While Our Babysitters Were Out

We got to watch Oliver for a weekend while Luke and Kim headed down south for sunshine and relaxation. We aren't as fun as they are. But the weather was good which meant the girls could finally paint their toenails.

 

You see I only let them do this outside.

 And the boys played kick ball.

Saturday, of course, was filled with soccer. The boys, Oakley, and Oliver all had games. Luckily all at different times so it worked out perfectly.

 

We spent time jumping on the tramp.

And the kid's favorite is getting bounced.

 

We got bikes, trikes, scooters, and big wheels out.

 

And enjoyed an outdoor "picnic."

 

Sunday we took a leisurely walk around the neighborhood.

 

Complete with a treat reward for finishing.

 

Oliver spent every evening like this. I think we wore him out.

 

And Trent played his new favorite game.

And there you have it. Another weekend in the life of The Hoard.

 

Seven is Heaven

Oakley turned 7 this year. Still can't believe it. She was so excited for her birthday. And she got a special surprise when she woke up. Kim left her balloons and a gift. Oakley is lucky to have a 2nd mom like Kim.

 That night we had the Veigel's up to celebrate. We started the night with Café Rio, which was chaos at the kids table and I had a hard time ordering. Forgot multiple things and had to go back a couple times to get things right. But it was delicious and the kids had fun. We finished the night off with floats and presents.

 The next night Oakley had a late night with friends. They hit up Pizza Pie Café, where we spent a lot of money for each girl to have 2 bites of food. Buffets are a total rip off with kids. But they still had fun.

 

 Then the late night began. Oakley opened her gifts. She loved every single one and her friends are always so nice to her.

 Then they watched a movie complete with popcorn.

 

Oakley had a blast and loved being the center of attention.

Gorge fest Wednesday

After I got back from So Cal I told myself I needed to control my eating. It lasted 2 days and then went very badly for Wednesday. First up I went to Krispy Kreme to get donuts for Oakley's birthday treat for school, scouts, and blueberry donuts for book club.

 

Well you can't go into Krispy Kreme and not eat a donut right?

Just for the record I only had 1/2 of one.

That night we celebrated Luke's last day of school and went out to Training Table and did some shopping afterwards. Once again I ate out, but I tried to eat minimally and didn't order any fries. Although I snagged a few from the others. We did some shopping afterwards. Or I should say looking. Kim was the only one that walked away with anything.

 

 

After that outing I had book club, which always has good food, therefore I ate again, but I tried to control myself more than normal. Which is difficult because book club always has the best food.

 

We also made vision boards at book club. I love mine. The idea is to put things on there that you want to accomplish this year. Mine included being a better runner, getting a flat stomach, eating healthier, having a waste free home, getting an outdoor living space, riding my bike more, being more flexible with my opinions, ideas, and life, being cleaner, getting a shelf in my room, saving more money, getting more sleep, and, the most important, being a better mom.

So far, pretty good. I am doing better at running and eating and am trying to be a better mom. The other things I still need to work on....

While We Were Out

Part of what makes a kidless vacation so nice is  not having to worry about your kids back home. We are lucky to have a plethora of kid watchers. While we were in So Cal Kim and Luke watched The Hoard for us and they did a fantastic job.

In fact, they went above and beyond.

 

First up they had soccer games Thursday night where each person scored a goal.

 

Friday they went to see Luke at work who happens to work with my dad. They decorated my dad's door in honor of him running So Cal Ragnar. I love the drawings.

Saturday was a busy day. Every child, including Oliver had a soccer game. Now that's a lot of soccer. And it was horrible weather. Blah.

 

My boys were first up. And not only did Kim take them, but she took pictures. Something I haven't even done yet....

The freezing cold spectators. Kind of glad I missed this round. ;)

 

During the girls game it was pouring, so Luke told the other team after the next goal that was the game. So Paige dribbled down and scored.

 

Oliver got his game in.

And Oakley.

 

 

Afterwards they hit up McDonald's to celebrate.

That night they took our kids to Nickel Cade. The kids loved every second of it. They already want to go back.

 The best part was earning the tickets.

 

 To buy the awesome prizes.

 

During the weekend Kim drove around in our car and got pulled over. Luckily she came away with no ticket.

They even too The Hoard to church. That in and of itself deserves a medal.

 

Sunday afternoon they had a picnic.

 

And played chicken.

 

And got bounced on the bridge.

 

And then the mean, boring parents returned.

 

My kids are lucky to have such fun Aunts and Uncles.

 

A HUGE shout out to Kim and Luke for watching them. I didn't have to think twice about home while I was away. And that is what a vacation is!

So Cal (The Ragnar Part)

Like I said everyone arrived Thursday afternoon/night. It was good to have Team Bonk! together at last.

We headed to various places for dinner and then went grocery shopping to stock pile our vans. Heidi got a little drunk in the process.

