Camping Again!

Last weekend we were invited to our friends' camper that they keep in a campground year-round. Ben went up a day ahead of us, and we joined them Sat-Sun. We had a great time hanging out, swimming, fishing, and eating. Their camper is a beautiful new camper they bought last summer that comfortably slept 9 of us! They've already invited us for next summer...pack & play and all!

A fun rest stop on the way to the campground!

I'm sacrificing my dignity in sharing this picture for the sake of Adam's cuteness!

TJ, Josh, Madison & Sheila

Pool Fun

TJ & Brian working on the fire...makes me cough just looking at it!

Adding corn to the deer feeder. We saw a buck and a doe!

It wouldn't be camping w/o checking the Twins score.

A fun ride!

Adam was a bit crabby at this time...

He cheered up when he got in the water!

The pool was great!

It was a fun way to begin wrapping up the summer!

Baby's Room

Earlier this summer, Grandma Marilyn bought new bedding for the baby's crib. It is so nice to have something fresh for boy #4. The bedroom the baby will be in had airplanes on the wall which were okay, but Holly had a great idea of using the cute little bumblebee from the bedding as an "inspiration" without having to totally overhaul the room.

I think it turned out very sweet, yet simple!

Dentist

Adam has been asking for some time to go to the dentist like his big brothers. Today he finally got his chance. Brian took him and said he was as shy and quiet as a kid could be, but that he did great! The dentist pointed out that his teeth are pretty close together, making flossing and using a fluoride rinse very important. I suppose cavities and braces will be in the not too distant future as well.

In the waiting room
Counting teeth
Full-out cleaning
Exam from the dentist
The best part...picking out a prize!

Planning Ahead

Not too long ago I started thinking about the baby's arrival (due Nov. 1st) and how that could impact Halloween plans around here. Yes, the boys are excited about having a new baby in the house, but I doubt they'd be willing to give up trick-or-treating this year.

Ben had asked a while ago if he could make his costume this year. I thought that was a great idea and a way to put his creative energy to good use. We brainstormed a few ideas and pulled one together today, knowing full well that October will be a very busy month for us.

We were both very pleased with how it came out. He gets the credit! The idea was all his.

Proud to present...

Ben, the Rubik's Cube!

Matt and Adam are still okay with repeating costumes from last year, so we're all set!

Easy Money

I was walking home from dropping Adam off at a friend's house for a playdate and happened to look down in the sewer thing along the side of the road and saw a $10. The sewer wasn't too deep and the bill looked dry, so I challenged Ben and his buddy that was over to come up with a way to get it out. They quickly found a pole in the garage, a pair of scissors and some duct tape and headed up the street. Within seconds, they had the money out and $5 each!

Proud Parents

Ben recently got his MN standardized test scores in the mail. As teachers, Brian and I know that you can't put all your eggs in one basket, and that these scores are simply a glimpse at the overall child. That being said, we are still VERY PROUD of how well Ben did on his tests.

Math: 47 out of 48; 98th percentile

Reading: 43 out of 44; 96th percentile

Maybe all of the I-Carly and Phineas & Ferb shows he's watched this summer will help him recover those lost points this next school year. : )

Too Close For Comfort

4 days ago we had some pretty severe weather. I was awakened by some loud thunder and very strong winds. I spent a couple of hours awake checking the TV, looking outside and listening to the sirens while the rest of the family slept soundly in their beds.

It turns out it was an F-1 tornado. It hit about a mile from our house. Scary. The damage is amazing, yet I realize this was a "small" tornado. The damaged and destroyed homes are terrible, but what's really sad to see are the large trees, completely uprooted.

I'm very thankful our family and friends who live nearby are all okay, and no one we know suffered major damage.

Tornado Path

• The yellow line is a total of 1.5 miles
• The boys' school is the large area just to the bottom left of the yellow line
• Our house is just East of the school

Badly hit homes

I'm Hot!

How I wish I was talking about my looks. Unfortunately, that is certainly NOT the case. In fact, I was just looking through some of the old blog posts and longing for a body that was slimmer and in much better shape than I am now. Hopefully it will happen again after the baby.

What I'm really talking about is the ridiculously HIGH humidity and heat we've been having for several days! It's disgusting when I've got sweat marks simply from walking from my car into my school building. Or when I have to turn the air on in my car to drive a block to my sister's house. It doesn't help that I'm 28 weeks pregnant, but still, IT'S HOT!!

The kids are getting antsy because being outside hasn't been comfortable. They're kind of sick of going to the pool, it's the nearing the end of summer, they're getting bored easily, and frankly, we're running out of ideas.

I could have been creative like Holly, but Brian came up with this idea instead:

Yep, there's a 6-person tent in the middle of my living room, and it doesn't bother me.

It's been up all day, and it'll stay up for tonight. Ben's sleeping in it.

Maybe when it cools down, we'll decide to take it down.

We'll see.

Race Day

Since I can't be doing any races this summer, I decided to sign other members of the family up and live vicariously through them. : ) This morning Brian ran a 1/2 marathon as part of his training for the full marathon he'll be running in October, and Ben completed a Kids' Triathlon!

Brian did well with his 1/2. His training had taken a bit of a back seat about a month ago, but then he ramped it up in preparation for today's race. His personal best 1/2 time is 1 hr 50 min, and today he was hoping to be around 2:15. He finished at 2:09 which is a 9:54 pace for 13 miles. Not too shabby at all!

Ben was excited to race in the kids' tri with a couple of neighborhood kids. His age group swam 100 yards, biked 2 miles, and ran 1/2 mile. The weather was a bummer and didn't fully cooperate. He swam and biked normally, then they pulled the kids off the course for a lightning delay, and after 15 min or so let them back on and Ben was able to finish! Eventually the race was called due to more lightning, and the youngest triathletes (5-7 yrs old) were only able to complete a shortened version of their swim distance; that was it. This was the first year for this particular YMCA to host a kids' tri, and it was very well organized, safe, and I can believe we'll be doing it again! Thanks to Holly, Anna, Max, Nana & Papa for coming out to cheer everyone on!

Transition area all set up!


Body marked and ready to go!


The yellow wave (Ben opted not wear his cap) waiting to start


A natural swimmer


Transition 1 is tough because you're wet!


The cheering sectioned started to fizzle out when the rain began.


Calm, cool & collected

Heading into transition 2 following the bike ride

He finished with a strong run!


Great job, boys!


Does buying candy from the vending machines defeat the purpose of exposing kids to a tri?

Camping

We finally went camping! We went with my sister's family and our neighbors. Between the three families we had 6 adults and 8 kids, ages 2-9. Overall, we had a great time, and I think all of the families would do it again. Holly's family had a couple of situations arise that they would rather forget about, but everyone is recovering and doing well!

Some details about the trip:

• Camper Cabin: We had electricity, which meant a ceiling fan and light. We had two bunk beds and a screened in porch. It was perfect for our family.
• 9 year-old boys LOVE fire!
• We ate a lot of s'mores
• Our neighbors brought their boat...this made for a perfect, hot Saturday at the beach!
• I'm proud of what a love for fishing Ben and Brian are developing
• Camping is a lot of work, both in packing and unpacking, but the memories are great!

LOTS of random pictures: