Funny Stuff Day 1 RAGBRAI

You will never guess who we saw!!!

The front of this guy's shirt said "Your Mom Thinks I'm Hot."

Filling up Cousin George's bike.

Gotta love a man secure enough in his masculinity to wear a tutu.

More Day 1 on RAGBRAI

There is always a fire truck to play on, one of the kid's favorites. Most fire houses have a pancake breakfst that we like to stop for.

So these two dudes must have partied much too late last night. They were completely sacked out, dead asleep on this playground. The funny part was that there were about 7 or 8 kids running all around. Gavin went to the top of the slide and stood there for a inute before realizing that these guys were not moving!

Cousin George...our beloved driver and support team this year. He was so awesome to have with us, he would drive the motor home while we rode the bikes. He would either pick us up in the meeting town or find us a campsite and set up in the "sleepover" town depending on which half we rode. (Hoping he will do this again for us!)

People set up these awesome cool off spots along the route. You can just ride your bike right through them for a quick cool down. It was so hot on this day it was a very welcome sight...especially for Gavin who spent about 10 minutes running through it! Feels so dang good when you ar so dang hot and sweaty!

Tally Karma

So I'm standing in this crazy line for breakfast burritos at a farm along the route, the kids are getting a ride on a horse, and I think that it might be a good time to try to get in touch with Nicole. I knew she would be riding the first three days and we talked about trying to get in touch sometime while we were here. There are lots of people in line with me here but only a fraction of the 10,000 or so people who ride every day. So I call & leave a message on her cell...hey Nicole, I'm standing here in line at Farm Bros...just thought since there are so many people here there might be a chance that you are too....sure enough, 5 minutes later my phone rings and she says....I AM in line at Farm Bros! So here she comes up the line (don't tell anyone she budged) and we got to hang out in line and have breakfast together! It was quite amazing...to be in the same place on this 59 mile ride with 10,000 other people at the same time, exactly when I had the chance and the thought to call....I call it TALLY KARMA!

RAGBRAI Day 1

Missouri Vally to Neola 30 miiles.


We only do half days on RAGBRAI. There are a lot of families that do the 60 or so miles a day but we haven't figured out how to keep the kids happy through all of those miles. Hats off to those families that do!


We were off at 7am...earlier than any other year! It was a beautiful morning and we were trying to beat the heat as much as possible. 93 degrees today...phew! It is really hard to get used to the intense sweating on this ride. It is pretty cool when you are moving but the second you stop the sweat just starts to drip!

Heading out of the first overnight town, Missouri Valley. Everyone is really pumped up and so happy to be starting. It is such a cool vibe.







Hmmmmm. First timer?

Instinct

It's is amazing how that motherly instinct kicks in...when this Robin took over MY hanging basket I felt the sincere need to protect and defend her eggs and help her babies come into the world unharmed. Even when she and her mate dive bomb me every time I innocently try to water my flowers, I try to protect them. It has come to the point that I am so worried about stressing these new parents out that I have given up on the watering and will sacrifice my beautiful flowers in the name of parenthood. Sigh...

But isn't that the most beautiful blue in the world? I think I will steal one of the shells after they hatch and take it to the paint store for a match. :)

Trash Picker

Saw these beauties on the curb and had to have them...but I have searched and searched for inspiration for what the heck to do with them but I can't find anything...any ideas?? I need ideas! They are screens, not glass. I think maybe I was thinking about the old glass window projects I have seen when I decided to stop and pick these out of the trash. I love them so please help me figure out what to do with them. Thanks! K

She's Older Than ME!! :)

But only a little bit! :0 Please wish my wonderful friend Shannon a happy 40th today on the 3rd! Love ya girl! Hope you have a great one!

My Niece.

Is she not the most gorgeous thing ever? I had so much fun shooting her at her graduation party. I was actually giggling as I was taking them and seeing them on my camera.

Congrats girl! We are all so proud of you!

It just wouldn't be a real vacation...

...with out all of the following (or similar incidents).

After reading Julie's post about her summer so far I thought I would try to make her feel like she is not the only one....although I really can't match her week!

1. One trip to Urgent Care with a nice hefty deductible. At least this trip we got to take my sister's cool golf cart to the doctor. How cool is that? They made us wait for 40 minutes outside because the kids had an amazing, disgusting rash that covered them from head to toe...not chicken pox like we thought it might be...but simply "Hot Tub Folliculitis." Took about 10 days to go away. YUCK! My Sister and BIL are now clear about keeping their nice new jacuzzi properly maintained. Note: Never enter a hot jacuzzi that has that cloudy, not quite right appearance.



2. Skin Rash as stated above.






3. One gnarly bike crash causing cool looking fat lip, darn near a broken nose, and lovely scabs in all of the photos for the remainder of the trip.










4. No less than 4 carsick barf bags filled in the car. (We won't talk about my barf bag...not from being carsick.)



5. One adult drinking waaaaay too much wine waaaay too fast at Temecula Wine Festival and having to be drug out by DH and DSister...thank god there are no pictures of that! :)

6. Exactly 432 Evil Eyes shot from DD to DS and back over who's WebKinz gets to sit in the middle seatbelt and other irrelevant, won't matter in 10 minutes, drive the parents crazy kind of things.

Things I don't miss...

...about living in Southern California.

The past couple of months I've flown in and out of LA 3 three times. Every time I fly "back home" I have such a great time looking out the plane window and picking out all of the familiar old landmarks. Big Bear Lake in the mountains, then the towns along the foothills where my Mom was raised and where my Great Grandma lived, the 210 Freeway where I got my first (and only) speeding ticket when I was 16, the Marina where my Mom and Dad 1st met, the PV Peninsula where I used to work and hike down to the tide pools, depending on what side of the plane I'm on I will see the Forum where the Lakers used to play or the old LAX Theme Building, currently in major reconstruction. It is always a little thrill to see the bustling, busy 405 freeway (see below)...moving and flowing as if it was alive right before landing.

Don't get me wrong, I love living in the Midwest now where life is so much simpler and easier. But getting back to LA is always good for the soul. It is a quick does of that crazy fast paced world that I used to be a part of.

Now for the four big things I don't miss about living in SOCal....

1. Tons and tons of traffic, day and night. Never knowing if it will take 30 minutes to get 30 miles or 3 hours.

2. Graffiti, tagging, whatever you want to call it. I realize that to some this is an art form...but really, it gets old when everything in plain sight gets tagged.

3. Ridiculous gas prices. I mean seriously! We watched it go up 10 cents a day when we were there!


4. Smog glorious smog. It wasn't too bad this trip. But those gorgeous mountains that I miss so much and always used as my compass (mountains in the East, Pacific in the West) are almost always covered with a blanket of the brown stuff. Sean and I lived at the beach for three months before the air cleared enough in the Winter so we could actually see the mountains.

Army Eggs cont

After flipping the bread, let the egg whites fully cook and then serve hot.
Make a big deal when the kids pop the egg. :)
Yum!




Thanks Gran!