Double Dutch

Today was a GREAT day playing in the backyard at home with great weather topped off by some killer dutch oven practice for our upcoming camping trips. We had dinner in the bottom dutch oven and dessert in the top. We combined a few dinner recipes to come up with Chesapeake Chicken (chicken with wild rice, artichoke hearts, mushrooms, white wine, etc.) Then dessert was Mississippi Mud Cake which was a mouthful of warm, YUMMY-ness! It was a total HIT and we are excited to try again!

New Eyes

Thanks to LASIK eye surgery today I am happy to say, I CAN SEE!!!! Can you hear the tune "I can see clearly now..." Yes, those are my eyes above, but now they are a new and improved version! Finally without glasses I can see clocks, the score on the TV screen, street signs, objects with clarity, you name it! F-A-B-U-L-O-U-S. People had told me that it would be life changing, but I did not realize how quickly that would happen. A mere 4 hours later I was singing the praises of my eye surgeon!

My procedure was iLASIK, a total state-of-the-art package. It is IntraLase, a 100% blade-free laser procedure, combined with CustomVue Wavefront LASIK (especially for those with astigmatism).

If you were ever considering LASIK surgery I say GO FOR IT...sooner than later. You will not be disappointed!

Old Friends and New Friends

We had a dinner invite from an old high school friend that was in town visiting family. Todd and his wife Jenna were here for a week and wanted their two girls to meet Karsten. Ella is almost 4 and Addison is 19 months. Ella and K met last summer, but don't remember. All it took for the fun times was some play toys in the backyard and Grandma Ginny to play with them. The girls had a blast to say the least and we had a great time catching up. Now, we just need to go visit the Hughes next time we are in San Diego!

Fun in the SUN!

We have been having a great time with some boating days with Aunt T and Uncle Rich. It is nice to join for a few hours after nap time and enjoy the afternoon and evening with the cousins. As usual Karsten was a water baby and loved having daddy hang her off the back of the boat in the water-and it is still quite REFRESHING!

Race the River Triathlon

The time finally came for the culmination of my training. Race the River was here. I was excited to participate with two ladies from work. They have been a huge encouragement and help in training. After two races this summer I am ready to tackle more...with the help of a much needed new bike :-)

Karsten's reward-the jump castle! She had to stand, PATIENTLY, with me for over an HOUR during packet pick-up the day before the race.

Bright and early 6:00 am as Judy, Koko and I try to plan out our transition areas.

The farewell before I started the race!

The gold caps were my swim wave-I am in there somewhere toward the left.

Phew, 1 leg down 2 to go!

I am at the far left coming out of transition.

Check it out-the lady on the left in pink drinking water is Ali from the Biggest Loser-guess who passed her on the run...yep, ME!

YA HOO! I made it! 1:31:23 is not too shabby.

The sweaty sisters! I work with Koko and Judy and they have been such an encouragement to me in the triathlon training process. In the past 4-5 years Koko has lost nearly 40-50 lbs and completely changed her lifestyle. Judy rocks the seniors swim group at 55 years old and is still beating her times from previous tri races. I am totally proud to be learning from and standing with these great ladies (and we are each 10 years apart in age)! Karsten chowing Mommy's after race food!

Best Friends!

An impromptu "We Miss You" BBQ invite was sent out by some of our friends via text...talk about a sign of the times! Two days notice, bring a side dish and come when you can after work on Friday. Totally up our alley. Sometimes last minute works better than planning things out. Karsten LOVED it as she was able to play with/at her best friend Mason's house. Yet again, it was K and 4 boys-and yes, she held her own just fine!

How Do I LOVE Thee?

HAPPY 6th ANNIVERSARY LOVE!!!!!!!!!

Can you believe it? Six years and counting. It seems like life has taken us on quite a roller coaster ride in six short years, but at the same time it seems like life has always had you in it. Our relationship means more to me that I could ever express, but let me try...

How and Why Do I Love Thee? Let me count a few of the ways...

1. You love me because I am me and you accept everything that comes with that.

2. You love your family more than anything in the world.

3. You are the most amazing, patient, loving father to Karsten.

4. You are an incredibly honest, sincere, trustworthy and ethical person.

5. You are willing to swallow your pride and work-H A R D-from the bottom up because you know it will pay off in the future.

6. You have a way of making people feel at ease around you and can lighten ANY situation.

7. You can get along with anyone-and you don't care if they have $1 or $1billion!

8. You support me in any new adventure I want to try (and know you will do the same for Karsten).

9. You are hands down THE BEST cheerleader, race support and paparazzi that anyone could dream of.

10. Because YOU ARE YOU and that is perfect for me!

Just Makes Me SMILE!

The sheer delight of playing in the pool just makes Karsten's day. She runs and squeals with joy then stops and counts before she jumps into the pool. I finally got her in action!

Check out that form-that is an impressive jump from a 2 year old!

How Does Your Garden Grow?

