Our "Quincess"

Quincy Lu is the baby of the 6Clark gang. Everyday Holly and I wish we could freeze her at this age. Her siblings have given her the nickname "Quincess" since birth and now she is living up to this name. As shown in the pictures Quincy loves pretty dresses and as soon as she puts them on she comes to life. It is as though she knows she looks REALLY PRETTY! Another thing that is funny about Quincy is that she already has motherly instincts(also shown from the baby in the stroller in both pictures). She is very protective of her brothers and sister (more so with Wilbur), and as he says "she will scratch ted you with her claws"especially when she sees Millie and Sambo picking on him (Will). In a previous post "Addiction" her obsession with Coke was detailed. Now the Quincess has learned that whenever she wants a brown drink, or anything else, she just has to scream at the top of her lungs in the highest, loudest squeal. If you don't give in and give her what she wants she will do this forever; believe me we have tested her and she has broken our will time and time again. Quin you truly are our little "Quincess" and please stop growing up so fast!

Shortleg AKA Pyxicephalus adsperus

Due to popular demand this posting is on Sambo's pet frog Shortleg:

Sambo turned 6 this past year and the only thing he wanted for his birthday was a trip to the pet store. Keep in mind in addition to the 6clarks, we also have a dog named Daisy. Anyway Sambo's Uncle Shad took him to the exotic pet store where he fell in love with a cute "Pixie" frog. After brief instruction from the shop owner and the purchase of a few accessory items Sambo and Shortleg were on their way home. Later that night when we started researching this "Pixie" frog we found out another name for this thing was "African Bullfrog"!!! At the time of purchase Shortleg was only about the size of a quarter. How big will he get? According to allaboutfrogs.com he will grow to 10 inches and weigh over 4 pounds! He has quadrupled in size since February. He lives off of super worms and crickets now, however in a month or two he will be eating mice. How cool will that be?!?!

You might be asking how this frog ended up with the name "Shortleg". Well we have thought the same thing and according to Sambo the reason he named him Shortleg was because of his tiny front legs. I guess Shortleg just sounded better to him than Shortlegs.

We will update the growth of this fine looking beast every 6 months or so.

Here is a picture of Sambo the day he brought Shortleg home

The bird is the word

Fresh off the family vacation to Moab the 6clarks were back on our next adventure within a matter of days. You see earlier this summer we bought a timeshare up at Snowbird's Cliff Lodge and because it was bought during the Summer the best weeks were already taken for 2008. The new purchase was use it or lose it so we snagged the week of Sept 20-27. Monday is crazy with Millie piano lessons, Millie tumbling and other shenanigans so we decided to head to Snowbird on Tuesday morning. Holly loaded the suburban up with the little kids(Quincy and Will) and was on her way. Well this is kind of true; she was trying to get out of the garage but the car wouldnt start. It seems the fuel pump went out. As we found out later the Chevy/GMC line of trucks are famous for having a fuel pump go out between 80k-100k miles. The suburban is currently at 89k. Anyway we ended up having to call a tow truck. After waiting for the tow truck and getting the older kids (Millie and Sambo) home from school it was now time to go. The tow truck driver showed us a cool trick to fix a fuel pump. He said if you climb under the car and hit the gas tank with a small sledge hammer it will cause the pump to work. Sure enough after 3 smacks the pump worked like a charm. Well we get to "The Bird" and this place is so pretty with the fall colors. As mentioned in the Moab post it is so much work to get out of the house, but so worth it once you get settled in.
Being so close to home the kids are still able to go to their lessons, practices and games. Last night we went down for Sambo's tumbling, Holly's young womens activity and Sam's young mens meeting. On the way home Wilbur explained to us in detail what happens when you die. He was pretty sure that when you die "you get to smell things that are healthy". None of us knew what he was talking about, but I am sure it was a step up from last week when he said he wanted to "shoot a missile in his head and die, so he could have his very own haunted mansion". Oh Wilbur!! Another cool thing is in the Cliff Lodge parking lot last night we saw 2 bull moose fighting over turf. Needless to say we valet parked.

