Saturday we went to gymnastics and then over to Mom and Dad's house. Dad tried to sneak out of the house for a bike ride and I caught him. So, I went home, and got my bike because I didn't have any pedals or a decent bike to ride and my road bike is a mess and the tires were leaking air. Then we went for about 20 miles. Dad had his fancy new bike, and I had my mountain bike...so basicly I was pedaling as hard as I could and he was coasting. Crazy. We got back and the kids were playing on the slip and slide and Justin had organized an obstacle course. So, when Great-Grandma got there and after we ate we watched the kids do that. It was fun.

Marina is now on the St. Alban's Sharks. She is a swimmer on the swim team. She participated in her first swim meet this summer on Thursday. She did the back stroke and the freestyle...but somehow got out of doing the relay. What a kid. I could tell she was really nervous at first but after the first event she looked a lot better. She did well for a first-timer...and even went off the blocks..which she swore she would NOT do. She is also doing soccer this summer and hockey, so she is a very busy kid. That will no doubt keep her and her whole family out of trouble.

The annual Playcare family picnic. Our last one!

Happy 7th Birthday Justin!

Justin apparently had a 'bad' birthday...and didn't want to talk about it on Tueday. Poor thing, I think at his age birthdays are overated and never quite live up to the expectations. Oh well, we got home and had cake. Since he had already opened his "heeleys" we rembered that the kids forgot to open the package from Daniel and Marlen. So, they were thrilled to get some Shel Silverstein books they did not have. Very cool! Then Justin went for a bike ride with Felix and I went for a walk with Mirabel. Not a bad ending for a crappy day.
Last night Justin and I went for a bike ride and he is really getting good. He has his 6 speed and really knows how to use the gears and hand brakes. Very cool.

In the hammock...until I started getting eaten alive by horseflies!

The view from the hammock where I spent a few hours Sunday watching the kids play in the water. It was very warm out and the breeze from the swinging hammock was so nice.

Fun in the Sun

Father's Day

Happy Birthday Justin and Mirabel !!!

Today was party day. We had Justin's kid party from 1-3. My family and Ann came over for a barbeque after that and for cake and presents. The morning was out of control because I was not mentally prepared for this party at all. I soon found out that I was not physically prepared either with food and cake and stuff. So, I went to the store at 9am...and not only did I have to grocery shop and got to I-party for balloons and a pinata (which I totally forgot until today,) but then I had to do Father's Day shopping...which meant going to the mall and Earls. (Hope Dad doesn't read this til after tomorrow!) I got done with that at 11:30...and that meant that I had to give Mirabel a bath and get her dressed, decorate the deck, decorate the cake (because there really isn't a skateboarding cake at Hannafords at the last minute,) make a vegetable platter, fill the pinata with candy and hang it up, wrap Justin's present, and just get food out onto the deck. All that in about an hour and 25 minutes....I did it, but I felt a bit like the tasmanian devil.
The kids all arrived about the same time. Unlike last year when there were more kids that I could even count on both hands, there were four classmates, my kids, and Marina and Derek. It was really just right. I was not nearly as overwhelmed. They did all the dangerous activities I was hoping they would not....like play on the disc swing, jump on the trampoline, and play on the zip line. Peter's mom dropped him off and said..."please don't get hurt.." since he has had a broken wrist, a broken arm and a scraped up head all in the last year. So, keeping that in mind...Shelley and I watched him out of the window..and he did every single dangerous thing there was. He jumped, flew, zipped...he walked in front of the swing as others were on it..he even played with the citronella torch with a branch and nearly caught it on fire!! It was more than we could take...we were cringing the whole time. He got something in his eye that I had to visine out...and that got in his mouth...it was just all bad.
Chris had to leave early which meant that they had to do the pinata pretty early on and then he wanted to see him open his present...and of course, Justin couldn't stop at one. Shelley and I were like..."we need to get our camera"...we are missing the party here. It all happened in a matter of maybe 15 minutes. Dang.
After the boys left, my family came over for a barbeque. The kids couldn't wait to open presents, so they did that first, which got Uncle Roy all out of whack. Then we ate and they boys put up Mirabel's new trapeze for the swingset. Justin got out his new guitar and they all played with the new toys. Derek was the water boy...he had the most fun with a squirt bottle I had full of water just randomly squirting people. Uncle Roy offered him a dime to JUST squirt Grandpa and not HIM...but after about 15 squirts on Grandpa...he looked at him and said, "NO" and started squirting him unmercifully. It was rather amusing..to us at least. Besides, who offers these kids a dime...that is just an insult.
Justin's new 'Heely's' were a little on the small size..and I kind of want them to fit at least until hockey season...so he had a (what I like to call) "hissy fit." Maybe it was more than that but...boy, he was disappointed. Tomorrow we will find him a new pair that fit and that have red trim. I am thinking...it's gonna be the expensive pair after all. We will see tomorrow.
After the party, the kids crashed. Both of them. It was a miracle. Of course, I had to first help Justin figure out a "Transformer" thing. I really, really dislike transformers now. I felt like a monkey doing a math problem. Those things are insane. It took me like a half an hour to change it from a car to a robot...why is it that when I was a kid, it did NOT seem all that difficult??? When the kids were asleep I finished watching the movie "Mr. and Mrs. Smith." Then, I found an episode of "The Office" that I hadn't seen...which was really cool. It made me really happy after a long day to get to see a new "Office." Now...I think I will crash.

