race on the base - triathlon!

finally, the day has come!

all the prep work is put to good use.

the boys tri-ed and won! (because if you finish, you're a winner!)

they ran well, biked well, and swam well - and finished the race!

i am so proud of them.

the boys did a 1/2 mile run, a .6mi bike, and a 50m swim.

they were proud of themselves for not stopping, especially during the swim portion. :)

i was able to finish as well and am actually excited about doing another race - though i've not any in mind yet. my "sprint" race began with a 5k run (the hardest part for me!) then a 12mi bike and a 200m swim (both of which i enjoyed).

what's next?

sea world

our family made our first trip to sea world.

it was "a bit" cold and rainy, but we had fun and were able to see Shamu. once when it was dry. then again when it was wet - and few others were willing to brave such conditions!

thank you noll family for always pushing us to try new outings!

the noll family visits

the noll family came to visit (minus mr noll who is serving our country elsewhere right now).

we had such fun with them. the kids love to play with elijah and the boys were eager to each take one of the girls and play big brother to a little one who would listen - sy is becoming too independent. :)

i was so blessed to reconnect with my good friend karissa who i love dearly. i wish we lived closer. even in this day of email and skype - there's nothing like chatting face to face and being able to love and encourage each other in real life!

the huntington

our CC group all got tickets for free-day at the Huntington in san marino, ca.

the huntington library & gardens is a beautiful place that we've been to once before - about 3 years ago. they have free-day once each month, but you have to get tickets in advance and they are hard to come by. fortunately, we were able to get enough for our group to enjoy the opportunity together.

we chose the huntington because several of the artists we're studying this year have original works displayed here. one very impressive piece is gainsborough's famous "blue boy". we really enjoyed the chinese garden as well. we missed much of the gardens as we were inside viewing the artwork.

they've added an entire wing on astronomy since our last visit, and it was fun to see all the names we've been studying to (like copernicus, etc) mentioned - and the kids recognized them and enjoyed the exhibits that much more.

the joy of homeschooling!