Do you remember roller skating!?

We got to go to a birthday party at the skating rink today. Ahhh, the memories. The rink was a second home for my brother and I growing up. I think they still have the same skates, bathrooms, carpet...time to update guys. I knew Soren could skate well, but Reese really surprised me. She was great! So fun.






Remember the game wipe out? You skate around until the DJ says wipe out and then...

everyone drops and if a girl is the last one down then the boys get a point and vice versa. The girls won, duh!

Love me some birthday cake!


Just had to throw this one in...

Germanfest 100k Bike Rally

Today I rode my first metric 100 bike ride. It is 100k, not 100 miles (BIG difference!). It was part of the Germanfest in Muenster. I took the girls and Grandma met us there. They hung out at the fairgrounds while I rode; it made for a great day. We had such beautiful weather! I am sunburned, yea! I needed some color after a long winter on the trainer! As for the ride, It kicked my hiney. It was definitely the most difficult ride I have done so far. Not because of the distance but because of the hills. My legs just don't have the strength to climb for 3 1/2 hours and that was a hilly course. The most memorable part to me was right after the ride started. We rounded a corner and there was a long uphill and all I could see were cyclists. It was so cool looking. We took up both lanes of the rode for as far as I could see. I remember that from the Whiterock marathon, too. It is neat to be a part of something like that. Thanks, Grandma for giving the girls such a fun day while I got to do something that I love. We appreciate you!

the girls with all of their spoils

showing me their cool hair pieces

fancy balloon hats (which didn't even make it all the way home before getting popped)

Soren chose a necklace made of blown glass for her special treasure

Reese chose a charm bracelet

If you can't say something nice

I have been trying to do pilates to increase my flexibility. Reese does it with me and she is much better than I am. She can keep her legs at a 45 degree angle all day. Anyway, at the end of the video the instructor says "Good job. You are on your way to flatter, firmer abs..." Yesterday I was leaning over drying my hair and Reese was looking right at my stomach and had that look. The look she gets when she is pondering something. Then she says to me "Mom, I thought that movie said your stomach will be flatter and firmer. Your belly isn't." Then she pulled up her shirt and looked at her belly and said "but mine is!"

She was such a great encouragement that we loaded up and went straight to Sonic for happy hour.

Togetherness

Soren had Friday off of school so we had an extra day of fun this weekend. Thursday we went up to Nana's, caught the late movie and spent the night (thanks, Pops, for letting us come over even though the house cleaner had just left!) Our main reason for going was to get another bike ride in with Nana, so that is what we did Friday morning after Pops took us all out to breakfast. We had a great ride and even got to drop in on Granny and Granddad for a short visit.

Saturday morning I got up and went to watch some of the events at the Play Tri Festival up in Los Colinas. It was an event that hosted a 5k and 10k run, duathlon, sprint triathlon, kids duathlon, and swim races. Pretty neat. I got to see some of my friends compete while I stayed warm in all of my layers...brrr!

Next we were off to Soren's swim meet. Congratulations to Soren on beating all three of her previous times by over 3 seconds!

Nana showed up with Wyatt and Ashton so it was out to eat and home to play after the meet. When we got back home, Pops and Grandma Freda came to join in the fun, so we called Tami and Thomas to bring Callie to see Grandma while she was here. A full house is more fun.

playing outside evolved into a long-jump competition; tape measure and everything

Callie brought brownies and ice cream; she ate ALL of Grandma Freda's!

don't take my picture while I am trying to eat!

Pops and Pete throwing punches on the Wii

Candids, always lovely

At the end of the night Pops took us to eat (yet again) some Italian food before we all went home and crashed from a fun-filled day.

A Good Day for Some Fishin'

Yea! It is getting hot! After school we went down to the pond and we were there at just the right time to catch a ton of little perch! The girls got a fish every time the worm hit the water. Good Times.

The Catch

And the Release!

Whew

One down, 5 to go. Today I took my first final. I will have a series of 6 classes with a final at the end of each one and then I will be able to take the CFP exam. It took me two hours to take this one final today; my brain hurts. It has been 10 years since I have had to retain anything that I read and I forgot how hard it is. I almost wish I had not even started this, because now I am committed. The weather is getting nice and I want to be outside, not studying! Hopefully it will all be worth it in the end. We shall see.

Training with Nana

Today Nana came down and we got her started on her triathlon training. And what a training it was! She did so awesome! She rode her bike (for the first time, mind you!) 10 miles and then we went and ran in the Burleson Run Club 5k race. She got 1st place in her age group and got a trophy! Sweet! I am so proud of her and so excited to watch her do a triathlon sometime this summer.

Soren came along on her bike and Reese got to ride the trail-a-bike with dad

(who wouldn't get in the picture)

before the adult 5k, there is a kids 1k and Reese decided to run today

immediately after her finish, she had to get in the stroller so I could push her on my 5k run. She did not last long; passed out cold and even dropped her water

She was still sound asleep when they handed out the awards, so we placed her 3rd place trophy where she would see it as soon as she woke up...

she was pleased!

Soren and Nana stayed together. Nana got 1st in her age group and Soren got 2nd.

Great job, girls!

We had such a great time. Thanks for coming down, Nana!