8 Days of Relaxation

Kurt and I just got back from a much needed vacation to Hawaii. We headed over to my parents time share for eight days and invited his parents to come along. We had so much fun showing them around Hawaii and just lounging around at the resort!

We dropped of the kiddos and headed out on Saturday morning. After arriving there we headed to get a car, checked in, headed to Chili's for some dinner, and then did some grocery shopping. One of the nice things about the time share is that we have a full kitchen so we can buy food and eat there when we want.

The second day we headed over to Pearl Harbor. It's been a few years since we've been so it was interesting to watch the video and go out to the memorial again. Afterward went to the swap meet and did some shopping!

Monday we lounged at the resort! Kurt and Russ did some snorkeling and I spent most of the day reading and soaking up the sun!

Tuesday we headed into Waikiki and hiked Diamond Head. It looks over all of Waikiki. It was a fun little hike and was beautiful at the top. After hiking we went and walked the Waikiki strip and hit up the Cheesecake Factory for some yummy lunch. Later that night we drove to the North Shore the see the night show "Ha" at the Polynesian Cultural Center. (Sad I didn't get any pictures).

Wednesday we lounged again, laid in the sun, and then went to see the new "Footloose." I LOVED it!

Thursday we drove to Laie on the North Shore again and did a session at the Laie, Hawaii temple. After the session we headed to Sunset beach to enjoy a real beach on the North Shore. I have to admit that even though I do love the beach, the resort is so much better. Maybe it's the lounge chairs, the umbrellas, snow cones, Hawaiian music, or strawberry banana smoothies that appeals to me more...I'm not sure, but the beach only lasted a little over an hour until Lynette and I were ready to go back to the resort. On the way back we made a stop at the Dole Plantation to get the yummy soft serve pineapple ice cream.

Friday and Saturday we spent at the resort again. We checked out Saturday morning but lounged at the resort until about 3:00. Then we headed into Waikiki again to do some shopping, eat dinner, and then headed to the airport to catch our flight home.

It was such a fun vacation, much needed time away from the kids (thank you to those who watched them), and fun to spend time with Kurt's mom and dad. Now I can start counting down the days until next years Hawaii vacation!

PuMpKiNs

Tonight we headed to the Pumpkin Patch to pick our little family of pumpkins. Ethan loves picking his out and has asked me for about three months if the pumpkins were ready to be picked!

Reese wandered around not sure what to do. Getting her to look at the camera just wasn't happening.

We walked away with a pumpkin for each of us along with baby pumpkins for our little munchkins! I love this time of year!

Off to St. George

Since I was little we always go to St. George over October Conference and also the St. George marathon! This year was no different, however I found out in the seven years that Kurt and I have been married that he has never been to see the runners come in from the marathon....WHAT? Apparently I can't really say it's a tradition if we've missed it that many times. I think he is lying and just can't remember! So this year was no different. We headed down Wednesday afternoon so we could get there in time to make it to Tuacahn to go see the Little Mermaid! It was awesome!! They always do such an amazing job and are so creative.

Thursday we did some shopping, reading, and a lot of lounging. My sis and her family arrived later that night and Ethan finally had someone other then us boring people to play with.

Our days were filled with swimming, eating, and the parks.

We did make our "tradition" of seeing the runners come in. We missed the first guy but saw the first woman run in. It gave me HUGE motivation to start training to do another one for about an hour. Then all of the time and energy it takes to train set in and my motivation was right out the door! It felt good for about an hour though!

We finished our last night off with some shakes and ice cream! Good times and good company! Love me some St. George!

The Hubster

My hubs turned the big 29 last Monday! I guess I should start planning a big hoo rah for his next big birthday bash for the big 3.0.! For now we celebrated with some lunch and dinner on his birthday, along with some cake bites and cupcakes from Sweet Tooth Fairy! I tried to make it a "special" day but when you get older it seems like birthdays are just another day!

I love you babe and hope that you had a good day!! Happy Birthday! We love you so much!

The Witches

Gardner Village is always a must at Halloween! Last week I met up with my friend Tanya and let the kids run around and find all the witches.

Miss Thing chilled in her stroller for most of the time....

I love this time of year, the fall weather, the fall colors, and mainly just everything about fall time!

{Triathamom}

Yesterday was my first sprint triathlon. My sis in law Mindy had told me about it months ago and I agreed to do it with her. My other sis in law Alaina and her friend Danika joined us too! This was a first for me so I set out learning to be a better swimmer, learning how to ride a road bike, and then starting to transition everything together. A sprint tri consists of a 300 meter swim, a 12 mile bike ride, and then a 5k (3.1 miles).

Friday night we picked up our packets and got body marked. Our numbers were on both our arms and our age was on our calf. We set out nice and early Saturday morning to get our transition area all set up with our different shoes and any clothes we were changing into. Let me just say that I loved the tri, it might be a new favorite of mine. The swimming was a bit chaotic....people didn't know how fast they swam and we probably should have put ourselves more in the beginning as faster swimmers. We ended up passing a few people on our way, but still was fun and I was glad it wasn't in open water. That is me in the bright pink cap!!

The bike ride was a ton of fun. The first 4.5 miles were a gradual uphill and then a good steep climb, but the rest of the ride was down hill and a flat stretch.

Last was the run. The first mile was probably the hardest part of the whole triathlon. My legs felt like jello and it was a small uphill right at the beginning. I felt like I was running in place but just kept telling myself not to stop or I would never get going again. Finally I passed the first mile and I felt like I got into a rhythm. I finished in 1 hour 31 minutes. It felt awesome crossing the finish line! I felt great the rest of the day...it felt like I had had an intense workout that morning but still was functionable unlike my marathon! If you are thinking of doing a sprint tri I would highly recommend it. It was tons of fun!!

I know you can't see it, but they gave out these cute necklaces with "Triatha{mom}" imprinted on it as our medal for finishing. I thought it was such a cute idea rather then a huge ugly medal that I never look at.

First Day of School

Wednesday was back to school for this handsome little guy!

He is now in his last year of Pre School. Three days a week, what am I going to do with myself. I love this little boy of mine! He keeps me laughing MOST of the time!! When did he grow up so fast?