1st day of Pre-K

I couldn't decide which photo I like more

Quincy's first day of school was today!  Look how excited she is.  This year she is going to Animal Crackers preschool in Highland.  It was really hard to choose between 3 different preschools because I haven't been sure where/when would work best with the rest of the family.  We had a great experience at Newcastle last year and there is an awesome preschool just up the street at my friend/neighbor's house.  Ultimately I went with what was down on the Highland side because our life seems to be shifting more down South (the elementary, work, sports, dance, kid's friends).   As a bonus there are 2 other cute little girls that she will be going with.

I've had a bit of anxiety anticipating her school to start because I realize this is the last year of preschool for us, forever.  And I will miss my little buddy.  But the time she was gone went by really fast and I spent it at Costco with 2 girlfriends the entire time (getting ready for Lake Powell).
I'm sure I'll get used to it :)

 I love this little gem!

She helped me make this wreath for back to school.  She personally handpicked the colors and handed them to me one by one.  I dabbed on the hot glue and she placed them with some help. 

She's very proud.

The Crusher & PIerre's Hole

BS has had an extremely busy year...work (x2), school (MBA x 2), coaching (x4), and on and on.  As if being a full-time father and husband wasn't enough!  Consequently, something had to give, and sadly it was biking.  He only registered for 2 bike races this year...The Crusher (in Beaver) and Pierre's Hole (at Grand Targhee ski resort).   Even then he hardly found time to train and if you ask him, he had no business doing either one.  

But, he is a freak of nature and still managed to finish strong at both.  I am amazed by his strength - mentally and physically.

Anyway.  What this means for our family is a fun get-away with our friends!  In July we drove to Beaver, Utah which does not seem like a prime destination.  But I was surprised at the beauty of the mountains and the cool ski resort called Eagle Point.  The race course was near 70 miles in the mountains with some really hard climbing.

At the start with Joe S and Jon J

At the finish and he is still smiling
I love Quincy talking to her precious Tigress

 

Bright, Rust, White, Banks, Clark

I didn't have my camera with me during the race.  We met up with Sepulveda's and James's and hung-out by a lake with gorgeous views.  There were 11 kids and even though we were waiting for hours, they didn't mind at all - they had a great time being in the outdoors!  We are definitely planning a weekend ski trip to Eagle Point this winter!

Pierre's Hole: {What a dumb name}
A few weeks ago we went with a group of 14 adults and 18 kids to Grand Targhee Ski Resort near Driggs, Idaho for the next race.  It was a 50 and 100 mile course {25 mile laps}.  BS was planning on riding 50 but pushed himself to ride 75 miles!  All the guys agreed it was a tough course.  While the racers were sweating and gutting it out, the ladies and children were swimming and chilling in between support stops.  It was super fun being with our friends and especially great to have Adam and Jess with us.  Even better, Uncle Shad flew Grandpa and Grandma up for the day to support BS!  

Early morning at the start

On your marks...

After lap 1

After lap 2

Adam between laps

Meanwhile...at the pool
Keegan & Q

Chesney, Kai, Keegan, Q, Xander, Tizer

Brayden, Sambo, Skye, Will

Reissens and Brights

Support Crew

Millie would rather watch and wait for her Dad than play around with the kids, she really gets into this!

M and Grandma Cindy

Done!

Starving

Q and Aunt Jess waiting for Uncle Adam

Adam  and Jess at the finish

Cheering Section

At the finish: Banks (100), White (50), Reissen (50), Rust (100), Clark (75), Clark (50), Bright (50)
Some of these dudes were on their bikes for 14 hours!

We are so grateful that we get to do these fun adventures with our friends and family!  Thanks guys for doing these races :)

Q swims!

When packing for our trip to Targhee, I didn't take the time to read about the amenities of our condo.  For some reason I didn't think there was going to be a pool.  I packed swimming suits anticipating a hot tub, but I neglected to pack Quincy's floatie or life jacket.  For the first little while she swam around using a "noodle" that the pool provided.  Then I bought some $1 water wings at the town store.  But she watched all of the other neighbor kids swimming and before long she wanted to swim all by herself.  And how she did!

Back to School...bittersweet

Well, whether we were ready or not...school started yesterday.  I still can't believe it and although I wasn't quite ready for it, the kids were really excited!  They are real happy with their teachers and classmates so that makes me happy.

Here they are on the big day:

The night before the 1st day, we had our annual Back To School festivities:

-Dinner with school theme .
-A fashion show to decide which outfit to wear + make sure everything is ready.
-FHE about school, safety, expectations, etc.  Then BS gave them a blessing.

We managed to squeeze this in despite football practice x 2, the school Open House, tumbling, and picking-up Millie from the Ogden airport (from her venture to Steamboat, CO. More on that soon).

Little treats I snuck in their bags

I had to get these when I saw the "lunch box" scent {Sambos nickname}

The 1st day was rough for Quin and I...we missed the other 3 and she didn't know what to do with herself.  So I spent 2 hours straight playing games with her...Candy Land twice, Chutes & Ladders 3 times, Don't Break the Ice 5 times, and then Dominoes.  Of course, she won everytime :)

Then we went outside and rode bikes together.  Then we played baby dolls together.   Then went to Costco for groceries and lunch {gotta love Costco pizza and churro}.   Then we decided that having the other kids gone all day wasn't so bad after all - we spent some good quality time together.  Today we went to the craft store and she picked out some painting and play-doh activities.  Then we went to the library to get books for everybody since they are back to reading 30-60 min/day.

Quincy starts Pre-K next week but until then I'm really going to try to forget the things that aren't important and focus on our last days together without school.  

Here's to another awesome year!

At the bus stop