4th of July Celebrations!

We decided to just stay home this year for Independence Day.  West Point has a fun filled day.  We sorta slept in, but we did make it to the parade as it was starting.  Lily caught on really quickly when it came to picking up the candy.  Avery just had a blast with all the other kids we were with.

Then we headed over to the park for the fun and FREE games they had.  Avery really liked the bouncy toys, Lily not so much.

 Later in the day we had a fun picnic/bbq at our friends house.  There was the litattle swimming pools and a slip and slide!  We all ate so much and wore ourselves out that everyone (including adults) fell asleep after and missed the free dinner at the park before the fireworks.

Lily with her friends that are about 9 months older than her.  They were "washing" her hair, and she loved it (for a while anyway)

 After we all woke up from our naps, we headed back to the park for the fireworks.  There were a few technical difficulties, but the show was pretty awesome for being a "small" town.  Lily liked them, but was a little scared of them.

being silly boys

hanging with the other kids

Lily loved the older girls

Not the best picture, but Lily watching the fireworks.  She tried to grab them.

We sure had a fun-filled day of celebration.  However, our favorite memory that we won't forget is this:

Avery learned how to ride his bike with no training wheels!  We've tried a couple of times a couple of months ago, but he was too scared to really try.  Today he asked if he could go learn how to, so we took him over to a parking lot to let him try.  I (Amanda) wasn't even fully how of the car when Avery took off!  Brian held him for half a second and Avery did it on his first try that day!  Before 10 minutes were up he could start riding (from a stopped position) without Brian's help.  He actually learned how to get up on the bike by himself because he was really far away from us when he stopped, but he managed to figure out how to get started before we got to him.  We are such proud parents!  Now that is all he wants to do (forget about the fireworks).  We sure do love our Avery!

Getting on the bike by himself.

To Bone & Back Again

Well we made it through it!  We joined in the tradition again with the Turpins in running the 40 mile relay (8 people, 5 miles each) race, "To Bone & Back" up in Idaho.  We complained the whole time training, but it still ended up being a great experience!  We weren't able to to train all week while in Las Vegas, but we still managed to do well running.  We even ran faster than we were expecting!  It sure was hard and warm though, but thanks to all the Turpins that took the later legs in the hot sun, we didn't get too hot.  Amanda finished her 5 mile leg at 49 minutes and Brian did his in 46minutes.  Here are a few highlights of the race:

Candace was our starting runner! There were about 800 people total.

Right before the race started

Amanda's Leg

Brian's Leg

At the city of "Bone" 20 miles away from start

at Bone, Brian just finished his leg

There were windmills everywhere!

Jane getting cooled off- She was on the 2nd to last leg.  Jane & Taunya ran together since we had 9 people instead of 8

Joy running the hottest leg of them all

Joy crossing the finish line at 6 hours 27 minutes (for the whole race)

The whole team afterwards- They give you ice cream at the end

(back) Brian, Amanda, Joy, Michael, Bret, Alycen, Candace, (front) Jane, Taunya

Viva Las Vegas!

Brian had to go to Las Vegas for work stuff so we decided to make a little vacation out of it.  We were able to go visit our great friends Chris & Julie and their kids Liberty & Ruston.  We hung out with them a little bit as well as do some fun things just as a family.  During the day we (Amanda, Avery & Lily) just hung out in the hotel and went swimming while Brian was doing his work stuff.  Unfortunately Avery & Lily were sick the entire week and a little cranky but it was still fun.
The first day we were there we mostly hung out and then we went to eat at an amazing Brazilian restaurant.  Then we walked around a bit before the kids got too grouchy.
We saw it "rain" indoors at Planet Hollywood.  Then we saw the Bellagio Fountains a couple of times:

 Tuesday we got to go see dolphins at the Mirage.  This was the highlight of Avery's trip.  He couldn't get enough of the dolphins, especially seeing them through the underwater windows.  We got to see the trainers work with them a little bit and it was really neat.  We also saw the wild cat habitat with Lions, tigers, and leopards.   It was close to closing time and Lily was really cranky so we didn't stay too long.

 Wednesday we just hung out at the hotel.  By the evening Avery was running a temperature and wanted to sleep the whole evening.   It was kind of nice to just relax in the hotel.  

Thursday we were ready to get back to some fun.  We decided to visit M&M world.  Then we mistakenly decided to walk to Treasure Island, which was on the opposite end of the strip.  Wow, that was a really long walk!  When we got there, the outside show was packed with people so we only got to see the tops of the ships.  The pyrotechnics were cool, but we weren't a fan of the dancing ladies...so its probably a good thing we couldn't see very much.  Then we walked over to the Mirage Volcano, which was really cool.  Avery &; Lily were a little frightened by it.  Lily jumped over to Avery's stroller to "get away" from it.

Then we stayed one more night and got up and made the long trek home (for about a 1/2 hour) then we were off to Idaho for the Bone & Back Race (more to come on that later).

Our New Toy

Its something Brian & Avery have been looking forward to a long time.  After much pleading and convincing Amanda gave in and now we are the proud owners of this:

Yep, a dirt bike.  Its "street legal" so that we (or Brian) can ride it on the road.   He plans on riding it to work once he gets his motorcycle endorsement on his drivers licence (he has to take a class for it in July).  It has needed a little work, so it has been out of commission a few days, but when it is able to run, it is all Avery & Lily want to do when Daddy gets home.  In fact, Lily will try to get me (Amanda) to take her for a ride (no way, its too big for me).  Avery actually used to be scared of the dirt bike whenever Brian would turn it on (its pretty loud).  He would tell Brian not to turn it on until he (Ave) was in the house.  Other than that, he loved the dirt bike.  He doesn't mind anymore though.  Lily and Avery love to wear their helmets around just so they are ready.  One purpose in getting the dirt bike was so we could save a little money on gas when Brian drives to work.  However, with all the extra after work riding, I'm not so sure that will work out...

Lily's 1st Dirt Bike ride

A close-up of Lily

Its been a really fun toy for the family.   Even I (Amanda) like to ride on the back of it with Brian.  Luckily it has pegs for a passenger.  We even went on dirt bike ride up the mountains for our anniversary.