'Couve trip

The kids and I went to the 'couve for a week! My friend Kym, who has been a mission trip in Uganda Africa for SIX years, is back! While we were there, we got to hang out with her and her three kids and do lots of other stuff in between! The night we arrived, after our 7 hour road trip, we celebrated my dad's birthday. We are always up for a good party and chocolate cake! Don't you love how the kids put all the candles on one side? Maybe Brayden wanted to be the only one to blow them out....

The next morning we headed over to Kym's mom's house. Her backyard is a kids perfect play place! We met Bella, played baseball with the boys and went swimming!

The next morning we met Kym and Lindsey at the park. Our eight kids had lots of fun together. So much fun in fact, the boys decided they were too hot and needed to take their shirts off. (It was 60 degrees out). I laughed out loud when I turned around and saw these guys! Brayden has the ball, Andrew, Lindsey's son is sportin' his pajama pants under his shorts, and Eli (Kym's son) is hanging out in the background.

Ellie, Carter, Brayden and Julie

On Friday we drove up to Long Beach to meet my college roommate, Julie, and her son, Carter. This was by far the most relaxing day of the trip. The kids are old enough now where they just played and played and dug holes and flew a kite! Who knew it could be so easy to hang out at the beach? YAY us!

We all know if you're at the beach you HAVE to get ice cream. Even though the kids were shivering while they were eating it, they ate every last drop!

Me and my kiddos.

On Saturday we had a baby shower for my sister! It was lots of fun to see her friends, and my mom's friends. Some of them had never met my kids. It had been forever since I had seen them. And my Aunties were there!

Kalin, Dani, Ellie and Bianca

I got to go out with some friends from high school! It was so fun catching up and seeing everyone without kids tugging at us! :)

This pretty pic. is of the 'couve girls from 1997! The year after we graduated.

This pic. was taken last weekend! I was lucky enough to hang out with eight of my high school friends. I was so thrilled to just be there and see everyone. It is really amazing how well everyone is doing and how successful everyone is! Happy times!

Meghan, Sarah, Lindsey, Jocey, Christy, Amanda, Kym, Amber and Kathy

Thanks for hosting Kathy! Your house is beautiful and I had such a great time! I will look forward to our reunion next year on the East side of the state! I will be sending the triathlon info. soon! You can already register for next year.

That's right everyone, these girls committed to doing the Race the River triathlon with me next July! YAY!

Sprint Triathlon

Race the River in Coeur d' Alene, ID Sprint Triathlon
It's over and I survived! Overall, it was a lot better than I expected it to be! The race course was beautiful and everything was set up so well! Everyone involved was so friendly and so helpful, it was a blast!

Kent drove me out at 5:45 in the morning so I could be at the "athlete" meeting at 6:30 to hear the directions and rules. Here I am setting up my transition station. I really had no clue what I was doing, I just set up my stuff like everyone else, it worked out well.

This lovely picture of me is before the swim start, the beginning of the race.

I'm pretty sure I'm not in this picture, Kent had a hard time finding me, it was just a bunch of purple caps and goggles, slowly moving through the water. We swam in the Spokane River and it was pretty much disastrous for me. I guess it could have been worse....but it was much harder than I had anticipated. I started out strong, maybe a little too strong because soon, I was gasping for breath and I couldn't get my breathing pattern down right. I turned over on my back and did the back stroke which was fantastic, until I realized I was zig-zagging down the course. The helpers in the kayaks kept yelling, "You're too close to the shore, head out into the river, OR you're too far into the river head back to the buoys! Do you need help? Are you ok?" I just sat up and smiled to let them know I was doing just dandy, I didn't exactly have enough air to speak to them though.....I made it, and it was the most relieved I have felt in a long time....I smiled the whole time I ran to get to my bike, I was so thrilled that part was over! My mom said everyone looked the same way that I did (the smiling part, not the zig-zagging part). Mom always knows how to make me feel better about being such a jack-ass. :)

On my way to the bike, passing my cheering section! All my chillin's, my mom, Kent's mom and my Auntie Jan, Kent took the pic. They all made me smile and feel so good!

