disneyland!

....with the cousins. It was a blast.


pretty bright sun.


I promise she's not always like this.


she was terrified of the princesses... maybe the first little girl ever.


the dreaded tea cups.


they loved it.


loving Dumbo.

lila and the pumpkins

halloween

This Halloween was definitely one of the best to date. My brother's family was here visiting which made it that much better. We started the night out at the trunk-or-treat and finished trick-or-treating in a very festive neighborhood. Ryder was a scary vampire and Lila was a pumpkin. If you ask her, she says she was a princess, so... she was a pumpkin princess. Maybe the first pumpkin princess ever.


Hannah Montana, scary vampire, Lightening McQueen race car driver, pumpkin princess


cute cousins.


This cape should have been easy to make, but for some reason, I struggled... he loved it though.


Binkies ruin pictures.


Lila and Minnie (Zoey)


I love this shot.


Ryder and Jack. Both so scary.


When she decided she was done, she plopped in the middle of the road and went town.

wild things

Ryder's kindergarten class did an extensive book study on "Where the Wild Things Are". He absolutely loved it. To wrap up the book study, his teacher had the kids make their own 'wild thing' costumes for his schools Halloween Parade. They were the cutest little monsters ever.

joshua tree

happy campers.


not so happy camper.


matching hats.


sweet air.


Ryder as a Joshua Tree.


self portrait.


the group.

We took a quick camping trip with some friends to Joshua Tree National Park last weekend. The kids loved running around (we had to trail Lila's each step) and jumping off the rocks. We definitely wished we could have stayed longer, but a short camping trip is better than no camping trip.

magic mountain man

(excuse dirty hands and nails...)


Before the swim and starting the bike. The first of many, many hills.


Ryder and I ran hand in hand through the finish.


The best fan club EVER.


I did it. Once I got the idea in my head there was no going back. This was the perfect time to do a 1/2 Ironman. Matt is out of school this semester so he was around to help with the kids while I trained, the race was close (no traveling and hotels/camping), it was on a Saturday instead of Sunday, and I'm not pregnant. It was now or never (or lots later). The 1.2 mile lake swim was great. It was a 1 wave start meaning all 200 racers started at the same time. There was a lot of getting kicked and people trying to swim over me, but it was fine. The least of my worries with this race. The bike course, on the other hand, was not the least of my worries. The course involved almost 6000 feet of elevation gain in 56 miles. Major climbing. I really conserved throughout the bike, so I felt strong the whole time. My concern wasn't finishing the bike, but being able to run 13.1 miles after all that climbing. The run started out a bit stiff, but by mile 6 I was feeling really good... until I got to mile 9. The last four miles were hard. The hardest part being the .1 at the end, but lucky for me, Ryder brought me in. It took me 6 hours, 43 minutes. I got third place in my age group. I have to say though, there were only 7 of us, but I got a trophy and prizes. I'll take it. Matt was the best support ever during my training and the race. I don't know which was harder, running the race or dealing with tired, antsy kids for 7 hours in a car that isn't going anywhere. Thanks Matt, I love you!

matt's birthday

In our family, we like to have birthday weeks. We celebrate all week long. On Matt's actual birthday, we started with pancakes, opened present (just one- a book, a very expensive book), headed to Santa Monica to pick up his second present (another book! He now has the complete works of Rem Koolhaas. That's all he wanted- books. He was actually really excited...), and then, went to the Jimmy Kimmel show in Hollywood. No time for cake and blowing out candles. That had to wait until the next day, and the next. My plan was to make him chocolate cupcakes. But it turns out he has been holding out on me for eight years of marriage. He loves red velvet cupcakes and never told me... or maybe he just made this discovery. So the quest was on to make the perfect red velvet cupcake. It took a couple tries to get them right (homemade frosting is key), but oh, did we get them right! (recipe here). And we continue to find more reasons to extend his birthday celebration. You only turn 30 once, right?

30!!!

