Summer fun

 Summer fun with cousins, Hunter and Noah.

 Bowling night out, (Ellie was at my parent's house for the week).

 This is what happened on our last walk/jog.  Dani said to me, "Mom, my handle bars are really wiggling." 
Me:  Thinking it wasn't too big of a deal, while we were at the top of the wee hill.  "If it's too hard, just get off and walk."
Dani:  "Ok." She got off and as she got off, the handle bars came with her.  So glad she was smart enough to make a good choice.  I ended up carrying this bike the rest of the way home.  (Those little, cheap bikes are HEAVY)!

 My handsome boy.  I am loving these apps where you can modify your pics.  A lot of evening  hours have been wasted playing with this stuff.

 Date night with one of my favorite girls.  Ellie was at my parent's and the boys were camping.  I am pretty sure this was the first time that we had a whole evening by ourselves.  We had so much fun!

This was a date night to celebrate our 11th anniversary.  We did a challenge/ropes course.  It was a blast!  Zip lining, a giant 40 foot swing, walking across beams and climbing poles and jumping to a trapeze all 40 feet up!

Liberty Lake Hike



 

We went on a hike a few weeks ago with the Lang family.  Kent is leading a hike tomorrow with the Cub Scout Pack, and being the good Eagle Scout that he is, he thought he should be prepared and know the trail.  We were his guinea pigs, to see how far was a reasonable distance for all the boys.  I have to say, I am pretty sure my little, six year old  girls will out hike any of those scouts. I was so proud of them.  We ended up hiking 7 miles with an elevation change of 1000 feet. (I know, I didn't realize Spokane had hills that tall).  ;)   It took 4, somewhat grueling hours with 5 kids, but boy were they proud when they finished!

                                                Gavin, Kaiden, Brayden,  Dani and Ellie

                                                            Chris, Jackie, Kaiden, Gavin

                                                                My  boys

                                                                    My babies

 When we finally got to the water fall, the kids asked, "Is this really it?"  The last hike we went on was up to Multnomah Falls.  They were slightly disappointed.  :)

 

4th of July fun

 

I just figured out how to upload my phone pics., so these next few posts will be out of order.  I finally got a smart phone (I am in love)!

 

 

We went grocery shopping on the 4th of July and kind of felt sorry for ourselves because we weren't out on a boat on a lake somewhere.  Last minute we went to Liberty Lake park to watch the fire works with the Langs.  I have never wanted to deal with the crowds (I grew up in Vancouver where they have "The biggest fireworks show West of the Mississippi", where it was a nightmare to get home. Plus I am old now), so we have never ventured out.

 

We had a great night though, we found a spot that wasn't too crowded, watched the 10 minute show and we were home 10  minutes later.  Success!

Valley Girl!



 

 

This was the first year that I participated in the Valley Girl sprint triathlon.  It was fantastic because it was only 5 miles from home, which meant that I didn't have to wake up at the crack of dawn.  The downside was that it's that hardest course that I have ever done.  This race may have pushed me into early retirement.  :)

 

Kelsey snapped this picture as I exited the swim.  I was elated to be done with that portion.  It took me 16 minutes to swim 1/3 of a mile, which seemed like an eternity.  I didn't feel like I was making any progress while I was in the lake.  My age group was the biggest pack there.  There were an insane amount of people in the water during my heat.  I ingested water right away and never recovered with a normal breathing pattern.



 Kent got these pictures as I cruised by.  The bike was difficult, it was windy and hilly.

 The run wasn't much fun either, (hilly and hot) am I convincing anyone how great sprint tris are?  I really do enjoy competing, but this was a rough day for me.....not exactly sure why. 

 

 My little cheering squad, I tell ya, it makes all the difference to see your sweet family yelling for you.  I was so happy to see them along the tortuous route. 

This was the 10th anniversary for the Valley Girl race.  In celebration they gave each participant a medal, kind of fun.

 



Race weekend, first up: Dirty Dash

 

 

We had a busy weekend a few weeks ago.  Dirty Dash on Saturday and my sprint triathlon on Sunday.  First up, the Dirty Dash!  This was our third year participating and it was the best yet! 

 

 

Uncle Pete was in town from Florida, so he got to join us, and Kelsey, my fabulous friend from college, drove over from Seattle.  Our friends, the Langs, also joined us.

 

(These pics uploaded out of order and I don't have the patience to redo it).

 

                                                                 The boys before the race.
                                                 Jeremy, Jake, Chris, Kent and Uncle Pete

                                                                        After pic.

 

 

 

Before pics.

                                                              Kelsey and me before the race.