I LOVED the bike section and I felt like I was flying (I didn't have to pull 80lbs. behind me)! The girls were on the sidelines screaming, instead of behind me telling me to go faster!

My camera battery died so there are no cute shots of me running. So sad, I know. Just wanted to let all of you who supported me that I survived and I actually had fun! I want to sign up for another one! Who wants to join me??

**Edit** I forgot to include my results: The whole thing took me 1 hour 40 minutes. Which I was happy with, my goal was under 2 hours.

1/2 mile swim (including zig-zag): 24:44
11 mile bike: 37:52
3 mile run: 32:40

Now I have something to look forward to and try to beat the next time!

Good Friends and Great fun!

We got to go play at the Layden's house earlier this week! We love playing with Julie, Victoria, Madison and Carson. Julie has a crazy life like mine, three young kids all close in age. It's so nice to be able to hang out and relate to someone who is in the same exact stage of life as me! :) Victoria and Madison take it upon themselves to care for my girls when we're around! I love it!

Victoria is 6 and Madison is 5. Carson who is almost 4, hangs with Brayden and they have lots of "adventures" together.

While the girls were swinging and playing so nicely, this is what the boys were doing in between shooting each other with Super-Soakers:

Good times!

No fear for these guys! Thanks for a fun day Laydens, we'll be back soon!

July's top 8..so far

I keep saying how busy we are, but I'm not sure what we've been doing....here are some shots of some of the things that we've been up to, to enjoy the Summer sun!
1. Swimming play dates! Cousins Eliette and Preston came over to make pizzas for lunch and take a dip in our pool. The kids loved it!

2. I just LOVE my Auntie Sandy. She sent these stickers weeks ago, but I have been waiting for the perfect outfit to use them on. Yes, we have 2 sheets of them, but I don't want a single sticker to go to waste. I know there will be some good outfits this Fall for school!

This is the latest, with Summer and less clothes, the outfits aren't as great as they were with tights, skirts, pants, sweaters and multiple, multiple layers, but I thought these outfits would suffice. I think Ellie knew I was making fun of her (who would have thought, I would ever do that?) She didn't want her sticker on for long. :) Next time I will slap it on her back like you suggested Auntie Sandy! Thanks!

3. Can you believe my baby boy is going to be in Kindergarten in less than 2 months!? Children's Place had a sale on backpacks so we took advantage of it. Brayden picked out the sports one, I was trying to get him to go for the solid red one, but I let go of that control. :) He also picked out a matching lunch box, it took me two days to realize he doesn't need a lunch box because he will be having lunch at home, he is going to A.M. Kindergarten. Oh well, we've already used it for some picnics....my brain is so confused.

4. Swimming at a friend's house. We walked down the street and spent an afternoon with my friend Stephanie, who has 5 children! The last two are girl twins, who are a year younger than mine. We love to spend time with them. The kids played and played until I made them go home for "rest time."

Sammy, Chloe, Addison and Rachel

5. Long bike rides. A few weeks ago we took a ride to the Idaho state line.... I think it was about 20 miles round trip. All I know was that it was very hot and I was very tired by the end of it. The kids did great!

6. Uncle Pete's B-day! We were lucky enough to have a party for Uncle Pete while he was in town from Florida! What fun, we sure do know how to party with all of these kids. Nothing like banana cake and otter pops!

Kent and Kelly lovin' Grandma's special banana cake!

7. Sandy is retired! Kent's mom is officially retired! In celebration, Kent fixed up a bike for her. This bright blue bike used to be my Great Aunt Jean's. It has been in my Grandparent's garage for years and years, it's from the 60s (?) and it was/is in perfect condition, except for the dust and some rusting. Kent undertook the challenge and worked and shined and buffed and replaced parts and got it all ready for Sandy to cruise around on. Hopefully after some training she can join us on our rides. :) The kids thought it was great!

8. Silverwood! My wonderful neighbors/friends and I took all of our children to Silverwood Theme Park/ Boulder Beach water park. This is the first all day, intense adventure that I have undertaken as a single parent (Kent had to work). Here we are waiting for our friends to arrive (they were 45 minutes late, that was a HUGE bummer). The kids did great though, I think I was more impatient than them, can you imagine, me?!

