Father & Son Triathlon

I am so proud of two of my favorite boys today - Why you ask? We they just finished the Murray Family Triathlon and did so well.
Brett has been looking for an event that he could do that covered some biking, swimming and running, so when Murray had a family Tri, he jumped at the chance to make it a father/son event. He called Colton and asked him if he was up for the challenge and he always is, so...

Here they are at 7:30 a.m. on Labor Day getting ready for the event.
Dad was first on the swim, here he is getting out of the water. The weather was nice, and the pool was warm, but for some reason distance swimming is really hard!
Colton taking off for his portion of the swim. He did great! Both of the boys said that the swim was by far the most difficult part.
Brett was already gone on his biking portion when Colton was doing his swim, but here is Colton taking off for his bike event, still wearing his swimsuit, which ended up keeping him cool.
Dad and Colton finishing strong with running - what troopers after swimming and biking!
Here are the winners (in my book anyway)! After some fruit and a rest they look ready to go again! We are all hoping to take part in this event next year! What a great thing to have under your belt at 10 years old, right? Great job Colton and dad!

Another Useful Skill

After having such a successful garden every year, and feeling like I could be doing so much more, I decided to go to a neighborhood canning session. It was so great and I felt so inspired after they told us all of the canning and freezing options we had...so, what did I do with that newly acquired knowledge? I spent the entire day canning, making a "fresh, frozen fruit cocktail, and freezer jam! It was great and I feel a real sense of accomplishment, although I'm not sure I have enough freezer space or pantry space - and what do you really do with 12 jars of salsa?

Another Year

The Summer was way too short - and here we are again, ready to begin another new school year. The kids knew exactly what they needed to do to get ready and get going without hardly any help from me - other than to make wrap sandwiches for lunch - the most popular request for lunches.

Here is McKaleigh ready to head out for eighth grade - she wasn't a bit nervous and has been excited for this day to come for a few weeks. She wanted a vintage lunch box this year and decided on the "Wizard of Oz."
Colton was looking very stylish and also ready to go. This was the first year that I did not walk him through the school and go to meet his teacher. He was not nervous, but I was - watching him walk away and meet up with friends and hit the basketball courts.
I was really nervous for Alex. This is his first year in a really established pre-school. It took us about 4 months to get him to stay in his Primary class without tears, so I thought for sure there would be a little drama. He said goodbye to me at the car, but I said I was going to walk him all of the way to his class. Because he was the first one there - he got the "special helper" sticker, gave me a pound, and headed off to class - tear free!

The kids are all getting so big, they will all be in school in some form this year - it's amazing how time flies by!

What We Have Been Up To...

This Summer we have managed to cram in ALOT of stuff! I think it has been one of the most memorable yet shortest Summers in history. But, time flies when you're having fun, right?


We have gone to Wheeler Farm quite a bit. It is one of our families favorite spots and it is close enough to ride our bikes - if we are feeling like we need the extra workout.

Every year Brett takes a picture of the kids in the exact same spot at the farm as kind of a tradition - this year we found that the tree branch was gone! It was kind of a sad moment for all of us, so the kids chose this spot instead.
Alex has started soccer - and it is hilarious! All of the kids are kind of shy and have no clue where to kick the ball. We are going to have to do some practice goal kicking! But he sure looks cute in his number 4 uniform - because he is four of course!
We have all really enjoyed sitting out front and lighting fireworks this Summer. It is kind of a fun and relaxing thing for our family - to sit out front, have popsicles and watch the kids light random things on the driveway.

Dad thought he would give us a show one night and lit two sparklers and danced around in the driveway with them in his mouth - The kids thought it was pretty daring!
Uncle Bri even came up one night and enjoyed dinner and a fireworks show. He showed the kids how you can pop those little "pop its" things right in your fingers if your brave - not throw them on ground!
Of course I have spent many an hour in my garden - it is just relaxing and fun for me. I have really had alot of success with growing lots of things! This year I let the kids all pick something we have never grown, and it was so fun to have new veggies back there (kale, sweet peas, and green beans). We will definitely scale back on the kale and plant more of the peas and beans!
We also spent our fare share of time playing in water - either at the pool or the many water features that the city offers, we all love it!

Day 1 of San Diego Trip- Las Vegas

So, I am finally getting around to posting about our wonderful trip to San Diego for the Cushing family reunion. There were so many pictures to go through and so much to think about, that I decided to do one post for each day. I am not sure they will all make it on the first page of the blog, so you may have to go back a post or two. We had such a great time and got to see family in Las Vegas and California. We should do it again soon!

