Mohawk!

Eli's hair has gotten quite long this summer (relatively speaking!) and he has been talking about wanting a mohawk. We finally decided to let him have one for the last week of summer. The pictures don't quite do it justice but he is so happy with his mohawk....even if we're just letting him keep it a short time. Got to celebrate the last week of summer! 

Sunday afternoon ride

Two boys, Two bikes, one puddle. A fun afternoon!

Mommy's Triathlon - Rex Wellness

This morning I participated in the Rex Wellness triathlon. I haven't had much time to train but I was thrilled to participate in this event and be part of helping two of my girlfriends make their triathlon dreams become reality. It was so much fun to encourage them in their training and be part of the race with them. 

Great rack position at end of the rack but ended up on the last rack again! I was at the run out so had to run all the way through the transition with my bike shoes on. Oh well!

My friend Sherry - a tri newbie!!

When I got off the bike, Tim and the boys were at the transition cheering for me. I had to run over and get some kisses from my boys! I love having them there and them seeing their Mom be active. 

My finish line cheering squad. =) 

Best supporter ever! Tim has supported me in every crazy endeavor since we met. "Racing" or rather, participating is a lot harder these days with our crazy busy life!

The race went pretty much as I expected. I had an awesome swim that was faster than I've swam in training. A bike that was like I expected. And a run that was as horribly slow as I expected. All in all though, it was fun to do and put another one on the "done" list. 

Race details: 250 yd swim / 10 mile bike / 3.1 mile run

My times:

Swim - 5:52 (including run to the transition, my actual swim was 5:07!!)

T1 - 1:20

Bike - 41:11

T2 - 1:26

Run - 40:18

Total: 1:30:08.990

I was hoping for under 1:30 but I'll take it! 

Happy Birthday Christopher

It's always fun to celebrate a birthday with Legos!! Today we got to celebrate Eli's friend Christopher's 6th birthday.......the one I mixed up and thought was last weekend. So happy when it wasn't and that we got to enjoy the fun. 

Christopher's Mom did an awesome job with all the Lego decorations and fun stuff. There was a contest to guess the number of Legos, Lego Bingo, a pinata and lots of yummy treats to enjoy. All of the boys had a great time and it was a fun time!!

Cool Lego creations - Big Lego chocolate man, Lego marshmallows, Lego cupcakes

Lego snack containers

Lego cupcakes with chocolate Lego men and chocolate Lego bricks

Super cool painted Lego jars

Eli wore his Lego shirt from his Lego party. I must say I had no idea that those shirts would be so popular among Eli and his friends. Makes this crafty Mom's heart happy! 

Lego Bingo

 the Birthday Boy, Christopher

 Make your best Lego face

 Cool Lego pearler beads 

Eli (and Cole!) loved the chocolate covered marshmallow Lego heads

Cole's 1st Pony Ride

Cole went for his first pony ride at school on July 17th. He has always been scared in the past of the pony rides but loved it this day! I forgot to post the picture - thankfully school sent it to us. 

a 2-Party Saturday!

It was a very busy Saturday! Made even more busy since I got some party details mixed up. I thought Eli's friend Christopher's party was this morning and Cole's friend Jack's party was this afternoon. So we went to Christopher's house, where I thought the party was, and there was no one there. Then I couldn't get on evite to find out where it was so I had to apologize to Eli and he was bummed that we missed it. Had to do a quick trip to Target and ran into Eli's buddy Ryan's Dad there. Turns out Ryan's party was today! So I thought we had three parties in one day but turns out, I had mixed up Christopher and Ryan's parties!! 

After lunch, Eli & I headed to Jelly Bean's skating rink for Ryan's 6th birthday party. Eli wasn't too into the skating (I actually got annoyed that he wouldn't even try) but he did have fun watching everyone else skate. He really enjoyed the video game area and the mini-basketball game. Funny, skating rinks haven't changed in 25 years!! I had memories of skating during the summers at Happy Days (our day camp). The boys all loved pizza and cupcakes and Eli loved seeing his old buddies - now that they go to different schools, they don't see each other much. 

Eli and Ms. Carol (Ryan's Mom)

Eli and Ryan - friends since they were about 6 weeks old and now they're 6 years old!!

Happy Birthday Ryan!

My crazy boys

Buds!!

After Ryan's party, we dashed over to meet Cole and Daddy at Jack's pool party. Knowing we would be a little late, Tim took Cole so he could be on time for his friend's party. Thankful we did that because not long after Eli & I got there, we heard thunder and the pool closed. =(  Since no one could be in the pool, it was present time. All the kids loved watching Jack open presents....until the rain started coming. Bummer!! So we went inside the club house for Jack to finish opening presents and everyone had pizza and cake. It was a bummer that they kids didn't get to play in the pool longer but they sure had fun running around the room in the club house! 

All in all, it was a super fun busy day celebrating Ryan's 6th Birthday and Jack's 4th Birthday. Happy Birthday Friends!!

Cole had fun with the water blasters

Playing with his friend Will

Crazy boys! Cole and Will

Eli and Jack's brother Matthew playing diving games

Crazy hair!

Present time!!

Will and Cole - such cuties! 

The "big boys" table

The "little boys" table - Birthday Boy Jack is on the left in the orange shorts.

Happy 4th Birthday Jack!!

Daddy's Boy

Y - End of Summer Family Night

This was Eli's first official summer and he spent it in Y camp. He had an absolute blast and loved all the activities. Each week they had a different theme and kept the kids busy. He loved swimming every day. He also did two weeks of basketball camp and loved it! And we loved how he came home tired each day! 

There have been a few "Family Nights" throughout the Summer but Eli hadn't really expressed interest in going. But tonight....he was set that we were going to the last one of the year. We picked up an extra dinner and adopted a counselor for dinner. One of Eli's huddle leaders, Mitchell, ate dinner with us. He was so nice. Everyone there has been so nice all summer long. We absolutely love the counselors and are thankful for the job they do. We can't imagine keeping all those kids busy all day in the hot sun!! After dinner, all the kids got together to do songs and dances and show off their moves from the summer. There was also a silent auction and a slide show. It was very sweet and made me kinda "misty". I am thrilled for all the experiences and fun Eli (and Cole) is having. He told me that he wants to be part of CILT (Counselors in Leadership Training) when he gets "big". I'm soooo thankful he had fun and enjoys the Y as much as we do! 

Eli and Cole

Silly songs....

lots of jumping....

Hand motions.....

and some great dance moves....

help showcase an awesome summer!!