pretty cool.  The music and voices were done live by people sitting on the sides of the pool, while the puppeteers worked the puppets from somewhere...we really couldn't tell where until they revealed themselves at the end.  Here are a couple of clips of the show.








The next day we took a half day tour of the Cu Chi Tunnels which were used by North Vietnam during the war.  It was pretty interesting and amazing how small the tunnels were!  I did not go inside because I was pretty sure I wouldn't fit, and even if I did it didn't look comfortable.  Trip, Steve, mom and dad all went through the tunnels and came out no worse for the wear.  Here are some of the pictures we took at the tunnels.

Trip showing off the tiny little secret entrance to one of the many tunnels

A picture of the tunnels from the inside...most of the time Trip had to crouch down or crawl on hands and knees, that's how small they were.

One of the US tanks that was taken out by the Cu Chi guerillas

One of the jungle paths through the Cu Chi area.

Trip shooting and AK-47.  You could pay to shoot different types of weapons in one part of the park.

Our tour guide, "Slim Jim" was pretty entertaining.  Trip got a video of him explaining how the cooking fire smoke was dispersed so that the American troops would not see the North Vietnamese camps.





After we got back from the tour, Trip and I took off to one of the markets to get some cute little baby clothes.  I really wanted to get some Asian clothes for our Baby Bean so that she has a souvenir too.  We did pretty well and got 3 adorable outfits.  

Can't wait until she will fit into these!

I had more videos to upload, but it just is not working for me right now, so maybe I will add them in later.  It was a fun trip overall, and we enjoyed spending time with the family.  I am glad that it's over for now; I was getting worn out after all the vacationing, and there are still plenty of things to do around KL  :)

Babymoon part 3: Cambodia again!

The last temple that we went to was Angkor Thom.  There was another temple that we were going to try to see, but my pregnant body could only do so much in two days!  Angkor Thom was spread out over a huge area and had several different structures throughout the complex.  These are the ruins of the old palace compound, if my memory is correct.

The monastery.  Same basic structure as the temple at Angkor Wat

The face carvings here are really well preserved

Some ruins that we walked past on our way between main structures

I don't know why, but I really like this picture

One of the main entrances to the palace compound

Of course there was a lot more to it than what I have shown, but since it was fairly similar to Angkor Wat, I tried to stick to more unique pictures.  After all the walking around we did that day, we were ready for a break and some relaxation!  Mom, dad, Trip and I headed for the pool while Steve took a nap and we just let the water wash away some of the stress of the day.  Unfortunately, I didn't take my camera with me so no pictures of that.  But I did take pictures of dinner that night!  We ate Cambodian BBQ, which is kind of like a grill and soup combination.  You boil the veggies in a ring of water that surrounds the grill in the center.  All the juices from the meat run into this ring, so your veggies get some flavor too.  It was pretty good.  We also decided to be daring and sample some of the local meats that they had available.

Trip pointing out the snake and crocodile meat.  We also had kangaroo, beef, and chicken

Our favorites turned out to be kangaroo and ostrich.  Mom, Dad, and Steve all had ostrich and let us taste it

They also had goat meat available, but that just didn't sound like it would be good, so we didn't end up getting any.  The next day, we went out to a floating village.  The people live along a river and lake.  The houses are built on stilts and during the rainy season the water comes right up to their doors.  It was dry season while we were there, so we had to boat out to the lake to see some of them actually floating.  On our way, a bunch of the children in the villages and boats would come out to wave to us.  So cute!

Fishing is how the locals eat out here so they have to fish daily

Part of the floating village from a distance

One of the floating houses up close.  It's not an easy looking lifestyle, but it is pretty chill

Ladies coming to sell clothes to the village

Random pigs...and probably someone's dinner

Traditional boat, that is also selling fruit door to door

On our way back from the floating village, we had Di stop at some roadside stands.  He was kind enough to introduce us to some local "treats".

It's hard to tell what I am holding because the car was bouncing too much for a clear picture, but that is a fried cricket.  And yes, I ate it  :)

You can see the cricket better in this picture.  Trip really liked them and ate several.  They kind of tasted like french fries

How to eat a cricket, by Trip Baker

We also tried a snack that is rice, coconut milk, sugar and beans cooked in a bamboo stick.  It was pretty tasty.

Trip with his spoils

That night we went to a dinner and dance show.  The dancing was pretty cool and definitely different than other cultural dances I have seen.

The dancing is fairly slow paced and more about hand and feet movements

This video is of the traditional dance that is depicted in most carvings in the temples.  The singing was done live as was the music.