Moab Family Style

What started out as a Sam and Holly 100 mile bike ride with friends turned into a family "classic" vacation. This past weekend the 6Clarks, Banks, Andersons and Whites went to Moab for a few days on the slick rock. The guys (including Eric R) took off Friday morning and had their little testosterone driven ride on the Slickrock and Amasa Back trails. It turns out the only one who would bleed his own blood was Sam. Apparently he misjudged a jump and ended up sliding on his belly on the sandstone. Luckily there was no harm done! The only "real" close call was he misjudged his water consumption and ended up drinking all his water at about the halfway point. This is not good, especially on a VERY HOT Moab day. The ladies joined up with the kids Friday night and that is when the real party started. Saturday the ladies went for an Estrogen driven road bike ride while the guys took the kids swimming. The rest of the weekend consisted of hanging out, eating, swimming, eating, eating, hiking, and more eating. On the way home the entire group stopped at the Delicate Arch and Sanddune arch for a little hiking and family photos. It is soooooo much work getting ready for a short weekend trip with the kids, but it is always worth it. The kids had a great time with their friends and can't wait to do it again. Special thanks to Uncle Louis and Chriss for the use of their Condo.

Sibling Rivalry

As mentioned in the Flippin A post, Millie was MAD!!! After seeing her little brother land a backflip (and having a major meltdown), she was determined to nail her backhand spring. Millie has been wanting to do this for the past year, but just didn't have the guts to pull it off. Just like riding a bike, wake boarding, knee boarding, jumping off the houseboat, etc... her rage after watching her little brother do it pushed her to the edge and within one day accomplished the impossible. Here you go, you will witness yet another miracle:

Good job Millie! We are so proud of you.

But not to be out done:

Man that guy is good! Do you think he landed it?

Flippin A

Sambo is AMAZING. Look what he just learned how to do with about 10 minutes of practice. Needless to say he is stoked. I can't wait to see what this kid will do on skis!

And we are not finished yet. Look what else he learned:

Millie is going to be so mad!!!

Clark boys announce "Newest Addition" to the family

The picture says it all. Sam and Will announce the newest addition to the family as a DEER HEAD. So now in addition to the 6 Clarks, daisy, and shortleg we now have a lovely stuffed deer head hanging proudly in the boys room. Will likes to refer to it as a "deer head that grandpa chopped off with a pocket knife". Should we start him on therapy now or wait a few years? Any way the boys spotted it at Grandpa Judy's yesterday and just couldn't live without it. I guess we should be grateful we didn't end up with one of Jenny's new cats.

12 hours of Sundance

Alright, so the title sounds cooler than it really is. The 12 hours of Sundance is a mtn. bike race that starts at 7 am and finishes at 7 pm. The goal is to make as many laps as you can in a 12 hour period. Whoever has the most laps wins. The categories on a race like this are solo, 2 man or 4 man. I was on a 4 man team so for me it was 2 hours of Sundance. A couple of the neighbor guys formed a team and we had a BLAST! It was cold though. Temps were in the high 30's at the start. Holly had made arrangements weeks ago for me to go to the BYU vs. UCLA football game with Grandpa Jim. So I finished my laps on the relay and headed down to Provo for the game. Talk about a perfect day. Mtn. bike race, football game and to top it off a bar-b-q at grandpa Judy's. Thanks Hol for the great day.

Circus Bike

Guess who owns this Big Dog. Keep in mind the wheels are regular size and Wilbur is 44 inches tall.

Hint: This dude is 7' 6" tall and was one of the NBA's biggest loser picks. He also wore the number 76 and got dunked on by everyone except John Stockton (if stock could dunk he would have loved to give it a go).

Addiction

You are witnessing the begin of a complete "obsession" with Coke. Our baby girl has caught the bug and now is addicted to the sweet nectar known as Coca Cola. Just try and take the can and she says "NO, NO mine" and has a total freakout. The funny thing is, when she throws the tantrum she does it so carefully that not one drop spills. Good girl Quin.

Not for the faint of heart

Here are 2 recent pics I have come across.

The first is a guy I bike with. He "accidentally" scraped his thigh with a CHAINSAW!

Number 2 is just weird.

