Cross Timbers Classic

Last Saturday I rode in the Cross Timbers Classic. I did the 50 mile option and I'm not usually big into results as long as I have a good ride, but I'll admit, my overall average speed was not to shabby! I was pleased with my overall performance. It was fun riding a little more aggressively and tactically. The weather was perfect that day and I really had a great ride!

A few things make this ride fun. Similar to the ADA ride I did last year, they start at the Texas Motor Speedway, so we got to ride a lap around the speedway at the beginning of the ride. That's pretty cool. This time, they kept the speedway open longer so that families and kids could come and ride a lap or two as well. We thought this would be a great opportunity for the boys to come join in an event, so we decided that John and they boys would meet me at the finish and then we'd ride a lap or two together. John was originally going to pull Robby in the trailer and Ty would ride his own bike, but at the last minute, Ty decided he wanted to ride the tag-along with John, so that meant I would pull Robby. Fine.

Wouldn't you know it, just as we head to the track, they closed the doors so that they could start up race school. I guess not enough people showed up to ride the track for them to keep it open. We were a little disappointed that we didn't get to ride on the raceway together, but decided to head out to the five mile loop that goes around the outside of the speedway instead. Tyler has ridden the five mile loop before on his own bike (which I was quite proud of), but I think he enjoyed it way more this time because he got to go fast with daddy. I got out there, and after a mile or so decided that 50 miles was good enough and pulling the trailer another five miles just for the fun of it sounded a bit...not fun. I bailed and headed back to the car with Robby.

Here is the only picture of Robby from that day. Bummer you can't see him in there because he was so cute sitting in that trailer all smiles (and the nice sport's photographer tried to get a shot or two of Robby back there grinning and waving while his mom huffed and puffed up the hill)

It wasn't all bad because while Robby and I waited for John and Tyler to finish their loop, we got to watch the cars race around the track. How cool is that!?! Robby was pretty sure Lightening McQueen and Chick Hick were out there bumping into each other.

And here is the only picture I have of Tyler from the day. He was also very happy riding on the back of the bike. John said that he kept yelling, "This is great! I'm having so much fun!"

Afterward, we rode over to the fence to watch the cars race around close up. Those things are LOUD! The boys loved it and I'm glad because it's the closest thing to a Nascar event as they're ever going to get.

Next year we'll take more pictures and I think we'll have the boys come ride the track at the beginning of the event instead of at the end so that they won't miss the opportunity to ride on the speedway!

California trip- part 4

And of course, no trip to California would be complete without a trip to the beach. We spent the afternoon at Newport Beach, which was particularly fun because I have so many memories of previous vacations spent there. My family has spent many summers staying in a beach house at Newport. Even John has been there a few times with us during our "married without children years."

As we drove around town and walked along the beach, so many memories came flooding back. It was fun to now be there with my own children. However, this day was different than the hot, breezy days I recall. The weather on this day was REALLY cold. Our original plan was to spend the day on the beach, but with how chilly it was, we decided that a few hours was plenty of time.

Of course the cold weather didn't stop the boys from having a really great time. Both of them ended up not just splashing in the waves, but taking a quick dip in the cold water.

Tyler loved collecting cool shells and scooping up hand fulls of dirt to find interesting little creatures. He found lots of little crabs and enjoyed trying to scare me with them. Gross

Robby ran in the waves and out of the waves, in the waves and out of the waves (laughing the whole time) until the waves finally won and he lost his balance, toppling into the cold water. Besides the initial shock of the cold water, he thought it was pretty fun.

Tyler had made it quite clear that one of his goals at the beach was to be buried in the sand.

And since we aim to please...

Robby also decided that looked like a pretty fun activity and wanted to give it a try too.

It might have been a bit cold, and maybe only one of us was actually brave enough to actually swim and body surf in the freezing water (my brother), but it was still a fantastic day. I loved watching my boys experience the beach. The joy on their little faces as they ran and splashed and played was priceless.

And when all was said and done and we were packing up to go home, I asked Tyler what his favorite part of the trip was. His response was, "swimming in the pool at the hotel and being with Grandma." I got a little teary. That's what this was all about. Even though we did some really fantastically fun things, the real joy we felt was in spending time with those we love.

Thanks for making this trip one that we will remember and cherish forever, Grandma and Grandpa!

California Trip- part 3

We also spent some time at Disney's California Adventure. The crowds were way smaller, the pace slower, and the boys got to see some of their favorite characters up close.

The first time we bumped into Woody and Jessy I wish I would have had my camera filming. As we turned the corner and Robby spotted them from riding on top of his dad's shoulders, he held both arms out and yelled, "Woody! Jessy! I'm here!!!" He was sure they would be as thrilled to see him as he was to see them.

Robby LOVED this little "chew chew" train from Bugs Life. His sweet little face, so full of wonder and excitement is just too precious!

Tyler loved the bumper cars. This attraction had both boys giggling uncontrollably!

I think overall though, our group's favorite ride was this Toy Story Mania with the interactive games. All the big boys competed for top score. It by far was the longest line we waited in (25-30minutes) and we did it twice! That's how much we enjoyed it!

And seriously, what could be better than a quick visit with your two favorite Cars!?! Robby's little eyes glazed over and I could tell as he ran around each car that he was wondering if either he could ride in them or if they would start up a conversation at any given moment!

The boys also loved spending a bit of time exploring the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail. Tyler could have spent hours climbing the rock wall and swinging on the rope swing. It was good to let them run, climb and jump to their little heart's content!

I had to throw this picture in because Tyler was beyond thrilled to get this Mickey cookie. I think his face says it all.

