Summer 2010: Summer Fun!

Summer took it's sweet time coming so when it finally did we took full advantage of it! There is a large park near our home with a single water feature that the kids LOVE! Just look at the joy on their faces!

We also got to head to the zoo, thanks to a good friend with a season pass!!

NayNay loved feeding the birds! There were so many and they came right up to him and ate and ate and ate! Look at those happy eyes!

FeFe loved feeding the goats. She loved it so much, she would even let them lick her fingers! NayNay, on the other hand, wanted nothing to do with them.

We can't wait to go again this year!

Summer 2010: All our runs!

For those of you that don't know, Curtice has become something of a runner. It's what he does. He plans his days around his running schedule. He wakes up EARLY (6 am) on the only day he can sleep in, to go running. He started running a few years ago and has slowly increased his running until he can do 10, 15, even 20 mile runs at once. In June of 2010, Curtice ran his first Marathon! He trained...

He found some fans...

And he ran!! He did a great job! The first picture is around the 13-14 mile mark and the second one is at the finish line! The kids and I were so proud of him!! You would think after accomplishing such a large feat, he'd be happy to step away and boast that he's done it once, but no, he's doing it again this year!!

In addition to his running, he signed both of us up to run a relay race called RAGNAR. For those of you that are not familiar with the organization, it's a 200 mile relay race that has 12 runners on a team. Each runner has to run 3 of the 36 legs starting early Friday morning and ending Saturday afternoon. Now that sounds like no big deal for a marathon runner, but before doing this it had been about 12 years since I had done any type of exercising except chasing my kids. Our team was called "15 kids and running.....away" (that was the number of children we had between everyone on our team). A good friend of ours was kind enough to decorate our van, representing each couple that was running . See how cute we are!!

We started the race and ran through some truly beautiful areas (although the runner on this leg may think differently!).

We all waited at the finish line and ran together the last 100 feet! What a fun experience, so fun in fact that we're doing it again this year...twice!!

The End of PRE for My NayNay!

After a great year of co-op preschooling, graduation arrived (this was in June, I'm just a little behind)!! The kids were all wonderful and NayNay has really missed seeing them. All summer long he has asked where each of his preschool friends are.

For graduation each mom provided a fun element. We had awards, treats, playing at the park, fun hats, and ...these amazing cupcakes! Each child had their own MONSTER cupcake and if you look right over NayNay's shoulder you'll see a plate of APPLE cupcakes for each teacher.

I really enjoyed co-op teaching in the preschool and would definitely do it again. It was so great to have a break most the time but also have an opportunity to see first hand how my own child was doing. I guess now I'll just have to volunteer in his kindergarten class to see him!

Summer Gardening

This year a friend convinced/showed me how easy it is to garden, starting small. She gave me three pots, suggested three easy to grow items, and my garden was born! The kids helped with the plants, helped with the water, helped the the picking, and best of all, helped with the eating. Our broccoli gave us one good harvest, the peas a good two months of constant picking, and the squash came on so fast, I lost most the harvest. It was great and I can't wait to try more and different kinds!!

A day out at the zoo.

A good family friend, Kelley, took us to a wonderful zoo near our home. It was so great because it showcased the animals that are natural to our region. We got to ride a train around and see the animals right up close. We saw:

A bear (this one was enclosed),

some buffalo,
an elk (it is an elk, right?),
and lots more! Kelly, who loves the outdoors, showed us a plant that has leaves that grow like a butterfly! FeFe loved it!!
This was the view from the train at the highest spot in the zoo! What a wonderful day for a fun zoo trip!

In preparation for...Hawaii!!

Since we are going to Hawaii this fall, we thought it best that the kids have some water exposure. The kids LOVED their lessons and were sad when they ended. One of their favorite things was zipper - airplane - rocket, which FeFe is demonstrating below (check out that form!!).

NayNay learned to do all kinds of strokes and by the end of 6 weeks was doing all of them without help of any kind!! What a fast learner!
They loved jumping in, almost too much!! Kinda scary for a mommy!

But most of all they loved free-time. Hawaii, here we come!

For the love of BLANKET!

As long as she has her blanket, she can sleep anywhere!!