Rainier to Ruston 2015

June and July were crazy months for us!! I think we had multiple things going every weekend!

To start it all off we ran the Rainier to Ruston Relay on June 6th for the second time! It's not as fun as the Ragnar relay but trying to get 6 people to commit to this was hard enough!! We barely put a team together about a week before the race. I was starting to think it wasn't going to happen!

We weren't too great about taking pictures. I may have taken more but since my phone ordeal I still haven't found all my photos. :( 

Daniel and I ran different legs than we did last year. I started the race with leg 1. It was 5 miles! I was excited about the different legs because they were longer than I have run in the past so I had to push myself and train hard. For once I didn't have one of the easiest legs. :) We were up super early and it was a long day but worth it at the end!

My legs were giving me a hard time leading up to race day. Crazy painful. My awesome chiropractor fixed me up 2 days before. I may have looked funny walking around taped like this but it worked! I felt no pain on my 5 mile leg!

Endless bathroom line!

Starting line!

Brothers!

My second leg didn't go as well as the first. It was really hot!! I was a little disappointed with my time, but I finished!! (Thanks Daniel for trying to document our race! I don't think I have any videos of him!).

Our team running to the finish line!

Our friend Kevin's business sponsored us this year. We used his Excursion and they had shirts printed for us! Our team name was Downhill Warriors and Daniel even designed the shirts!!

This is the beginning of the race. I am one of the last people to run through the start.

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We had been researching cars for while. Our van's transmission was ready to go any day and with the weather heating up I was scared I would be stuck on the side of the road with the kids!! Plus the A/C was acting up (again), one of the doors was finicky when it was warm, etc. The list goes on. So, a few days before we ran the relay this happened...

A huge rock flew in to the windshield! It scared me half to death!! My heart was pounding and my ears were ringing for about 5 minutes from the sound of the hit. I was so very thankful that it didn't shatter. I was very impressed at the almost perfect arc that it made. Now I could add 'needs new windshield' to the list of van problems.

So, back to car hunting. We test drove several cars from an Excursion to an Escalade. Daniel would have bought the Escalade if it was up to him but I was insisting on having 8 seats. On our way home, after our really long day of running, we drove past a car lot in Puyallup and a Yukon XL caught my eye. After we dropped everyone off and unloaded the car we loaded up the kids and took our stinky selves to go look at it. It was close to their closing time so I was trying to say we would think about it and decide on Monday. We hadn't eaten dinner yet and the kids were ready to go home but we caved. It has everything we were looking for in our price range.

So we said good bye to our faithful Ody...

And hello to the Yukon!! (and a car payment, boo!!)

We ended up grabbing dinner after we got the car at like 9pm then headed home!! It was such a long day!!

May

My poor blog is neglected again. I am behind. My phone took a beating a few weeks ago and I had to get it replaced. I tried to copy all of my photos over from the old one but for some reason not all of them made it. I have been putting off blogging hoping that some how, miraculously the photos would re appear and I could do a proper blog post. I've decided that isn't going to happen. So, here is my May wrap up, missing about the half the pictures. :/

May brought some nice weather, Mother's Day and potty training!! Pretty exciting stuff around here.

They are constantly asking to have a lemonade stand. Johnny was also selling some of his 'art'. Some very nice people in the neighborhood stopped and bought some. So grateful for nice people. :)

We went on a group date to a Go cart racing place! It was so fun! Daniel always beats me so I was trying so so so hard to at least come in second! On the very first lap my car died!! I was stopped behind a little structure so the guy running the place didn't see me and everyone kept driving right past me! I think they all did 2 or 3 laps before the guy stopped them all so he could help me. Then he gave all of them a lecture about how they were supposed to stop if someone got stuck. He was mad that they all kept going! After that my car worked fine and no one else got stuck. I almost had the second place guy but not quite. Third place out of 6 isn't too bad!

Ballet picture day!!

We have been using a chore chart around here. The kids get a quarter for every check mark they get. They get check marks for emptying the dishwasher, setting/clearing the table, taking out the trash, help cleaning the bird cage, sweeping and helping with Opal. If they don't do a chore, they don't get the check mark. We are not forcing them to do it. It seems to be working really well!! Johnny saved up enough money to buy a Razor Scooter!! He was so excited and is pretty good on it!

I know this is hard to see but I thought their drawings were cute. They were supposed to pose the skeleton then draw it. I love how different the pictures are!

Water table time!

Our little climber helping Dad!!

I got to take this little man to the Mommy Son dance! We were just sitting down on a Friday night to start a movie when it hit me that the dance was that night! I checked the clock and figured if we left right then we wouldn't be too late! I felt a little bit bad because we didn't dress up or anything! He didn't know we were going until 5 minutes before we left so there was no excitement build up. We got there a little after it started and had a good time anyway! There were still plenty of cupcakes and punch. We did a lot of dancing. They also had crafts and little things to play with on the table. I took a really funny video of him dancing but unfortunately, that was one of the things I couldn't get off my phone! This kid has moves I tell ya'!

I did get to go flying a couple times in May! A little rusty, but it all comes back.

Potty training requires no underwear out side.

Mother's Day with my munchkins!!

Addie gave me this 50 page book that she wrote and illustrated all by herself for a Mother's Day gift! I love it!! The story is really cute and says how she feels about sharing a room with Opal! :)

April Wrap up

April was another busy month for us! Lots of fun things to do and the weather started warming up a little bit!