We are excited as today was the first day that we were able to pick anything from this year's garden. My tulips, daffodils and peonies were beautiful this year and the strawberries have been amazing, but now we are on to veggies-YUM! Today yielded beets, zucchini and fresh basil! YA HOO! We have yellow squash, peas, green beans and tomatoes that are getting ready to ripen too.
Our blueberries are late bloomers this year and are just getting ripe, but they never make it into the house as Karsten eats them all right off of the bush! The raspberries are going like mad now with all of them ripening at once!

My beautiful clematis is blooming now too!

This one's for you, Lala~

Easily Amused

We had a summer rain storm come thru this afternoon which made for some pretty good gutter puddles. The minute we arrived home and got out of the car, Karsten made a BEELINE for the gutter. She plopped down and started splashing about with joy! How easily she is amused.

Need I remind you of her gutter puddle escapade from last July?

Hey, the girl is consistent and clothed this time!

Look how big my baby has gotten! So big, so fast!

T-I-R-E-D

This is after one night of camping. Friends, cousins, family, treats, and a full moon made for some not so ideal sleeping conditions. She finally gave in and fell asleep around 11:00 pm and then awoke around 3:00 am due to some incredible "daylight" in our tent from the full moon. And then she was up for good at 6:00 am. Can you say NAPTIME when we got home...for mommy and daddy too!

Hayden Triathlon

On a whim at 6pm the night before the race I decided to sign up for the Hayden Sprint Triathlon. It is a very small race-about 300 participants-so I went for a "practice run" the weekend before the race that I have been training for. I knew no one participating, but it was great as it was about a mile and a half from the house. So at 6:00 am I hopped on my bike and headed down to Honeysuckle Beach for the race. Chris stayed at home until Karsten woke up so missed the swim, but found me out on the bike course-a few times! I feel great, am happy with my time and totally ready for my race next weekend!

Almost finished with the bike.
Just before I crossed the finish line.

Standing on the beach looking back at the transition area/finish line.

Karsten still in her jammies happy that Mommy finished! And Hannah was just pooped after running with Daddy all over the course taking pictures!

Giving it a T-R-I !

Call me crazy, but my latest adventure is a sprint triathlon! After the half marathon last May I swore that I would not train for or do anything like that again...well fast forward a year and now I am on to training for 3 sports-WHAT?!

I will be participating in the Race the River Triathlon at Riverstone in Coeur d'Alene. I have 9 days until race day and am pretty excited to see how my first race goes-wish me luck! I am not really sure what I am in for. Well, actually I do: .5 mile swim, 11 mile bike and 3.1 mile run.

Open water swim training in Hayden Lake. The water temps are still REALLY cold so a borrowed wetsuit comes in handy! I am swimming on the left. And funny enough the swimmer in the pink cap next to me is my cousin Shannon! She just happened to be swimming when I arrived!

No pictures of me biking, but here I am at last year's half marathon.

First Fishing Expedition

Over the weekend Karsten had her first fishing expedition with Daddy. It was such a beautiful morning and she was so excited to go. We took her to Honeysuckle Beach on Hayden Lake. She did great, for a bit, and then wanted to walk around the dock. I think she was more interested in swimming than fishing!

The best part...as we were packing things up to leave she dropped the fishing pole in the water...so long to the little Zebco!

Thunderstorms A Brewin'!

Beautiful but eerie sunset. We got some wicked thunder and lots of rain. Just wish it would have been an evening thunderstorm so we could have enjoyed watching it...rather than being waken up by it!

Sprinklers Anyone?

It was playtime at home after school and as mommy was watering the flowers Karsten decided to take on the sprinkler. Not sure who won, but she for sure had a great time!

And I quote from Karsten, "Mommy, I all soakin' wet"!
So the strip down began...And the fun kept coming!!!

Karsten,

Mommy just LOVES to watch you joyfully run and squeal with so much excitement as you play in the water. You bring so much laughter to our family and have such a fun personality. I love to watch you grow and adventure more and more each day. You are fearless, my child! Keep that zest for life-it will take you far in your years to come.

xoxoxo-

Mommy

Helping Grandma

Karsten got to spend some time this afternoon with Grandma and Grandpa. She helped make dinner and dessert. Here she is stirring the brownies. Always the great kitchen helper!

Can you say STRAWBERRIES?

OH MY GOSH-talk about a bumper crop of strawberries! We are loaded this year and they just keep coming. We literally cannot keep up with them so I decided that we needed to pick and pick and pick and then make some homemade jam. So here are the two bowls from just 1 day of picking-I kid you not! And the best thing is that these little red loves get more and more tasty each year.
And then here are just a few of the 20 something containers of strawberry freezer jam we made. It is DELICIOUS if I do say so myself! A hit in the Towery house for sure!

Now we await the ripening of the raspberries and blueberries...

Playing with Dawson

We had pizza night with the Cushmans. Karsten and Dawson had a blast together as usual. Their antics tonight consisted of madness in the sandbox. Not sure who won the battle, but each had loads of sand to wash out of their hair. You should have seen the ring around the bathtub after they were finished getting cleaned up!

Whoa-think Daws was surprised by this one!

Smirk...I'll get you back, Karsten!

Can you say DISASTER? For these two D-I-R-T-Y spells F U N!