Dirty Dash!

As part of team Rambo Runners we dirty dashed our way to the finish line in Spokane a few weeks ago.  The game plan changed a little as the weekend went on.  At first our team consisted of Aunt Rhonda, Shane, Kennedy, Brittany, and I.  Isabella wasn't going to run because she didn't want to get muddy - so very girlie!

Shane decided he would sit out with Isabella and watch us.  When we got to Aunt Rhonda's she had picked up our race packets and t-shirts. She bought a "Little-Piggy" t-shirt for Isabella and got her a team uniform even though she wasn't running.  As we carbo-loaded on yummy spaghetti, Isabella decided she DID want to run!

However, we didn't have a race number for her and the 3 mile run through the mud seemed a little bit too much for her little legs.  So she wore Shane's race number and stayed with him until we got to the mile 2 and then she raced the last mile in with us.  Some of the mud "puddles" we waded through at the beginning of the race were almost as deep as Isabella so it worked out perfectly to have her race the last mile with us. 

BEFORE:

Dirty Dash tats

Clean shoes and bright polka dots!

Let's do this!

Getting ready for the starting line

Dad had team spirit with a purple shirt, too!

Kennedy gets muddy before we even cross the starting line!

Off we go!

DURING:

Isabella joined us at mile 2.

She wasn't sure about getting muddy at first but quickly got into it!

The first obstacle for her was the muddy slip and slide:

Isabella's the only one with clean legs!

 We slipped and slode into the root beer break.

 Then a few more obstacles before the finish line:

Isabella climbed the first time with some help and then decided to climb it again solo:

 Kennedy and Brittany climbed the really tall obstacle:

Crossing the finish line:

 Waiting in line at the end, the girls couldn't resist some last minute mud wrestlin':

AFTER:

 
What a fun and muddy day!  Can't wait to Dirty Dash with Rambo Runners again next summer!

Halloween 2012

Scary Fairy and the Monster High girl

Isabella is 5!

Isabella didn't just have a birthDAY, she had a birthWEEK!  She had a great week of turning 5!  She had a party with her Mom and Mom's family, had a party with us and the Bruce side, and a Chuck E Cheese party!  

Heidi and Tyler were gracious hosts of her birthday party where she got lots of fun stuff.  We got her a new bike since she had clearly outgrown her old one.  We rode bikes down to the yogurt shop and back.  Her new bike has a doll carrier so she can carry her babies with her and not in her backpack or totebag on the handlebars - it's much easier to ride this way!

She also had a friends party at Chuck-E-Cheese!  It's great to be 5!

Isabella and Anna (her best friend).  Isabella has on her limited edition birthday medallion.

Isabella with her safety glasses and birthday crown getting ready to enter the Ticket Tornado.  Only birthday kids can go in it!  If they are lucky they'll catch the Golden Ticket!

Dancing Queens

Here are some pictures from the dance recital a few weeks back.  Aunt Rhonda, Gramma and Grampa Wagner, Gramma and Grampa Rambo, Uncle Ryan and Aunt Brittany, and Aunt Nicole drove over to watch them.  They also had Meme and Papa Don, Nanna Bonnie and Richard, Gramma Bruce, Uncle Bob, and us there to watch.  What a cheering section!

They did a really great job.  Isabella knew her dance routine much better this year than last.  Kennedy seemed much more at ease up on stage and smiled alot.  She showed alot of personality in her routines.  She did 3 - which I have no idea how she remembered all those moves - hip hop, jazz, and tap. Isabella did a tap routine this year.

All the eye makeup aside, they looked beautiful!  I look blah and tired compared to these made-up beauties!

 

Shoot!

Don took Kennedy, Shane, and I to Horn Rapids to shoot on Saturday.  This is the second weekend in a row I've manhandled a gun and I'm likin' it!

Shane got to shoot his new Glock again and Don had a new Walther 380 I got to test drive. 

I was not very good but got better as the day went.  I keep switching up left-eye versus right-eye, left leg forward vs right leg forward - I got NO game when it comes to gun-shootin' form.  But I did feel like toward the end of the day I was starting to figure out what works better for me.  I'm excited to try again.

Don brought two .22's which were super fun!  I'd never shot them before and they were a blast. Papa Don gave Kennedy some schooling and it was really cute to watch.

This gun is the one Shane learned to shoot with.

This is the face of happiness!

Kennedy also got to use a newer .22 with a cool scope.  She like that much better and had great aim!  She was going through the bullets almost as fast as Don could load em! 

 We had a great day and Kennedy is pretty sharp shooter.

Sushi Mama

How much does Kennedy want a chameleon?  Enough to try sushi!  She is still saving money for this creepy lizard creature.  She has $130 saved up.  That is about half of what they cost to buy - yikes!  But then there is still the cage, drip misting system, sunlamp, cricket habitat, and plants to buy.  When she brought up buying one of these awhile back, I told her when she learned to like sushi she could have a chameleon knowing that NEVER IN A MILLION YEARS would she even try it. 

I was mistaken...

We went to Mizu Sushi on Friday night for dinner.  She did not like it, not a shocker, but I couldn't believe she tried it.  Her and Isabella ended up having popcorn chicken nuggets and teriyaki chicken for dinner.  The great thing was that we can go there every once in awhile for dinner when I'm really craving me a spicy tuna roll.  Isabella had a great time grabbing the rolls off the conveyor belt as they rolled by. 

Kennedy's desire for a chameleon is apparently more than a passing phase.  She has been saving and saving which I have never seen her do before.  She is also doing lots of research on the internet about prices and species differences...and ok, she may not have liked the sushi but she tried it...I cannot believe this.  I feel my heart softening toward this nasty lizard idea.  We still do not have a babysitter lined up for this thing if we were to get one and I have a hard time believing that will be an easy task.  I'm hoping this remains the reason it's not feasible.  Eek!

Biker babes

The bike path is right behind us now so we have been taking full advantage of it.  Isabella is loving riding her bike this year and with the training wheels still on she can't go very fast.  Shane and I walk behind her and we get a good workout too.  We are upgrading the size of her bike/helmet for her birthday this year and hoping to get those training wheels off by the end of summer!

Look at this face of pure joy!  She would scream, "I'm doing it!!!!!!!!!!!".  Sometimes she would just give us the fist pump and say nothing. 

She loves taking her babies, Lalaloopsy doll (Boa) in her backback and her Packey the elephant rides in a purse on her handlebars:

 It seem like such a heavy load!

 When she is really tricky she wears her shades and listens to tunes on her ipod:

Her baby is riding in a tote bag with just her head poking out.

One day we rode to Baskin Robbins:

 On the way back she decided to salute everyone we passed:

One afternoon Brady was with us and we rode the opposite direction to frozen yogurt:

I'm so happy to show that Kennedy is riding my very favorite bike in the whole world - my blue Schwinn.  That bike has traveled many years with me and still runs like a champ! 

 Kennedy is pretty tricky too and we like to try tricks on her pegs: