Rugged Maniac

Neal and I bridged in the wold of "mud races" this past May. Our first adventure was the 'Rugged Maniac' 3.1 miles, 31 obstacles. I'll admit, it was a lot more fun than I imagined. Being part of a team again, pushing yourself to test the limits of your own strength and the feeling of accomplishment when you complete something you thought impossible...we have definitely caught the "mud races" bug and keep signing up for more and more!

Just a little jump over the fire. Its hard to tell in this picture, but I am already completely covered in mud and we aren't even to mile 1. No one else is covered in mud because I am the graceful one who slipped in the mud crossing and went completely under. All the way, mud dripping from hair into eyes for the ENTIRE race! Thankfully Ryan had a dry spot on the back of his shoulder and he let me dry my eyes as needed ;-)

Neal was a little ahead of the group so he went back and repeated the fire jump multiple times to get the "perfect" photo!

Just a little crawl through the mud with barbed wire over it. Again with Neal hamming it up for the camera. I wonder if he enjoyed himself?!?!

Balance beam over a pool of water.

Sliding down the waterslide and running for the finish. (I find it funny that behind Neal running like he is trying to beat the crowd you can see Cindy and I walking casually because in fact we have already finished.) Again, camera ham!!!

Gina, Cindy and I sliding into the finish!

I made it. First time in my life I have ever run 3.1 miles in any sort of consecutive fashion. We finished in 1hr 10 minutes which for a team of 6 and the waiting at obstacles, I'm pretty proud of that!!

I wish they would have had a person at the ring obstacle. I am so proud that I was able to cross the hanging rings over the pool of water!

After we got home from this race, we set out to find more to sign up for. In July, Neal and I did 'Race the Reeper.' This one was 6.89 miles (only supposed to be 6.2) of uphill insanity!!! It was hot, there were bees and lots and LOTS and L O T S of hills. Neal finished in like 1 hr 40 minutes, I was a little behind...like an hour! with a finish time of 2 hr 45 minutes. But man, I did it and didn't die though some of those hills made me feel like I might.

Up next, Neal is off to run the Inferno at the end of this month. It involves lots of swimming and well, if you remember from the Cozumel post I swim in circles on my back so trying to do it around other people with a timed component isn't probably my best idea. After that we both are running the Warrior Dash, 3.1 mile mud race with 12 obstacles. Our last race thus far on the calendar is an actual 5K. I'll be honest, I've completed all of these races but they involved stopping to complete obstacles and wait for the people to go ahead of you. This is just continuous running, for 3 miles!!

You might say we are hooked, but there are worse things to be hooked on right?!?!

: : Climbed a mountain and turned around : :

Spring's end meant the ranch had finally dried out enough for us to say our final goodbye to Poppa. Spreading ashes was something I have never been a part of and something I honestly didn't know how to prepare for. Even now, 2 months later I still don't know that I can sum up that experience. The view was beautiful, the family was together and yet it was still just indescribable.

This was the panoramic view from the top. The second frame is the sleepy little town of Riddle. Beautiful, somber grey reflecting the event and at the same time so full of life and the things Poppa loved. Driving up there were 2 elk crossing the ridge in front of us; Poppa and Uncle Greg spent many hours/days hunting on this property. Deer running through the fields, the cattle, Poppa's family. We couldn't help but smile as we saw the elk and deer, almost as if Poppa was making his presence known to us that day.

Kids are always a wonderful distraction and are also great at setting the mood. All of them saw the open field as a giant challenge to run through as much of it as possible.

They stopped to smell the wildflowers and truly take it all there was to see. Being "city girls" this was the first time they had literally around on top of a mountain.

Uncle Greg, Kolby, Ainsley, Ella and Aubrey helping spread the ashes.

Blue sky breaking through as we finished spreading. The grey is there but being replaced by light.

These two have such a cute relationship. Kolby walks over to Ainsley, "Whatcha doin'?" "Playing in the dirt." "Oh, ok!"