We hit the water park first and the kids dove into the wave pool. Brayden keeps telling everyone how he "surfed on his tummy with his life jacket in the waves." I'm thinking he was just floating and bobbing. Whatever works though....

Ellie





Dani

Ellie, Brayden, Dani. In case you were wondering....Dani tinkled twice in her swimsuit while we were standing in a line, this does not count any of the times she tinkled in the pools. :) Don't you love parents like me? We just non-chalantly move out of line to some new destination. GROSS I know. What am I going to do with this girl??? I bought brand new Tinker Bell panties just for HER. I told her she could wear them and she didn't have to share (probably the only thing in the world that's just hers). The first thing she does is shares them with Ellie, sweet I know, but what is going to motivate her?? Today she wore them all morning until 1:30 and was dry! We sat on the potty, at least 4 times with no tinkles. At 1:30 she panics, says she needs a diaper, and WILL NOT sit on the potty.....errrr, so much for panties.

Anyway..... send your tips my way! Here are most of the kids waiting in line. (There were eight kids and 4 moms. I had the MOST and the YOUNGEST, I am a party to be with!)

Ellie, Dani, Ryan, Lily, Brayden, Gavin, Kaiden. (Erika was in the bathroom). YAY for Silverwood, we had a blast, but I was so exhausted it took me a couple of days to recover! We didn't get home 'til 8 and we all went straight to bed, sweaty and stinky with no showers. We scrubbed clean the next morning!

We are having a great Summer, in 5 days we head to the 'Couve! What have you been doing with your Summer days?

Hiking

Over the long weekend, we decided to go out and about, even though the weather was crummy. We put on our hiking sandals and hoodies and headed to Tubb's Hill in Couer d' Alene. Kent and I used to go out here all the time before children, to hike and swim, but not so much in the last few years. This was the first time the kids have hiked. They LOVED it! This is Madge (?) the Moose at the trail head. A local author wrote a book about a moose and a mouse (peaking over the antlers) and the adventure they go on in the city. You can actually follow a trail and find them throughout downtown. I am thinking we need to do this soon, Brayden is very interested in it. For now, they got to stand by it. :)

Hiking up the hill (it really is actually a rough terrain) with Couer d ' Alene resort in the background. It was overcast, but still beautiful.

We chose a huge rock to sit on and enjoy our picnic lunch, it was a tad windy.

And we all made it back in one piece! We had a few falls, no, surprisingly it was NOT me, but the kids got right back up and continued on. I think we will be doing this again. This adventure was a success!

BTW, after this hike I went and rode the route where my sprint race is going to be. It was very manageable, and I think I'll do fine, but the road is super narrow, it was pouring down rain, and a few cars almost ran me off the road. Other than that, all was well! I am really hoping they close that road for the actual race. I'm not very good at multi-tasking (balancing, pedaling, AND watching for cars) and being safe.

Mish-Mosh

We have been lucky enough to have Uncle Pete here visiting us from Florida. He brought over a special project for the kids that he calls "mish-mosh." The kids were counting down the days until he came to do the project!

Prep work, cleaning out the molds.

Uncle Pete pouring the mish? Or is it the mosh?

How scary is it to mix cement with 3 children? Apparently not at all for Uncle Pete. I was hands off with this project, it all seemed overwhelming to me, I was in charge of taking pics. Ellie and Dani were in charge of pouring/spraying the water and B and P mixed the cement.

Yes, it is a little bit dirty.....

Dani and Ellie thought watering the neighbor's weeds may be a better/easier job.

Brayden stuck it out though. He is such a good worker and his stepping stone turned out amazing!

These are the stepping stones all set up to dry. Uncle Pete came back two days later to help take them out. There is a lot of special technique to this. I am pretty sure I would have cracked them, or there would have been lots of air bubbles!

B tapping his palm tree out.

YAY, you can't really tell how cool it is. B was thrilled!

Ellie tapping hers out.

Dani showing where her hand fits in hers!

Thanks Uncle Pete for such a memorable, fun project! We will treasure these forever!

8 years and counting.....

Happy anniversary Kent! Thank you for an exciting, memorable eight years, with lots more to come! I love you!