Ben

Ben and I had a nice walk to the park this morning, enjoying the beautiful fall weather.  We explored the dried-up creek for crawdads, then walked to the sand park to play.  I was sitting down reading my book when the following conversation occured:

Ben:  Mom, the slide is too wet to go down.

Me:  Sorry Buddy, I don't have anything to dry it off with.

Ben:  Well, why don't you just tear out one of the pages of your book and use it?  One of the pages you've already read?

Funny boy.

Ragnar Relay

I've found a new love...and its name is Ragnar!! Cherie has done multiple Ragnar Relay races with her friends and she finally convinced me to join up. The race was 186 miles, starting in San Francisco and ending in Napa Valley. You have a team of 12 who take turns running legs of the race. Our team split into two vans of six runners and each runner had three legs total. We started at 9:30 am Friday, Sept. 16th and ran for 29 hours and 10 minutes, ending at about 3pm on Saturday!! We had such a blast! My legs were 3.9 miles, 5.1 miles, then 3.2 miles. I convinced Robyn and my good friend Tricia to join our team, and our van included Brooke, who is from Cherie's ward and Brooke's sister-in-law Jane. The other van was made up of other girls from Cherie's ward.

Here we are bright and early leaving from Cherie's house to drive down to San Francisco:

Here are all 12 girls at the starting line:

L to R: Cherie, myself, Robyn, Kiersten, Tricia, Jane, Brooke, Christina, Diana, Carrie, Kirsten, Jen

Here's the Elk Grove gang:

Cherie taking off on the first leg. She got to run on the Golden Gate Bridge.

Cherie handed off to Brooke and I was next. I got to run through Sausalito, right next to the ocean for my first leg.

 

 

Our team name was San Fran-tic for a Nap-a, which explains the pajamas and eye covers we all wore. Robyn is showing off our van while we waited for Tricia to come into one of the exchanges:

After all of the six runners in our van did their first legs, we got about a five hour break. We stopped and got some lunch:

Then we had some time to relax. That was so nice:

By the time my second leg came, it was about 8:30 at night. So I took off for my 5-miler donning my headlamp, taillight and reflective vest. It had a few fairly steep hills so I was a little worried, but it turned out to be pretty much my funnest run ever! I so love to run at night and I was running through some peaceful, rolling farmland. And though this may be one of the worst photos taken of me ever, it does sum up how I was feeling afterwards:

Cherie actually jumped out to run with me for a small stretch of the biggest hill. I had the best team!

After our second legs we were able to go to a hotel, get a shower and get about 2 1/2 hours of shut eye before we jumped back in the van for our final legs. My last leg was so beautiful. I got to run right through the middle of a beautiful vineyard in the mid-morning. Absolutely perfect! And even with hills I was very happy with a 9-minute mile pace.

 

 

And...we made it!!! Here is van 1 after our final legs, waiting in line for a free massage:

Afterwards, we had several hours before van 2 finished, so we stopped in Napa in an upscale food court and got some super yummy food:

At the finish line, a little tired, a little dirty, but loving life after a ton of fun, and some crazy runs. We did it!!

My Running Buddies!

I've been training for a big race in September and have been enjoying my runs with teammates Robyn and Tricia.  Here we are before a night run with all of our night gear on:

Rachel's 7th Birtday Party

We had a water party for Rachel this year.  We went to the park and played water games and had a water balloon fight.

Her guests included:  Taylor, Olivia, Rachyl, Allison, Daisy, Chiara, Caitlyn and Aubreigh.

I think their favorite part of the party was the ice cream sundaes.  They kept going back for more and more toppings.  We went through a whole bottle of sprinkles and a can of whipped cream! 

The next day we had a family party and opened presents.  Her favorite gifts were roller blades and an MP3 player. 

Rachel is growing up so fast!  She is independent and very capable.  She is an excellent student and a great reader.  She still loves all things girly and enjoys being active.  She loves playing "school" and writing down her thoughts.  She changes outfits as often as possible and loves doing her own hair.  She loves to be with her friends and listen to music.

Gold Rush Days

We spent Labor Day at Old Sacramento during Gold Rush Days.  It's fun to see all of the period dress and displays.  We used a new feature on the camera to get some old time photos:

















The kids had a good time panning for gold and getting it weighed on the scale. 

We also looked in some fun stores and the kids tried on some masks:

Ice Skating

Last March Rachel was invited to a friend's birthday party at the ice skating rink.  Ever since that time she has been begging me to take her for her birthday.  So I took her along with her cousins.  They had the best time!  Rachel is an excellent ice skater.  She fell a few times but always got right back up and had no fear of speed.  It was a lot of fun.

Getaway to Lake Tahoe

Bryan and I were able to take a weekend in August to go to Lake Tahoe.  We found a great condo close to King's Beach. 

We found some yummy places to eat while we were there, including this little restaurant where we a enjoyed a delicious breakfast:


King's Beach:

We spent a good part of our first day out on the lake with a boat we borrowed from our friends.  It was so relaxing to just spend time together and enjoy the beautiful views.

After a yummy dinner we watched part of the sunset from the beach.

The second day we decided to drive to the south shore (I had to have a buffet!).  It was a beautiful drive.  Emerald Bay is one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen.

After our buffet brunch we walked around a bit, thought about a gondola ride,

but decided on a duck tour.  Big mistake.  What a waste of money.  Oh well.

Overall, it was a fantastic trip and it was hard to leave.  We enjoyed our ride home on Hwy 50 and took time to stop along the way at Bridal Veils to enjoy the river.  I'm so thankful to live so close to so much beauty.  Thanks to wonderful family who watched the kiddos so that we could enjoy some one-on-one time!!

First Day of School 2011

The kids started school on August 15th.  Rachel is in 2nd grade and her teacher is Mrs. Williams.  She looked so cute in her pink outfit:

Ben started kindergarten this year and has Mrs. Garbini.  He decided on a Star Wars shirt for his first day:

All ready to go with their backpacks.


Rachel in her new classroom with Olivia and Daisy:

Waiting in line to go in to kindergarten with his good buddie Tyler Parrish:

The "first day" actually turned out to just be a half-hour orientation. 

After the orientation I told Ben that he wasn't going to stay, he was going to come home with me.  He was so disappointed that he couldn't stay and eat his lunch, so we stuck around outside and ate at the tables outside of his classroom.

Sprint Triathlon

I decided to try the longer distance triathlon this year which is a 1/2 mile swim, 16 mile bike, and 3 mile run.  Here I am getting ready for the swim portion:

In transition, getting ready for the bike ride:

After the race with Bryan and the kids who came to support me:

I felt well prepared for this race and was very happy with how I did.  I realized at the end of my run that I might come in under 2 hours.  So I pushed myself and came up with a 1:59 race.  I love triathlons - so much fun!

Summer Swimming

I found a Groupon for a one-month membership to a gym and decided that would be a good way to stay cool this summer.  It was so nice to be able to hang out and beat the heat at the pool.  And I was able to work out while the kids played in the play center.  The membership lasted just long enough for them not to be tired of playing at the play center and allowed me to train for my triathlon.  Thank you Groupon for a fun July!