Liar, Liar Pants on Fire

Ok, so I'm a liar. Here's how it all started:

Last week one of our cats was in the house (they aren't allowed) and wasn't walking at all. I felt bad for him, so I put him in my room thinking he may not live. I told the kids (big mistake #1) that I thought he might die or have to be put down. What was I thinking?! Braxton lost it. He cried and sobbed and mourned all night long. He is such a tender hearted kid. I really love it in some ways, but in some situations I just want to tell him to buck up and get over it. Well, the cat ended up having a broken pelvis, and the vet said he would live, it would just take several weeks to heal. Ok, lesson learned: Don't tell the kids until I know for sure, and when I do tell them, sugar coat it. What I actually did: LIE.

Fast forward a few days. Three teenage girls come to my house and pull out a teensy bunny that looks dead. They ask me to help them, and want to know if I know what to do to help this bunny live. It was a wild cotton tail and looked to be only a few weeks old. It was actually alive, but wasn't moving very much. Of course, the kids were all in the living room and very interested in what was going on. Braxton got really involved and decided it was his mission to research. He went upstairs and googled "how to take care of a wild baby rabbit".

In the mean time, I pulled out my heating pad to warm the bunny up and got a medicine dropper to try to hydrate it. While doing this Braxton came down stairs completely excited, telling us how to care for the rabbit, and exactly what we needed to do. While I was giving water to the rabbit, Braxton's friend came to pick him up to go somewhere, so he didn't see that the rabbit completely stopped breathing. Chris and I were sure it was dead. The girls weren't so sure, so they took the bunny and left.

When Braxton came home he asked if the bunny lived.

Me: "Yeah"
Braxton: "Oh, mom, I knew it would. I prayed to Heavenly Father, and that's when I knew I should go upstairs and google to see what we should do."

All day today he has been saying how glad and thankful he is that the bunny lived and how wonderful it is that we saved the bunny's life.

Ugh....guilt, guilt, guilt for lying. I don't think he can handle it though. He was saying he knew the bunny would live, and it would have been so sad if it had died.

People around here shoot cottontails as target practice. He'd die if he ever found out.

Our Last Night

Late night swim.
The pier at sunset.

Brack and I checking out the gorgeous sunset.

Oh, I just love the palm trees!

I just thought I'd throw this in there. We were driving along the freeway, and saw this amazing building. I thought, "wow, that looks like an LDS temple." And....IT WAS, so I got a picture. It's a beautiful temple.

I kept telling Chris on our last day in Oceanside that I didn't want to leave. I loved every minute of it. I loved the smell of the ocean. I loved going on our deck and hearing the waves and seeing the beautiful shore line. I loved the palm trees, the dampness in the air, and not having to worry about our responsibilities.

So, we stayed up late the last night to make it memorable. We went for a long walk on the boardwalk and pier at sunset. It was so gorgeous. Then we went for a late night swim. The next morning we got up early to collect shells. The kiddos thought we were the best parents ever.

I think my favorite parts about the trip were: buying just picked produce from the veggie stands; seeing the looks on peoples faces when they saw us with 4 boys, "are they ALL yours?"; and marveling at the diversity of beauty Heavenly Father has put on this earth for us to enjoy. He really must love us!

USS Midway

The end of the ship
Inside a cargo helicopter

Brack and Cal, trying to act like it's no big deal.

Roy loved climbing inside all the planes and playing with the buttons.
Anden was so excited and begged me to take his picture in every one.

We went to an aircraft carrier called the USS Midway. It was so much fun to explore and see the wonder in the boys' faces. Afterwards Calvin decided that he wanted to join the Airforce so he could live on a ship like that. I think this was definitely the highlight of the trip for the boys. They got to climb inside airplanes and helicopters, squeeze into the cramped living quarters, and ride in a flight simulator. Chris and I both really enjoyed it, too.

Cabrillo National Monument

Gorgeous view!
The boys loved seeing this "battle ship" go by.

Beautiful (the pics don't even do it justice!)

