Olympic Fever

Weekly Garland Family update…

So excited to have found a small market that sells 69-cent street tacos on Tuesdays.  Mmmmmm.  I’m for sure going to try one of their burritos also.

Lots of Olympic excitement around our house… we’ve got a 100meter dash out front, as well as a long jump,

high jump,

and a little USA spirit.

Our trip to the US Olympic Training Center (Chula Vista, CA) a couple years back.

Hooray for “free kid size pizza” coupons.

An summer evening stroll with my man and little one (while the older 3 enjoyed a sports camp night).

Weekly beach playtime continues.  And it’s still awesome.

Discovering the Wave water park (totally fun).

The end.

blessings,

Wendi

Summer Days

Please raise your hand if you haven’t put away your school work from last year yet, and if you have pile upon pile of things that need to be organized and cleaned up, and if it’s almost August!?!?

Hello!?

***hand raised*** 

The devoted Mr. Garland does his back stretches regularly.  Typically he doesn’t have as much “help.”

Now there’s a great back strengthening exercise!  What a good Daddy.

Long weekend runs with these 3 lovely ladies have been fabulous.  We’re gearing up for our Yosemite self-inflicted half marathon run in the Fall.

The only problem is that I have fallen mid-run and scraped up my knees 2 weekends in a row now!  I’m just too tall and clumsy!  Ugh.

At least I can’t hit my head on a run.

Oops I’ve done that too.  On a tree branch (hi, Alisa!).

Beach days…

We continue to collect signatures for our “My Book about ME” books.  (Zac just got his for his 5th birthday.)

Our Costco friend (I’m on a first name basis with many Costco employees, I go there so often) Garland Cannon signed our “market man” and “man with a beard” autograph slots.
Whenever I see Garland at the store he hollers out “hello Mrs. Garland” and I echo back… “hello Garland!”
It’s good to be a Garland…

Free “it’s your birthday” treats at our fav. burger joint.

Our beloved former neighbors, the Fletchers, invited us to their new home in Temecula for an afternoon of swimming.

Oh how we miss them! But how wonderful it was to see their new (beautiful) home and to reconnect with them again.

Underwater fun with Yuko, Josh and Sarah.

I have no words for this photo.

Rachel loves her big brothers!
She also loves to use permanent markers on her forehead.

Blessings,
Wendi

109 Degrees

We are pet sitting… meet Chocolate Chip, the sweetest spotted rabbit in California.

Zac got two birthday cakes this year… one that Jeff decorated for him at our home, and a second one in Visalia decorated by Grandmom.

We are in an oreo ice cream birthday cake rut right now.  I’m very happy to be in this rut.

(Beware of Rachel the photo-bomber.)

The kids and I headed to my parent’s place in the Central Valley for 4 days of 2x/day swim sessions… We swam from 9:30am-noon, then lunch, naps (the kids were exhausted!), dinner (my mom did all the cooking, love her!) and a night swim after dinner to cool off before bed.

And hello! It was 109 degrees one day.

One. Hundred. Nine.

It actually wasn’t that bad.

As long as you were in the pool.

The kids’ swim skills exploded. Their water comfort soared.  Dives, flips, big strokes.

Such a fun week!

We borrowed my dad’s waterproof camera, and it was awesome.  So fun.

My mom made these fun check lists for the kids.

Item #7 (from list above): Make a golf course with Grandad.

Check and check.

Thanks for the train loaner, Hemphills!

Birthday Cake #2… the swimming pool cake (complete with mini diving board).  And yes, it was Oreo ice cream again.  Mmmmm.

We broke out some glow sticks for Zac’s birthday night swim. 

Teppanyaki treat.  We all loved watching the food being prepared right in front of us.

Lastly, here’s a little swim video wrap-up…  (this is my first video like this…and I stayed up waaaay too late working on it, but it was fun!)

Garland kids swim in Visalia.

or click here.