The Summer Fun Has Begun...

The day after school got out, we drove to Spokane to start our vacation with my family. The trip was inspired by my new Uncle Craig participating in the IRONMAN in Coeurd'alene, ID. We all went to support him and cheer him on...

SUNDAY:

IRONMAN and Father's Day!

My mom made our bright yellow shirts to stand out and Craig was able to see and hear us when he passed by! The shirts did their job!
The race started at 7:00am so we all had to wake up early because we were camping in Spokane (about 1 hour drive). Craig started in Lake Coeurd'alene. We were on shore yelling for him. There were tons of people there and loud music playing. Go Craig Go! I think Sophia was in ahhh of how many people were out in the water...

The day was chilly and the water was choppy. The competitors had to swim 2.4 miles. Craig finished the swim with time to spare. The swimmers with the red caps were amateurs and the swimmers with white caps were the professionals. Craig told us later that the swimming was the scariest part because people got rough out there. He got popped in the eye and almost lost his goggles. Way to hang in there!

He finished his swim a little over an hour and he was off to bike. The bike ride was 112 miles! My aunt knew his estimated times and knew the course so we knew where to be to watch him go by. They also had chips connected to them so that we could track him over the Internet.

My mom gets a little crazy, oops I mean excited, so she had the kids make flags to wave. Sophia's said, "Put a little power to it" and you can check out the visor on my niece too! Craig couldn't miss us!

So after the swim, there were helpers to rip off their wetsuits and then guided the competitors to their bag. From there they changed and hopped on their bikes. Here is just a section of bikes parked. About 2 thousand bikes!

Look at that form! Here he was about 111 miles and almost done with the biking. And look he still has a smile on his face!

Biking done...off to run. The run was a full marathon! He even had enough energy to wave!

This was the most exciting moment. I still get chills thinking about it and I wasn't even the one competing. Craig is at his final stretch about to cross the finish line! He finished about 8:40pm and had till midnight so I find that quite impressive. Overall, he completed the IRONMAN a little over 13 hours!!! GOOD JOB CRAIG!

After the race we had a chance to talk with him when really I think all he wanted to do was get warm and get to his hotel. He said that the thing that helped him through his run was chicken broth and Coke...yummy combination! He also said that he could do without having Gatorade or protein gels for awhile. We were all truly impressed with his determination, motivation, and hard work. He inspired me to get my booty moving (maybe to do a tri-atholon one day) and now TJ wants to do the IRONMAN in 2 years...large goal! After all that's said and done: CRAIG SIGNED UP FOR THE IRONMAN AGAIN NEXT YEAR!!!!

MONDAY:

After the Ironman we all laid low and hung around the camp site. We went on a bike ride around the lake and Sophia got to try out her new seat. She loved it, especially because she could stay up with everyone. I think she's the cutest one wearing a helmet.

TUESDAY:

We went to Silverwood Theme Park and did the rides. They have a new roller coaster called the "After Shock" that is pretty intense and highly recommended! All my niece and nephews (except Nolan because he was too small..even though he would have) rode on a BIG roller coaster! I was very proud of them. Sophia stuck to the smaller ones.

She loved the scrambler...

The merry-go-round

The Elephant ride

The car ride...Ethan did a good job driving us around. Later she drove and TJ was not allowed to touch the steering wheel..."me do it.." so it was a bumpy ride!

They have a Garfield play land with a large tree house so we took a break from all the rides to play...peekaboo

Sophia loved the train roller coaster. When we got off she said, "more!" That's my girl!

WEDNESDAY:

We did Silverwood in 2 days, but the second day we played at the water park. Everyone loved her swim suit...thank you Costco. Sophia was a little nervous about all the water stuff at first but then warmed up. She liked the lazy river sitting on my lap, but then she took a 3 hour nap in her stroller, so I got a nice sunburn waiting for her to wake-up!

THURSDAY:

Kick, kick, kick...yah she is turning into a water baby (with a little force, haha). Daddy and I had fun throwing her back and forth. She even got dunked and didn't even cry.

We also went kayaking and saw turtles, beavers, deer, herons, ducks, and geese.

We were told there was a moose out there too, but we didn't see him. Yummy S'mores! Once again Sophia wanted to do it by herself. Thank goodness no marshmallows on fire went flying.

FRIDAY:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TJ! I can't believe he's 28! We started dating when he was 18...10 years...WOW! TJ wanted to just hang out at the campsite, so we did more swimming, kayaking, golfing, ping pong and pool playing, etc. After Sophia and I, baseball is TJ's next love, so we got him the Ken Burns baseball documentary that he has been wanting. He is very excited, but I don't think I am (boring..haha)...

And another love of TJ's is HOT DOGS. He would eat them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner if he could, so I made him the best birthday cake ever! It was absolutely perfect for him!!! Can you tell I am quite proud of myself?

And he never just eats 1 hot dog, so I had to make him 2 hot dog cakes!

SATURDAY:

We all packed up and drove home! THANK YOU MOM AND DAD FOR A SUPER FUN TRIP!!!! We wish we could go back already;)!

There's a First For Everything...

