Library & Sleepover

We couldn't do beaches and waterparks everyday with the big group of cousins, so we kept in calm one day and headed to the library for a while.

Being creative at the library

Holly reading to a captive audience.

On the last possible night for a sleepover, Brian and I decided we'd invite all of the cousins to spend the night at our house. It was quite a crew, and I'm not sure I could have 10 kids of my own on a regular basis, but for a few hours, it was a lot of fun!

Settling in for a movie.


The big kids


The air mattress crew


This is how we wind down before a sleepover.

Playing outside in jammies the next morning.

Beach & Swimming Lessons

We spent lots of time in the water when the CO cousins were here. 4 of the cousins were able to take swimming lessons at the outdoor pool over a 2-week time period. They had a lot of fun!

On one of the hot, summer days, about 14 of us headed to the beach. The kids enjoyed playing in the lake and the sand.

Torrey turned Ben into a mermaid!

Zach playing around with one of my swim caps.

Triathlon

My third ever triathlon was by far my favorite!! It was a fantastic day and while I was completely out of gas by the time I crossed the finish line, when I saw my time, I was hopeful that I had made some improvements. It turns out that I had personal bests in all three legs of the race.

It's hard to compare the YWCA tri of 2009 with this year's race because they were held at different venues. The 2009 course was extremely hilly and the bike portion that year was 1/2 mile shorter. But, for statistics sake, here is a comparison of my two YWCA races:

500 yard swim
2009: 12:46
2011: 10:26



Transition 1
2009: 3:05
2011: 1:37




15 mile bike 2009: 52:00 (17.2 avg on hilly course)
15.5 mile bike 2011: 48:22 (19.2 avg)


Transition 2:
2009: 1:47
2011: 0:41


5K
2009: 30:50 (9:55 pace)
2011: 26:09 (8:25 pace)


Total Time:
2009: 1:40:48
2011: 1:27:12

Division Place
2009: 19 out of 90
2011: 14 out of 191

Overall Place
2009: 68 out of 464
2011: 75 out of 971

In addition to the pictures that Holly took, the professional got some good shots, particularly of the swim and the bike. I'm considering ordering the digital file for nostalgia's sake.

It was so fun to race another tri with my SIL, my friend and neighbor Mali, and some friends who are on the NF Endurance team!! I may keep coming back for more!

My loyal cheering section!

All-Star Game

I cannot believe how far behind in blogging I am. It may not be of much interest to you, but I like to document these things so we can enjoy looking back on them. So for what it's worth, here's the end of Ben's championship winning baseball season!

Playing in one of his tournament games. He's starting to look so big out there.

This was the first year of kid-pitch. Ben was an okay pitcher and always willing to give it a try.

Sworn was his nickname. Brian gave it to him without even thinking about the word swear. We never thought twice about it until we saw it on his jersey.

Ben was an alternate on the All-Star team and was able to play because one of the other players couldn't be there. He was honored to be voted by his teammates.



Believe it or not, the All-Star game ended in a tie! After the regular innings, the coaches had the choice to go into extra innings or not, and they (led by Brian) decided that ending in a tie was a great way to cap off the season.

Congratulations on a great year of summer ball, Ben!

Spa Day

When all the CO cousins were in town, we stayed busy and on the go most days. On the days we weren't heading out anywhere, we came up with fun and creative things to do at home. The girls decided they wanted to have a Spa day and pamper the moms and Nana. Sounds good to me!

T.A.L = Torrey, Anna, Leah (the only girl cousins of the 13!)

Enjoying my pedicure on the porch.

Quite the selection

This spa even did makeup and tatoos!

There were crafts involved too, although Leah looks to be losing it a bit!

And now Holly has lost it!

Nana's mani & pedi

Not to be outdone, the boys held their own spa and arrived at Holly's to show off their new do's.

A little gel goes a long way!

I think my boys would have been pretty girls.

Ben had 17 ponies in his hair.

Jake's mohawk was rock hard thanks to the hair glue.

Time!

It has been a very busy and fun summer! 4 boys keep us busy enough, but then add lots of family in town, lots of exercise and a couple of big events to train for, baseball, swimming lessons...you know the drill.

