Family. Friends. Fireworks. Fun!

Wow! The 4th was so full of pretty much the most amazing peeps ever! We were blessed with an appearance from Primm for the week, she came down from Fernley to chill with my parents and the girls. Man if I want to feel short for a bit I just gotta have her around. At 12 she has legs for days and is just too dang sweet! I love her and I am soo glad we got to spend some time with her! Then on the 3rd of July Alison and her new hunny (along with the kids of course) came down to visit us. Honestly I was a little nervous to pass the test of meetin gthe new guy (and more nervous for him to pass the meeting Drea test) but everything went flawlessly. He is amazing! Really great to meet him and his little and of course soo glad he took time out of his family time in Placerville to let me and Alison catch up and see one another! We took full advantage!!!

On the actual 3rd we prepped for the show that the Silverado County Club puts on and got all our BBQ stuff ready. We decorated a little, made some cupcakes, and then in the midst of it all we went to lunch with Alison and the fam and man am I glad we did! So much fun!!!! Do I mention enough how much I miss my AZ family!! The evening of the 3rd most of the usual suspects showed up and I am pretty delighted that the Snook Boys even were ASKING about coming to the house for the show. Seems we have a little bit of a tradition now! I love it! We BBQ'd, had some drinks, all caught up and then we enjoyed the show! It was great this year. The weather was insanely warm but cooled down just enough to be bearable. Typically this time of year its actually a bit cooler at night so we make hot chocolate, literally we have done that since I was a kid. This year...not so much...so to make sure no one was empty handed during the show I made popcorn instead. That was actually a hit! So happy! After the show we may or may not have let out a few of our own fireworks and as usual. That was fun also. Its always good to see the kids with sparklers before the BIG show and then the kids freaking out after the big show to watch our little show and still have so much joy in their eyes! Oh to be a kid again! 

On the 4th Carina actually was walking and performing at the Napa 4th of July festivities. We normally skip this but HELLO! Not this year! so we braved the roasting temps and watched her walk in the parade, we went to lunch at Red Rock to catch some AC and then we returned for her to perform at the Veterans Park. Where we have also enjoyed fabulous shows by DoubleShot (like that little plug). Primm and my parents joined us out there and man those girls are troopers! It was so hot and in full costume they really still brought it for all the peeps to enjoy! Go Expressions Dance Teams! 

on the 5th we pretty much chilled and I had to bake a cake that day to deliver on Saturday. I am SLOWLY (very SLOWLY) getting back to baking. Funny how I really did enjoy it but I never found the same LOVE of doing as I do now with running. Ya know. Sometimes people like to dabble in a few things and I guess folks thats exactly what I am doing! The cake was for a friend of RC's and his daughter was turning 6. I had no expectations outside of making it Hello Kitty and Chocolate flavored cake. Well they loved it and I am so glad I got to share in a little piece of Jillians birthday enjoyment! 

On the 6th we hopped in the car and had to take Primm home. We stayed the night up in Fernley but the most exciting part was that it was the minivans first trip! Not to bad! I actually had a blast and am glad we go to see the fam up there. Its funny how before I probably would have sat out this trip claiming I was tired or too busy but fact of the matter is...the last time I did that I missed out on what I didnt know would be the last opportunity to see my uncle Troy. That man has my heart forever and I will always regret passing up an opportunity to take time for family. I will never do that again. It reminds me life is short and you just never know if there really is a tomorrow. Okay. Sorry. Back to what I was saying. First road trip in the minivan. Fully Loaded. 7 bodies. 4 kids. It went well. Can't wait for the next one. And NO (me the photog crazy person) I did not get a pic of all of us packed in there, but you bet your ass I will get one next time! 

When we got home on the 7th, the only thing left on our crazy things to do was go see Monsters Inc. We LOVED IT! We gathered our refillable popcorn tin and soda cups...HELLO 9 bucks to feed us all at the theatre...yes please! Then we enjoyed the movie. Really I love the Pixar movies in general and this was no exception. I love the adult humor, the kid humor and the stories behind each and every one. They couldn't do it much better! Then after that I got a hair up my...well...you get it...and I decided to build a DVD rack. I have been back in my parents house as MY house for over a year now and the one thing that never had a place was our DVD's. I have hunted store after store for a shelf that I like and will go with the house. I have yet to find one so I decided. SCREW IT! Lets make my own and that is exactly what I did. It looks great and we even have room for more dvd's! WOOHOO!!!!

