more of miss maya

while uncle t recovered from his big race,
maya and I snuck off to do a photo shoot.
we went to pnlu's campus and I snapped a
few photos around the beautiful campus.

oh how I love this campus. it sits up high
on a cliff overlooking the pacific ocean.
several of the dorms have rooms that look directly
into the ocean....and offer nightly sunset views.
{my boss' son attends college here - lucky guy}.

a few photos from our lil' shoot:




maya, age 11

afterwards we stopped at starbucks for drinks which seems to have
become our little ritual.  we talked about her favorite books {she loves
to read}, her besties, and about her competitive swim team.
she hopes to swim in a big event in salt lake this summer.
i so want to see her in action. 

~ as i copied these photos over to a cd, i couldn't get over how much
she looks like her auntie heidi at this age. she's her little mini heidi!
oh how i love being an auntie to this sweet girl who is growing up
so fast.

oceanside ironman: 70.3 miles

on saturday morning, my b-i-l and my dear friend's husband {shawn}
pushed their bodies to the limit as the swam, biked and ran 70.3 mile
in the oceanside half ironman.

they seriously rocked it, racing under the top 10% of all the participants entered.
the boys and i joined auntie shannon and their cousins to watch uncle t cross
the finish line. uncle t even had a smile on his face - wow! 

it.was.truly.inspiring. 

~ watching these guys, and all the other amazing athletes cross the finish line
reminded me that our bodies are meant to move, {something scout reminded the
family of over dinner a few months ago after a lesson on physical fitness}.
i don't think i could survive half of a half ironman, but i am determined to start
running more. my mind and my bodies has missed it!

st. patty's run: 2015

stay tuned....when i get my laundry done, i'll be back to post pixs of our recent run!

silver bullets: fall rec soccer 2015

soccer is in FULL swing for our family!

c and i are taking turns hauling scout around to his practices,
with c doing the majority of it. fortunately, the riptide team
practices right across from his school so it makes it easy for c.
finn does his homework, c makes calls for work and scout plays.
{i'm in charge of getting him to wednesday practice by the house}

we missed his very first rec game because we were in utah,
so last weekend was his first game with the silver bullets,
PYSL's U8 {under eight} rec team. he was so excited!!

we hardly recognized our son on the field.
instead of playing defense like he preferred for all those years,
coach has him playing midfield and forward, positions he rarely
wanted to play in year's past. 

something just clicked for him...and he's got a better understanding
of the game and his body and he is very confident on the field.  
he's having more fun, and the family is having more fun watching
him now that he's in the thick of the action.

 

scout and his team played hard during this game but despite a good effort,
they lost. in the middle 'tunnel' photo above, his face shows his disappointment.
in the far right photo, he sees me taking photo and flashes me a smile. awww.
a year ago, he would have been in tears after a loss and couldn't have smiled at
me if he wanted to.

~ on the way home, i couldn't stop thinking about how much our baby boy has
grown up in the last year. i blinked and he's a big boy now. 
{dang, i better stop blinking}

daring the desperado

i almost forgot to post a significant and monumental moment in the boys' lives.
the boys dared the desperado. it's a CRAZY FAST and JERKY rollercoaster
located in prim, nevada.

we drive by buffalo bill's casino every time we drive to utah,
and we see this giant outdoor/indoor coaster from the highway.
it always looks a little daunting!

as we drove by the coaster on the way to utah this year, c shared that
mommy rode it alone one christmas when scoutie was just 6 months old.
finn didn't remember it but he was quick to ask if he could ride it sometime.
we said sure if he was tall enough,  scout too. {we doubted scout would be}.

on our way home from utah, we decided to stop and ride the coaster.
i had googled the height requirements and scout just barely made the 48".
{he's exactly 48 1/4"}.  he was BEYOND excited!!

i wasn't sure if the short guys would go through with it, but they surprised me.
they jumped in the seats and as the cars climbed to the highest point, i heard finn
wondering outloud how many g's {g forces} we would be pulling.
















after the ride, i pointed out we all have such different rollercoaster riding styles.
mr. gerber put his hands up a lot, scout screamed at the top of his lungs,
and finn and i remained frozen as we held on for our lives! 
{i even closed my eyes quite a bit}

over dinner afterwards, we all agreed it was terrifying, a bit too jerky,
but would we go on it again given the opportunity? ABSOLUTELY!!

as we pulled out of the parking lot, i looked up at the desperardo, smiled and
thought what great ages the boys are now and that we can do this kind of stuff.
we have lots of years of rollercoaster riding ahead of us!
{literally and figuratively i'm sure}

brianhead 2015: boys in action

c just shared a few photos and some video he took of our gerblets during
our recent utah trip! i was thrilled to see some short clips of the boys in action.
with poles in my hands, i wasn't able to take any video {another reason i like
snowboarding more than skiing}

day 1: i spent the majority of the day with finn and c spent the majority of
the day with scout. both boys were on their butts a lot the first half of day.
i watched them fall over and over and remembered when i was learning to
board. falling and getting back up over and over is exhausting.

day 2: christopher took the boys to the terrain park where they ventured over
small 'bumps'. {not sure what the proper technical term is}.

our gerblets in action. finn oliver:

and the scoutmaster:

 

 

 



~ the utah gerbers are arriving on thursday and we're pretty excited!
bit t's been training hard for this half ironman which will be on saturday,
so the entire family will be up early and cheering him on.
the following day, we will be cheering on scout during his soccer game,
{and i can't forget the arizona wildcats...they play sometime this weekend}

spring skiing: utah 2015

as most gerber roadtrips begin,
the boys and i were up at dark o-thirty packing the car.
when we really have it together, the car is packed the night before.
this trip wasn't one of them.

