Dirty Dash 2012

On Saturday I ran in the Dirty Dash - a 3.5 miles mud run. I ran with three other friends, which was super fun. The weather was actually a little chilly, but once we got moving I didn't notice it.... until we showered off afterwards and then I was COLD. The race was great - mud pits to run through and climb out of, walls to climb over, water slides, tubes to crawl through, etc. I went back later for the kids to do the Piglet Plunge (just one mile with a few of the pits and obstacles). Ben loved it. Megan was totally fascinated and slightly obsessed with picking the dried mud off, and Nathan was pretty much over it after the second mud pit (it took some convincing and carrying to get him through it...HE HE HE). Good times. I haven't done any kind of race in years and this definitely got me itching to do another one.




We didn't rinse off very well after the kids race - it was already drying (which I thought might be a better condition to drive home in), but then we had to rinse off before we showered.

First Day of School

School is back in session. The kids were all thrilled to start.

Caelan is in 4th grade with Mrs. Jorgensen. She started before any of the other kids. I asked her if she wanted me to walk in with her, and she said, "she could go in by herself."

Ben is in 2nd grade with Mrs. Huffaker. His best bud switched schools, but he has made some new friends and it enjoying his class.

Megan is in Kindergarten with Mrs. White. This is same teacher that Ben had two years ago. She walked in on her first day and found her name tag. Sitting right next to her was her friend from dance class. Then her very best friend walked in the door and Megan realized that her name tag was in the seat on the other side of her. She and Presley were elated. (That seating arrangement didn't even make it through the day, but it sure made the morning fun - HA).

Nathan started preschool at Parky's Pals with Ms. Denise. We have pretty much been counting down the days since Megan's last day at that school in May. He was dressed and ready to get in the car 30 minutes before we had to leave. He is loving it.

The Big Summer Rendevous

We had a great summer trip in July/August.We were gone 18 days, we traveled through 10 states, we attended 3 family reunions and we traveled almost 4,000 miles (and our van made it without a problem the whole way). Here are some of the highlights of the trip:

*Camping at Carlsbad State Beach - we were literally right above the shore and we could hear the waves crashing at night. We stayed here during the Sorensen Family Reunion. We spent an entire day at the beach. Of the 7 hours we were at the beach, Caelan was in the water for 6 of them (she is our little fish). Sean went out in the water, intending to just wade for a bit, but a wave caught him and took him down. Unfortunately he was wearing his glasses, which were taken right off with the wave. Luckily we found an Optometrist office that gave us a trial pair to take for free. We enjoyed another day at the park visiting, playing volleyball, eating yummy food etc.
*Caelan made friends with a bunch of my cousins' daughters, which was fun to watch. Nathan also made a friend, Brinlee. They played and played together. One day she fell and got hurt and Nathan put his arm around her and walked her to her dad (it was so cute). I sent my cousin a message after we left the reunion telling her how fun it was to watch those two little ones play together. She wrote back saying that Brinlee had been telling her that Nathan is now her boyfriend. HA! Love it.
*We hit up Los Hermanos on our way from southern CA up to Northern ID, which is always tasty (and brings back fun memories).
*The trailer story (but that deserves a post all on it's own)
*Camping at Farragut State Park (about 20 miles outside Cour d'Alene, ID). It was beautiful. We played at the lake, went boating, had campfires, took a day trip to a mountain resort, found a delicious ice cream parlor and got homemade ice cream cones and had a fun time visiting.
*We made the next trip to the final reunion in Boise, ID. For this reunion we stayed in an empty house with some mattresses for beds.
*For this reunion, the Taylor Reunion, we had a couple of swimming pool parties, we watched "How To Train Your Dragon" outside, and I actually got to watch a little bit of the Olympics....finally.
*We spent one day floating along the Boise river. There were only three decent drops and Grandpa Sorensen fell right out on the first one, which gave us all a good laugh.
*We spent one night camping at a Reservoir about 30 minutes away. The grassy campground was right on the lake, and the water was super shallow so the kids spent lots of time way out in the water. We boated and jumped off the dock and made smores and had a fun little overnighter.
*I met Corbin in Eagle Mountain, UT at Charity's house and we caravanned together back home to New Mexico.
Fun, Fun Trip!