Brian decided to take the 3 older boys to South Dakota for one last trip before heading back to school. Certainly Luke and I could have gone along to visit Grandma and Opa, but I decided I would like to use the couple of days to catch up and finish some last minute things before summer winds down. Also, with Luke napping in the morning and afternoon, me still pumping, it makes outings with the other boys a little difficult. Grandma and Opa, we are sorry to miss seeing you on this visit, but I'm sure you understand.

While the boys are away, here is what Luke and I hope to accomplish:

re-caulk a shower and kitchen sink

organize closets

clean, clean, clean

plan some menus for the first week back to school

spend a little time setting up my 4th grade classroom

I'm sure Brian and the boys are having fun and we do miss them, but the time to catch up at home is nice, too.

10 months!

Can you tell by my lack of blogging lately that Luke is on the move and getting faster by the day?

10 months:

still no teeth!!

crawling - not doing stairs yet

pulling self up

starting to walk along furniture

inconsistent sleeper - some nights he'll wake up 1-2 times, other nights he'll sleep 11 1/2 hours!

naps: usually 9:30-11:00 and 1:30-3:00, but not always

loves to be outside

LOVES his daddy

waves bye-bye

shakes his head no

bounces up and down when you ask him to dance

table food - loves mac & cheese, bananas, peas, turkey, yogurt, black beans w/ spaghetti sauce

weight - I'm guessing he's about 25 pounds...he's a chunk!

sweet, sweet temperament!

Brian and I head back to school workshops in one week. It's hard to think about going back, but honestly, now I'm grateful that I was back last spring to finish up the school year and get used to the routine of working. I know Luke will be fine at daycare and we've had a wonderful summer watching him grow from a little baby, to a big boy who seems very much like a toddler to us. It's hard to believe how fast this time with him has gone, and we know it will only continue to fly by.

BTW...I've got about 5 posts started, including a few more from our time with Heather's family up north! Yes, I'm running WAY behind.

And he's off...

Luke is officially crawling! Baby-proofing, here we come.

My favorite thing with the boys is watching them interact with each other. I love how Matt was encouraging Luke to crawl, and in this clip, Ben's got him laughing a deep, baby belly laugh. Adorable!

Feeling Like a Loser

A couple of things about my day today:

Took Adam to the dentist to get his 2nd cavity filled. I was feeling horrible and embarrassed enough until they took more x-rays. He's got FOUR more.

4 years old

20 teeth

6 cavities

Where, oh where have I gone wrong? I'm hoping a little bit is genetic, but I'm guessing it's poor monitoring and too much sugar.

It's 5:15 and I just sent Brian to pick up Subway for supper. I was up early to swim and run and I've totally hit a wall right now. Absolutely wiped out.

The boys are throwing paper airplanes at the ceiling fan. Nothing about it seems too dangerous...so far.

It doesn't matter your age...

you're never too old for sing-song chants!

Dawson kids

Smith sistas

FMSC

When our family was together last Christmas, we had plans to volunteer at Feed My Starving Children, but bad weather in December prevented us from going. We were able to make it work this time, and all of us were excited to go pack food for people in El Salvador. This organization DEPENDS on its volunteers, and it was refreshing to expose the kids to doing something for people less fortunate than themselves. Everyone, adults and kids included, enjoyed our time spent packing 252 meals from our group alone!

North Shore Clips

Last Day

Matt jumping



Torrey & Jake jumping

Heading Home

Back to our North Shore trip...

Our final day up north was beautiful! The humidity was finally down and there was a nice breeze which gave Lake Superior some fun waves. We decided to visit Temperance River one more time. Our original plan was to stop for an hour or two and have a picnic lunch. That quickly became a 5 hour stop that included swimming, wave riding and some cliff jumping. We didn't even leave the park until 4:00 pm, which didn't get us home until almost 10:00 that evening. I think all of us could have stayed up north for a few more days. We weren't ready to come home.

Leah & Heather on the bridge.

The view out to the lake. Torrey, Jake, Ben & Brian swam this section and met us over on the beach at the lake.

Jake mid-air and mermaid Torrey at the bottom.

The view looking down from the bridge. Even Matt eventually jumped in from where Jake is standing!

The view upstream

The most "ocean-like" water Ben has seen.

I think Matt was actually mad here, but he looks happy.