Ore to Shore Mountain Bike Epic: Part 2

The kids were growing restless after daddy's race, so, instead of waiting for uncle David to finish (but my mother-in-law made sure to capture the traditional brother photo for me), we made our way to the expo area inside the local YMCA where the race finish took place so they had more room to burn off all their energy.  They made me laugh with their silliness, especially when Valerie began putting on a show of silly faces and silly songs.  They are just so much fun!

After Ted showered and cleaned up, we headed over to a nearby park for a picnic lunch.  We were all exhausted as soon as we finished eating, so we decided to take a drive through Presque Isle Park to let the kids fall asleep and then we found a shady spot to park so Ted and I could both rest too.

We woke up just in time to take the kids back to the finish area to compete in the Kids' Race.  Grandpa, Vicky, David, and Cherylyn came to watch too and we all cheered on Valerie and Almanzo as they made their way around the short one mile course.  Ted rode with them and had to remind Valerie to "ride fast for Pappi".  The moment she saw Grandpa she perked right up and didn't even stop at the finish - she kept going and made her way to the snacks and refreshments!

We finally made our way to the cabin where Ted's parents were staying for a late dinner after a long race day. We enjoyed a delicious grilled dinner and a beautiful evening on the lake spent with family, a great start to a wonderfully relaxing vacation week. Stay tuned for more photos and stories from our week of vacation at our cabin by the lake. 

Project Life: Weeks 30 - 33 (Instagram Edition)

Note: Our computer finally bit the dust last week, so all my photos are currently locked up on its hard drive.  While I wait to see if the photos can be retrieved, I'm thankful that I've so well documented most of our daily life on blogging, facebook, and Instagram.  The photos in this post are all from Instagram.  (You can find me there as Mom2VandA.)


July 22 - 28

This week started out with another WORS bike race...and ended with a funeral.  Not quite the week we were expecting.  Our Sweet Pea turned four on the 24th and we enjoyed a quiet dinner at home, but our hearts were aching for my great grandma.  We spent the evening of July 23rd at her bedside, saying goodbye, knowing the end was drawing near.  On the morning of July 25th, the world lost a beautiful woman who will be forever missed. The rest of the week was a blur of sorting through photos and memories and preparing for her funeral.  On Saturday, among many tears and bittersweet memories, we remembered our Grandma D, a woman who lived 96 beautiful years and left an amazing family legacy.  Our kids were blessed to have known their great great grandma - not many people can say that! 

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July 29 - August 4

 

After an emotionally exhausting week, we started this week with a fun time spent with our Klein family at my uncle Mark and aunt Ellen's home.  My cousin, Jackson, and his fiance, Caye, were here for a visit from Ecuador and we were excited to see them again.   Family time is so precious and we are thankful to be surrounded by so many wonderful people to call family. 

The kids and I spent a quiet week at home doing a little bit of homeschooling.  I decided to start doing some early kindergarten lessons with miss V, because she is so excited about learning.  We're using Spectrum pre-K curriculum to teach her basic numbers, letters, and writing skills and then using various resources for bible and early science activities.  She loves it so much, she begs to do school the moment she wakes up!

Our week ended with a day spent helping my parents officially move from their home of 20 years to the home my grandpa built.  It's been a long and difficult process, but they finally found a buyer for their house.  Though it was bittersweet to say goodbye to my childhood home, I know they will fill my grandparents home with many new memories as our family continues to grow.  While Ted helped do a lot of the heavy lifting, the kids and I took part in a breastfeeding awareness walk before heading over to my grandparents home to help with lunch preparations.  At the end of the day, everyone was exhausted and there was still a lot of unpacking to be done, but my parents were relieved to finally be in their new home. 

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August 5 - 11

This week began with Ted and I celebrating our six year anniversary.  We didn't really have much planned, because we were hoping to plan our anniversary date night for after vacation.  But, we ended up enjoying an impromptu date night of Jimmy John's and Cherry Berry while our kids enjoyed their first night of vacation bible school at our church.  It's always good to find time to spend just the two of us; it reminded me of our dating days as we soaked up the time together and even flirted a little bit!   Plus, it was fun to check out the new frozen yogurt place in town after discovering they had a dairy free option - it was SO good!

The rest of the week was a blur of trip planning and packing as we prepared for our week long vacation and another Ore to Shore mountain bike race weekend.  I more fully appreciate all the vacations my mom planned for us growing up, because I know how exhausted it is.  She always said, "Vacation is not a vacation when you're a mom" and I finally understand! 

The week ended with an exciting race day cheering on Ted and his brother, David, in the Ore to Shore Mountain Bike Epic - see yesterday and tomorrow's blog posts for more about race day.

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August 12 - 18

This week was spent enjoying a relaxing and refreshing vacation at our cabin by the lake and soaking up some time with Ted's family that we don't get to see often enough.  I'll blog more in detail about our vacation later.

Ore to Shore Mountain Bike Epic 2012: Part 1

Three weekends ago, we made our way for the fourth year in a row to Negaunee, Michigan to cheer on our favorite mountain bikers at the start of the Ore to Shore Mountain Bike Epic.  It was a regular Hanes family reunion as most of Ted's immediate family made their way from five different states to watch the great battle of the brothers.

The year 2009 was the first year they competed in this race together and it's become a tradition, with the exception of last year, for the family to come together for a week of vacation in the beautiful Upper Peninsula of Michigan in anticipation of race day.  This year, we all met up for the first time on race day and spent the next week on vacation, a much more relaxed alternative to vacationing the week before the race.

We made our way to our cabin for the week on Friday morning, so we could be there in time for the early morning start of race day on Saturday.  As I unpacked and let the kids roam around our "trip home", Ted made his way to Marquette to register for the race.  After a delicious dinner back at the cabin, we all settled down early to get a good night's rest before race day.

The morning of the race, I woke up to this beautiful view on the lake right outside our cabin.  We stayed at a beautiful little cabin that was part of a small resort right on a beautiful Little Lake, the same place we stayed at in 2010, but this year we had our own three bedroom place to call home.  It was so nice to have our own space for the kids to nap and to have some quiet time alone as a family of four (before there are five!).

After eating a hearty breakfast, preparing a picnic lunch, and packing up the van, we headed to Negaunee for the start of the race.  The kids and I wandered around until we found the rest of Ted's family and spent some time with them as we waited for the race to begin.  After hearing the National Anthem and a gun shot start, they were off - all 600-700 some racers!

We then made our way to the half way point of the race at one of the "feed zones" to hand off water bottles and cheer on Ted and Dave as they made their way on the 48 mile race course.  The kids were having fun playing with their cousins, aunts, and uncles and barely noticed when daddy came through.  I was excited to see him riding strong in 30th place and, as soon as he zoomed past, I made my way with the kids back to the van to continue to the finish.

The kids and I found a nice shady spot near the finish to wait for Ted.  We watched Cole House secure the title of this year's Ore to Shore winner and saw a few exciting races to the finish before the excitement of seeing Ted finish 23rd.   The kids were so excited to run up to daddy at the finish.  Valerie declared, "You fast, daddy!" while Almanzo looked up at his mud covered face and said, "You're all dirty!"  As Ted said, considering all the ups and downs of this year's race season, this was an awesome finish, especially considering how big the race is.  Way to go, Ted!