Priest Lake Triathlon

Ever since hearing of its conception three years ago, both Jono and I have wanted to do the Priest Lake Triathlon. The event takes place at Hills Resort, just a few miles from my parent's place so it totally makes sense that we'd do a race in the same location we run, bike and swim all summer long anyway, right?!

This year it actually worked out for us to do the race and we were really excited. Jono convinced his friends Neal and Chris to join him in the Olympic distance race and I coerced my friend Melanie to join me in the sprint. Although all parties were not exactly thrilled before the race (ie: Mel giving me death threats that I convinced her to do the stupid thing and Chris saying he was going to throw up), I can guarantee that everyone was very happy after :).

The day could not have been any more beautiful. And really, the location is my favorite spot on planet earth. So gorgeous sunshine + a perfect spot + a fun three sport race = pretty much the best day ever.

Okay, so that might be a slight exaggeration for me. The mountain bike portion of the race killed me. KILLED ME. It may have been the fact that I've biked two times in the past 365 days. But still. The bike part is supposed to be the part that everyone can do, right? So I thought. This bike course was pure death. Climbing up a freaking mountain twice and coming back down again. And I was on a hybrid bike since my husband guaranteed the course followed lake shore road. Not so much. I'm not bitter, just happy I survived. Ha!

I loved the swimming and running portions though. So I may go back for more next year. Or maybe I'll consider doing the Olympic distance just so I can enjoy the luxury of a thirty mile stretch on a road bike on a nice, paved road ;).

Here are some pictures from the morning...

Jono and Chris at the start

Lots of wet suits and swim caps

And they're off...

The cheering section (plus papa - a portion of his pinky finger is pictured)

Coming off the bike and so happy to have survived :)

Carly took this really great picture. I am obviously very happy
to be done :)

Mel and I - see she didn't hate me in the end!

The boys - Neal, Jono and Chris 

Anyone up to join in, August 2014?! It's seriously so great. Just make sure you bike a couple of times prior to the race and you'll be just fine.

Sullivan Lake Camping

Sullivan Lake has to be one of my favorite spots on planet earth. I'm pretty sure I documented all the reasons why last year. This past weekend we visited the same campsite with our small group. And it was every bit as glorious as I remember from my childhood ;).

One of the best parts is that we kind of miraculously fit all four tents/one trailer/ten adults/thirteen kids/one dog onto one site. And it was a single site (the biggest one in the history of the world, apparently). The camp host let us move around after reserving enough sites for all of us and realizing after we got there that we could totally fit. I know. Nicest camp host I've ever encountered. It was a slightly full and well-used space, but it made for easy meals together and campfires at night!! Plus it was a quick walk to the beach and across the path from an airfield for small planes (so fun for Caleb especially). 

A little morning sunlight at the campsite

Cozy campfire

Clara and Miss Liv

My little bro and friends camped nearly - he joined us for one meal :)

Sweet Lubs, always up to no good

Not many bike pics captured but all the kids
looooved biking the loop and creating secret forts

One of the things I love about the beach is the floating dock. It's the perfect little swimming destination for the kids. And an ideal jumping spot for catching frisbees and footballs. I would like it noted that I enjoyed lots of football catching off the dock. Just trying to live it up, you know, since this is my summer free of nursing or pregnancy. Whoop whoop ;).

Late evening frisbee tossing

This mamas still got game

We kind of took over the beach each day

A perfect little spot to do some digging

I swear my girl is a fish - she can't get enough water time!

One afternoon the dads took all the non-nappers to the $1 golf course near the campground. Bless their hearts - the mamas took naps and then sat around the campfire drinking mojitos. I guess the guys said it was a complete disaster and the worst 2.5 hours of the weekend. ;)

The chaotic golfing attempt. Sorry boys. 

Clara and Ayden, such goof balls

And a pretty crazy event happened during the weekend. The bridge at Sullivan is one I remember jumping off as a kid. I can't remember how old I was when we first camped there - or when I first got the nerve to jump but I can guarantee you I wasn't four years old. We laughed out loud when Clara announced that she'd jump off the bridge. She isn't particularly brave (she hated the slip & slide at the lake a few weekends ago and any remotely scary movie freaks her out) - but she loves swimming and anything related to water, so I'm not sure why she decided she wanted to do it. But I'm not kidding, I lifted her over the railing, hoisted myself over, jumped off first, then said she could jump if she wanted (and that she didn't have to). And she did it. Crazy, crazy girl. I jumped three times and it even freaked me out a little bit. We shall see if she's still brave enough next year or if she reached her height of bravery at age four. ;)

The big leap! 

And here is the whole camping crew. Thirteen kids. Five mamas. Five silly jumping dudes. And one dog :).

Everybody is looking, except the dog

Ladies, and the ones who did all the hard work ;) 

If you make us take a picture, it will be a jumping one...

Whew! I've said it a million times and I'll say it again. Camping is a lot of work. A lot. But it is worth every single minute of planning and prep and chaos and dirt. I'm so glad we went and I can't wait until next year.

Summer Days

Summer days are the best. And I'm not just talking about the days spend camping or at family reunions or on road trips. The week days that fall between the big trips and fun events are some of my favorite days. Just regular, long, warm, summer days. I am completely cheating right now - back logging dates so that I can catch up on something like three months of happenings (ugh). So where I currently sit (in mid-November), I am kind of tortured by looking at these pictures. Sigh. Here are a few simple summer day pictures taken this August. No major happenings. Just regular days...

Enjoying Aunt Leah, who came for a long stretch this summer!

A special play date with Benj to Jump & Bounce

Oh yes, he came too (and whined like this mostly)

Popsicles beside Grammy's pool (LOTS of time spent there!)

Family bike rides to The Scoop, multiple times a week ;)

Oh you know, hanging out in diapers and undies,
looking out the window (typical)

Pushing 70ish pounds on runs, helps to live in such a beautiful neighborhood! 

A fun playdate with Clara's pal Hayley

A great evening spent with family friends

A quick trip to the lake as a family of four on J's day off

And let it be documented: my husband sat down and
read a magazine (not physical therapy related, I think) ;) 

Lots of daddy/daughter time

A special back to school shopping date with my girl, first stop
Krispy Kreme

More pool time and yummy treats at Grammy's pool:
This time his first fudgesicle

Another regular occurrence, she's been singing constantly since she could talk

And a back to school haircut - all ready for four year old preschool!

Camping at Beaver Creek

This past weekend we camped with a crew of families at Beaver Creek. It's our fourth consecutive year camping as a group and it is fun to watch the kids grow and change from year to year. I'm pretty sure our kids love it more with each passing year :). This definitely helps in the "camping prep" department. Camping takes a whole lot of work! But it always seems worth it in the end. 

This year was a weird year, weather wise. We kept watching the forecast and it called for thunderstorms every afternoon, and a full day of rain Friday (we were planning on arriving Thursday night). Since camping in the rain is NOT much fun, we opted to show up later in the evening Friday and hope for the best. Thankfully, we had some great weather in the end. We fit in plenty of beach time, which is always the best part! Here is our weekend at Beaver Creek in (lots of) pictures...

The kids spent hours and hours on bikes!

This little man loved trying to speed away from his mommy

The way Clara rides skateboards

Love this precious face 

Lots of fun beach time! 

Clara and Quinn, snuggling with towels

The crew, most of it 

A lovely beach

He loved every bit of the weekend

Including s'mores

Of course Clara did too!

Mmmmm

The four year old crew

Boys and their sticks (and knives)

Carly and Steph and the baby girls

Celebrating Steph's birthday (and Dan's photo bomb)

All fourteen kiddos