Spring Break

My sister Becky came into town for spring break and so we have been busy playing the whole time!

First stop was Monsters vs. Aliens, the kids loved it and the 3D version was pretty cool.

Next we were off to the zoo. My kids had been there but my sisters hadn't, they had a fun time. Of course we had to hit the outlets on the way home!

The kids got to pet the sting rays, they even fed them fish and shrimp. I was surprised Carsyn and Nixon actually held the dead fish in their hands. Not me!!!!

Queen Carsyn being pulled by two strong kids.

The little ones turned into tigers when we were leaving the zoo.

We also went to the lake again. The water was cold! I tried to ski and didn't get up, Becky got up on the first try! Here is Blake in the cold water!

My nephew Tyler getting ready to ski.

We had a picnic and Easter egg hunt at the park with my family. We played kickball too, it was fun for the kids and the adults.

My sister Shelby and my niece Ashlyn.

Carsyn and Nixon showing off their eggs, love the plastic bags! Every year Brad throws away the kids Easter baskets because he doesn't like to store them in our cupboards or the garage. So my kids always have the plastic bags until Easter morning when the Easter bunny brings them new baskets. Poor kids, but Brad's garage sure is clean.

Some of the grandkids with Grandma.

I forgot to take pictures of my kids on Easter morning, I snuck a picture of Nixon right before he changed into his other clothes. I'll have to have them all dress up again and take a fake Easter picture. (Picture to follow soon.)

Then off to the Race family Easter party.

Brad's mom has a cool backyard with lots of places to hide Easter eggs.

Here are Nixon, Caden and Gavin after finding the eggs. Notice the plastic bags again.

I love this picture of my nephew Kenneth and (a friend of the family) Sergio. Kenneth is so cute and is growing up sooooo fast!

The kids enjoying their candy and money, (thanks Poppy!)

We also made a day trip to Ventura and had a fun time for a couple of hours. The weather was nice but the water was freezing to me!!

The kids digging for sand crabs.

On the ride back to town the kids tried to get the truck drivers to honk at them, I think we got about 13 truckers to honk, the kids thought it was so fun.

We have had a ton of fun. These days have been long, but it sure makes bed time easy when the kids are so tired!! Now the kids will be back at school, so I can finally clean my house!

The Brad Race 1st Semi Annual Extended Family And Friends 5k/ 10k Fun Run, Walk, or Bike

Brad wanted to set up a 5k/10k just for fun and to get some friends and family together. It turned out to be a really fun day. We had a pretty good turn out. I was hoping to be able to run the whole thing but it was kind of hard with all the kids. The kids had a lot of fun though and so it was worth it.

Here is Brad's sister Alyson and her son Bobby with Nixon, They came over from Ridgecrest just for the event.

My sister in law Mariela with Kenneth, her family came down from Fresno.

Carsyn geared up for the bike ride, she rode the whole way!

Caden, loved the 5k because he came in 1st on his bike and was pretty proud of himself!

The lovely couple in workout gear, NICE!!!

My cousin Amy and her family came and represented my side of the family! Thanks Amos!!

After the run we came back to the park near our house and hung out, ate lunch, kids played and even got into the swimming pool, although the water was freezing!!!!

This is Brad with his parents, one of his sisters and two of his brothers.

The girls after swimming!

Caden and Nixon hanging out, and too chicken to get in!

We purchased another boat last night so everyone wanted to check it out. We ended up taking it out to the lake to test it out. We drove out to lake ming and found that the boat launch was closed so we had to drive all the way out to BV which is like sewer water usually but it actually wasn't too bad today.

It ran great we are so excited to take it out again this week!

Thank you everyone that came out today, I thought it was a fun time. We are doing it again in September and anyone is welcome!

Track Meet

The other day our kids had a track meet at school. Everyone had to participate in 2 events. Carsyn chose the 50 and 100 yard dash and Caden chose the 70 yard dash and the long jump. It was so much more organized than the track meets at their old school. For those of you that know Carsyn, you know she doesn't have a competitive bone in her body, she is 100% girly girl! As she was running she was fixing her shirt that tells you how much she wanted to win. She got 5th place in the 70 and 3rd place in the 50!! I was proud of her for trying! Even though she wasn't one of the first she still had a smile on her face! Caden on the other hand is the most competitive kid I know!! He hates to loose and gets upset if he does. He got second in both his events. He did great even though he thinks 2nd is the first looser. I need to work with that boy, on not always having to win!

Caden and his class watching the races.

Caden coming to the finish line!

Carsyn racing to the finish line!

This is what Carsyn cares more about, her friends!

Quotes From Nixon

"Mom do you know why I hate sleeping, because it takes too long to wake up"

Another from Nixon...

Nixon: Mom do you know how I got a runny nose?

Me: Umm, because you have a cold?

Nixon: no, say something else

Me: You don't know how to blow your nose?

Nixon: No, (as he points to his scratched elbow). It's because I got this.

Carsyn"s Field Trip

On Wednesday Carsyn's class had a fieldtrip to Prime Cut. A girl in her class' parents own it, so they put a tour together, it was pretty cool because they let the kids make their own burgers and sugar cookies.

The class with the owner

Boys bellying up to the bar, not a good sign for the future.:)

Carsyn making sugar cookies

Coloring before lunch is ready

This is me with blue hair and pink eye brows compliments of Carsyn. You got to love the iphone, hours of fun for the kids while in church, keeps them quiet!

