Saunders Triathlon 2009

One of my favorite traditions is our yearly triathlon, put on by Brad's sister and her husband. It gets better and better every year. It is a great low key way to complete a triathlon. This year we woke up to rain, but luckily not much wind. The triathlon consists of a half mile swim, 13 mile bike ride and a 5k run. I was really pleased with how well it went. I wasn't quite sure what to expect from myself and my very pregnant state. I really wanted to be able to complete the whole thing, and actually felt pretty darn good throughout it. I was really proud of Brad and his race. The course overlapped itself this year, so I had fun seeing him breifly on his 5k and cheering him on. He did an awesome job. Way to go babe! Here are a few pictures of the festivities.

Bridgette and me with our permanant marker numbers right before the race....and just to clear up any confusion, yes we are flexing.

Brad, Bridgette and Kip signing up with our head volunteer, Dick....under the tarp out of the rain.Brad and me in our excited/dry before picture.

The cheering section

Annie, just as she passed the finish line, greeted by her daughter Natalie Brad and me in our happy/wet after photo =0). (enjoying our endorphins =0)..)

I'm already looking forward to triathlon 2010!

Little Man

I went in for another ultrasound last week and got a great peek at this little man. The 4d ultrasounds they have now are amazing. I got to watch him in real time, and he put on quite the show. He gave us a little smile, stretched, put his little hands in front of his face and gave us a few little yawns.

One thing is for sure. He's a chubby biscuit, look at those cheeks! And he's a good little boy, he flipped into position just like I asked him =0) (he had been breech). I've been nesting in full force. The nursery is just about finished, finally fit for a baby boy. 5 more weeks!

Fast Forward: Part 2

All 26 of us!

The Adventure: A Frontier Experience

Complete with a bunch of little pioneers, soap carving, mop doll making, marble shooting, gold panning, and marshmallow guns.

Brad showed off his great soap carving skills with this anatomically correct, and polished tooth

Liv carved a heart

The kids all loved panning for gold with my brother Dan.

Springfield, IL, home of Abraham Lincoln. and probably the best museum I have ever been to.

Fast Forward

I am looking at all of my pictures and reallizing that it is going to take way too much time to make a full post about each of our days in St. Louis, so here is my fast forward recap of a couple of the days. Activities included: The Magic House, The Science Center and Pappy's Smokehouse (the best barbeque Brad and I have ever eaten....YUM).

Lake Carlisle

One of our favorite things to do in St. Louis is spend the day at Lake Carlisle. We chose the perfect 95 degree 95% humidity day to be there, and luckily my dad was off work so he was able to help all the kids build a mega sandcastle (his specialty.) I love that he always brings a shovel along and teaches the kids about where to find the best clay, and where it needs to go to give the castle the most stability. We all came home sufficiently worn out, and covered in sand/mud.

Strawberry Festival and Butterfly Girls

We spent our first full day in St. Louis in Kimmswick, Missouri where they were having their Strawberry festival. The girls loved all of the colorful vendors, the live music (including a cute little old man playing an accordian) and learning to do the chicken dance with Grandma JoLynn. Kimmswick is full of little antique shops and yummy food. My parents of course spoiled the girls with sugar and ice cream. Check out the big old Strawberry Sunday Gwen got to finish all by herself! But all of our favorites were getting the girls faces painted. They looked SO cute and were of course so thrilled it made us all happy =0).

Home Again

We're Back! We spent 2 great weeks with my family in St. Louis. We flew home Saturday, and then I left right away to spend the week at girls camp. I'm home now, and somehow, magically I feel mostly back into the swing of life. We are unpacked, and relatively clean around here. I can't imagine how I will ever get caught up on blog posts, but hopefully some day it will happen. Like I said, we had a great time with my family. We spent the first week with just my parents, and my sister KariAnn and fam, and then the whole clan came for the last week. Our girls ADORE their Grandma JoLynn and Papa Kent, and were SOO sad to leave them. These pictures are of Liv on our first day there. My mom let her do all her own make-up.....mascara included. It was fabulous =0). I can't say this enough, but I'm sure I say it all the time--> It's just not right to have to live so far away. We love you guys and wish we had you near by all the time! We miss you already!

Does Anyone have good ideas of what entertainment to bring on the airplane for the girls (other than the portable DVD player)??

This Week

We are:

• Finishing up Liv's last week of school
• Packing for St. Louis
• Singing Happy Birthday to Liv as many times as possible
• Making Aprons for My mom's grandchild adventure
  
• Lining up babysitters for Girls Camp
• Packing girls for babysitters
• Packing for Girls Camp
• Trying to find time to take some pictures for the gallery showing at the end of my photography class.
  
• Trying to get a glimpse of the SUN amidst it all

Liv is turning 5!

Liv turns 5 next week! We are going to be in St. Louis for her birthday, and I don't want to miss her birthday post, so here it is....a week early.

Happy Birthday Angel! We love you so much! This is a little girl who is full of life and sweetness.

Liv is:

1. Caring- I've never known anyone as naturally caring as Liv.
   
2. Happy- Liv has a wonderfully happy smile and a happy laugh.
   
3. Inquisitive- She is full of curiosity about the world around her, and isn't afraid to ask lots of questions.
   
4. Imaginative- I love to see glimpses of childhood through her eyes.
5. Expressive- Liv has a gift with words and a refreshing ability to be open about what she is thinking and how she is feeling.

Liv's Favorite things are:

1. Princesses and Fairies
   
2. Spending time with people
   
3. Art
   
4. Cuddles
5. Riding her bike

HAPPY BIRTHDAY