All the boys

San Diego has the best National Monument. We love going to national parks and hiking, so when I found out that San Diego had a national monument, we knew we were going. Cabrillo National Monument is on the tip of Poing Loma. You gain elevation as you drive into the park, so the view is incredible! There are rocky tide pools full of marine life, beautiful short hikes, and a lighthouse (which I forgot to take a picture of). The best thing about the park is the view. I read about it and was excited to see, but I just can't describe the beauty of this place. It is a piece of undisturbed heaven in the middle of urban chaos. The shoreline isn't made up of sandy beaches. There are rocky cliffs, and did I tell you it's gorgeous?! We even saw a seal hunting for some vittles next to the rocks. It's quite small, so it only took us a few hours to explore it, but it was so worth visiting.

The Beach

Calvin playing ball with his dad.
Braxton and I coming in from boarding.

Sand castle time!


What a kicker!
You gotta love the sand encrusted face!

We had such a blast at the beach. When we went, the tide was low, so the kids got to play in the tide pools. Since I'm an expert boogie boarder I taught Braxton how, and he said I was tons better than dad :D The other kids didn't want to step foot in the water because it was pretty cold. It actually wasn't that bad once your body went numb.

I did trick Andy into getting into the water once. I said I was going to pull him around on the boogie board in the tide pool, but after a few minutes I pulled him into the surf. He was mad.

We saw a group of dolphins playing, and that was awesome.

Braxton was very into the whole "modesty" thing. You should have seen the look on his face when he'd see a girl in a bikini. It really made him uncomfortable. I have to say I am glad about that for now. In a couple years I'll have to cover his eyes.

Oceanside Fun

The condo complex we stayed at in Oceanside was absolutely beautiful. They had a Koi pond with overfed fish, an awesome game room, and beautiful waterfalls everywhere.

Check out the concentration!

Roy and Anden were so cute trying to play pool.

FEED ME!All my handsome boys!
I just had to throw this one in there. Look at Anden's face. He was so sick of me making him pose for pictures.

We took the kids to an aquarium while we were in San Diego. It was so fun to see their excitement at all the new discoveries. While we were in there, Anden begged us to get our picture taken in the photo booth. Since I'm a sucker for photo booths, we all scrunched in, but never got a good picture. It was fun though.

Afterward, we had a few hours to kill before we could check into the condo, so we stopped at the beach. The kids rolled up their pants and had fun running from the waves even though it was kinda cold outside. In the end, two of the kids ended up falling in and riding to the condo in their underwear since we couldn't get to their clean clothes without a huge hassle.

Piano

Braxton is beside himself. Grandma and Grandpa brought us their piano about a month ago. Now he can finally take lessons! I'm excited too!

Clever Kid

Yesterday Calvin and I were working on homework on my bed. Suddenly he said, "Mom will you pull my tooth?" I was completely flabbergasted because we had a beast of a time getting Calvin's first tooth out a few months ago. Whenever he'd ask us to wiggle it he'd pull away as soon as he felt any resistance on the tooth. After several months he finally lost the tooth by having a kick ball hit him in the face.

So, of course I told him I'd pull the tooth. I love pulling teeth. I think I've pulled all but one of Braxton's. Anyway, I reached in and grabbed the tooth and wiggled it gently, then gave it a nice firm yank forward. All I heard was cracking and ripping, and it really freaked me out! I had loosened most of the tooth, it was just dangling there. So, Calvin went into the bathroom and came back 5 seconds later with the tooth out of his mouth.

He then told me about his "super ooper shmooper dooper big idea", and it all made sense. Since the Easter Bunny was coming that night, he wanted to leave his tooth under his pillow, then the Tooth Fairy would come and leave the money. Then he thought the Easter Bunny would take the money and put it in an egg for him with some candy. WOW! So that's eggsactly what happened. The Easter Bunny took Calvins $2, and put it in a gigantic egg filled with candy. He was a happy man. The first thing he ran in my room and said was, "Mom, my super ooper mooper schmooper big idea worked!"

Another funny thing Calvin said:

This is kinda gross, I know, but it really shows how this kid thinks. We were talking to the kids about picking their noses and how gross it was and how it spreads germs, etc. Calvin said, "mom, I don't have to pick my nose with my fingers....I just use suction." Then he did just that. He sniffed hard and sucked it into his throat. He looked quite proud of himself for finding a loophole.