Strep Throat and George The Giant??

I had to take Caden to the Urgent Care today, because he has this dang cough and fever that he has had forever, every time I think he is done with it, his fever comes back! So I took him in and the doctor said she wanted to do a test to see if he had strep throat. She got a long q tip and swabbed his throat. He gagged pretty good and then started to laugh. He said "I guess I can't be like George the Giant when I get older." I died laughing, he is so much like his dad, quick thinking.

Another funny thing that one of my kids said today:

Me: Maybe I'll go back to school to be a doctor.

Carsyn: Then maybe you'll have to wear Bunnies and Winnie The Pooh on your shirt, they all wear that.

Maybe these weren't that funny to others, but I get a kick out of kids when they notice things that usually adults only notice.

Happy 12th Anniversary Brad!!!

I can't believe how fast time goes by. I guess when you look at Eternity, 12 years isn't very long. Well, I've had so much fun being married to Brad and living life everyday with our little family. I look forward to Eternity with all of them. Thanks Brad for being so fun, an awesome husband and the perfect Dad. I love you, Happy Anniversary!!!!!

Favorite Foto Friday

Since our anniversary is coming up in a week I thought this picture is perfect for my favorite foto friday. This was taken at my cousin Scott's wedding reception I think in 1996. I saw Brad at the temple that morning and thought, wow, that's Brad Race he sure is HOT! So in the group temple pictures, my cousin Amy and I went and stood near Brad without him knowing what we were doing. Later that night at the reception I think my brother was taking some pictures and he says that I said "get a picture of Brad without him knowing", so he acted like he was taking a picture of our family in the back of Brad, I think Becky knew what Josh was up to that explains her smile. Funny because I think Brad was engaged at the time. It was meant to be!!

My Buddy, My Buddy....

This picture just says it all. Today after the kids rode their bikes they parked them so I could put them in the right spots in the garage, and this is how they were parked. Notice Nixon's bike is laying just like Caden's. He idolizes Caden, although Caden can be mean to him sometimes, he still wants to be just like him!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Mom, I hope you have a wonderful birthday! We love you!

Pismo

We woke up this morning without anything to do, and I hate to just sit around, so we decided to head over to Pismo for the day. We drove about an hour and then the road was closed because there was a huge accident last night. We had to back track and it took us about 3 and 1/2 hours to get there. We shopped a little and played and of course ate. We had Brad's brother and his family come with us, it was a fun little adventure. It sure beat sitting at home!

Carsyn had a little melt down. She wanted to look for sand dollars and just get her feet wet. Well she did this and then was frustrated with how dirty her feet got. There always has to be one that is miserable after playing at the beach.

It was to cold to get in the water so they all looked for sand dollars. That wasn't good enough for Caden he wanted to look for sand crabs, but no luck. Just dirty hands!

Carsyn and Avery were loving the beach and didn't want to leave the sand.

My little turkey, Nixon, always poses for pictures.

We ate at Mo's BBQ, it was pretty good, I'd give it a 7.

The kids all wanted ice cream so instead of eating it on the beach, the guys suggested Rite Aid since it is so cheap and the kids never eat all of it.

Time for the Dentist!

This morning all the kids had dentist appointments. They all had their teeth cleaned. Every time the dentist checks their teeth he says, "you know mom, they all are going to need braces." I know, don't remind me! Brad even accompanied us to the dentist today. It was nice because he went in with Nixon and Nixon started crying because he didn't want to be there. If I took him in he would have gone nuts, since he thinks he can get away with anything with me.

Here is Caden playing the DS and happy that he had no cavities!

Carsyn did great too, no cavities!!

Next up Nixon, not great news, he has 6 cavities!!!! He will have to be heavily sedated!

Nixon has been funny lately. I'll take him to the park and he will not play on the toys he just wants to hang out by me. The other day we were going to the park with his pre school group and this is where I found him before we left, Under Caden's bed. He didn't want to go to the park, what kid doesn't want to play at the park? Strange.

The Season Is Finally Over

We spent this whole weekend at the soccer park because Caden played in the AYSO sectionals. There were teams from all over central California.  Saturday he had three games and they did pretty good, they tied two and won one, so they moved on to Sunday and had to play 2 games today. They lost their first game so they had to play one more game to see who would get 3rd or 4th place. They played so hard, they were all so tired! Towards the end of the game the other team made a point and right at the end Caden scored one for our team. It went into over time and then the other team scored. :(  They lost 2 to 1. The boys were all sad! The lady in charge came over and congratulated the boys for going so far, she said that it was the furthest any Bakersfield boys u10 team had gotten! 4th out of all Central California. The boys were still upset, but they should be proud of themselves, they did great!! It was a great ending to a 7 month soccer season!

 Here is another group picture, they all look the same, but oh well.

Here are the boys before the last game. The coach had a good friend of his die today, in between the two games he went to the hospital to be with him. Then he came back to coach the team, what a guy! 

Here we are waiting in between games. It wasn't that hot today but sitting out there for so many hours we all got some good sunburns!

The kids were exhausted, both days on the way home they all fell asleep. Yesterday after the games Brad asked all of them if they wanted to take a nap by him (thinking they all would say no) Caden said I will, once his head hit the pillow he was out! That is not normal for him, he must be drained!