Birthday and our 20 hour vacation

Happy Birthday Mitch!
(Mitch tells me that I am not allowed to post anything about him, but it is my blog and I am going to. )

For Mitch's birthday I asked Laura if she would watch our kids while we went out for a night. This was the first time since Cameron was born that we both left our kids together for a night away. Sad but true...

We went to Seattle and stayed at the Hilton across the street from Benihana. As you might have guessed we ate dinner at Mitch's favorite place-Benihana of Toyko. We stayed up late watching a movie and slept in and had brunch at the Issaquah Cafe. We made it home by 1:30 in the afternoon rested and ready to see the kids. It was a short 20 hours but fun. We are hoping that we might get away sooner than in another 6 years and maybe make it a whole 24 hours!

Our hike to Twin Falls

On Saturday after the triathlon was over we decided to go on a hike to Twin Falls. We had been promising the kids to go there all summer and our summer is almost over! Twin Falls is in North Bend and the scenery is beautiful. Cameron and Julia hiked the whole way and did fantastic! Natalie rode on her dad's back and was content to ride. Cameron loves to hike and kept saying "This is so great, I love hiking" He was non-stop chattering the whole way and everything was exciting. At one point we passed a dog on the trail and he said " Wow, that dog has the longest tongue I have ever seen." (He has decided that he is going to get a dog and if that dog has ears that point down it will be named Murray.) So anytime we passed a dog that fit his description he was sure to say hi to Murray. Julia was so proud that she was a big girl and could make the hike the whole way without being carried. (So was I)

In our house we are fascinated by waterfalls so when we got to the falls and walked out on the bridge it was so exciting. I felt like a true mom when the kids were on the bridge. I felt a sense of panic that at anytime someone was going to fall. When did I get old? I was much more relived to be walking back on the trail.

Round trip I think the hike is about 4 miles. (Everywhere I look said something different) I hope that next year we will be able to do even more hikes. When I get out there I remember how much I love to hike.

Too Cute

Cam made this tonight and hung it up on the wall. He was laughing and laughing.

A whole lot of laundry

Nothing like 8 loads of laundry to start your day off right! Ahhhh.......

Beaver Lake Triathlon

Dale, Mitch, and I competed in the B.L.T. this past Saturday. We weren't crazy enough to do the whole triathlon individually but did it as a relay or team. Dale was our swimmer and swam the 1/4 mile swimming portion. The swim looks tough when you look out in the water and see how far it really is. He did awesome! Mitch rode the bike, 13.8 miles total (off the Issaquah plateau and then back on, that is no picnic!). He really did well. I did the run which was 4.3 miles. I was happy with my time (about 7:56 a mile) I am getting better each race I do. There was 14 teams that competed and we got 6th. It was really fun and I was so glad that I was able to do something with both of these guys. We said that we will do it again when Dale gets home from his mission and try to beat our time.

Zoo

Last week we went with grandma and some cousins to the Point Defiance Zoo. We had a good time looking at animals, having a picnic lunch, riding the carousel, touching the sea animals, brushing goats, feeding sheep (did we go to the zoo or a farm?), watched the animal program (both Cameron and Julia got to give a parrot a dollar bill), played on the playground, and the most exciting-- we got to ride a camel. It was an event packed, fun filled, exhausting day!

At lunch the kids decided to leave the crust of their sandwiches for a big hungry seagull that was sitting on the top of the roof watching us. As soon as we left the table he swooped down and put the whole crust of a sandwich in his mouth. It was pretty funny and the kids laughed and laughed.

These guys were cute!

Julia the octopus

Cameron hopped right up when it was his turn! Not scared at all.

Tayler

Grandma Stuard

Julia on the other hand had to be convinced to get on the animal. As soon as it was over she was off!

Makenzie

Gum sniffers

My kids are gum sniffers. Anytime I get in line at the grocery store Cameron and Julia feel the need to handle all the packages of gum, pressing their noses up against each one taking deep breaths and inhaling. I have gotten some strange looks from people. Should I be worried that I am raising "scent addicted children"?

I love this flavor of gum. It is my favorite.

Blueberries and Bees!

This week I read in the newspaper that it is a fantastic blueberry season. I called Kierstin and we decided to go picking at Larsen Lake in Bellevue. The blueberry farm there is big and cost $1.25 a pound for the berries and not far way so we headed out with the kids in tow. We were a little disappointed to see that the berries were small and not the big, round, juicy things that we imagined. The man told us that we might need to go farther back on the farm because a lot of people had already picked and to be beware of bees in the bushes. Words I should have heeded!