Lots of driving to get to Riddle, late night/early morning equals one tired little girl. She was so excited to ride in Uncle Greg's truck without her carseat, but even that excitement couldn't keep her awake on the way home.

Grandma had a fountain build and planted a rose bush in the backyard to be her own personal little memorial place. We spread the remaining ashes around the rose bush.

We finished out the day doing one of the things Poppa loved most... EATING!!

We love you and miss you Poppa, but we are so so grateful to the times and memories we hold.

School's out for summer!!!

---take two!----

For some reason, the last month every time I sit down to try and do this post, Blogger goes all whacky on me. Crazy formatting, not letting me put pictures where I want. Ugh!! So really, I have been trying to update the blog...not regularly but still have been trying.

Mrs. Nolan giving Aubrey her completion of preschool certificate.

 Aubrey was so excited that once she was done with preschool, she gets to go to kindergarten at Ella's school. So excited in fact, she thought the very next day she got to go to kindergarten. This girl struggles with understanding how long a day is, the idea of waiting ALL SUMMER was almost overwhelming.

Hula hooping, one of the more important life skills learned in preschool.

Ice cream to celebrate a fun year. Ainsley was so excited when she saw me packing her ice cream to take with us. She had no idea you could eat ice cream before 6PM?!?

All of my girls look alike. There is no denying which family they belong in or who their sisters are, but these two look so similar at times, even I have to look twice at some pictures!!

Ella had a few weeks after Aubrey's last day before her summer vacation started.

Ella has truly been  a sponge this year. Her biggest struggle this year was balancing her love to read with the teacher's desire to have her attention during the lesson ;-)

