Wednesday, August 29, 2012

wrapping up summer...

One week left!
We've been trying to make the most of our final summer days... so we hook up with friends at every chance and spend as much time as we can outside.

A day at the lake:


A night watching Back To The Future on the big screen outside!


A day with friends to tie dye tee shirts...

... and then ride bikes on the trails!


And in between, just lots of time to hang out, do nothing and play together!!!

Happy Labor Day weekend!!!!
First day of school is next Tuesday....

Monday, August 20, 2012

we are warriors!

Yesterday was awesome....
It was clearly mom & dad's turn for some adventure - so we decided to go big!
Warrior big!!! 
We participated in the Warrior Dash at Copper Mountain.

There's a first for everything... and this was an amazing first, and so much fun it will probably not be the last. In a nutshell - it is a 5K (3.2 miles) running race with about a dozen obstacles... including climbing walls, mud pits and fire! Yeah - totally cool.

And of course, everything is more fun with friends!!!
our Warrior gang
the tag line for the race... it's dirty, it's hard and it's fun!
(love the old, beat up pair of running shoes! more on that later...)

getting ready for the race...
our biggest fans!
some people got the pre-race jitters!


We had a great gang from home that all participated together...
here's a group shot of the runners, the photographer (thanks Kirstie!), the support crew and of course, the fans! (aka the kids)
note the race course behind us - we were checking out the fire pits!!!
At the starting line...


The race itself was great.
Before you get to the really fun photos - let me just give you a few interesting facts:
On Saturday there were 5,755 participants
On Sunday (our day) there were 4,714 participants
Jason finished the race in 50 minutes, 29 seconds
I finished the race in 54 minutes, 11 seconds
Our friend Marty finished in 29 minutes, 23 seconds - putting him in 66th place for Sunday!
And our friend John finished in 25 minutes, 48 seconds - putting him in 13th place for Sunday and 17th place overall - out of 10,469 participants! (pretty cool...)

But it gets better:
There were over a dozen obstacles throughout the course, including jumping over fire, scaling several walls, climbing over a cargo net, crawling through a culvert, ducking under barb wire, running through a tire pit and hurdling barriers. 
But the fan favorite of all the obstacles: the mudpit!

Jason gets ready...
Pretty sure Jason may have intentionally gone in face first! I know he was doing the backstroke at one point...
Oh... is the still shot not enough for you?!?!! 
Then how about a video:

my turn...
I made it!!! (and I'm smiling?!)


Oh my gosh... what an adventure!
Sure, the run was tough (for me!) but the obstacles were really fun and challenging and the spirit of all the racers was exciting and positive.
People had fun - they raced in costumes, they cheered each other on, they danced to live music and they wore their medals, their warrior hats and the mud like badges of honor for the rest of the day!!!

Jason's warrior pose!
The event was amazingly well organized - in fact, they even encourage participants to turn in their muddy running shoes at the end of the race to be cleaned and donated to charity!



Post-race was fantastic - great atmosphere with more live music, food and lots of crazy people!

Thanks to my friends for the encouragement and the company - can't wait until next year!!!!

check out the whole album at my shutterfly page here!!!

Saturday, August 11, 2012

birthday, birthday, birthday!

We've had a spate of birthdays lately... mine, Jason's and even Gabe's! ☺

First: back in July, I had the birthday surprise of the year...
SOMEONE couldn't keep a secret, so several days before my actual birthday Jason came scooting up in the front yard on a really smart, sleek black Honda Metropolitan with a giant red bow on the front!
As you can tell by the looks on my face - it took a little while for it to sink in that 1) my husband was riding a scooter and that 2) it was for ME!!! 
Funny, apparently the big red bow wasn't a dead giveaway!

"wait, I don't get it...."

"you mean, THIS is for me? Really???"


OK, so I eventually picked up on all the clues (aka Jason had to tell me over and over that this was my birthday gift!) and my shock turned into total elation!




Then we were all happy to celebrate our puppy's FIRST birthday!
Ok, we didn't really go over the top... I mean, it's not like we threw him a party or anything. However he did get to have a friend over! (and the boys loved it!!!)
our 1-year old pup who now weighs 130 pounds!!!

And finally, we doted on sweet dad yesterday for his b'day!
He enjoyed his cards, gifts and best of all - his day at the spa/pool and dinner out!

What a fun few weeks for our family - and we owe it to our friends and family who made it very special for all of us! THANK YOU!!!!! ☺

Thursday, August 2, 2012

he's crafty

I have been collecting these pictures for several months now...

I am ready to compile them and show you one of my favorite things about Sam!

He is creative - he spends his free & quiet time making things, being artistic and producing mounds of paper creations that clutter up my house! Seriously though, I love it when he gets focused (and oh man, can this kid get focused!) on making something - there is nothing that deters him from seeing his vision complete. Allow me to show you some of the best examples of what he's done recently...
Here Sam poses with his entourage of plushes - replete with home made paper hats, each personally labelled
Another time, the plushes were outfitted with tie dye tee shirts made from coffee filters...
a little trick he learned in pre-school!
Here's an afternoon's project: a full family portrait to hang on the wall.
Don't worry, you're probably in there somewhere!
And some more wall art - this time a full nature-inspired mural with a snowman, tree, owl, sun and clouds!
Here's the artist with a game he created himself - you toss a ball into either cup for points.
And here he is with one of his greatest creations. Please don't ask WHAT it is, just know that  there are sprinkles inside the jugs that make noise and the name for his creation is "tornado sprinkle panda". Naturally.
Most recently - he experimented with straws and air...
not the best installment, but  nice that he's branching out with materials!

My greatest hope is that he continues to create and imagine and take quiet time to work on seeing his ideas come to fruition... and that I will always find random little glitter and paint pieces taped to his door!