Race the River/Girls weekend!

                                                                  Pi and Jocey

                                                                   Kym, Lins and Megs 
                                                             Missing:  Kathy and me

Girls, girls, girls!  On the last weekend of July my 'Couve girls headed my way so we could compete in the Race the River triathlon!  1/2 mile swim, 11 mile bike and 3 mile run.  We were all stoked and so excited to spend the four days together!  There was seven of us here and five of us ran the race.  Pi had little Riley in May, so she wasn't quite up for the training, and Jocey didn't compete because the race was held on a Sunday.  Such a bummer, but it was so nice to have fans cheering us on!  They made all the difference in getting me across the finish line!  Unfortunately I couldn't figure out how to get all of their great pics. onto my blog, so I am using Kent's, which are great, but he doesn't have quite the fancy camera that those chicas had.

 Me heading out uphill on the bike....sorry girls, I didn't have access to any of your shots on the bike.....

                                            Meghan Simmons finish time of 1:24.  She ROCKED it!

Kathy Fry:  finish time of 1:27. Way to go Kathy, she was a SPEED runner!

Christy Phillips: Finish time of 1:32

                                                            Kym Langford: finish time of 1:40

                                                             Lindsey Kralj: finish time of 1:42

We all agreed it felt like a tremendous accomplishment to complete it, but we could do without the horrendous swim in the freezing river.  Next year, no triathlon, just a girls weekend away, Lins, do you have the house all squared away for us????  Sunriver here we come!?!

It was a fun filled weekend, that included lots of catching up, laughing and filling our souls with "goodness" that only lifelong friends can fill.  It's amazing how many people come into and out of your lives and I feel very fortunate to have great friends in my life right now that surround me and support me, but it's these girls that have been through it all with me!   I had to laugh at how we are now moms and have families of our own, but we are all the same as we were in high school.  The planners, the stressers, the easy going ones, the pleasers, the care takers, we all have our little quirks or personality traits that make us us, and we all love each other for them! 

I can't wait for our weekend next summer where there will be no anticipation or stress involved with a race.  Maybe just spa treatments and giggling with my 'Couve girls !

The best cheer team ever!

Dirty Dash

The first annual 10k  Dirty Dash was held in Spokane this year!  I'm pretty sure I was one of the first ones to sign up, our number was 65 and there were 4000 participants!  Let me just say, it was a little nutty!  Luckily we were one of the first heats so we were there before 9 and outta there by 1......yes that was quite a while but it got crazy!    

 We were supposed to wear costumes and do fun stuff, this hair do was about as wild as I got.  The girls thought it was soooo cool, so I did theirs too.  I included this pic. cuz it's my new favorite one of Dani.  I think her eyes look so gorgeous in it....Ellie and I are struggling a bit, but Dan looks beautiful!  Love that girl!

Kent and I did the race with our neighbor friends, Jackie and Chris.  They came to pick us up and Chris bounded out of the van looking like this!  Kent and I were dying,  pretty sure he chose this "bro-zeer" because Kent HATES having attention called to him... there were def. lots of comments throughout the day!  :)

 Kent and I gearing up for the 6.2 miles through the woods.

 Jackie and I ready to roll.

 First obstacles, hay barrels, Chris attacked them!

 After the first mud obstacle, pools of mud then crawling through huge pipes!  No way around that.

 This was less than 1 mile into it.  These girls already had ditched their shoes and were going bare foot.  I couldn't believe it, we were in the woods, lots of rocks, branches.....owies!  However, little did I know a mere 3 miles later I would be walking it in my socks.  The problem is, once the mud is encased inside your shoe it hardens and there is no room for your little tootsies.  I had a few blisters that were something fierce, and mind you, I was doing the sprint triathlon the next morning.  Not so good....my feet were so bruised and hurt after walking 2 miles in socks, it made for a difficult tri.

 Jackie scaling the wall.

 Balance beams, I really love this guys swim cap.  I so want one, I just don't know what I would do with it....

 Pit stop!  At mile 4 they had kegs and root beer.  Lots of people hung there for a while!  :)

After the final water slide and mud pit!  It was a GREAT time and I would definitely do it again.... with different shoes, maybe Keens?  Let me know if you're in for next year!

Driveway s'mores

 A few weeks ago we were invited to an impromptu s'more roasting driveway party.  Our neighbors drug their fire pit from their backyard to their driveway.  I have to say, I really love our neighborhood!  There are about 10 kids that are Brayden's age.  I met their moms last year at the bus stop and we have all become good friends.  It's funny that it took 6+ years to meet ALL of them.  Now we are one big happy family, my kids are very lucky.

 Brayden got a JUMBO  marshmallow that he thought was pretty cool.

 Miss Manners, Ellie Bella

 Heather and Hayden

 Ready to roast, Dani is standing behind Brayden and Ellie.  I didn't get a good shot of her the whole night.

Half of the party.  What a fun night!