The kids loved it, Natalie and Mesha were eating the berries off the bushes fast as they could pick them. Soon I came across a rather large nest in the bushes. I called the kids over to look at it...big mistake! We bumped the bush and angry bees started flying out of the nest. I have never seen bees attack but that is what they started doing. They were landing on me and I couldn't get them off. I then told the kids to run away from the bush and the bees. In the end I got stung on my arm and my face (I think maybe twice on my face). Man, that hurts! Cameron was screaming and crying, Kierstin and I think he might have gotten stung on the head but we never could tell. He was screaming "This is terrible, this is just terrible!" After the excitement of the bees died down the rest of the blueberry picking wasn't as eventful. In fact the berries were so small that after an hour we both picked only about a pound each. They are good though and we had blueberry pancakes for breakfast. Cameron and Julia haven't stopped talking about the bees and probably won't until next year! When we got back from picking Cameron gave everyone else a good impression of me telling everyone to run for it. We all got a good laugh.

What an adventure!

Ocean Shores

Our reward for finishing the house was going to the ocean on Saturday. We went with our cousins, Katie, Laura, and Dale. The kids love it and had a good time. We thought that it might have been a little warmer than it was but overall we enjoyed the cool air. The water was freezing but that didn't stop Cameron from jumping right in. The first 20 minutes the kids just ran and ran on the beach. Cam liked to chase the sea gulls.













When we were thoroughly frozen by the water and wind we found shelter in the dunes. The sand was warmer and the wind much less. The kids loved playing tigers in the grass and probably could have stayed there for hours.

After we stopped to eat ice cream and within the first 5 minutes Natalie and Mesha dumped their ice cream cones on the floor. The people were nice and gave us new ones. I think that it is part of the tradition of the ocean, getting ice cream and then dropping it on the ground. When we got home and bathed the kids I think we brought back a good part of the ocean with us. Ahhh...something to remember it by until next time.

The Lake

Last Wednesday when the heat was too much to take we went to the lake with grandpa and grandma, leaving dad alone to paint in the heat. Grandpa had his boat out and the water was bath water warm. We had a fun afternoon playing in the water. Both Cameron and Julia were brave enough to go on the tube with their cousins and mom. After a lot of convincing they learned to jump off the boat into the water. I water skied for a little while but realize that I am not as young as I once was. The next day I was sore! Cameron said it the best on the way home "This was the funnest day ever"

* I didn't take the camera :(

Painting

Ever since we moved into our house 6 1/2 years ago, we have talked about painting the exterior of the house. A few months ago we finally got serious about it and planned on doing it the last week of July. Mitch took the whole week off and we were ready. It turned out to be the hottest week in Seattle ever. It was HOT. It was not fun! There is about a million things I would rather be doing in 104 degree heat than painting outside. The kids made it hard for both of us to work together so Mitch ended up doing most of it. We still have the drain pipes, gutters, and front door to paint, but we are so thankful that it is over. The final color is blue and we were a little shocked when it first went on because it was REALLY blue, with the trim done it looks much better. We are most grateful to have it done!

Before:





After:

Sports Camp

We signed Cam up for a sports camp that went from 7-9 pm all last week. It was through a local church and was cheap so we thought why not. Cam loved it. They did cheers, played different sports each night, had snacks, and had devotionals. Mitch and I were a little anxious about the church side of it. It was a little more church and a little less camp than I was hoping for but Cameron has been playing "sports camp" ever since it ended. He got a t-shirt and feels the need to wear it EVERYWHERE in public. Hey, why not publicly announce our love for Jesus?

They were divided up into age groups and Cameron was a blue 2. They were the blue bubbles. They had to do a cheer in front of everyone (at least 200 kids). When he gave me the cheer at home it made me laugh. Mitch was a little less thrilled.

Ragnar Relay Race

This spring a lady in my ward asked me if I was interested in running in a relay race in July. I thought that it would be a fun experience and give me something to train for this summer. The Ragnar relay race was on July 24-25. It was a fun experience, definitely hard. The relay is made up of 12 runners, 6 runners to a van. Everybody has 3 legs to run over the 2 day period. My team started out on Friday morning at 8 am in Blaine and finished around noon on Saturday in Langley (About 125 miles total). I was in the second van with all women. It was fun getting to know them, I only knew one other lady in my car. We were all lds and moms. We all said that it was fun racing but more than that it was a nice break to be away from children especially driving in a car! My legs of the race were not too bad (I had shorter distances that most the team, thank goodness. I am still a sprinter at heart! ) The first leg was at 3:30 pm on Friday and 3.1 miles. It was EXTREMELY hot! My second leg was at about 1:30 am on Saturday and was 4.2 miles. Running at night is fun and much cooler. We got to wear funny headlamps and reflector vests. My last leg was on Saturday around 10 am and was 4.3 miles. Boy was it hard! It had a LOT of steep hills and it was hot. By the end I was exhausted (we got only 1 1/2 sleep) and the next day I was so sore that I tried to keep my dignity at church and not limp. Overall it was a fun time and was happy that I was able to accomplish something new.

Cameron was impressed with my medals and my t-shirts. He wanted to make sure that I was fast. I love that I can still impress my 6 year old!



There was two teams put together with a lot of people from my ward. Our teams names were: T.A.R.P 1.0 and T.A.R.P 2.0
(Troubled Athlete Relief Program)



Here I am at my last exchange!