Honey Moon

About a week ago I read that the moon would be the closest to Earth it's been all year, and that due to --insert scientific jargon here -- it would be giving off a honey glow.  This all sounded pretty amaze-balls to me, and because it's summer I let my wee ones stay up late to witness this once-in-a-honey-moon event.  We were all pretty awe struck by the large glowing moon, and snapped a few pictures before running back inside to snuggle up and drift into dreamland. 

Until next time. . . 

Capital Classic

A few Saturdays ago Tralee ran in her first event, the Capital Classic.  The run was for children 6 to 14, and it was a mile-long course from the Boise Depot to the Capital Building.  The streets were blocked off, and the kids ran right down Capital Blvd.  Tralee was so excited.  

Tralee paired up with our neighbor, Cami to run together.  Sheena, Cami's mom, and I put bright blue bows/flowers in our girls' hair so we could see them easily during the race.  I joked that watching Tralee and Cami run together was like watching David and Goliath.  Tralee is a full year old than Cami and is off-the-charts tall.  Cami is off-the-charts small for her age, so they're fun to see stand next to each other, and run together!  Cami probably has to take three steps to every one of Tralee's!   

After we dropped the girls off at the Depot, we had an hour or so to kill before the race began.  The rest of our group drove downtown toward the capital building, and walked around the Saturday market together.  We saw some funny things down there.  Like this:

  

Corky would never stand for this!

A picture of the capital building I took.  Jim's grandpa used to work here as Federal Judge.

The bell was just too tantalizing.  Hunter HAD to try and ring it.

Hunter and his friend (future bride. . . maybe) Allie waiting for the race to begin.  They were both too young to run this year.

Star Wars characters were waiting at the finish line to cheer/welcome the runners.  They let all the boys run first (last year it was the girls), and then we waited or our little girls to cross the finish line.  It was so exciting to hear everyone cheering, and watch the kids cross the finish line.  We saw a lot of familiar faces in the crowd.

I was super excited when I saw Tralee and Cami run up together.

 I love the look of concentration of Tralee's face below.

Tall and small, short and tall, it doesn't matter, Tralee and Cami ran the race together and did a fantastic job!

Below is Tralee and Cami crossing the finish line.  YAHOO!

Every child that ran received a metal.  Tralee was beyond thrilled with hers.  She kept going around and telling anyone who would listen that, "This is my first metal!"  I asked Tralee if she would like to run in more events, and she enthusiastically answered, "YES!"  We might have to find a few coming up and run them together.

Our little racers below showing off their metals.

When the run was over, the kids and I walked around the event for a bit, and then headed back towards the Saturday market.  Hunter had been asking for a balloon Spiderman all morning.  We actually waited in two balloon animal lines, because after waiting in the first, we were informed that that balloon guy didn't make Spiderman, it was the other lady that did.  So. . . off we went to get Spiderman at the other stand.  We left the market with far too many balloon animals.  We were quite the spectacle.

We stopped for lunch downtown, and then came home.  After a little while Cami, Allie, and Sheena came over for a bit.  Sheena and I hung out, chatted, and watched The Mindy Project together while the kiddos played.  It's so nice to have a friend and neighbor that can just pop over for a visit, and all the kids get along and play so nicely so the moms can chit-chat.  Very fun.

Our Capital Classic day was memorable, I was beyond proud of Tralee, and hopefully we'll have more events like this in our future.

Photo Plop: First Days of Summer Edition

Hey Guys,

So summer began a few weeks ago and I don't think things have slowed down since.  We've been busier than when school was happening.  I'm not complaining, our days have been filled with one fun activity/play date after the next.  It just doesn't leave for a lot of down time.  I think there will be some days where nothing is going on, but for now, we're enjoying our days together.  To give you a sampling of our comings and goings, check out the pics below.

Lots and lots of swimming has taken place. . . 

When I came to take Tralee out of school on the last day, and have a picnic with her, I walked into her classroom to find Jim entertaining the kiddos with a book.  He's just the funnest dad! 

Another swimming picture . . there will be a lot of them

We signing up for the Kids Bowl Free program.  We went with our friends to Big Al's to enjoy a free game of bowling.  I loved Hunter's granny bowl stance!  We stayed and ate lunch at Big Al's also, and then played at the arcade for a while too.  It was a fun day with friends!

Tralee bowling

Hunter

I just LOVE lazy mornings where we have nothing to wake up and get ready for.  We can snuggle, chat, and plan out our day right from the comfort of bed.  The picture below is a morning just as described.

The first Friday after school was out, the kids and I went to Eagle Island State park.  Lots of friends were there, and we had a blast!  Lots of the moms with little nappers left early to get their little ones home in time for nap.  Luckily for us, we had no nappers, so the kids and I stayed as long as our hearts desired. . . which was a long time.