On our way to the Cushing family reunion that was being held in San Diego, we stopped over in Las Vegas. It was kind of a sad beginning to such a fun trip because we attended Grandma Judy's funeral. Here is a picture of her almost 1 year before with our kids. We miss her so much, and came back through Las Vegas on our way home to Utah and placed sea shells on her gravestone.

Dad took the kids out on the town for some fun, while I spent time with my family in Las Vegas. He is the most wonderful husband and every day deserves to be dad of the year!

Of course they went to Coke World - and purchased many great Coke items!
Alex down on the Las Vegas strip with his favorite character - Bumblebee. We also saw Mario and Michael Jackson - but no one wanted a picture with them - The kids thought they were kind of creepy!
Dad took the kiddos to the Excalibur fun dungeon and they had so much fun! I met up with them later that afternoon - and it really was a fun place - you could really blow alot of money on all of those games, but each of the kids came back with a prize!

Wild Animal Park

Here we are at the San Diego Wild Animal Park - Our first really big day in San Diego. It was a day where everyone participated in the same activity. There was so much to do and so much to see we were there almost all day!

Here are the kids all ready for the experience, animals, and family fun. And boy were they in for a long day of walking, sight seeing, and exploring!

It was rare to get them all together in one shot! Here they are at the entrance getting ready for the park! Are they too cool or what?
I am not sure if this is something we will have to fear one day or not, but here is what our futures may hold!
Mom and dad ready for the day!
One of my favorite pictures of grandma and grandpa - they look like they are on a real safari! They were the driving force behind bringing us all together, and there are not enough thankyous in the world for what they did for all of us!

Mom and Alex checking out all of the wildlife - right after this picture he laid down in my lap and said he was tired and would I tell him about the animals I was seeing!
The kids at condor ridge being, what else? Condors. Its funny because after this attraction, Alex called the condo the condor. He would say, "I want to live at the condor." or "When are we going back to the condor."

I was really surprised that Alex wanted to participate in one of the shows - he won't even participate in primary where he knows everyone! He was so brave, wet up to participate in the show, took one look at the audience and burst into tears!
Uncle Jason and the kids watching the elephants.

Beach Day

Another beach day, and another opportunity to surf the waves! Here is McKaleigh - I think if we lived near the ocean this would be her past time - she loved it more than anyone else - but her back got really sunburned facing the sunshine all day!

Cousin Nick and Rhiannon helping Alex find shells, crabs, and clams.
Grandpa and Aunt Verity supervising all of the activities from the condo deck.
One of my favorite activities was the family reunion sand castle building contest - we decided to build a giant turtle and with the help of everyone - I think we could make a living this way! It was so much fun!
The whole turtle building crew. Everyone had a part in the process from the young in years to the young at heart!

Balboa Park

We decided to hit Balboa Park one afternoon, and I really wished that we had planned to spend the entire day out there - I don't think that anyone got to see and do everything they wanted too! It was a really great attraction - and worth a dawn to dusk experience!

Here are the kids in one of the museums exhibits - The Hurricane Simulator! I thought Alex would be really nervous in there, and prepped him for the worst, but he thought it was really great!
Alex, mom and McKaleigh all trying out another exhibit...all of the exhibits were hands on and so much fun!
Each of the kids climbing through the geometric tunnels.
Waiting for lunch at the little cafe - we left shortly after this, but like I said - another day another time we'll spend the day, maybe two out here! We loved this area of San Diego!

Baseball Game

Anyone who knows our family knows that we do not visit a city during baseball season without getting a game in - and we got alot of the Cushing gang to go along! It was really hot, but fun! We had many treats - drinks, nachos, candy, peanuts and bags of cotton candy!
The kids with the park in the background - They have learned to enjoy a good game, watch the scoreboard and love the park fare!
A rare shot with mom in it! Walking to the game with the kiddos. I loved the murals of old baseball photos in the background along the walls on the way into the park!

Last Day at the Beach

Here were the beach staples for everyone...A skim board for Colton, boogie board for McKaleigh and bucket and frisbee for Alex. Most of every beach day was spent this way, and the kids loved it!
Colton practicing his skim board skills. He was really good, and the only one who could actually skim!
McKaleigh spent the better part of each beach day out in the ocean riding the board - she even went out in the evenings when the water was chilly!