...And here's our little "screamer of the day." Funny story: when the park first opened, the boys headed over to the Monsters Inc ride. Each day before the very first ride of the day, they have a screamer of the day contest and the winner gets a certificate that gets them and their family on the ride without any wait for the rest of the day. Tyler won. Oh brother. Should I be proud? Anyway, he was thrilled later that day when he got to treat us to a ride, free of line-waiting, thanks to his efforts.

After winning "screamer of the day" and riding the Monsters Inc ride, they headed over to "talk with Crush" from Finding Nemo. Wouldn't you know it, Ty was selected there to talk personally with Crush. I think he was on cloud nine all morning!

I loved this trip to Disneyland. It truly was magical.

I'll leave this post with one last moment that I think basically sums up our trip:

California trip- part 2

Disneyland!

I can not say enough good about this trip. The weather was perfect (maybe a little on the cool side, but at least we weren't melting), the kids were well behaved and happy as can be, our itinerary as outlined by this book worked perfectly, and Diabetes stayed reasonable managed. Oh, and did I mention we had FUN, FUN, FUN!?

This was the boys' first Disney trip (and who knows if we'll have the opportunity to go again), so I wanted to make sure they got to see it all and do it all without forgoing our much needed nap time every day. It all worked out great. We managed to ride everything we wanted to and still squeeze in a mid-day nap so that our kiddos weren't falling apart by the end of the day. It worked out so perfectly.
Every time I ask Tyler what his favorite ride from the trip was, I get a different answer, but usually at the top of his list are the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Matterhorn.

I don't think anything can replace watching your children's faces as they experience certain things for the first time- Disneyland is no exception. Robby's little face was so cute as he observed and took it all in.

Robby did seem to really love the Jungle Cruise, and I can't be certain, but I'm thinking he liked it better than our safari the day before at San Diego- who cares if the animals are all animatronics!

(love his little face- wide-eyed and amazed)

I loved riding "It's a Small World" with my whole family. What could be better than sitting all together with everyone you love and enjoying the happiest place on earth?!? Plus, I got to watch Robby and my most adorable niece (who happens to be the cutest thing on the planet) clap their chubby little hands out of sheer joy for most of the ride.
...don't believe me that she's the cutest thing on the face of the planet? Well here ya go. See, I told you so.

Mickey's Toon Town was another hit with our boys. Tyler pretty much needed a leash there. He took off exploring and we basically chased after him from one toon house to another. Robby walked through each home and observed with his little face full of wonder and curiosity. You could read his little face so well,

"This is so cool. I wonder if Mickey or Minnie really lives in this little house and sits in this little chair."

And what Disney trip would be complete without a churro or Dole whip? Right Jaimi???

California trip- part 1

Last week we headed to California for a family vacation. It was a fantastic trip with lots of happy memories and fun moments that I'm sure we will cherish for many years to come. We met up with my parents and two of my siblings, making the trip all more memorable.
The trip started with a plane ride which was every bit as exciting for these two as the rest of the trip would be. Here they are entertaining all the other people on the bus at the airport. Even strangers could sense the excitement in the air for these two cuties!

Our first day there, we headed to San Diego for a bit of sight-seeing. We visited the San Diego Temple. It was beautiful and I was so glad that I got to show my boys this sacred place.

Then we went to the Safari Park associated with the San Diego Zoo.

The boys enjoyed finding some of their favorite animals throughout the park and the safari ride was an easy way to see all of the animals out in the open instead of all couped up in cages.

The weather was downright chilly, which meant fewer crowds, but it also meant that we weren't quite prepared to spend as much time visitng the park as maybe we would have like to. It was still a pretty cool experience, and I loved a relaxing day with my family.

Easter

(nobody got new Easter clothes, but I thought I should at least try to seasonally document our family with a few pics)

Easter...yeah, we did that this year, but just barely. Our church happened to have youth conference this same weekend. And since I am heavily involved with our youth group, I was a bit busy and a bit distracted. Nonetheless, we still tried to keep with tradition and had a quick, little egg hunt on Sunday before church.

Tyler got this cute little bug playground and a "how to draw" book. Both items were perfect for him. He loves to draw and has become quite the little artist lately. And as for the bug container, I'm just so thrilled that my Tupperware containers will no longer be used for bug collecting! I think he had that thing filled with Rolly Polly bugs even before church!

Robby. Oh dear me. Robby got this punching bag. It is so him. This kid LOVES to wrestle, and he's so cute the way he swings his arms and says, "punchie, punchie, punchie!" when he gets going in a wrestling match, so this has been a hit with our little wrestler.

We did finally dye Easter eggs, but it wasn't until a few days after Easter that we finally got around to it. Lucky for us, Tyler LOVES eggs, so getting rid of all those hard boiled eggs wasn't so tricky. I think his favorite lunch is an egg salad sandwich.

And of course we had to have a few rounds of the traditional egg fights. This is where you try to crack the other person's egg without damaging your own.

Lastly, here are a few videos. Grandma Marcia sent us a little Easter package. I think this video of Robby cracks me up. He was SO excited to open the package and find a few little treasures. If you listen to his response after I ask him who gave it to him, he almost starts to say, "I love her" but he pauses and goes with "cute grandma" instead. I just think it's really sweet.

In the package were a couple little eggs that you soak in water and after 24 hours the baby chick starts to hatch (it's one of those things that grows when you submerge it in water, so the baby chick starts to grow bigger and bigger until the shell surrounding it starts to crack). Robby was so excited to see his baby "quack quack." It wasn't long before I realized he thought there might possibly be a real baby chick in there. We made sure to clarify that is was going to be a toy and not the real thing.

After that, Robby was certain that every egg that had a crack was hatching. That made the egg wars pretty entertaining.