Fast Butts!

Ragnar came and went. I still can't believe it already happened. Now that I've experienced it, I know how crazy it really is... Just imagine an extended "girl's night out" experience, mixed with lack of sleep, cramped in a car, I can't explain it... But to sum it up, it was awesome!Our team name:

Does this Skirt make my butt look fast?

I was in charge of t-shirt design and decorating our vans. The idea for a skirt on the van came quickly, it was only days before I had the idea to cut out runners from running magazines, add skirts and our faces to make the van complete. The team loved it, and every other team in Ragnar seemed to love the vans too. We never stopped without someone asking to take a picture... (Of our vans, not us ;o) Ingrid). Throughout the race we had people yelling at us, cheering us on and telling us our butts were fast. Maybe that's the magic of Ragnar... You've got your own team, but really, it's really a team of hundreds of people encouraging each other to accomplish something crazy.

Susanne modeling our team shirt!

Each leg, if road shoulders were available, teams we'll pull off to cheer on their runner, provide drinks or whatever else necessary. oh, and each van had two flags, much like boating, if someone is out of the boat, we had to carry a flag.

Since the race went all through the night, reflective vests and head lamps were mandatory. And rightfully so. Doesn't Melissa look so cute!?

I am not sure we ever got a full team picture, but there were 12 fast butts total.

Beth, me, and Mimi!

Driving through Napa to get to the next leg, we pulled off to enjoy the vineyards. Anissa and I were in Van 1, so by this time we were completely finished with our legs, and were driving to meet Van 2 at the finish line.

Again, not everyone is represented in this picture... At the end of the race, you're super excited, but ready to be done and go home... I think that's the story with the three butts missing from this pic. Yeah Ragnar! And thank you Anissa for putting our team together!

It wasn't me

Bryce and I were in the Check-out line the other day, when he ripped a loud one. Not just loud, but long and loud. Before I could say anything, he said, "Shuse-you". I had to clarify with the people nearby that I was not responsible for the smell, but it was my awesome two-year old.

Who taught him to blame me? I thought that was my right as his mom?!?!

I suppose I need to start saying "Excuse me", rather than "Excuse you" when he toots.

Lesson learned.

Yosemite

I've lived in Northern California my whole life and had never been to Yosemite. I knew about Half Dome, but no one ever told me that Yosemite is just chuck full of the most beautiful rocks I have ever seen in my life! I am not sure the word "rock" does them quite justice... They are mountains of solid rock, really amazing!

This is lower Yosemite falls, we chose the shorter trails since we had Bryce with us. But this was perhaps our favorite place, partly due to the heat, and the opportunity to cool off.

Throughout the day, if Bryce could climb on rocks and walk on ledges, he was punch happy! take him away and he was tantrums. The tantrums made things a little frustrating, but for the most part, it was so fun to see Bryce enjoy everything Yosemite had to offer!

Needless to say, it took us quite a while to get anywhere.

Our one family shot.

After eating our picnic lunch, Bryce and I played hide-n-seek. He's a cheater though, he kept peeking and I could never hide before he saw where I'd gone. Those silly two year-olds.

More thin / elevated paths to walk on.

I'd like to look more excited, but I was focusing on Bryce not falling into the river.

Bridal Veil Falls, lucky for us, Yosemite had a crazy winter so late-August there was still plenty of ice melting to create these awesome waterfalls.

I wish my camera could do this place justice, everything was so beautiful.

I should also mention we stayed at a B&B the night before. Cute little place, but the highlight was the pancakes and homemade chunky peach syrup they made us the morning before heading into Yosemite. Really a cute little place, with trails and horses to look at, cats for Bryce to harass, and of course, rocks for Bryce to discover.The owners welcomed us to walk through the gate and visit the horses, so with the horses a ways off, we made our way through the gate. Not 10 seconds after going through the gate, the 10 horses spotted us and didn't trot, but galloped towards us. Ty and I looked at each other and without a word, ran back to safety behind the gate. Social horses I guess.

I just have to point out the funny face on this horse. I really believe that horse made that face just for me to take his picture. He did it once, and being funny, I told the horse to do it again, and I swear he did, and held his mouth like that long enough for me to snap it. What a personality! I'm not sure I'd want to ride a horse with that humor, but it was fun for pictures.

Thank you Ty for taking us... Next time we ought to give ourselves more than a day...

But again, thank you!

A random trip

A good friend and co-worker of Ty's stopped in his office the other day and asked if he'd want to leave a little early and go to the lake. So 15 minutes later they were heading home, and we were on the lake 30 minutes later. Bryce loves boats and being on the water, and Ty, for his first time, successfully got up on one ski. The master snow skier had been pretty frustrated that he'd yet been able to slalom, but he did great. For the record, I skied too, I just don't have a wify to take my pictures ;o) We had a great time! Thank you Mike and Rebecca for the random, perfect summer evening!