The first full week after summer began, Tralee and Hunter began swim lessons.  So far, they're doing GREAT!  Their instructors keep telling me how awesome they're doing.  Tralee is already a pretty great swimmer, but I want her to get all the mechanics down, and so far, she's doing awesome.  Hunter doesn't really swim yet, and our goal for the end of this summer, is to get him swimming on his own.  So far, he's doing wonderfully at his lessons, and will go under the water, which is a HUGE step for him, but isn't quite sure about the whole floating thing.  He's also an awesome kicker, but needs a little work on his ice cream scoops.  The picture below is of Hunter and his friend Allie on their first day of swim lessons.

Tralee on her first day of lessons.

We had our friends and neighbors over after swim lessons one day.  We ordered pizza and had a picnic outside.  It's been SO FUN having neighbors we get along with so well.  The dad's get along and go golfing and fishing together, the mom's can sit and chat for hours while the littles play, and all the kids get along so well.  Sheena and I have already arranged Hunter and Allie's marriage.  Those two are so similar in traits (they're "treasure" collectors).  However, on the day pictured below Allie told Hunter, "I'm sorry Hunter, but I don't want to marry you.  I want to marry my dad."  So. . . we might have to give them 15-20 years to warm up to the idea of being in an arranged marriage.  :)

We've also scheduled plenty of playdates this summer.  We invited our cousin Brinley over to swim one day, and the next Tralee and Hunter went to Brinley's house to play.  It was great!  I love the picture below of them sunbathing, I can just picture them as teenagers laying there, talking about boys, music, and clothes all day.

Cute girls!

The picture below pretty much sums up summer for me.  The kids were playing with some neighbor friends, and eating otter pops.  Perfect!

When we went to Brin's house, we had to stop and hold the new kittens.  Tralee, my resident cat lover, was in heaven.

The picture below is what pure happiness looks like.

Another swim lesson pic

We bought Hunter some cowboy boots a few weeks ago, and that is now ALL he will wear.  On this particular morning, pictured below, we were running late for swim, so we threw on his trunks and boots, and left the house.  I only noticed once at swim lessons that his boot were on backwards, and his pajama shirt has a little breakfast on it.  Oh well.

One of our summer experiments involved dry ice.  The kids had SO MUCH FUN with it.  We took the dry ice and water outside, and all the neighborhood kids were enamored.  We had fun.

I mean, the picture below, do I even need to say anything?  Kids + Goggles = Hilarity.

Hunter and Tralee had a safety day at swim lessons last week.  They put on life jackets and jumped into a 10 ft pool.  Both of them were the first ones in their class to jump in.  I was proud.  

We invited one of Hunty's friends over last week.  I filled a ton of water balloons up, and snuck up on them.  They had no idea what was about to happen.  Mwhahaha!  

Actually, I only threw a few, and then let them take over.  Do you want to know what they did with them?  They wanted to draw faces on the balloons, and then smash them.  It was a brutal business!

We bought Tralee some new princess nightgowns for the summer, I also ordered her cute Frozen necklace, and it goes perfectly with her princess jammies.  She was super excited about both! 

Another pic of Hunty and his buddy doing yoga. . . or something.

Jim was in charge of the Traeger roadshow at our local Costco, which was great, because he didn't have to go out-of-town and we could go visit him at work whenever our little hearts desired.  Whenever we visited Jim, we brought him some food, and he did things to the kids like throw them in a pile of pillows.  They loved it.  Jim did REALLY well at this particular show.  I don't think I've written about his change in employment yet, but he started a new job working for Traeger the start of the year, and so far, it's been a huge blessing for our family.  It's always a little nerve-wracking starting a new venture, but this one has been great.

Can I just tell you how much I love the stage my kids are in.  They're both so smart, fun, imaginative, and cute.  I already wrote about how all Hunter wants to wear are his cowboy boots, but there was also an entire day that he wanted to wear the superman cape I made him.  Watching him run around all day in his boots and cape made me so happy.  I hope he stays in this stage for a long long time.

In the picture below, Tralee was the robber, and Hunter was superman.

Super Hunty!!

We don't have swim lessons on Friday, so this kids and I like to find something active to do together together on Friday mornings.  This last Friday was a little chilly, so we didn't want to go swimming.  Instead, we biked to a park in a neighborhood about 1.5 miles away.  We played there for a while, saw some friends, and collected some "BBs" for Hunter.  Right around lunch time, we peddled home, at some food, and then drove to Costco to visit Jim. 

Even Superman shops for tomatoes.  :)

 I took the picture below the day before yesterday at swim lessons.  For some reason, June has decided to get a little chilly around here.  Unluckily for us, we still have swim lessons to go to in the morning.  When I took the kids yesterday it was 51 degrees outside!  Luckily the pool they have lessons in is heated.  They did just fine, but were super chilly when they got out of the water.  Hopefully it warms up soon.

So. . . that's just a little sampling of our summer so far.  There are some outings, get-togethers, and events not documents, but you get the gist.  We've been having a wonderful summer so far!