 

And I met me a new boy toy.

 

We fortified out vans with food, drinks, treats, and also decorations. Then it was off to bed.

 

Van 1, which is what van I was in, headed to the finish line bright and early. Always fun to be at the start of things.

 

 

I was runner 1 and anxious to get things going. You see me there on the left?

 

 

Starting Team Bonk!

 

We all made it through our first legs and exchanges perfectly. We had all prepared ourselves and had some amazing runs.

 

 

We got to meet up with Van 2 at all the major exchanges. I love Emporer Brad's glowing shirt.

Jenny, Heidi, Brad, Mike, Jamie, Chris.

We snagged a pic of the girls of Team Bonk!

 

 

And the other girl of Team Bonk!, Teri our Mascot, joined later. She is always the welcomed "Good News."

 

 

After our first legs we dined on Subway and Pizza Hut and then headed to a shade covered grassy knoll and hung out and prepared for our next legs.

 

 

We had a LOT of fun in van 1. Here are just some of the things we got to do.

 

Photo ops with Photo bombs.

 

Stretching. Whenever and where ever.

 

 Some of us Made Out.
Geez. You would have thought these two were newlyweds or something.

We had father daughter time.

 

 

Jake tried really hard to bond with us in-laws.

There was some brotherly love happening.

 

Some hugging of HUGE tumbleweeds.

 

We supported one another....Actually Jake was just trying to get away from Brooke.

 

Some of us worked.

 

We got to rest and soak our sore muscles.

 

I got to hang out with this guy for 72 hours straight.

 

We played London Bridges.

 

We slept whenever and where ever we could. Or I should say Brooke did.

 

We squeezed in some delicious food.

 

Purchased some cute Jewelry.

 

Had a family reunion.

 

Did shots....

The Runner's kind of shots that is.

 

We got tattoos. Some of us a little sluttier than others.

 

 

We had time to take "Awkward Family Portraits."

 

And my favorite part of any relay race, we came up with nicknames.
 

Amy- "Not Just Trent's Wife"

 

You see, when you are married to an amazing, competitive runner like Trent most of the attention is on him. Its not a bad thing and it really doesn't bother me. But on one particular run, which was hot, long, windy, and ugly, I had a bunch of random people come up to me after saying how much I killed that leg. Not to toot my own horn, but I loved the recognition for doing something well. So after a few came up to me I proudly stated, "I'm not just Trent's wife anymore!"

 

Trent- "Ragnar Buddha"

 

Well, like I said above, Trent is amazing. Seriously amazing. He can run so well, fast, and strong it puts all others to shame. So for the entire race everyone kept asking Trent how to do this and how to do that. And do you know what? Trent always had a great answer. So we fashioned up his nickname because he knows all.

 

Jake- "Hummingbird"

 

Oh Jake. Love this guy. We were all relaxing on our grassy knoll, enjoying the rest and conversation and out of no where Jake says, "I think hummingbirds are cool." And that was it. Seriously so random and so funny. So naturally his name was Hummingbird.

 

Ben "Moobs"

 

Oh boy. How do I explain this one. Ben was taking it easy, chilling in the back seat, and chowing down on some food....topless. Funniest sight I have ever seen. Anyways, he made a hashtag comment that just said Moobs and that was the end of his real name Ben.

 

Brooke- "Bottom Dweller"

 

Brooke was complaining saying that no one liked her because of this and that the whole race. At one point she asked if she was invisible. We really didn't feel bad for her because only about 15% of what Brooke says is true, but we did like coming up with a name that expressed how she felt everyone saw her. And just for the record we all loved having Brooke around.

 

Larry- "Lar-Bear"

 

We had a lot of random during our race. Wonder what that says about us? Anyways, my dad was out running one of his hard legs and doing amazingly at it, and we had just finished supporting him or had just passed him and Ben says, "Lar-Bear is killing it." Who knows where Ben pulled that name from, but we all thought it was hilarious. And my dad is like a Teddy Bear. Not big and soft, but seriously so nice and easy to be around.

 

 

And that my friends is how the nicknames came to be.

 

Van 1 was awesome. I mean look at this group I got to be with for the duration of the race.

 

 

Now I am going to get a little gushy mushy. Running relays like this and being stuck in close proximity with the same people for 35+ hours can be hard. Luckily we had such a good time and I loved being with everyone of my team mates.

 

First up Trent. What's not to like about being with your all time favorite person all. the. time. I love that Trent and I love running and get to do it together. In fact, most of our vacations are centered around a race of some sort. And these Ragnars are one of the funnest ones. Trent was always there to cheer me on and take care of me. So glad we have the relationship we do. Love this guy with every fiber of my being.

 

 Jake. How do you not like this guy. He is Trent's only brother, so naturally they are close, which means that I get to be close with them. We always love having Jake around. He is a calm, steady force that is a welcomed personality in an emotionally and physically exhausting race. This was the first time I have gotten to be in Jake's van. Loved the experience and loved getting to see him in action. Oh and I loved our fake fights.