High School Again

As cheesy as this seems, I love just hanging out with Holly. While away from the kids this past weekend Holly and I just hung out with friends and acted like high schoolers. I just want Holly to know how much fun she is to be with. Maybe that is why she is so popular? Oh yeah, we also saw a moose and her baby

Second place is the first loser

This past weekend was the Logan to Jackson (LOTOJA) bike race. Last year I did the entire 206 mile event, but this year opted for a relay with 3 of my riding buddies. The relay was broken into 5 legs. The "freak of nature" Justin Jensen did the first leg. Jamie the "bike shop worker" did the second leg. I did the third, and Brad Pilling "Murder Eye" did the 4th and 5th. There was a second DNA relay team and they had 5 riders (Adam, Tony, Bubba, Jon, Scott). It was so nice not having to deal with the nerves, and stress that goes along with a BIG ride. In fact here are some pictures of me getting ready. No stress!
To make a long story VERY short, we ended up taking 2nd place. The other DNA relay took 4th. Come to find out that the team that beat us happened to be a bunch of young ringers. Crazy thing is even though we only had 4 riders, they barely beat us. I ended up riding from Montpellier to Afton and had 2 steep climbs to deal with. I felt really good riding and had an absolute blast jumping from group to group. We ended up staying the weekend hanging out with friends and planning strategy for next year. Actually we are trying to get the women out on the relay next year.
I am sick of the 2nd place finishes! So far this year I have placed 2nd 3 times, 3rd once and 85th once(this is the one I am most proud of). Last year I placed 2nd once and 3rd once. I really need to win one!!! Oh well there is always next week.
Correction: I took 1st in the Summer Games Tri-relay
Correction 2: I Win, I Win, I finally Win

Metal Mouth Millie

Millie came home from school today and told me that she is one of the "coolest kids in 3rd grade."

Not because she acts cool, not because her hair is cool, and not because her clothes are cool. She is cool because she has a retainer. A pink sparkly retainer with an "M" on it!

She just got it yesterday and let me tell you, ever since it has been a slurp fest. For anyone who has ever had a retainer, you know what I mean. I couldn't stop giggling because I remember all too well. At first you don't know what to do with your tongue and all that spit so you talk funny and you "slurp" every 10 seconds trying to collect and swallow all the saliva.

Slurping during the drive home, during prayer, during homework, in her bed, in her sleep! She started getting self-conscious about it so to make her feel better, I pulled out my good ol' retainer, dusted off the cobwebs, and put mine in. We slurped together. Then this morning we had practice exercises of how to talk and how to swallow without making that sound. I think it helped because when she came home from school today, she was, as mentioned above, "one of the most coolest kids in 3rd grade!" "Everybody wants one now," she said.

Oh I'm so glad that she feels so cool. I hope she feels this cool when she gets a headgear. j/k!

(Actually, I didn't think they made those anymore but I saw a girl wearing one today at Costco...poor thing).

1st day of Pre-K!

Oh Miss Emily....watch out because today is the first day you face THIS kid...


He is a treasure but even his teacher last year said that in 15 years of teaching, she has never encountered a kid who talks as much as Will does! He will talk to anyone who will listen. I actually missed having our conversations today while he was at school. I can't believe how big he is getting. I love that I can leave the house 5 minutes before school starts, put Quincy in the stroller, and walk to Will's pre-school! So much better than last year when I was juggling 3 school carpools. The things he was most excited for were to eat at school, use the bathroom at school (he wouldn't go at home because he was "holding it"), and to hang his book bag on the hook that has the cartoon of the boy with yellow hair. As much as I missed him today, I thoroughly enjoyed my alone time with my baby girl. FINALLY just the 2 of us!

Will and his teacher Miss Emily.

Labor pains

Today is Labor Day. It is amazing how every year on or very near the first week of September, Utah gets its first dusting of snow in the high country. Here is a picture taken from our back deck. Anyway with the cool weather and a day off what do you do? Answer: PUT THE KIDS TO WORK!!! We made today our fall cleanup. The funny thing was the kids had no idea what we had in store for them. When Millie realized what was going on she asked "Why do we have to work on Labor Day, I thought it was a day to celebrate not working?" In order to save face Mom and Dad responded with "Labor Day was started by farmers who HAD to work to get their farms ready for winter". I don't know if this is fact or not, but Millie found it to be a valid explanation

The chores started in the kids room and moved to the basement. After 6 hours, a truck load of junk to the dumpsters and another truckload of items bound for DI our work was completed. Well that is until Oktoberfest, where the kids must clean the garage to prepare for the month of October!