Time flies. First day of school and the last.

~~~Crazy girls~~~

Instalife---May

Wow, I have neglected the ol' blog for a while. Ever so slowly I'm creeping toward blogging present-day events...just not there yet! Here are some snapshots of the fun we had in May.

This sweet girl turned 2!!!

We arrived to paradise!

Gina and I both went shopping separately for vacation clothes, only to arrive thousands of miles from home practically twins!!

Even cloudy skies are beautiful here.

Us <3 br="">

Ainsley had a blast licking the frosting pan before her birthday party. Its like paint you can eat!

Vacation is great, but coming home to these sweet faces is even better!

Mother's Day brought me breakfast in bed...and a little one to help me eat it =)

Daddy has waited 2 long years for this little pigtails.

Our friend Brandon may have hit borderline genius status here....Put the sprinkler on the top of the trampoline instead of underneath! Our fun meter increased drastically =)

We brought the girls a hammock home from Mexico. And while I was hanging it in the tree, Ella made herself a tree fort out of the limbs I had cut off the other tree.

Sleeping baby as we made a whirl-wind trip to Riddle.

Only the best view in town for you Poppa. We sprinkled Poppa's ashes at the top of the ranch overlooking Riddle.

Ainsley and Kolby running carefree in the field.

The Children's Museum added an outdoor exhibit where you can made a lean-to and climb in a giant tree. Of course you can't leave without painting your face!

Throughout the year Ella and I have struggled with making sure she was making the best decisions for Ella regardless of what the kids around her were doing/saying. At the last assembly of the year she was recognized in front of the entire school for her character and initiative. We are so proud of the girl you are Ella!

Its Rugged Maniac time!! Neal, me, Rob, Gina, Cindy, Jessica, Allie and Ryan all completed a 3.1 mile, 31 obstacle course!

I fell completely in the mud on obstacle 5 or so! It took 4 washes to get rid of that matted dirt in my hair. If only the picture showed how dirty I really was...

The fun never stops around here!!!

Friends, fun and lots of sun......Cozumel

La Lobsteria. Perfect first meal in Cozumel. We were the only people in the restaurant aside from the owner/server and the cook.

Cheers to finally arriving to vacation! Dead car battery, cancelled flight, rushed check-in to make an extra flight, delayed flight, sleeping in the airport, long wait for the ferry, extra rough sea....but despite it all, we have ARRIVED! If we only would have saw the "cash only" sign before we started ordering all these drinks and lobster!! These are the moments memories are made of......

Beach club with happy hour from 1-3PM, yes please! And the view was wonderful too =)

We spent one evening at the Festival of el Cedral. It is a local festival in this abandoned town of el Cedral; locals live here only a week a year during the festival. This is a festival that celebrates the Mayans returning to the island of Cozumel after the Spanish brought small pox to the island forcing the Mayans inland where they lived for 500 years. Its a Mayan street fair with rusty (EEK!) carnival rides, delicious local food, a steer taunt? (We never figured out exactly what we were watching in the top picture. We were only part of a handful of white people at the festival and the language barrier made communication mostly about pointing! We were told this event would start at 5. Men dressed in costumes that changed to drag that changed back to costumes ran around and taunted these steers. Eventually they would return the steer to the shoot and bring another one out. More and more locals kept filling the stadium so we thought, maybe this is the build-up to the MAIN event. An hour and a half later of watching this taunting, everyone went back into the shoot, the locals got up and everyone left. That was it?!?!? ) In our wanderings we also came upon a cock fight. Despite feelings of right or wrong for the practice, it was amazing to be witness to this local pastime. I will say that the owners of the roosters were so friendly with each other, it was all jesting in fun and they tried their best to help us understand what was going on even though we only understood maybe 2 words they said!!

We missed getting to celebrate the 2nd birthday of this sweet girl while we were gone. Good thing we now she received lots of loving on her special day <3 br="">

On our Polaris tour we visited the natural wetland area on the south end of the island where the crocodiles roam free! This guy was swimming right under the dock we were standing on. We also snorkeled but didn't see as much colorful wildlife as we hopes. Our tour took us to the San Gervasio ruins. These ancient ruins are actually in the center of the island. The cobble road lead from either coastline to the center of the town. In the above arch, you can see a low flat table. This was the place the people deemed unworthy of entering the city had to leave their offerings and then return down the same path back to the beach. From the ruins we headed for some tequila tasting. Before you shiver at the thought of tequila, let me tell you personally that true Mexican tequila is delicious!!

Our Polaris =) The lighthouse at Punta Sur- very picturesque. Neal and I enjoyed lounging/swinging in the shade at the lighthouse. Tourist picture at the top of the lighthouse to round out our lighthouse pictures.

Nachi Cocom all-inclusive beach club. White sand, drinks for days, great company. Gina and I decided to go for a little swim out to the "shallow" area of the swim area. It didn't seem far but once we got there, it wasn't shallow at all! At this point we decided to swim for the rope sectioning off the swim area so we could at least rest while we decided what to do. Our sweet husbands then convinced us that it wasn't THAT FAR to swim out to the red buoy on the far side of the swim area. Let me tell you, after a few drinks and not being a strong swimmer....the buoy is A LONG WAY AWAY! We made it though, and even were still smiling =)

By 1PM, we were the ONLY ones in the entire beach club plus 1 other couple. We quickly became friends with Dave and Sue; Dave happens to love taking photos as a hobby. Thanks to him we ended up with some great photos of our time at Nachi Cocom.

 

Sue, Gina, Melissa, Rob, Neal and Dave. Yes I am leaning in a little close to Rob....Whoops, I thought it was Neal until after we took the picture and Rob said "Hello Melissa!" Minor confusion =0

Swim up bar where there was more waitstaff than us!!

Fun nights!! And those margaritas were HUGE! Wet Wendy's was the margarita bar in the middle of town with huge margaritas with tables you could leave your mark on.

We had overcast evenings most nights, but finally we had enough of a cloud break for a BEAUTIFUL Caribbean sunset.

Our deep sea fishing trip had us up and on the water early enough to see the sunrise. I nearly caught a barracuda (darn!) and Neal caught a couple of trigger type fish.

Even cloudy days are a thing of beauty in Cozumel.

Swimming with our dolphin Marina!

Goodbye Cozumel!

This vacation was full of memories and lessons in flexibility. We spent many nights before we left planning our adventures and days only to have practically ALL of them cancelled or revised. In the end we had a blast!