Championship swim meet

The last swim meet of the season is a culmination of all the recreation swim teams getting together for one final swim meet.  Let me just tell you, it's NUTS!  The back of the YMCA is packed with wall-to-wall tents.  It's even more caotic inside where the pool is.

Austin and his free relay team, getting ready for their final swim together.  They did great!



Austin so wanted to get a first place, but it didn't happen this year.  That's ok, buddy, you are still #1 in our books and you keep practicing hard and you'll get there!

This little guy cheering Austin on from the stands.



Getting ready to swim his favorite and best event, freestyle!  He got second place in his heat.





Austin is so proud of all of his ribbons!  Even those that are eighth place!  He had a great first season, improved a ton, and will be back next summer!  Good job buddy!

Camels Back hike

We enjoyed a very HOT, but fun hike with our friends, the Sasser-Gunsons this week.  We hiked Boise's famous Camels Back Park.  It started out with a bet for all the kids.  If anyone could RUN up the steep hill (see first picture), all the way to the top without stopping, we would pay them each $10.  Nobody did it, of course, but it was sure funny to watch them try!  Austin told me, "Mom, I'm getting too sweaty to run all the way to the top."  That kid is exactly his Dad.  He does NOT like to sweat.

The real fun was climbing up the sandstone rocks and then running down the sand (and getting sand in their shoes).  I think we successfully wore them out! ;)

Eat my bubbles!

Austin has had a successful and fun first season of swim team.  He has never once complained about going to swim practice every morning, he looks forward to the swim meets, and most importantly, he loves to race!  I love the grin he gets on his face right before a race starts!  Priceless.  So far, his best event is freestyle, but his breastroke has really come a long way and his backstroke is equally improved.

Austin consistently places 2nd or 3rd in all his events.  We are so proud of you Austin for your hard work and for your good attitude.  You are an excellent swimmer!

Boise Zoo & Bike ride

Last week I took the kids to the Boise Zoo.  We went with our good friends, the Lennbergs.  I hadn't been to our zoo since Carson was a baby!  It might not be the San Diego zoo, but it is a cute, little zoo and very beautiful!  We saw the tigers, the sloth bear, lots of monkeys, lions, giraffes, butterflies, snakes, and a snow leopard.  Carson was obsessed with the 200 lb. rock python!

 

Over the weekend, we went for a bike ride on the greenbelt.  The Boise greenbelt is so pretty.  It was a hot day, but luckily, there is a lot of shade along the path.  We took Tucker with us and he loved it of course!

Relay for Life 2012

Relay for Life was this weekend.  This is our third year participating and our second year as a team.  It is such a neat experience.  I love meeting survivors and hearing their stories.  It is always so inspiring.  This year our team didn't put as much focus on fundraising because we had a lot of other, more important things going on (primarily starting our foundation), so this year the event was really just about having fun and raising awareness for melanoma and skin cancer.

I was asked by the Relay committee to give a speech at the Opening Ceremonies, right before the Survivor Lap kicks off.  You can read my speech here (a few people asked me to post it).  I think it went well because I got a lot of good feedback.  I always love sharing my story with others!  It is very therapeutic.

This year we planned to sleep there, in our tent, behind our booth.  The kids and Eric slept, however, I pulled an all-nighter!  I knew that if I went to sleep and only got 3 hours that I would be an angry bear in the morning, so I decided to just stay up!  It was tough, especially in the wee hours of the morning, but so much fun!  Luckily, I had a great group of friends and teammates to walk the track, watch movies, roast marshmallows, sit and chat in the booth, and pass the time with.

 

 

I am so grateful to be apart of this event each year.  It really is such a fun, amazing, and inspiring experience!

Carson can swim!

I will try to post a video of Carson swimming eventually, but for now, this will do.  This might not seem like a big deal, but Carson is FINALLY swimming on his own!  People tell me all the time, "But he's only 4!"  You have understand though, Austin was swimming on his own at age 2 and because I used to be a swim instructor, I am anal about teaching my kids how to swim at an early age.  As we know, the older kids get, the harder it gets, as fear and bad habits (like holding their nose) set in...

The thing is Carson has always loved the water, but he's just more cautious by nature compared to how Austin was at that age.  Not a bad thing though.  Last winter, I finally caved in and registered him for swim lessons at the YMCA, just to get him warmed up to it and more confident by summer.  It worked!  By early summer, he was jumping in and swimming to me under the water (without me catching him or wearing a float).  He can do "torpedos" and "big arms", and front and back floats all by himself!  YAY!!!  The best part though is seeing his confidence soar with his newfound skills.  He know thinks he is a big kid and mimmicks all of Austin's swim team moves.  Pretty cute!!

Quick getaway

We made a last minute decision to get out of dodge for the 4th of July. So, why not go camping with the rest of the state?! We packed up our gear Wed afternoon, crammed it in our SUV with our dog (not an easy task!), and headed up to Cascade for the night.  I can't believe we actually got a camping spot right on the lake too!  It was a great place, right on the water and in the shade.  The boys and dog immediately headed to the water, of course and within 10 minutes, all 3 of them were filthy dirty!

After setting up camp, we ate a yummy campfire dinner and roasted s'mores.  Then we headed to Cascade Park a few miles away to watch fireworks.  Because the sun doesn't set until 10pm here and they wait until it is REALLY dark to light off fireworks, we ended up hanging around for the fireworks to start until after 11!  The boys got some cheap light sabors and were quite entertained with those for awhile though.  I had low expectations for the fireworks, but I've got to say, they were pretty darn good!  The best part was watching Carson's face.  I don't know if he had seen "real" fireworks" yet, so the whole time he was grinning ear to ear and saying, "ooh" and "ahh" to every firework!  It was pretty cute!

We didn't get back to camp until midnight, so the boys were pretty wiped out to say the least!  Luckily everyone slept in until 8:30am (another miracle), so after breakfast we packed up our stuff and headed to McCall to play.  Once we got there, we drove around a bit (gawking at the incredible homes on the lake) and then rented a canoe to paddle up a river on the north shore.  Another miracle was fitting all 4 of us, a very large and nervous dog, and our gear on that canoe and not tipping at all!  We paddled up this beautiful serene river and then stopped to have lunch and play on the river bank.  Tuck was in heaven!

After we returned from our canoe trip, we drove to a scenic outlook on a peninsula with breathtaking views of Payette Lake.  We then hiked down to this little cove (mostly bush-wacked!) and the boys fished.  Once we finished up fishing, we headed back to town and got a little dinner before heading home!  It was a quick trip, but so worthwhile.

The longer I live in Idaho, the more I love it here.  And that's a big admission for a California girl!  But really, we live in some pretty incredible scenery with every outdoor activity you can imagine.  And the boys love it here too!  They love to ski, fish, camp, river raft, hike just like Mom and Dad.  What a blessed and beautiful country we live in!!