He's 30, and I adore all 30 years of him. Happy birthday Matt!

random

This was taken awhile back too. It could not go without posting. He thought he looked awsome

sidewalk chalk

These were taken a couple months ago but I just had to post them. I love them.
*Ryder did most of the artwork

stair climb

Last Friday I participated in the YMCA Stair Climb to the Top of the U.S.Bank building. It's the tallest building west of the Mississippi, 75 floors. It took me 15 minutes to the top and my lungs were burning! I guess from the elevation gain. I was on a team of four, we all climbed to the top and averaged our times. We got 6th for the mixed team division and I got 6th overall women. I can't say it was fun (it hurt), but it was rewarding. A great view from the top.

beach with the andersons

Our good friends the Andersons came to visit. We took them to our favorite beach in Malibu. The waves were strong and steep and threatened to sweep the kids in the ocean if we weren't standing right close to them. They still insisted on playing in them the majority of the time. We had so much fun, come again soon you guys!

soccer

We started the first day of the season with the opening ceremonies parade. (I made the lovely banner)

The boys helped me fulfill my volunteer requirements of post ceremony cleanup. They built an impressive cone tower in the process.

Ryder and best buddy Jack.

He shoots...

He scores! (3 times, in fact)

The fan club, including me behind the camera.

big bear

For Labor Day we went to Big Bear, away from smoke filled L.A. We hiked to Castle Rock and the kids loved it. Ryder made sure to find a hiking stick (which I carried up and down the trail for him), and Lila insisted on hiking most of the steep, rocky trail herself... in her Crocs. It was pretty slow hiking, with near heart attacks (for me) every other minute- the girl has zero fear. Ryder likes to "rock climb" and Lila has to do everything Ryder does. I'm just glad we got safely down the trail with two alive and healthy kids!

kindergarten

Ryder just started kindergarten and he loves it. I got to go with him on the first day and check it out. It was a good way to ease us (at least me, he needed no easing) into school for the next, I don't know, 17 or so more years. It's a huge milestone!

anniversary/park city/tour of utah

While in Utah, Matt and I were able to leave the kids and spend a couple nights in Park City for a belated anniversary. So nice. It just so happened that we were there for stage 4 of the Tour of Utah. It started on Main Street Park City (right by our hotel) and finished at Snowbird. It is supposedly the most difficult stage of any US stage race. We watched the start and then drove through Guardsman Pass, down Big Cottonwood Canyon and back up Little Cottonwood Canyon.  A completely amazing drive. We caught the end of the race at Snowbird. It brought us right back to the old days-  pre-kids, no responsibility. So much fun, but it really was great to get back to the kids... not so much to the responsibility.  I think now that I have used the term 'the old days', I have officially reached adulthood. Crap.

this was supposed to be a self portrait, but a passerby felt it his duty to take it. thanks guy.

us in our room.

shameless paparazzi shot of Dave Zabriskie and Floyd Landis.

the start of the race.

us on Guardsman Pass.

us at Snowbird.

the winners of stage 4.

visit to Utah

On our visit to Utah...

The kids discovered a hidden treehouse at my parents rental.

Ryder used some power and not so power tools to fix it up.

Lila did a lot of swinging.

They reaped the rewards of a sweet treehouse.

The two biggest trouble makers EVER made lots of trouble.

Skateboards and bikes were ridden.

Sweet baby Rainey was adored.

There was a lot of time spent on the lake...

with Ryder's friend since birth, Claire...

and Lila's friend since birth, Stella.

And, Ryder got to surf with his dad and wakeboard with me. Next year he goes solo.

There was also lots of barbecuing, hot dog/marshmallow roasting, cheesy movie watching, nintendo playing (ugh!),  time/space continuum debating, glamour photo shooting (tbc...), friend visiting, and family reuniting. Two weeks was still not enough time! It was so good to have my parents back living in our home town. Now it's time for Matt's parents to get back from their mission and our visits home will be complete!

camp pendleton triathlon

This one was one of my favorite races so far. It was an ocean swim and the waves were HUGE... until it was my turn to go, they settled right down. Since it was on a military base there were marines cheering us on throughout the bike and run. It was motivating. I won my division. Matt couldn't be there with finals coming up (bad planning on my part). My friend Lara saved the day. I stayed with her at her dad's beach house the night before and she watched the kids during the race. She also spoiled them with all sorts of toys (see puppets above). We spent the rest of the day relaxing at the beach house. It was a great day. Thanks Lara!