Cake number 2

Rock Star

The trapese 'artist'...Mom.

Presents with the family

Cake number 1

Presents with Justin's friends

Flying Kids!

Field Days at Smilie! Look at the loot! Out of control!

Smilie School has a Field Day every year to celebrate the end of the school year. Justin entered the school saying, "I am going to win every event! I am going to come home with a ton of stuff." I was like, "Well, Honey, you better not get too (cocky) because you may not always win..you never know." Well, Justin being Justin and uncontrollably competitive...did actually win everything and came home with about 12 stuffed animals, and various other toys and games. Mirabel also had a bit of loot..not nearly as much, but she said that they got stuff for "just trying." She is as amazing as Justin...in all different ways. It is funny how different they are. So, anyway...thanks Smilie School for filling my house with more toys than we could ever possibly need to bring home in one day.

Happy 5th Birthday Mirabel!

The gumball machine

The cake

The gumball

By far, the best picture of the Tour de Cure in my opinion! Our Personal SAG Wagon!

The Tour de Cure

Sunday was the Tour de Cure 100k bicycle ride for diabetes. It was a nasty, cold, rainy day. I was prepared for the distance, but I was not prepared for the weather at all. It took a huge toll on me mentally. On the first corner coming out of the parking lot, one of our teammates decides he is going to pop a wheelie and fell with his bike to the ground smashing his cell phone and hurting his back. He was quick to recover though and be sure everyone knew he was totally fine. The whole team pretty much stuck together for the first fifteen miles. When we got to the first checkpoint, Steve was complaining.."Are you two (Roger and I) in a race or something..cause you're killing me." So, then he and Mike (the one who fell) raced out of the checkpoint and lost us for the rest of the ride. That was a little odd.
Somehow, I got separated from EVERYONE for the next fifteen miles. I think, for me that was the hardest part of the whole ride....just me and the road. It was a very lonely road. The Ski Rack Van kept driving by me, but that was pretty much the only person or traffic or bike or anything I saw. No fun. When I finally got to the checkpoint I told Roger, "I can't do this by myself...we all have to stick together or I am not going to make it." It really reminded me of when I "hit the wall" in the marathon and started crying and getting all depressed. I got out of that. Roger agreed that we should stay together. So, we did for the rest of the ride.
The next fifteen were pretty uneventful...except for finding our own personal SAG (personal sags: not allowed) and getting dry socks...and pants!! I felt a tiny bit better with pants on. The socks got soaked very quickly since my shoes were like sponges...but they felt better for a minute. The last fifteen miles were all uphill. I really don't mind hills that much. But, after like fifty miles...they get a bit old. Of course, Dad had his brand spanky new bike with 21 gears and I had the old crappy bike..so I kept having to pass him and say, "Buh Bye, Mr. 3 Big Wheels." I had to stand up for most of the hills and at the top of a really, really steep one, I was right behind this older guy ...and when we got up to the top I yelled out, "Yeah, Baby!" And he was like, ok. But, then I stayed and waited at the top for Roger and Dad and I said to him, "Ok, sprint the rest of the way back!" I am pretty sure he thought I was crazy..and at that point...I may have been. Of course, the last few miles seemed like forever because we knew we were close, but couldn't get there fast enough. When we got back, we had an awesome cheering section and a really nice lunch from the Outback. So, (3 days later) we will probably do it again next year.

Dad's rubber booties ...do they hold out water...or hold IN water Dad?

The first fifteen

Our biggest fans

The three of us sticking together

Leaving Tom and Beth behind...again..."Have fun storming the castle!" they kept yelling out

The last 15 miles...all uphill.

A race to the finish?

The Outback Steakhouse provided a nice meal after the Tour

Just the fact that we were still alive to enjoy it was a major accomplishment!