 

 

 

Ben. Here is the sight I was talking about earlier. I mean, really, isn't it hilarious?

 Ben is a newby Jensen. He has only been a part of the family for a few short months, but he fits right in.  This was his first Ragnar and he did amazing. He ran his heart out and was so focused on not loosing any time. He may or may not have been a little intimidated by me. We are always in fierce competition with each other. ;) But seriously love to be around him and love joking with him as well.

 

Now Brooke. Is there anyone funnier? This girls is just bottled up fun. She is so quick with a funny line and makes everything you do that much more fun. Plus this girl had some major legs with major hills and she killed everyone of them. So proud of the runner she has become and the cute girl she has always been.

 

Larry. My dad is the best. Really he is. He is the easiest guy to be around. He can strike up a conversation with anyone (and usually does) and never has anything to complain about. He just goes with the flow. And like I said earlier he killed all his hard legs. Love that I got to share this experience with him. He is the best of the best. Sir.

 

 

 

And since Brooke and I were the only girls we stuck together and sometimes passed the time with ugly pictures of ourselves.

 

 

Now, for my own journaling purposes I am going to talk about my legs.

 

My first run was awesome. It started along the beach. It was so fun to run in the early morning hours next to the ocean. It was beautiful. It was a nice flat 5 miler. Perfect way to start the race. I didn't have van support and kind of liked it. It was fun to be out there on my own running as hard as I could. Loved this leg.

 

Number 2.

 

This was my worst leg. It was my longest leg of the three. And it was hot. And it was windy. And it was ugly. Just imagine running along Beck Street in Salt Lake and you will get the idea. Such a hard leg and this time I was so thankful for the van support. They kept me hydrated and wet for the whole 6 miles.

 

Number 3.

 

 

This was my only night run and I love night runs. This leg was 5.5 miles and had some hills in it. I actually like me a good rolling course because when you go up, you get to go down...usually. And I loved going into my last exchange knowing I was done. That's one of the best parts about racing. Getting finished and realizing you just did something that was hard. So satisfying.

 

After we had all finished our last legs we met up with the other van at the last major exchange and waited for Larry to come. Once again it was nice knowing we were done.

 

 

 

At the finish line we got the "surprise" of Jake being there. He was in town for a conference that just happened to be 100 yards from the finish line. I don't get to see this guy enough, so this was a fun surprise.

 

Jenny got lost at the same place I got lost last year so we had a lot of time to waste. And what do we do when we have spare time? Photo shoots.

 



Jenny came around the corner and Team Bonk! started towards the finish line.

 

 

Feels so good to cross that line every time!

 

The official Team Bonk!

So proud of every single one of these people. Running is hard and it is a lot of work, but love that the whole family is getting into it.

 

 

And, once again, loved doing it with Trent.

 

Now onto the most important part. Where to get our celebratory meal. Always a major discussion.

 

 

 We hit up a delicious place in Old Town. Where we dined on the all you can eat salsa bar, which mango salsa being a fave. And some of us ordered huge baskets of food. Perfect meal for the end of a race.

And wouldn't you know my new boy toy joined the celebration with me. I love this guy.

 

 That night we all got in our suits and had a good soak in the hot tub. Mike was so wasted from his legs that we had to use the lifting machine to get him out.

 

The next morning we hit up McDonalds for some good breakfast. Once again, eating is always the highlight of any trip.

 

We had a few hours to spare so I soaked up the sun by the pool. And little by little everyone else joined me.

 

 

 

It was a fabulous trip and we had a fabulous time. Loved spending time with family, running, eating, sleeping, and hanging out. Such a fun trip and so many fun memories.

 

However, I still love coming home the The Hoard.

I love these kids more than running.

 

And another one of my favorite things about trips are all the memorable quotes.

 

"Humming birds are cool" Jake.
"Five dollar, five dollar, five dollar Friday." Grocery Guy.
"Look at you." Amy
"Piss on em' " Trent.
"Ah! I just peed on my leg!!!" Amy
".....and he was black!" Amy
"I have a fan! I'm no longer just Trent's wife." Amy
"There's a lama" Ben
"I saved the best for last!" Ben

"So you're not just a pretty face." Larry
"Moobs are so 2013" Brooke ?
"Don't talk to rinos" Trent
"Did you make that up?" Amy
"Next time jake and I need to be separated... We are both too awesome." Trent
"We just stood you up and pushed you on your way." ?
"I hope Brooke's enjoying her NAP." Trent
"I've been sand baggin" Ben
"I graduated you to a "real runner"" Amy
"If anybody who bought one thing from cafe peirpont complains about the van prices I'm going to be pissed." Trent

 

Thanks Team Bonk! for one amazing race!