as c was running conference call meetings from the car,
the boys and I barely noticed as we had our heads buried in books.
i was enjoying bossypants by tina fey, finn was devouring space case,
and scout was reading the hobbit for this second time.

instead of going directly to utah, we had discussed stopping in los angeles
so c could look at a car at a volvo dealership he had seen a few days earlier.

for 2 years, he has been looking for a newer model of what he has but it
had to meet all his requirements and this one did {including price}. 
he ended up loving the car, traded in the car we came in and we drove away
in a much more comfy 2 year old silver volvo xc70 or 90. 
{i think that's the model. i'll have to check}

we arrived in st. george a little later than planned because of our detour,
but were sure to get a good night's rest. after breakfast, we all headed 
to the cabin in brianhead.  the drive there is so beautiful!!











uncle t was a bit under the weather the first day,
so he rested in the cabin all day while the rest of us hit the slopes. 
we had a great time and couldn't have asked for better weather -
the sun was shining and the temperature was about 50...perfect!

though i hadn't skied since i was in my early 20s,
it came back to me which i was so grateful for because  my goal
was to be able to ski along side the little guys. i was even able to
share a few pointers beyond pizza and french fries.

by the end of the day, the boys had found their balance and scout
was completely exhausted.  he fell asleep in the warming house.

the boys found lots to do even when they weren't on the slopes...
scout and i played the mexican train game while the bigger boys
dug caves into the pile of snow they found on the cabin's front porch.
they spent HOURS outside and came inside only when it got too dark to see
and their fingers had fallen off.

we've shared so many memories in this cabin with the utah gerbers and
family over the years and are so grateful shannon and trevor have so graciously
shared their home and their hearts with us. we will treasure them forever.



finn {11}, scout {7}, maya {11}, isaac {9}

~ some new nicknames were handed out during this trip.
scoutmaster was given to scout by uncle t, and scout has
chosen 'big t' for uncle trevor.

brianhead or bust

tonight's post will be short as i am up late washing clothes and packing.

the boys and i are heading to utah to hang with the utah gerbers to play in
the snow.  we couldn't be more excited...we love this family and it's a rare
treat to play in the snow.

trevor tells us brianhead got dumped on last weekend so the timing
couldn't have been better. there's fresh powder and the sun will be
shining. oh how i love spring conditions.

though the boys came out last year, it's been 2 years since i've been in the snow.
i literally dreamed i was going down the runs the other night. I'm overdue.
c pulled all our snow gear down from storage and we rummaged through bins
gathering what we could. scout's gear still fits, but finn's completely outgrown his.
auntie shannon assured us there's something at the cabin that will work for him.

in the meantime, i pulled up this image of the runs at brianhead to get reacquainted:























i was thinking that this year the boys are probably old enough to go down the
mountain together or with their cousins {without us parents at their side}.

this resort is perfectly set up for families...it's not too big and there's one lodge. 
the only thing i'm not quite ok with is letting scout ride the chair lifts without
an adult.  he's only 7 for goodness sakes. {c doesn't get a choice on this one}

i don't fear kidnapping or him getting hurt while coming down the mountain.
what i fear is him falling out of the chair lift from high above the trails. he might
get careless and lean forward or rough house with his brother or cousin and fall
from hundreds of feet.  a bit crazy right?  maybe i'm projecting...i do have a slight
fear of these open chair lifts AND a slight fear of heights.

i hope to make it through the next few days without breaking something. 
i'm a boarder but am going to try skiing one day so i can see them in action. 
it's easier to stick together if we are all on the same equipment. 

i shared my concerns about skiing and scout reviewed the basics of skiing with me
using the terms 'french fries' {for speeding up}, and 'pizza' {for slowing down}.
i think i've got it, but friday will be my real test.

have a wonderful week/weekend friends!

xo

nobody does it better: explorer's 2015 fundraiser

it's that time of the year again!
things have been busy busy as we parents, teachers,
and our kids prepare for explorer's biggest fundraiser of the year,
art from the heart.

every classroom is busy with their art project that will be
auctioned off and board members and volunteers are busy
getting businesses around san diego to donate hotels stays,
meals at various restaurants, spas, bookstores, camps of all
types {surf, music, art, language, robotics, etc.}

all this work for a great cause - our kids!

i love this year's james bond theme. so very cool!
one of the moms on our board came up with the idea,
and it's been extremely well received by all.
{finn even declared this will be a future b-day theme}.

the cute invite.

i attended a meeting last week for 5th grade parents to meet
the directors of the two middle schools on HTH's campus
{the campus consists of 2 elementary, 2 middle and 2 high schools}
more to come on that. 

before and after the meeting, there was buzz about this event.
some ladies were discussing what 'bond girl' they were going
as and what their men were wearing. one might have overheard us
and think we were talking about the oscars from how we went on. 

i hadn't even given a thought to what i was going to wear yet,
but now I'm thinking my gold new year's sequin dress makes sense for
this event. {there are only so many occasions a girl can wear gold sequins}

anyway, both c and i are really looking forward to it!

~ the only bummer is this same weekend is my aunt frankie's 90th
b-day celebration in florida.  I SO wanted to be there!  her children are
hosting it and flying in from all over the country {grandchildren too}.

i was having difficult finding affordable flights and then when i
learned the date of this event was the same night as the fundraiser,
it seems I'm not destined to be there. i will eventually get back to visit
and will be sure to celebrate my auntie's milestone birthday.
she's a truly amazing lady.