Ragnar 2010

At the finish line!

At the start line

What a difference a year makes!! I just went back and read my post about last years Ragnar and I can't believe what a different experience I had this year compared to last year. There were still REALLY big hills, still no good food, still NO SLEEP, (or very little) but this year I had no injuries, no nerves, and no disappointments. I was so crushed last year when my IT band injury cost me my finish but this year my knees were flawless. I stretched and rolled like crazy, and as my car can attest, I rubbed lots of oils on my legs to keep things loose, and it worked!! I was able to run all 3 of my legs at a pace that I've never before been able to keep. It felt so amazing to conquer Ragnar!! My first leg was 5.9 miles, my second was 3.4, and my third was 6.5. I was worried about my longest leg being my last but it was fine and I ran all my legs somewhere in the 8 minutes pace (8.27 - 8.55). This years experience really made me love Ragnar!! My car mates were the best and I am so grateful for the opportunity that we had to support each other, cheer each other on, laugh together, and finish the race. We laughed so hard for two days that my stomach hurt the rest of the weekend! David...you put it best. Ragnar this year was like being at summer camp! Thanks "campers" for making this years Ragnar the best! Can't wait for next year!

Last week we took our good friends the Thorpe's out with us on the boat. The weather here has been so beautiful and we enjoyed all the sunshine! We had a great time and Becky was such a good sport. Rick was out of town and she was worried about being alone with her 4 kiddos on the boat. Her kids did so great and she handled the chaos very well. Thanks for putting up with all our craziness Becky. :) It's hard to believe that it was just last summer that Mason didn't like the boat. Look at him now!! He was a crack up...he loved every minute of it. Riding the jet ski's, riding in the boat, riding on the tube, he was all smiles! Way to go Mason. Cate and Lauren loved the tubes and jet ski's too. We had to peel them all off the tube late in the evening. They were all shivering and their lips were blue but they didn't want it to end! I guess I remember that's how I was as a kid. We went with our other great friends as well, the Moulton's and the Gustin's. Jeff went wake boarding and was jumping the wake and getting air! It was such a wonderful evening and I will cherish the memories forever! Thanks to everyone for a great night!

Summer Sleep Overs

The kids love sleep overs! During the summer is when we do them the most. A few weekends ago they all asked if they could sleep in the family room on the blow up mattress. Here's what they all looked like in the am. Oscar even got in on the action! :)

Birch Bay 2010

I was actually able to get them all to sit still for just a moment to get this picture! :)

Our Lainey bug is such a character!!

We went up to Birch Bay this weekend to spend a few days with Jeff's family. It's so beautiful up there and the weather was perfect. We happen to come up on Birch Bay Days so there were a lot of festivities going on in town. There was a parade with lots of cool old cars, firetrucks, floats, and candy. My kids loved it! We played at the beach, collected shells, swam in Grandma's pool and ate lots of good food. Jeff's Uncle Jim and his family came up as well. A good time was had by all!!

Tacoma Rainiers Game

A few months back we took the kids to a Tacoma Rainiers Baseball Game. It was the Glacier Park Elementary night and we saw several of the kids friends at the game. The weather wasn't great and they had to postpone the start of the game by an hour or so. The rain didn't damper our fun though. We ate food and people watched until the game started. Since it started so late we weren't able to stay for the whole game but we had a great time and we'd defintely do it again!

Boating at Lake Samamish

Last weekends weather was amazing! We took the boat and our friends the Schneider's to the lake to ride the tube and knee board. We had such a great time, despite the bee sting, and wiping out on the knee board! (Sorry Bella! :) I am so impressed by the way kids can pick up anything new and conquer it. The Schneider kids had never knee boarded and they tried it once and got up. Way to go kids!

Seattle Center Fountain

We had some pretty hot days last week so I thought it would be fun to take my kids to the fountain at the Seattle Center and play in the water. It's free and a great way to get outside and cool off. Well, the fountain wasn't so much of a hit. It's pretty big (as you can see from the pics) and my kids were a bit scared by it. The only one of my kids that really wanted to get in at all was Abby and her friend Mikayla. Wyatt and Shane went in once clinging to my side as we ran in and touched the silver dome and then ran right back out. So, since that wasn't a big hit we decided to go check out the little wading pool that we saw on our way in, also right in by the Seattle Center. That's where my kids really had a great time! The water went up only to about my knee. They had so much fun splashing and swimming in that little area and I was so happy we went!