Lars epic year!

So we will start off by doing a little recap of Lars year!  He started off the year with biking to the top of the Haleakala, from sea level to 10,000 feet.  A ride that in the first 5 miles driving up as their support crew I was envious and wanted to be out there, but by mile 6 decided the car was the best place for me.
April 17 he did the Wenatchee Duathlon, ran 3.1 miles, biked 17 miles, and then finished with another 3.1.
May 15 he did his first ever bike race, this was a grueling event, Saturday morning a 9 miles TT, Saturday night and Hour Criterium, and Sunday morning for the finish a 60 mile road race!  He finished in the top 10!
May 23rd a 75 mile Alefest Ride!
May 29th the Mazama 10k fun run...I can't remember his time but it was crazy fast!
June he and Luke rocked the Moses Lake Family tri!
July he did the 1/2 Marathon in Chelan Man..it was high 80's he finished in 1hour 35 minutes, 2nd in his age group!

And now this 9/26 he did his first ever marathon, the Winthrop Marathon, finished in 3 hours 13 minutes, qualifying for the Boston Marathon.  He was surprised, but we knew he could do it!


Coming in for the finish



Great job Lars!

Pretty proud of these gals too!  Jenn ran her first marathon and Steph had a PR by over 25 minutes!

We felt like we ran to and had to stop at Cinnamon Twisp Bakery Yum!

September

lots and lots of this

a camp out in the backyard

looking cute at soccer

Bennett taking his 1st soccer game

we call these "moobs" but he doesn't know it

this may be Lo's biggest fan

Top 5

So I have been pondering my top 5 U.S. cities.  Thanks to United Airlines I was fortunate to see so many great (and some not so great) cities in the U.S. and abroad.  So I did a random favorites and this is how it went:
Chicago (spring-fall, and yes I like the hot humid summer there)
San Fransisco (anytime, but especially September)
San Diego
Honolulu (how could one not love a city that has a Palace right down town!)
And of course the one I made it to this year...that I can't believe I spent 32 years of my life without seeing....BOSTON!

I'd like to add a couple smaller honorable mentions:
Bend, Or
Boulder, CO
Kona, HI
Monterrey, Ca (this would also include Carmel, Ca)
Portland, Or

Working for United allowed me to see  many places and experience so many things I otherwise wouldn't have been able to.  I think of it like a Costco sample....now I have this insatiable appetite....for travel.  Only now I want to share that with my kids!

What a difference a year makes!

Here we are again, 1st day of school.  Luke 8th grade and Logan 3rd.  For whatever reason this year both kids and myself were ready for school to start.  I love both of the schools they go to, and the kids seem pretty happy with their teachers and their schedule.
Here's to a great 2010-2011 school year!

This year September 1, 2010.  Ages 8 and 13

Last year 2009