Spartan Sprint 8/19/2017

Andy and I finished our first Spartan Spring last Saturday. It was 4.2 miles with 24 obstacles spread throughout. I've had a goal for about two years to train and be able to do a Spartan Sprint, ever since I did my first terrain race with my friends. Spartans are tougher since they have a penalty if you aren't willing or can't complete an obstacle. Andy jumped on board about 6 weeks ago or so. It was fun to train together in the evening after the kids went to bed. We both liked the race and would do it again. we both failed some obstacles and had to do the 30 burpee penalty each time. I was proud that I finished 2 out of the 3 hanging obstacles because the upper body ones are the hardest for me. I came away knowing what I need to work on and motivated to keep trying. I need to get to wear I can do multiple pull ups in a row. It challenged us both and it was an accomplishment that we're excited about. We plan to do another one next year!!

Central Oregon Family Trip

We loaded up Saturday after Sydney's play ended and headed in Grandma and Papa's RV to central Oregon. Our first stop we unplanned at a cool observatory in a lava field. We also visited a mile long lava tube that we could hike through. It was cold and dark, but cool in there. The kids got to learn about all the different aspects of volcanoes on our trip since we saw them from underground, from the size, in the lava fields, and then from the top. We spent the night at West Paulina Lake and the kids played in a miniature hot spring on the side of the lake in the morning. Obsidian glass fields were next and super cool. Too bad they won't let you bring out any rocks! Our last day we went to see Crater Lake. The kids favorite part was their class with the nature ranger where they got to do an experiment that showed how crater lake was formed. No water flow in or out its just a collapsed volcano core that filled with water! Its also the deepest lake in North America. 

Summer Time

 Our summer turned out to be SO MUCH BUSIER than planned! We've been gone a lot and I feel like I'm always playing catch up. Two things we had planned on though were that Sydney was going to go to theater camp so she could participate in the Elgin Opera House's production of "The Wizard of Oz." She got sick the first day of camp a few weeks back, and they were so nice to work with us and switch her to a later week. It turned out to be really busy for her because by that time soccer season was in full swing too. She had some long days, but definitely had fun being a Munchkin and taught Wynn and Abby all the songs too. We all know "ding, dong the witch is dead..." by heart I think now! I was surprised and proud of her for really getting into the acting part of the show. We already know she loves to dance and sing, but I guess she likes to act too. It was so fun to watch how animated and involved she was up on stage. I'm sure we'll have more musicals in our future with her!

Wynn played soccer too and really blossomed this year. He never wanted to sit out and rest and scored some goals. He ran fast and even got better at not slide kicking towards the end of the season. Slide kicking is his "signature" move, but we tried to show him how that meant he couldn't keep kicking the ball and it always got stolen right after he'd kick it and fall down lol. He's getting the hang of it and looking forward to pee wee football in the fall.

Kauai

Dad treated Mom and I to a beautiful, fun trip to Kauai this year for some mother daughter time. I forgot how much I love Hawaii. It's almost painful to be there... but so perfect, beautiful, and serene. It sounds cliche, but my soul feels at home there. One day I hope to be able to live there again and am so grateful I was able to spend time there with mom this year.

On to the trip however.... We did a lot of fun things and relaxed and surrounded ourselves with all Kauai's lush beautiful glory. We saw Kauai from the water on a riverboat, from the air on a helicopter,  from the road on our trip from one end of the island to the other at Waimea Canyon, and from the dirt on a grueling 8 mile hike on the Na Pali Coast, a place where the only way in or out is to walk! We snorkeled, shopped, ate and much more. It was a fun week and I'll let the pictures speak the rest for themselves! We took these pictures ourselves. The landscape is so amazingly beautiful, you don't have to be a professional photographer to make it look stunning!