Last Day of Kindergarten

Wow, has this year just flown by or what! Yesterday was Brynlee's last day of school. The kindergarteners got out a week before the rest of the school and they will be doing post Kindergarten assessments this week. Brynlee had hers this morning and let me tell you what a difference there was between her pre- and post- assessments. Amazing how much she has progressed this year! You are awesome, Brynlee! And thanks to her wonderful teacher, Miss Hansen!

It's so crazy all the changes that have happened in the last 9 months of school. Her hair has grown longer (and I've even cut it once in between), her toothless grin has filled in, and she loves to read!

I can't believe I will have two in school full time next year...and Landon will be in preschool 3 days a week! I guess me and T will have lots of bonding time!

Father and Son Outing

All packed up and heading out Friday afternoon. We went to Earley Park, which is right on the Cache/Box Elder county line.
Lando, getting ready to haul our gear in a handcart from the parking lot to our camping spot.
I didn't get any pictures of the activities, because I was too busy playing. :) They had volleyball and softball going at the same time. I played volleyball, while Lando and his little friends played with sticks.

They planned on about 20 people coming and had to go back into town to get more food when almost 50 people showed up, which was huge, compared to the last couple years. I planned on taking Lando last year, but it had rained out, and we had a family party the weekend when it was rescheduled. I took him two years ago, and he had a lot of fun then, with the exception of falling over a coal-laden dutch oven, which miraculously didn't burn him.

There was a little campfire program, followed by s'mores.
So good.

Getting ready to sleep.
Lando definitely likes sleeping in. I had to wake him up around 7:30 so he wouldn't miss breakfast. He told me that he slept well and had good dreams.
Here is our little tent, with a few other tents in the background. You can also see the amphitheater where we held our program the night before.

The Stump is Dead

There used to be a tree here. I cut it down last year so we could plant a garden in this space, but the stump remained. As a way of procrastinating the actual planting of the garden, we worked on removing the stump. Kirsten worked on it one night during family night while I worked ripping out some overgrown shrubs from another bed. I spent several hours last Saturday on it, plus several more yesterday.

Once it finally started getting loose, it was like a loose tooth that just would barely wiggle, then wiggle a little more, but you just can't seem to figure out where it's actually attached or get a good enough grip on it to pry it out.

Now That's Improvement

A week ago my sister, Mary Anne, called me to tell me she is going to do a triathlon in Logan on July 18th (side note: any Bartons want to join me? I know that's the day of the reunion, assuming we are doing Bear Lake) and she wanted to know if I wanted to do it with her. She was supposed to do one in April, but ended up getting pneumonia and the doctor said absolutely not! So her husband was looking for other triathlons in Utah and found the one in Logan. Last year I wanted to do one in June but never got around to training for it. Instead, I set a goal of doing a 5k. I finished in 37:28, pretty much exactly a 12 minute mile. I know, I'm not the fastest runner. I never claimed to be and never will.

So after I got off the phone with her, I immediatly googled Sprint Triathlon training plans. The race I am going to do is a 500 meter swim, 12.5 mile bike and 5k run. I found a training plan that was for 8 weeks, which I had 9 weeks until the triathlon. I just figured I would do "Week One" twice. So on Monday I started out with a 30 minute run. A couple weeks ago I started adding some running into my walking and could go for about 16 minutes. I really had not been running since the last 5k almost a year ago. I've been doing step aerobics and walking since then but no running. So when I made it the whole 30 minutes, I was feeling pretty good. Tuesday came my swimming/running combo day. I ran 25 minutes to the gym (2.5 miles), swam for 30 minutes and then walked home. Wednesday I was supposed to do strength training but somehow that never happened. Thursday I ran for 25 minutes and then Friday was 45 minutes on the bike...I chose the recumbent bike at the gym :o) Today I am supposed to do a 20 minute swim and 25 minute run. I got a little ambitious and decided to map out 3.1 miles to see if I could beat my time from almost a year ago. I did. 31:25...SIX minutes faster than my last time. I would call that improvement.

Highlights!

I really needed a haircut. The last time I got it cut about 5 months ago, I talked to the girl who cuts my hair about putting some blonde and red in it. I kinda get tired of people asking me where my kids get their red hair from. So I decided to go for it. I've never had any color in my hair and it just keeps getting darker brown with each child. So I decided to finally do it and I LOVE, love, LOVE it!

Ashlee's Ballet Performance

Ashlee had her ballet performance on Saturday. She did a great job and has really improved over the last year.

Our video camera battery was dead when we got there (I charged it in the morning but I think the battery is getting old because it doesn't keep a charge for very long) and our camera isn't the greatest (I REALLY want a new camera, especially after seeing the shots the guy in front of us was taking) but here are the few pictures that didn't turn out totally blurry. Pretty much the only ones that turned out are the ones where she is waiting for the dance to begin.

First the technique classes did a little performance in classic ballet attire. Ashlee is the second from the right (the one that looks like she has 4 arms...lovely, I know!)...

Then the performance classes danced in costume...

In the lobby after the performance...

Ants

Lando: I can spread out this blanket like this [lays a blanket out on the floor while holding a handful of crackers].

Rob: Aren't you supposed to eat food in the kitchen so we don't get ants downstairs?

Lando: I'm going to eat on the blanket, not the floor.

Rob: So you want ants to get on the blanket?

Lando: When I'm done, I'll take the crumbs and put them in here [pointing to the crack at the back of the couch cushion].

Rob: So ants will get on the couch?

Lando: You mean in the couch [pointing into the crack again]? That will give the ants a secret hiding place where no people can find them.