A Big Boy's Dream Come True

Tanner has been waiting for this for a LONG time. Scheels opened this weekend and he took Bryson on Friday night to the VIP grand opening. It is the largest outdoor sporting store in North America -- blows Cabela's out of the water. It has everything a big boy could want--bikes and gear, fishing gear, guns, hunting, camping, running, etc. And the best part... they have everything UFC!!! Tanner and Bryson had so much fun we all went back on Saturday. We were there for at least an hour and I didn't even see half of the store. It's insanely huge, like 295,000 sq. ft. I have a feeling Tanner will be spending a LOT of time there. They also have a salt water fish tank and this fresh water tank (above) which was Hudson's favorite thing.

Reading on the pot already!

We keep all our old magazines in a bin next to the toilet in our bathroom and this is what the boys like to do in their spare time.

My sweet boys reading Roper's Sports News together in the John. How cute!

Hudson's OBSESSED with horses and has to point them out on every page

Buried Alive

This past week I was getting ready for my first Super Saturday--this time with my ward--and I feel like I was buried under rolls of vinyl all week.  I spent almost all of Wednesday messing with my machine and it was very frustrating. On top of that Tanner was working 18 hours days all week (and this week), so I got to be solo parent for the week. Always awesome! So I finally got done with my ward only to have a bunch of women on Saturday say "So, when is the last day to sign up for some of these?" Ummm. . . .seriously?  Last Sunday! But I agreed to print out more for the slackers. Once I'm done with those I get to get started on two more wards. Fortunately they shouldn't be too bad. I feel like I've completely neglected my children and this week I have a few fun things planned for them.  Here's  a couple of the projects we did for my ward's S.S.

And this is the first project we've done as a family. Also the reason we were 30 min. late to church.

Social Observations...

Yesterday at the park on the way home from school we stopped to play and these are two conversations I heard and/or partook in.  

#1 between myself and a little boy of 6:

Me: Do you live close to this park

Zack: No, I just live right over there

Me: Who are you here with

Zack: My Grandpa. That's him over there. He's super old. He's really having a hard time walking. He's about to die.

Me: Really! He doesn't look that old. He looks like he's pretty healthy. 

Zack: Yeah, well he's really old.

(If I had to guess I would say the grandpa was maybe 70. Pretty close to dying though.)

#2 between two girls about 7 referring to Brynn:

Girl 1: Oh, my gosh, look at how cute this little girl is. 

Girl 2: Yeah, she's cute I guess.

Girl 1: Oh no, she's SOOO cute. She's way cuter than me.

Girl 2: I think you're both cute. 

Girl 1: No, she's cuter, just look at her hair. And I love her Roxy shirt. She's darling.

Girl 2: mmm hmm

Girl 1: I just wish I was that cute

(keep in mind Girl 1 was adorable. I'm pretty sure the point of her gushing was to get her friend to appraise her.)

BALLOON RACES - its a big one!

  
  
This Saturday we woke up super early for Dawn Patrol at the Reno Hot Air Balloon Races. This was the first time we had gone since having kids and everyone loved it. It was so neat to watch all the balloons fill with air and then they all start rising at roughly the same time. Once there were a bunch in the air you could just lay on your back and watch them all float above you. Pretty cool. 

They start at 4 am and only four balloons are lit, pretty cool when its pitch black outside. Then at around 7 the Eagle rose first during the National Anthem and the four jets passed by overhead a few times. Very neat! The rest are just random balloons.

The men being dorks...again!

While laying on your back this is about what the sky looks like

  

With the Biglers and their neighbors Scott and Rhonda and kids

Its been a while since Hud wore zipper jams and he was fascinated with them.  The last picture is almost all the balloons in the sky while we were leaving. Quite a few had already landed.

Days gone by

Today I dropped off the firstling of my flock. From now on I am the mother of school kids. No longer do I get to run errands whenever I can, to leave town whenever I want. Now I have to keep a schedule, make sure my kid gets to school on time. Bryson is officially a big boy, off to kindergarten and the beginning of a wonderful career of learning for the next 12 years and more. I having been anticipating this for a long time, not because I couldn't wait for him to be out of my hair but because I knew he would love it. I loved school and I still love learning and Bryson has inherited that from me. For the last week he has been waking up and asking "Mom, do I get to go to school today?" Last night he was a bit nervous and emotional and had a hard time going to bed. Today he was fine, super excited to pack his backpack. I thought school started at 12:30 and began to get nervous when we walked in and it was fairly emptied. All these months I've been worried about getting to school late on the first day of school and we end up being 30 minutes early. Fortunately his friend from church was there. As soon as Bryson saw Hunter he dropped his bag and ran outside as he called over his shoulder "See ya, Mom!" So there goes my little boy, off to play with people who are more exciting than his mother. Now I have to hear my poor little girl say, "What am I gonna do all day? I have no one to play with!" Never fear Brynnie Girl, I have lots of plans for us.

 

First try at a Tri

For two years now I have heard of the Lake of the Pines Triathlon and have been wanting to do it. The first year I was pregnant and last year after I began training I developed a weird inner ear thing and had to quit swimming. So this year Sueanne and I were planning on hiking Mt. Shasta but about a month ago that fell through. So I convinced her to do this triathlon. There's a short, medium, and long race. We did the medium one which was a .6 mile swim, 5.5 mile bike, and 3.8 mile run. Friday night at the motel I didn't sleep five minutes the entire night so I got up with a major sore throat. I wasn't nervous until I saw how far apart the buoys were in the water. But the swim was much easier than I thought it would be. I felt really good passing a lot of men who had begun two minutes before the women. The bike was fine until the last hill kicked my but. And the run wasn't as bad as I thought. My goal was to beat an hour and 30 minutes. My final time was 1:26:58. Not bad for only three weeks of training! I had a great time and I'll probably do it again next year.

Brynn and Bryson snuggling in the hotel room

Finishing the bike portion

The Finish Line!!!

The other women from Reno who did the short race

Why am I the only one who looks like I had fun?!