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...

Let's go fly a kite...

Today was a rather windy day so we decided to head outside and try flying kites! Now mind you, these were really cheap Target dollar section kites so they may as well call them disposable kites! They both had the chance to fly their kites with all the string out and then the wind started to die down...of course! We also had some fun with "Wish Makers"...aka dandelions....and I loved the one of Andon! Enjoy some pics...

Kissing...cute

Last night, Andon, Avery and I were laying on Andon's bed just reading books before bed. After our last book I rolled over and Andon climbed on top of me and caressed my face. Ahh, how sweet, right?!? Well, then he proceeds to kiss me while moving his head side to side. I was a little weirded out so I pulled away (wiping my mouth, by the way). I told Andon, in a very motherly voice, that we just don't kiss our mommy like that....mommy likes smooches (not slobbery, wet kisses from her son). And this is classic, he responds with, "But Mommy, I was just kissing like the prince kisses his princess. You are my princess, Mommy!". So those Disney Princesses are getting some action based on that kiss....hehehe!

Back from Disneyland...

Comparison....1st trip to Disneyland, recent trip to Disneyland...

Disneyland was a fun but fast trip last week....much needed though! The kids mised naps both days so we had to deal with a little bit of crabbiness from them but once we ate lunch, we all had a great time! The highlight was meeting Ariel and Snow White. The kids made it through their first Splash Mountain ride and Avery actually went on Space Mountain!!! When Space Mountain came to a stop, she was silent when I asker her how it was. Then she said,"That was COOL!". She wouldn't go again with Mark though! 'The new Nemo ride was great, too! Here are some pictures.

Update: Sorry that the pics did not attach last time....with the good camera it takes a little longer to upload so I think I got impatient...here's the second try :-)

updates...again

We are heading over to Disneyland tomorrow afternoon for a quick trip for just 1 day! This kids are finally tall enough to go on the bigger rides at both parks and I can not wait to see how they do on Splash Mountain, my favorite!!! Ok, I know this is the 4th time that we have been to DIsneyland since the kids were 1 1/2, not to mention the trip to DisneyWorld last September, but it has been a different experience every time!!! I am speaking on kindergarten readiness tomorrow morning at my MOPS group and after lunch and a nap, we are off to the airport! This is the first time that I remember flying to Disneyland but if it's cheaper than gas, it's worth it!!! We are taking a shuttle from the airport and then it will be the first time that we have had time to go walk around Downtown Disney and have dinner there. We are usually so pressed for time! Since the park doesn't open until 10am, we can actually wake up at a decent hour, not rush for breakfast and get there when the gates open. We'll post pics when we get back!

Andon has had such bad allergies lately that he has not been sleeping well. He wakes up tired from not sleeping around 6:30 or 7am, wants to take a nap around 9:30am, then when we put him down for a nap (either around 10:30 or after lunch around 1pm) he doesn't want to take a nap, then fights going to bed and doesn't fall asleep until 10:30 or 11pm! Thus the cycle continues! Needless to say, he has been a crab the last few days....which results in Mark and I getting frustrated!!! Tonight was kind of a breakthrough where we both stayed in there rubbing his back and cuddling for like 20 minutes each. He almost fell asleep but as soon as I got up, he stirred and finally fell asleep on his own! Let's hope on our trip he sleeps ok!