Clothing Exchange...

What's that you ask? Well, it's where a bunch of girls go through their closets and get rid of those things that no longer fit, that are the wrong color, style, or just plain never worked for them and exchange them with their friends! That's what we did last Saturday night... And it was so much fun! I think people were not quite sure what to expect, but once you get a bunch of girls together with a ton of clothes they are bound to have fun! It's a great way to gain or get rid of a bunch of clothes and the best part is that it's free!

There were four tables heaped with clothes!

Nicole and Catrina relaxing after having picked through all the clothes!

It wouldn't be a party without food!

Super Sprint Triathlon!

Last weekend Nicole, Amanda, and I participated in a super sprint triathlon! The name is a little ironic in my mind because for me, there is no sprinting going on!!! Apparently they think it's so short you should be able to sprint the whole thing! :) Anyway, it was really fun and a perfect distance! I will definitely do this one again!!!

Here we are getting all marked up... numbers everywhere (on our arms, legs, hands)

Numbing up! The water was 57 degrees!

Nicole's friend Heather was sweet enough to watch my adorable little boy! Joe was at home with Chloe!

Coming back out of the water for the start!

Notice ALL the wetsuits! We were the only three without them! Must be because we are all tough Oregon girls used to cold water! :)

The 200 meter swim

Nicole's out first!

Then me

And here comes Amanda

The transition area- Changing into our biking gear!

Nicole getting ready to leave on the 8 mile Mt. Biking portion of the race

Sweet boy waiting for Mama to finish!

Nicole's back again!

Nicole starting the 2 mile run

Amanda's back

Amanda starting the run

Back from the Mt. Bike

Starting the run

Amanda finishes first, but missed a turn somewhere... oops!

Nicole finishes next

Last, but not least!

Yay! We did it!!

Elijah was happy to see me!

Grubbing on some food!

Woo Hoo! Nicole finished 2nd in her age group!

She even got a little plaque!

So strong!

Feeding the sea gulls!

A few more pics of our trip to the North coast

Monday morning we went to Trinidad for a few hours before we had to head home.

Greg, Kevin, Joe, and I at the Trinidad Memorial Lighthouse
(in case you are wondering, the kids were sleeping in the car a few feet away!)

At noon this huge bell started ringing and the genius boys decided to go check it out!

There was a path that led down to the beach from the lighthouse
Chloe running full steam ahead with Greg!

Kevin found some starfish, which Chloe then threw back into the ocean

Joe and Chloe having fun in the waves!

another family picture

Chloe was fascinated with seagulls the whole trip, so this was definitely the highlight of the trip for her!

The building in the background is a restaurant that we had just had lunch in,
which is where we got the fries and crackers to feed the birds. We could see
the people in the restaurant watching Chloe running around feeding the seagulls.

It is so much fun to see the pure delight of a child!

Something about a small space...

that makes a child's energy seem to quadruple!!!

Jumping on the bed is always fun!

Chloe would "skate" around on these pieces of plastic

Eli just crawled around trying to get into everything!

So happy to be moving!

Our trip to Arcata

Last weekend we took a trip up North to Arcata to see Greg and Kevin and check out the area. We got there on Friday evening after a scenic drive around Clear Lake and through some of the Redwoods on highway 101. I have never really seen the Redwoods so just the drive through them was amazing! That night we had dinner at the place where the workers were staying...

Meet Addie!

She is about the sweetest and neatest lady you'll meet, and she's 94!!

Day one of our trip: A hike on the "Lady Bird Johnson Grove Loop." It was a great little hike- a little over 1 mile and beautiful!

Little Chloe next to a big Redwood! We think kids grow fast... A Redwood may grow 30 feet in the first 20 years!

Standing in a burned out tree

Chloe in the backpack, Joe, Kevin, and Greg

After the hike the workers took us to where Oric Convention used to be, and we had a picnic lunch right on the old convention grounds

The fish and game or someone had a game camera set up to take pictures of elk or whatever else that may be using this trail... They will enjoy the picture of this little cutie climbing over the log with her raisin box in her hand!

We didn't want to leave brother bear out of the fun...

but he needed a little help setting off the camera!!

What a cute little bear!

Some pretty daffodills

Next stop: Fern Canyon

Eli hitching a ride with Greg this time!

The pictures don't do it justice... It's really beautiful and just dripping with ferns (not to mention water!)

Eli didn't last too long with Greg... such a Momma's boy! :)

A little turn out along the road where you can check out all the elk

There were several little spikes

I think I counted about 38 elk