Family bingo night at the Parks and Rec. We didn't win any games but we did win a raffle prize. We won admission for the family to our favorite children's museum. We are pretty excited about that! We also won a book about Puyallup or local art or something, I don't really remember. We traded it with the family at our table that had won some little kid toys and games. Her kids were teenagers. :)

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We have been working hard on reading and writing with this guy. Trying to find a comfortable pencil grip for him. I am so amazed at his drive and desire to read and spell!!

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This girl is such a sneak! We often leave the pantry door open and she ALWAYS goes in there, climbs on the step stool and helps herself to snacks. Can't blame her for loving those snacks!

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We were able to attend the Spring fair in Puyallup. We sure do love that place. The 2 older kids were both tall enough to go on the huge Ferris wheel this year. I happily took them while Daniel stayed on the ground with the 2 littles!

Fair donut holes! Yumm.

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In this house we are all about Groupon and Amazon local. If we go somewhere fun or try out a new place to eat it's most likely because we got a deal from one of those places. One Saturday morning we ventured to Epic donuts. Not only were these things fancy but they were HUGE! I think Johnny picked the biggest one there! They were all pretty tasty and didn't disappoint.

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Opal is the worst teether. She takes it pretty hard and I feel so bad for her. Not only is she cranky but she also has the yuckiest diapers and she throws up! Not cool. So we have been doing lots of snuggling and lots of laundry around here!

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There is a trail not far from our house called the Orting Trail. It is pretty popular for walking/running and biking on. I like it because it is flat. It's the perfect place to take the family for a jog/bike ride. We tried to get out one day and ride bikes and it was all fun until I wanted to take a picture. Then people got cranky. I think we ended up going about 3 miles. Poor Daniel got to jog while pushing the two little ones in the heavy jogging stroller. One day I will buy a bike trailer to put them in and we can all ride!

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We added 2 new additions to our family in April! Meet Frank (the green one) and Lily (the blue one). We really want a dog but figure this is just not the right time for us and Daniel said absolutely no more cats so we settled on some birds. They are not as outgoing as I was hoping for. They actually freak out every time we go near their cage. But they are fun to look at and I do like the quiet chirping all day. They are not too loud which I am happy about. The only time it kind of bothers me is when (on a rare occasion) I am trying to take a nap. I need it to be quiet. :)

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We got Johnny's room all painted and moved him in! I need a few more decorations up then I can post the final pictures!!

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I love it when these 2 get a long and play nicely!

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 Another Groupon deal we purchased was a field trip to Auntie Anne's Pretzel. We got a little history lesson on where pretzels came from and how they are made. Then the kids got to try it out. They twisted and rolled the dough in to pretzels! After that they each got to eat one (made by an Auntie Anne's employee) and sip on lemonade. They had a blast!

My other kids were there too, I can't seem to find all the other pictures!!

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April Travels Part 2

Our second trip in April was to Chelan, WA. Daniel was going for a work conference so I decided I needed to tag a long! Our original plan was to go just us to since we didn't do anything big for our anniversary and we weren't going to Cancun for my friend's wedding. Opal had her own plans and just wasn't ready to let me go overnight. She still wasn't sleeping through the night consistently and we didn't want to leave her with anyone. 

We stayed at Campbell's Resort. We have stayed there a few times and I really like it. It is right on the water so every room has an awesome view and they have pools, hot tubs and a beach area! We got up early each day and we went to (a free) breakfast with Daniel. The conference gave them breakfast and lunch each day and a BBQ dinner one night! It was such an inexpensive trip for me to tag along! We did manage to sneak out to the hot tub (that was right outside our room) one night. Gotta love cell phones and their ability to turn in to baby moniters. :)

We were able to go out on a few walks while Daniel was busy and explore! She wasn't too sure about the samd!

She did love watching the ducks! We may or may not have fed them a few crackers. :)

This was the view one evening from our balcony! Such a relaxing place to be. I do like it better in the summer thought. For some reaosn I was thinking since we were going to Eastern Washington that it would be warm. Not the case in April. I didn't pack enough warm clothes for Opal and I. We were in sweatshirts and pants the whole time!

The second afternoon during their 'snack' break between speakers, they had a huge ice cream sundea bar! Daniel woke me up from my nap to bring me this! Soo yummy!

On our way in to Chelan I noticed a sign for a zipline. I really wanted to check it out when we left. Friday morning we checked out from the hotel and headed out. I called first to make sure the ziplines were open and luckily they were not busy and they had 2 guys working right then so we drove over to check it out! We were going to go 1 at a time becuase we had the baby but one of the employess mom happened to be there and she said she would watch her so we could both go! I was a little nervous because Opal doesn't do well with people and I didn't know this lady at all. I could see them the whole time we were out on the lines and Opal did great!

The zipline was built on a huge piece of land. The beginning of our 'tour' started at this rock ledge. You can see all the way down the river. It was so pretty! Then we continued higher up the hill until we reached the first zipline. There were 3 total. The first one was pretty easy, not too crazy. The second was a little longer/steeper. The third was the big one! It was about 120 feet up and they said you get going close to 60mph! I didn't get nervous until I stood up on the little platform and the wind was blowing. I was brave though and went off backwards! The tour guy told Daniel I got my money's worth by doing it that way! I wish I had gotten viedo of Daniel going down it!

It was a quick, fun trip! I am still looking forward to going somewhere with no kids!! Some day.