On Saturday, Sophia and I went shopping for TJ's birthday and Father's day because we will be on vacation that week so I thought I'd be good and get his presents early. I knew I was pushing it shopping with Sophia during her nap time, but I did it anyway and I PAID for it!!! Do you ever have days when you feel like everyone is staring at you??? Well this time I KNOW everyone was staring at us. Sophia didn't want to sit in the cart or be held, so she started to have a screaming/arching meltdown. There was no reasoning happening with her, she didn't want her snacks, she didn't want her binky or "blank" so I was in for it! Of course the lines were long, so I had my first experience where I had to leave everything in my cart as is and storm out of the store with her practically upside down in my arms (that's what it felt like at least), as people are staring some more. I wanted to say, "Have you never seen a crying child before???" I tried to stay calm as I threw her (okay firmly placed her) in her car seat. Yes, I got the "Mother of the Year Award!" She was asleep 2 minutes later. Lesson learned...intense shopping=needs nap before!

On the fun side...Sophia has been putting sentences together and saying a ton of knew phrases. She is quite the talker. Here are some of my favorites:

-"Mommy come sit play!"
-"Watch this..." (as she shows us something)
-"Come on..."
-Everything is followed with a "OTAY!"
-"Get you " (I'm gonna get you)
-"Ready, set, go"
- "Spank you" (as she hits you with something...learned that from her cousin...she has no idea what a spanking is yet).
-Counts to 7

Memorial Day Weekend

Over Memorial Day weekend, TJ had a softball tournament in Moses Lake so we took the opportunity to go camping. TJ found a really good deal on a trailer to rent...isn't it cute? It was the perfect size. Our good friends (Matt Fry and family) went with us, so us girls got the beds in the trailer and the boys stayed out in a tent. Our journey began in the lovely traffic over Snoqualmie Pass. It usually takes about 3 hours to get to Ellensburg, but oh no, not this time. It took us 51/2 hours to get there. There were cars overheating left and right on the shoulders. Thank goodness Sophia was a trooper..we kept feeding her fruit snacks, haha. We took a break in Ellensburg about 8:30pm to have dinner and met up with Matt and his family. We got to our campsite about 11:30pm. Nothin like setting up a tent in the dark. TJ looked dead sexy with his headlight on !The next day the team had 2 games so we went and cheered them on. We played at the park, ate chips (Sophia is a big fan of Baked Lays), blew bubbles, and played with balls while we were at the field. After the games we went to enjoy the lake, except for Sophia did not enjoy the water...not like the water??? So not my daughter! And she's in this phase of not liking grass on her bare feet so we hung out in our swimsuits on a towel. On Sunday the guys had a 9:10am game with a single elimination. Let's just say they lost with style (quite entertaining). But kinda good for the rest of us because we had the whole rest of the day. We went to "Surf in Slide" Water Park. It is smaller than Wild Waves but still really fun. Sophia's favorite thing was the small water fountains and my favorite thing was watching people biff while trying to surf. I hope you enjoyed the video of Zac (TJ's brother) and then TJ attempting to surf! Great weekend with 80 degree weather...Great company...Loved it! Now the count down is definitely on till summer!

Tag...6th Folder, 6th Picture

Ta-da! I'm usually a party pooper when it comes to the "tag" stuff, but here it is just for you Shawna! This picture of Sophia was in the 6th folder and was the 6th picture on this computer...Enjoy her cuteness! That's the best type of laundry to me!

Red, White, and Blue

Hallelujah for a sunny day! We woke up, got ready, and flew to the Armed Forces Day Parade. Thank you sun for the enjoyable morning/afternoon!

Sophia started on TJ's shoulders with this look for while. She was checking everything out and after each band she would say "more!"

She was excited to use her chair like all the big kids. After about an hour it was time for a snack.

Papa Brown met up with us and Sophia talked him into walking around with her by saying, "come on..."

Here are a couple of Sophia's favorites....

And another (even though I think clowns are kinda creepy...)

And another...

We left about 2 hours into the parade, but it was STILL going. I think it was the longest Armed Forces Day parade I've ever been to. Man did it bring back marching band days for me (I can't believe I just admitted that, haha). For all those fellow Olympians...Mr. Williams is still representing Olympics marching band! But their outfits are still horrible! Anyway...

Thank you Armed Forces!!!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

Happy Mother's Day!

This is my 2nd mother's day and it was a nice one! First, Sophia gave me the best present of all which was sleeping in till 9:40am, but it made us late for church...oops! We went to church and then spent the day at my parent's house, so the whole fam was together. The men made a wonderful and filling dinner for all the ladies!

I always like making something for my mom, so I put Sophia's hand print inside of mine and found a very true quote that I liked..."Mother's and daughters are closest, when daughters become mothers." My mom has always been a good friend, but we've become even closer since I've had Sophia. I love you mom!
While the boys made dinner, we went outside to play. The classic "spider" way to swing! weeee!

Sophia helped me open my Mother's Day gift from my parents. They got me stuff to get my feet ready for summer and had Sophia help paint a craft for me.

And they got me a pot that you can write on with chalk...pretty cool. Sophia drew a couple of lines, but TJ decorated the rest.

When we got home Sophia gave me presents from her. She got me a sewing machine! It's a little Sally homemakerish but I've had this weird urge to learn how. My mom is an excellent sewer and it's something I want to know how to do for Sophia. My mom actually laughed at me when I told her I wanted to learn, haha! I love the sewing machine already because it says... "SIMPLE SINGER!" I like simple...TJ has me sewing a dress for Sophia already...I don't think that's simple, but we'll give it a whirl!

I love this girl!

I am truly blessed to be a mom and have such a loving family! The gifts are great, but the card Sophia got me was perfect. It says, "Thanks for taking good care of me, for loving me lots, and raising me right. Thanks for being the perfect mom for me." I do love her lots and although I know I'm not the perfect mom...I'm the perfect mom for her! I hope all the moms had a wonderful day!