Hiking

Well, when I was tapering for my race I wasn't supposed to be running and biking very much, so instead I took the kids hiking. We went to Butler Wash and had a blast. Braxton thought it looked pretty easy carrying Roy in the backpack, so he thought he needed to try it out. It turns out it wasn't as easy as it looked ;)

Now if only someone could get him to let me cut his hair!

Calvin Wrestling

Calvin wrestled this year, and absolutely loved it. Braxton had no interest in it. Calvin is quite the aggressive little wrestler. I just wish Chris and I knew more about wrestling so we could teach him more moves. He ended the season with two 2nd place medals. The picture isn't that great quality, but Calvin really wanted me to put that specific picture up because he thinks he looks muscular :D

Braxton's Basketball

Okay, so I'm going to slowly try to catch up. I'll start from the places I missed.

Braxton played basketball for the first time this year. He really loved it, and with a little work will be an awesome basketball player!

Ironman California 70.3

So I finished it in one piece, and I felt WONDERFUL throughout the whole thing. Here is the full fledged race report:

For several days before the race I had slept very little because of other stresses going on in our lives. The day before the race I decided to take a nap because I knew I would suffer on the little sleep I had. Chris took the kids down to the beach while I tried to nap, but I was too amped up to nap. I rested and cleaned up and felt a little better. Since I was so tired, I got to bed at a decent hour. I slept good that night, especially for it being the night before the race.

I woke up at 5 something, got ready, and force fed myself breakfast. I met 2 of my friends in the parking lot and we rode our bikes the mile or so to the transition area. I had almost 2 hours before my swim wave started. I set up my stuff, got body marked, and was soooo incredibly freezing that I was shivering uncontrollably. I put my wetsuit on an hour early just to try to warm up, but still I was soooooo cold. About 10 minutes before my wave started I went to the starting chute and started getting excited. I was so nervous about being in the freezing water that I put on 2 swim caps and a neoprene cap too....big mistake. When I finally stepped into the water to swim to the start line, it felt WARM since I was so cold. The cold water was one of the things I was the most worried about, and it turned out to not be that bad.

I started out strong. I swallowed some salt water a few times, but it wasn't too bad. At the turn around I looked at my watch (I'll never do this again), and I was at 21 minutes, which is about what I expected. By then the ocean swells were pretty big and the testosterone male swim heats were starting to catch us. Those men were MEAN! They were thrashing and swimming over all us ladies, and there was an awful lot of grabbing going on. I got salt water in my goggles. My eyes started to really sting. The 3 swim caps were so tight and cutting off my circulation, and the sun was glaring right in my eyes. I was absolutely miserable. Swimming is usually my strongest of the 3, but it ended up taking me almost 30 minutes to swim back.

I was super slow in the first transition because I really needed to get my bearings after the swim. I bundled up thinking I was going to be freezing. That was my second big mistake.

I started on the bike not feeling super good, and quickly realized I was overdressed. Off came the arm warmers. The bike course was so beautiful. Most of it was through Camp Pendleton, which is breathtaking. It's almost completely undeveloped. The course had a lot of hills, and most people were walking their bikes up them. San Juan county has prepared me well for the hills! I needed to pee when I got to the 2nd aid station, but I thought I could hold it until the next aid station. I got to the 3rd aid station and guess what? Yup, they didn't have any port-a-potties there. I was DYING. I made it though, and had an OK transition time even with all the peeing!

The run ended up being wonderful. I felt good and didn't need to walk at all (except for when I took my gels). It was right along the boardwalk, and we felt the ocean breeze the whole time. I felt strong and great. By the end my knees hurt so bad, but I was able to push through it and even pass several people. My time for the 1/2 marathon wasn't great by running standards, but considering 6 weeks ago I thought I would be walking the entire thing, I'm feeling pretty good about it!

So there you have it.... 1.2 miles of swimming...56 miles of biking.....13.1 miles of running, and I made it!

Here I am at the end of the run feeling pretty darn good. No, I'm not trying to make a fashion statement with the knee socks. They are compression socks and help with muscle fatigue.


After the race showing off my medal and my strong guns!