Hot Mommy Boot Camp

Well, I start Hot Mommy Boot Camp on Monday! I am looking forward to finishing up my goal! So far I have lost 13 lbs, lots of inches, and am down to a healthy body fat % and BMI! I am finally feeling good about wearing a swimsuit and need to go shopping for a new one! I have about 14 more lbs to go to get back to my pre-twin weight but I would settle for 9 more lost! I went in to have my pre boot camp assessment and when she measured my waist she commented how small it was....woo hoo! Then she measured my arms and was explaining that they measure from "where the fat hangs the lowest" and she commented that I didn't have any fat on my arms...woo hoo!

Ok, well enough bragging on myself for now! My goal is 5 lbs in the next 6 weeks of boot camp and I'll report back :)

Tap Dancers

Both of the kids have been enrolled in a Tap, Jazz and Acro class and last Monday they had their recital....and it was the most adorable thing EVER!!! Andon was actually right on with all the steps!!! Here are some pictures....we have it on video, too!

It's been a while!

We have been letting Avery and Andon start playing some games on the computer! They love to explore http://www.noggin.com/. Playing on the computer has been our new found way to get them to stay in bed at night..."If you go in Avery's room or if you get up and play with Andon when he comes in your room, no computer tomorrow!".

When we had our garage cabinets replaced last week we found this mask that Mark's friend Ralph had gotten for Mark when we found out we were having a boy...you know when you change them and they create a yellow rainbow?!?! Andon found it quite fun to play with until he covered his mouth, too, and it suctioned to his face! They start swimming lessons on Monday but just for 1 session because of travel. The pool has been chilly lately so we have not been swimming yet.

We will be heading off to Legoland in CA for the kids 4th birthday June 8th-10th. Can you believe that they are going to be 4 already?!??????????!!!! Time flies! We may head out to Chicago later in the month, too. Mark has a 9 day stretch off so we want to take advantage of it :) It will probably be in the 100's by then so it will be nice to get out of the heat!

Urgh...This was tough!!!

We had a tough bike race!

Ok, Jenni, stop tapping the foot..here's the scoop!

Well we were very excited to have some time to head down to Tucson without the kids. Andy survived (and so did the kids) so that is not a part of the story but...

The morning of the race with a 6:30am start time, we arrived at the parking lot around 5:25 am. Lots of time, right. Not when you have a mechanical issue that you don't know how to fix! We found a nice parking spot up front and started putting the bike together (we don't have a bike rack for the 4 Runner yet and the tandem is too long to fit in the back so we have to take it apart). When Mark put on the rear wheel, one of the brake pads fell of. Unfortunately, this was the first time anything has happened with the brakes so we had no idea how to fix it. After about 20 minutes of Mark growing more and more frustrated and anxious, he finally was able to get it back in enough so the rear wheel was able to move. He rode it around, made some more adjustments, rode some more...***meanwhile, time is ticking by and people are lining up at the start line***...finally he gave it the ok and we hopped on, a little leary. We lined up almost at the end of the 1000 cyclists and Mark went off (while I stayed with the bike) to see if we could line up with the Platinum riders, which Mark has a pass for. We had been told that both tandem riders had to have a Platinum pass but he decided to try his luck at the gate and ask again if they did. The gal at the gate would have let us by, but honest Mark asked before trying and she went and clarified that indeed both had to have one. Urgh!

So we started aat the back where we were following the rules and we literally shot off like a shotgun! We were flying by everyone trying to get up to the front of the pack. The first half was full of hills, hills and more hills. We had a blast and were rockin'!!! When we turned off the hilly part, we went uphill on Ajo Highway into the flat part, we got stuck on the markers in the pavement that keep you from going off the road and lost a water bottle! Not good when you are on a time crunch with a goal of not stopping!!! When this flattened out, my thighs were on FIRE from so much climbing!!! I seriously thought that I was going to have to call someone to come out and get us! I pushed through it and we trucked on. As we got to about 10 miles from the finish, Mark cracked (in cycling terms, he "bonked"). It was the first time that I actually felt like I was carrying him! He coupld not push his feet over the pedals and was dehydrated from the loss of water bottle. This is so uncharacteristic of him!

Anyways, we made it to the end, 21 minutes longer than our goal time, but we are taking it as one more trainig event to prepare us for our next 3 rides....

1. Aug- Ride down in southern AZ again...this is our last chance for me to get Platinum qualification, 92 miles or so.
2. Sept- The Most Beautiful Bike Ride around Lake Tahoe...I can not wait for this one!!!! This is more of a fun one rather than a competition....72 miles or so!
3. November- El Tour de Tucson, the 109 mile one that we did last year....this was tough but we'll be prepared!!!

Well, that's the scoop :) I'll work on a picture from it...Mark found some on the website but we have to order it :)

Off to the races

Mark and I are in our second bike race on Sunday, the Tour of the Tucson Mountains. It's a 70 mile race on the tandem and I am really looking forward to it. I am entrusting my children to my brother, Andy, and let's just hope that they are still alive when we get home!

Water heater no more

This week we had an interesting experience....our water heater exploded, yes, literally exploded on Wednesday. Unfortunately, it managed to soak through the walls, into the carpet and all through our garage cabinets! It gets better, Mark had just left for work about an hour an a half before and his parents were here! We heard a huge thud that went across the house and couldn't figure out where it came from...until for some reason I decided to check the water heater! Glad I did! So $5500 in estimated damages later, we are now in the process of getting it all fixed! Thank GOD for homeowners insurance!!! All in all the visit was focused on that but we did manage to get in a trip to the zoo and a couple dinners out.

Mark and I are in another cycling race down in Tucson next weekend. This will be my sht to get Platinum qualification before the 109 Tour de Tucson ride in November so 70 miles in 3:15 minutes are our goal....that means no stops! My brother, Andy, will be saying witht he kids since mom and Dave will be in Tahoe. This is a huge test of our trust in him....it's only about 30 hours so he'll be fine :)

Lots happening..

Lately, we have been pretty busy and not in a good way, well some was good. Here's the rundown..
1. I hurt my toe again, this time I made it to the foot dr. We discovered that I have a permanently dislocated pinky toe and had my foot in a walking boot for a couple of weeks. I found out today that I am not going to have to have surery, WOOHOO, and instead I'll just put the boot on when and if I hurt it again. So I am out of the boot and can work out again!!! The good news is I managed to maintain my weight even with my limited mobility!
2. The same week that I hurt my toe, Andon came down with pneumonia! 103 fevers are not fun with your baby!!!
3. A few days later, Avery had the start of pneumonia...praises that we caught it before it got any further!
4. Mark had a cycling race on Saturday and came in 48th out of about 800!!! A major personal best for him and the qualification for Platinum status!!! Now that I have the clear to hit the gym again, we'll attempt to train for a 72 mile race the end of this month to try and attain Platinum status for me so we can start the Tour de Tucson in November at the front of the pack :)
5. We have been doing a fundraiser for MOPS that has consumed a lot of time these last 4 days! It has earned us a lot of money for our group so it was worth it!!!

Ok, so that's about it for now...