WARRIOR DASH 2012

We survived the Warrior Dash on Saturday, June 14th!

I had talked Lee and a few friends into doing the Warrior Dash with me.  It was the first year that Iowa has hosted this event and I had heard great things about it from my Aunt and Uncle, and had to try it out.

The event took place in Earlham, IA this past Saturday.

We left Newton Saturday morning and arrived at the race sight for our 11:00 race time.

It was 3.48 miles of obstacles and running/walking.  It was challenging, HOT, but FUN!

Sign me up for 2013!

Chad and Mandy, Lee and I, and Emily. 

The five of us before the race.  There was supposed to be six of us, but the Allen's didn't have a sitter for the whole day, so Mark had to stay back and take care of their five kids.  We'll get him next year!

 Mandy, Myself, and Emily nice and clean before the race.

 Lee and I in our last obstacle.  Swimming in mud under barbed wire.  Gross!

 We all survived!

 The shoes that we donated after the race.

 Somehow my face ended up the dirtiest out of all of us.

 Cleaned up with baby wipes, threw on some new shirts, so time to relax, listen to music, and people watch.

 With all of us having sitters for the evening, we enjoyed dinner at the Klein's house.

Our very own Warrior Dash symbol.  Created by: Mandy!  :)

A COUPLE MORE WEDDINGS!

This year has been filled with weddings!

We started out with a wedding May 5th in Florida, then Megan's in Des Moines on June 16th.  Two weeks after Megan's, was Josh and Liz's in Colorado on June 30th and then my cousin's the week after Josh's on July 7th in Waterloo!  Now, we just look forward to Josh and Liz's reception in Cedar Falls coming in August.

 I was honored to be in my friend, Megan's, wedding on June 16th.  It was a beautiful wedding and such a fun weekend.  Neither Lee or I had a camera that night, so I don't have any pictures to show, but this one from the photographer of the bride herself and I.

 Our family at my cousin, Kyle's, wedding on July 7th.  Brady is showing his monkey face.

 Brady and I.

 The boys owned the dance floor at Josh and Liz's wedding.  So, with Kyle's wedding being just one week after, they were still in the dancing spirit.  However, they started to dance WAY before the actual dance began.  They loved to dance to the "background" music during dinner, etc.  They had a blast!

 Kyle and Grandma Kriz polka dancing!

Tyler and Grandma Mary polka dancing.

4th OF JULY, 2012

Well, I've got to start by saying how different it was to be home on the fourth of July, rather than in St. Charles with the McCabes!  With the Fourth being on a Wednesday this year, we were unable to take our annual trip to St. Charles and we really missed it and the fun time that we usually have with our friends there!

We started off the morning with red, white, and blue, fruit and yogurt parfaits.  Yummy!

Next, we met up with some friends at the parade downtown.  It was an extremely long and very hot parade!  But, the kids ended up with tons of candy and had a blast!

Happy 4th of July, 2012!

Brady waving his flag.

After the parade, we headed home to cool off in the air condition, eat lunch, and put the boys down for a nap.  Corn on the cob on the 4th--can't beat it!

Last summer, Brady loved to eat corn on the cob......

this summer, his two-year-old stubborn attitude has him thinking differently. 
This was the look that we got when we were telling him that he had to at least take a bite of his corn on the cob before he could leave the table.

Then he turned into being silly and fake laughing.

...and making silly faces.

Tyler joined into the silly face act.

And still with a smile on his face, we made him take a bite of his corn.  The corn that we know he likes, but his stubbornness is getting the best of him.

He took a bite and then the tears started flowing.  Boy, was he mad!

And then this look.  :)

Maybe he will like corn on the cob the next time we have it!

After the evening cooled down a bit, we spent time outside playing while we waited to leave for the fireworks.  The motorcycle is always a good way to pass time.

I really love this!

They look like they are best buds, however, I think they scream at each other more than anything.

This was the first year that we actually went to see fireworks and the first year that the boys have tried sparklers.  They didn't really like the sparklers much, but they did love to watch the fireworks!

Tyler enjoying the fireworks on the hot fourth of July night.

Brady cuddled up with Dad on the blanket to watch the fireworks.

It was such a hot 4th of July, but we made the most of it and got to take the boys to see their first ever fireworks on the 4th!

OMAHA ZOO

We decided to break up the drive on the way home from Colorado and made a stop in Omaha to visit the zoo.  We left Colorado on Sunday morning, arrived in Omaha Sunday evening, swam at the hotel pool, and got a good night sleep.  After breakfast Monday morning, we headed to the Omaha zoo for a day of fun!

Walk, stroller, walk, stroller, walk, stroller.

At least they got some exercise!

This big guy and I were giving each other kisses.  It was so funny!  He kept kissing the glass when I put my face up to the window.  He did it probably 5 different times.  Too funny!

Snack time in the shade.

We saved the train ride for the end of the day.  They absolutely loved it!  They always love train rides!  Brady started to get pretty sleeping on the ride, but never did fall asleep.  We sat right behind the engine (boys' choice), so I'm sure the loud whistle and the engine kept him awake.  Apparently he was so tired that he couldn't even give us a full smile after the ride.  All we got was this one side lift thing.  :)

Again with the half-smile.  But Tyler sure does look happy and awake!

Checking out the penguins from below.

The aquarium.  We spent a lot of time in here looking at all the sharks, sting rays, fish, sea turtles, etc.  I think we all loved this part.  And it was a plus that we were in air condition!

It was a great day at the Zoo!