Beach Week Part I

I've been pondering if I should apology for being behind and catching up if that is my perpetual state. I'm guessing probably not, so I'll just jump right in.

Last week, we were at the beach. It always a wonderful time...we go with my parents and sister and just do NOTHING. This year's week was particularly well-timed. I hadn't had any real vacation time this year. My dad had just started his chemo (which he stopped before we left - an entire other story), but the rest did him so much good. We simply had a great time.

The first night we were there, Claudette hit land right where we were so there was a lot of rain and wind, but we survived just fine.

The first day was a little overcast, but the rest of the week was phenomenal. I love seeing the water, hearing the waves and walking in the sand. It always makes me think of just how cool God is to just make all this up and let us enjoy it.

Pictures of play to come. You can check at some other photos of our trip at www.candisnaps.com.

It Happened to Me

It finally happened to me. I was on my "annual trip" with Molly. This time it was back to CKC...the scrapbooking "convention" in Charlotte. Some of you may remember two years ago when we went and my commenting on all the pink and green and pink and brown. It was almost nauseating. There were also not many blackberry users then.

This year was totally different. The participation seemed lighter and I could swear there were a few professional-looking women discretely checking their blackberries. But the one thing that totally got me and had me laughing at myself part of the way home....

I was driving along and looked down. You'll have to excuse the blurriness. I snapped this quickly while on the interstate - didn't even look at the viewer to see if it was decent - because I had to capture it...

I was in pink and green :)

Cammo Man

So, while were gone to Nationals, Christopher certainly didn't let moss grow under his feet. He was in camp and working on a mask in his free time.

I thought he did a great job in painting his own camouflage mask. He just has the most gorgeous eyes.

Last Pictures of Nationals

Through several interesting turns of events that will not be shared here, we ended up eating Mexican three days in a row. Two of the three days was at La Rosa...good Mexican, but not as good as the dive Mexican we had the day in the middle.

While we were eating dinner the last night there, it stormed. We had a couple of storms while we were in Bend, but this one was particularly outstanding. The lightning shows were quite impressive.

But, the sunset was what was so breathtaking.

This is James with his friend Philip. Philip is a great bike rider - very, very fast. (And, very, very tall when standing next to James. He is older so maybe James can make up some ground on him.)

I'm not sure what it says about these kids (Melissa and Zoe join in the fun here) when they don't have sense to come in out of the rain and lightning. Oh, wait, some adult must have been out there with them taking pictures. :)

It was finally time to go home. Lucky James was upgraded with me. Five hour trips are much better in first class. Ok, everyone celebrate. We are done with pictures from Nationals.

Free Time after Nationals

Yep. I do know we've been back a couple of weeks from Nationals, but I've been a little bit busy. I'll get to that part in due course (but not in this post).

We spent an afternoon at Elk Lake outside Bend. For lunch we had the most divine sweet potato fries and cheeseburger at the lodge. The root beer float that was out of this world.

How touristy? Just had to have James in front of the elk at Elk Lake.

He loves to try new things. Ms Asha wanted to kayak so, of course, James was game for that.

I enjoyed watching him enjoy himself and the scenery was simply beautiful.

He gave canoeing a go, also. I don't think there's anything he wouldn't try.

It was just a great afternoon.

Relaxing and Having Fun

The last day was just for relaxing and watching the two older boys race.  This bunch went mountain biking.  (You can see a bit of our house in the background.)

I think it was quite different from road biking.  You get really, really dirty.  Apparently, you fall down a lot more.  James kept saying I should go until they got back.  I think he thought my bike skills might not be quite up to the task, but of course, we're going to train before next year :)

The last big difference was that you could do cool things on the bike.  That was a lot of fun.

The older boys' race was short.  They got pulled after just a few laps - it was really, really fast.  That as ok with me, though.  Downtown area, lots of little shops.  One shop with incredibly cute shoes.  Good thing I shipped a box back so I had room in my rollerboard.

The Criterium

The crit course was epic indeed.  You started flat and headed into a lefthand turn that went through more narrow area (because trees were growing into it).  From there a downhill left hand turn.  A few more turns and then a final left into a flat finish.  The only crash in any of the races we watched was in the final left in James's race.

It was so very hot and we were trying to keep the kids hydrated.  I was walking the course when I realized I had James's GelBlasts (what he eats for energy just before the race) and he was lining up for the race.  I ran (flip flops on, big camera in tow) to the start/finish to make sure he had a few.  I truly thought he was going to throw up right there on the start/finish.  He got it together and had a great start.  He and Brody were right up front.

He was working for Brody today (or trying to), but the laps were crazy fast.  No lap of the race was under 22mph and they had one that was 25.6.  (His fastest time trial is almost 23 mph.)

He stayed in the front group until the smell of the brewery at the top of the hill got the better of him.  He hesitated to keep from getting sick and the pack was gone.  This day you just couldn't hesitate.

He rode a lap or so by himself and then hooked up with these guys.  I am sure they are 10-12, but man, they are huge.  James said he tried to get around them, but the one guy kept blocking so he just drafted the entire rest of the race.

He sprinted hard at the end and did pass one of these guys.  Brody was in the lead pack until the very end.  He finished 13th and James finished 16th.  We are so proud of both of them. 

After the race, Brody and James went to the top of the hill to cheer on some of the 13-14 girls who were struggling and to cheer for their three teammates.  We had so many parents comment on how well-behaved our kids were.  They all did great and we can hardly wait for next year!