8 years

8 years ago...

Today! 

A little more grown up, a little more serious, a little (a lot) more in love. cheesy, I know...

Happy Anniversary, Matt. I love you 8 x's infinity!

so sweet

lila at 2

Apparently she doesn't like to look at the camera... 

castaic lake triathlon

I did the Castaic Lake triathlon again this year. This time I did it with some fellow Spin instructors and friends from the gym. It was a sprint distance and I got first in my age division, 3rd overall women. My friend Michelle, her husband, 8 year old son (yeah, 8!), and father did it. It was a family affair for them. A family affair for us too, but mine were there cheering me on.

 

Michael, Me, Michelle, Brent

Ryder, cutest little triathlete Kanon, and Lila in sweet shades.

swim, bike, run. And thanks to Matt behind the camera.

hebgan lake

Another great week at the cabin on Hebgan Lake. Just me and the kids were able to make it this time. Matt had to stay home for school, it just about killed him. We were there with most of my family and a lot of my mom's side of the family. Ryder ran wild with his second cousins all week long, I hardly saw him. I'm assuming he ate, he never came asking me to feed him. A diet of chips and candy for a week won't kill him, right? Lila was completely in her element with all of her adoring fans, the lake, and sand to play in. We spent a lot time on the lake waterskiing, wake boarding, surfing, and tubing. Ryder surfed behind the boat with my brother and I took a bunch of overexposed pictures of him (darn it). He was such a little trooper in that cold water. When we asked him if he liked it, he said "when I stopped crying, that meant I kind of liked it". Good enough for me.

ripping up the lake.

Lila in her element.

Ryder spent most of his time playing on the boat whether it was out on the lake, or docked.

Nana and Lila.

Ryder and Connor. Don't they look alike?

Homer. I'm way proud of this photo.

The whole (almost) group of us.

hebgan lake part II

My cousin Eli brought his camera and sweet lens that that zooms in like a million times. Here are some of the action shots he took. 

july 4th

We were so lucky to have Matt's brother, sister, and Co. come to celebrate the fourth of July with us... And they are so lucky that they have the flexibility to decide to come the morning of the 2nd and get here the morning of the 3rd so we could party party all day on the 4th. We went to the beach, bbq'd at the park, and caught a pretty spectacular fireworks show while driving in the car (completely intentional, doesn't everyone watch fireworks while driving??) They stayed for the rest of the week, a week full of more beach and bbq's. That's what we Daines's do best.

she loves her some strawberries.

deep in some sort of design conversation, I'm sure.

the sweet new addition. I'm glad I didn't have to wait a minute longer to meet her!

and this is pretty much what we saw of the kids all week.

i love the beach

There's nothing better than kids playing at the beach... It makes it so parents can relax at the beach.

swim lessons

The kids just finished swimming lessons last week. It was for two weeks, everyday and they made so much progress. Ryder has improved his side breathing, though he came home with a stomach ache everyday from swallowing water... poor kid. And Lila is a fish. She can swim under water for about 6 feet and loved to "dive" in. Luckily I was in with her because she would not listen to her teacher. She likes to run the show.

cupcakes

I'm a sucker for sweets and deals so when driving home from our last swim lesson we passed this cute little cupcake shop in town with a sign that said "recession cupcakes $1" my foot hit the brake. The kids each got their own ("we don't have to share!") and I got the most delicious red velvet. I'm hooked! (Just as long as they stay at $1)

girly stuff

Lila loved decorating her new My Little Pony she got for her birthday. Little by little we are accumulating girly things and I love it. Maybe even more so than when I was a little girl myself.

13.1 in Fontana

Last Saturday I did my first half marathon in lovely Fontana, California with some friends. It was a fast, mostly downhill course. Jamie (in pink) and I ran it together and pushed each other to average 7.2 minute miles and finished in 1 h 37 m (1 h 36 m for her). We both got 3rd in our respective age divisions! Jessica and Anjuli finished right close behind.

So I'm thinking there may be a full marathon in the future. I can't just stop at half!
I NEVER thought I'd EVER say that.