Tough Mudder, Las Vegas

Apparently Jake and my brother Jeff think I didn't post enough about the Las Vegas Tough Mudder. Here you are boys. If you're going to complain, do it yourself next time.

Memorial Weekend

Over the weekend, we decided to enjoy the outdoors and have some fun. Especially since it was so warm. 

First, the girls tried their hands at fishing. Like most kids on their first time, Ellie was a little disappointed it didn't work out like tv shows and movies. Fish just don't automatically appear on your line. Sammi didn't care. She had a Tinkerbell fishing pole and that's all the mattered. Although the girls might do better at spinners cause they just wanted to toss the line and reel it in. 

Then of course we had to play in the sprinklers. The girls started out a little wary of the cold water coming out of the hose. (Side note; if there is only 1 outside water spout, chances are you need 100' hose. If its on the back corner of the house, 50' won't even reach the driveway to wash your car.) They tried to tell me they would wait until the water warmed up. I know a few people who would love to have warm water come out of the house. Sorry doesn't work that way.

Water was too cold. Time to warm up.

Always playing

We like to play. My sister stopped in town now that she lives on the road so the girls and I drove down to hang out. After trying to make schedules work and trying to figure out what to do, we ended up and the South Jordan Heritage Center (Gale Center). The kids love it there. I wish there were  more places like it. 

Attending school from earlier times.

Buddy (aka Tanner)

How many people fit on your rocking chair?

 The center tells about South Jordan, Utah's history but has many interactive/play areas for kids: a general store, the school house, a pretend house with a kitchen, table, food, but also have information about past and present South Jordan. It's fun to see art from current residents or heirloom items passed down from generations on display.

Later we took a trip to St George. We stopped in Cedar City to hang out with some good friends who live there and so Jake could visit the dentist, which is our friend's profession. The other reason for the trip was the Las Vegas Tough Mudder. We headed down early and walked a little on the strip. Some much has changed since that last time I was down there to hang out. We parked in "Excalibur's" parking lot with little intention of going inside until Ellie and Sammi started talking about how excited they were to go into a princess castle. We walked in and then basically out again.

Sammi loves chocolate but wouldn't touch the M.

 Ellie wouldn't even pose for a picture with the M&M. They did think it was really cool. Ellie wanted to try some of the roller coasters but we weren't there long. It was a tough night as we were staying in a hotel cause the boys wanted to run early. Dinner was late and it was about 9:30 local time before we got back to the hotel and put the girls down for bed. Sammi has the annoying internal alarm that wakes her up at about 6:30-7:00 am Mountain time so she woke us all up at 5:45 am local time which was fine because that was about 5 minutes before Jake's alarm was set to go off so we could pack, eat breakfast and be on location to start the race by 8:00.

Early morning group, first run (before).

Early group, first run (after)

 Yes, some of them ran it twice. It was a long day.

Second group.

 It wasn't as warm as we thought it should be because a storm was blowing through. There was chill, wind, rain, sun and then warm/hot. The kids entertained themselves by playing sufficiently in the dirt. Sammi loved putting in on mommy and Madi's shoes/socks.

Second group, after and slightly cleaned up.

They are always looking for people to join their group and do the race. Here is a video of the last obstacle at almost every race, Electro-Shock therapy. Enjoy. Yes those are live wires. If you want good videos where people are knocked on their behinds because of the shock, just look on you-tube. If you want to participate in the next event with them, let me know. If you talk with Jake, he will convince beyond a shadow of a doubt to join. He's a lawyer, he does that sort of thing.

Easter

We decorated eggs. It took the girls a bit to get the hang of it and they got bored really fast so we'll have to try a different way to decorate next year. Maybe just painting. (Notice Jake's beard. He was growing it for another Tough Mudder even though he absolutely hated the last one he grew.)

We went to Grandma Connie and Grandpa Steve's for the annual Easter Egg Hunt. Always a big, fun production that Grandma puts together.

All the little kids after finding eggs.

Everyone, broken down into age groups, searches for eggs then prizes are given based on the number on the eggs you found. So fun. Obviously the older kids have harder eggs to find, especially when Jake "hid" one on the beehives (his brothers keep bees). That was interesting.

On Sunday, the girls get to wear their new dresses. They loved it. Can you tell they love posing?

Wearing the $1 store hats.

Their baskets had a book, a movie, a fan, and sunglasses: plus candy of course. They got "Frozen" and "The Pirate Fairy" movies. Luckily they like playing outside so much that they don't think of watching movies everyday. Later we read some Easter stories from the Friend magazine and combined it with the Egg Easter story that has been a tradition in my family for years. 

Sammi turned 2.

I hate being behind because then I can't remember everything. Sammi turned 2. We just had a small party at home for her. She didn't mind; as long as she had cake, ice cream and presents. 

Cheese. I love cupcakes.

New bike.

She loves Frozen, if you can't tell by her reactions to the dolls. She carried them around everywhere for almost 3 weeks straight. she wouldn't even share with Ellie. Luckily, she finally decided to share and trade with some of the dolls that Ellie has.

She is almost 30 lbs and almost 3 feet tall. At her check-up, I found out that she had been fighting an ear infection. I never knew. She hadn't been acting any different. She talks a lot, although sometimes I wasn't sure if she really understood what she was saying but more just repeating words and phrases she heard us use. Her favorite tv show is Mickey Mouse Clubhouse with Sophia the First a close second. I think we finally have a good schedule and she is sleeping through the night. (She struggled with night terrors for a bit.)

Sammi loves her family. She loves playing with her sister and visiting both "Fra-mas" and "Fra-pas". Many things in her life are "awe-thome", "bleautiful", and "amazing". She loves wearing skirts and dresses. When she decides she's tired, she tells you and expects to be placed somewhere to sleep, as long as she has "mink", and "bear".

She's a little picky about what food she likes. She'll eat a bunch of food she likes, but absolutely refuses to eat if she doesn't like the look, smell, or taste of something. Only recently has she learned to bargain when it comes to eating: 3 bites of chicken for a helping of blueberries.

Frozen Mania

Just like just about every other little girl, my girls are obsessed with Frozen. We listen to the songs all the time. Can you tell?

Becoming Organized

I wanted to organize myself so I looked online and found a few helps. I printed off a few sheets, laminated, them, put them on the fridge and voila. 

I use this as a cleaning schedule, found here. This way, I don't have to find an entire day to clean the house. I only spend an hour or 2 (unless its laundry day) to do the choir. Although my entire house my not be clean all at the same time, it's all cleaned at least once a week and easily put back together at a moment's notice. 

Next I use a meal planner so I know what I am making, which day and what items I will need in order to make it. I have been using the planner found on this web page.

I have made a calendar so that I can see what we plan on doing each day and I even have dry erase note paper so I can create mini daily to do lists. 

These, along with the simple budget I created, I have never felt so organized and it helps keep the stress level down. I feel like I have almost everything under control.