That was our 4th of July week! BUSY! Now onto this weekend! Haha. Hugs. Kisses! 

Loo-Ren, Santa Cruz a Run and a...MiniVan?! What!!

This last week our most favoritest person in all the land came all across the US just to visit us! Yep. Lauren came into town and it was a blast! Her flight was delayed on the way over, so that screwed up a few of her plans, but all in all I think she had a great time. We even got to steal quite a bit of her time, so thats always a plus!

Her and I went out for a 'grown up' dinner and it is always a good time catching up and sharing new things in eachothers lives. We also decided on a tattoo to get. Unless of course by the time that 'time comes' we have changed our minds again. I am not telling soooo don't even bother asking! You will just have to wait for pics! I know. I am soo mean. The girls were able to go and decorate some pottery pieces at a place in town and that was a blast for the girls. Mostly because we had no idea that there was even a place like that in Napa anymore. Then as if that wasn't enough they even went to ice cream. This was an all girls day, so Rian had to stay at daycare, but don't worry he didn't care...but mostly because he had no idea! Oops. Guess those are the things we still get away with while he is young!

Friday we made a whole day of it! We got up early(ish) and headed out to Santa Cruz, after of course pickin' up donuts and such from ButterCream Bakery! YUM!! Yep. We drove all the way there, ate fried food, rode plenty of rides and even played in the ocean. It was quite honestly one of the best days I have had in a long time! Weather was great, company was awesome and for the most part the kids were pretty well behaved. That my friends is a great day if I ever heard of one. The fave ride of all was the log ride, but they even got me to go on the little gondola ride. I hate heights so this was a stretch, but hey, anything for the kids! I have never been, nor had the kids so this was really quite an awesome experience. I will gladly take them all back again for a whole day. Next time we probably wont get unlimited ride bracelets but who knows!

Saturday we had to say goodbye to Lauren and that was soo sad. Rian cried, Carina got misty eyed and well..Neya slept. Yep. All the way home. Some things just don't quite phase her the same as everyone else. Haha. On the way home we stopped in San Francisco and had to pick up a race packet for the next day. I had a quarter marathon to run.

This was hands down one of the best runs I have completed in a LONG time...if not EVER! I have been running pretty regulary, 3-5 days a week and my times have been pretty consistent 9:30 or 10:20 minute miles. I hadn't however, run a full 6.55 miles and so I was a little bit nervous I would walk at some point. But I didn't! I killed my best time during mile 3 (ran an 8:50 minute mile) but ended with a solid average of 9:22 which made for 6.55 miles ran in 61 minutes. Wow. I never would have thought. I know that some people can run and run and run and 9.22 minute miles seems fast but this time about 6 months ago I was averaging an 11:20 minute mile so this is a great improvement. I couldn't have been more proud, I even stayed with the pacer who does this professionally. Honestly, even better than my time, was the fact that my family was there cheering me on the whole time. This was a personal best for me and I couldn't get off that natural high! That's it people. I may be slowly turning into a runner. Who knows.

On a slightly more awesome note that deserves a mention is that I will be running in the Nike Womens (half) Marathon in San Francisco in October. This is AMAZING! It is typically by invitation only and then once all invites have been taken up they offer a random drawing but you have to get selected and you can't just 'buy' your way in. I was selected and I will be running the half. I dont know if its truly random, if they have criteria they look for or whatever but this is an honor. I will be running for such an amazing cause and I couldn't be more excited. Now if I can just double my quarter marathon time and finish my run in no more than 2 hours and 15 minutes I will have improved my original half marathon run time from 2008 by 1.25 hours! That is my goal and hopefully I meet it! Let the training begin!!!

Okay and of course, last but not least. Here is some (not-so) awesome news. We now own a minivan. Yes. You read it right folks. This family is now 'one of those families'. I wish I could say I am totally happy but of course, with the minivan comes the title 'soccer mom' and as much as I love my kids, I am anything but. However, I am looking forward to more space, better gas mileage than our escape and really our friends needed to get rid of a car, we wanted a new car and so it just worked out. Its got a few bumps and bruises that we will get all fixed up but for the most part its actually pretty nice. Hell has not froze over, but it may be getting close ;)