Wheelchair wheelies

Wheelie practice didn't go as Ken had hoped. Silly boy.

Ken did some computer work for a company that rents wheelchairs, so they let him use one for free. Fortunately, he doesn't have to use it for long. The specialist told him that he should fully recover, possibly within the next few weeks. Ken was feeling pretty down after the last doctor told him it didn't look good and would takes months to recover and he may not be able to play tennis or raquetball anymore. We're so happy for the good news!

Wild Things

We went to the Rocklin library to see a group called Wild Things. They brought a huge iguana, a bear, a turkey vulture, a lemur, and an alligator. The kids got to pet the alligator! We went with our friends, the Picketts. Nathan, Branden, Christopher, Andrew's scalp, and Hilari and pictured with Elizabeth. It was really cool.

Sing and Dance

The girls did their Sing and Dance Co. show yesterday. They did great! Natalie sang a duet with her cousin Olivia. Elizabeth sang a short solo. They each danced 2 dances. Natalie kept telling her fellow dancers when they made a mistake (see picture). She also stopped to tie her shoe twice (at least there were during a sit-down-and-sing time). She also lifted her dress to show her underwear through her tights. She also made a lot of funny expressions. She also briefly picked her nose. She was entertaining to watch. I'll post videos if I figure out how to do it with our new camera.

Encounters with nature

In one day, we saw a snake eating a mouse (while we were walking on a trail near our house) and watched a robin feed her babies (in a nest in our tree). The picture of the snake is hard to make out and the video I took of the baby robins is missing (probably a user error), but it was cool for us to experience. Nick was especially excited.

Duathlon

I completed a duathlon! My friend Kathryn Moore (on left) inspired Becca Brandi and me to train for the race. I did the duathlon (3 mile run/ 16 mile bike/ 3 mile run) and they both did the triathlon (1/2 mile swim/ 16 mile bike/ 3 mile run). It was awesome! I wanted to finish in less than 2 hours 15 minutes and I did it in 2 hours 3 minutes! I was 4th place in my division (there were only 7 of us- ha ha!) My friend Tiffany was volunteering at the race and she was there when I crossed the finish line. My nephew Matthew did the triathlon as well as some old friends that I didn't expect to see- Matt and Elizabeth Overton and Tanisha Bair Laret. I am so excited to start training for my first triathlon in August!

Celebrity sighting

We were walking through the mall (well, all of us except Ken who was being pushed in a wheelchair) and we noticed a crowd of people looking at something. We stopped and discovered that they were looking at Governor Arnold Schwartzenegger! He was browsing at a watch kiosk. Ken said, "I want to be in a picture with him! Elizabeth, push me past him! Cherie, get a picture!" The security guards got in the way, but there is the picture below. The guards were watching Ken to make sure he wasn't a danger. It was funny. We're going to show the kids Kindergarten Cop tonight. :)

Ken's accident

Ken rode his bike to the store (he was exercising because of a weight loss competition we're doing) and when he was coming home from a store, the box in the bag hanging from his handlebar got stuck between his knee and the handlebar and turned his bike into a jagged brick wall. What are the chances that the exact spot he would crash would be a brick wall at a Chevron station? He hit his head, shoulder, hand and arm against the wall and then his hip and knees twisted the wrong way as he fell off the bike. Fortunately, he was wearing a helmet or we might have lost him (notice the hole in the helmet and the other dents). We were in the emergency room for 3 hours to find out that nothing was broken. We're waiting for an MRI to find out the damage done to his knees, which are causing him the most pain. He can't bend them without great effort and pain and he needs crutches or a wheelchair to get around. Despite all of that, he's in good spirits. We see improvement and that is encouraging. We feel blessed that the accident wasn't worse. And something good came from it. Ken's dad decided to buy a helmet to use on his daily bike rides.

Wicked

We went to see the musical Wicked in San Francisco. Loved it! We went with our friends, Susanne and John Watson. We went to a great restaurant in China Town called Hunan Homes after the play. It was nice to have a break from life and the kids and enjoy good entertainment and good food and good company.

Renaissance Faire

We went to a Renaissance Faire in Auburn that cousins Matthew and Rachel and Megan were performing with their Shakespeare Troupe. In this picture, Matthew and Nick switched hats.

They had owls and hawks that they let the kids pet. Rich pixton is next to Elizabeth and Natalie. Cousins Emily and Beth are petting the owl, too.

Kate and Elizabeth were in a little show with a fun human size scale. While at the Faire, we also watched sword fighting and ate a turkey leg and the kids made dolls and held swords and did other fun activities. The kids didn't know what to think about some of the strange costumed characters. It was a fun trip back in time.

A discovery at Discovery Kingdom

We bought season passes to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom (about an hour away from us). On our first trip there, we met up with 3 families from a co-op we're forming. We met two of the families that day. To our surprise, we discovered that Ken had dated both of the women in the families, Jaynie Dufort and Stephanie Elkins. It was such a funny coincidence. While Ken was wrapping his mind around the idea of one old girlfriend, I asked him if he remembered the other and he fell backwards and had to catch himself two benches down. He says the falling had nothing to do with shock, but it was so funny! In the picture of the whale show, I'm sitting next to Stephanie and Jaynie is two rows up. I don't think it will be too weird to work with them. I really like them both.

After the elephant and whale show, we rode rides with the other family, our friends the Pixtons. We left early to make it back in time to go see the new Star Trek movie and play lazer tag at a party for Ken's brother John. It was a pretty exciting day!

Cowgirl

Ken went to Tennessee for work and brought back cowgirl hats for the girls and a pop gun for Nick. It was good timing, because Kate had been going through a cowgirl phase. She kept saying, "Look, mom! I a cowgirl!" and she loved riding on her rocking horse.

We enjoyed having Joel and Nicole stay with us while Joel settled into a job in the bay area. Unfortunately, with the loss of our camera, I only have this picture from Camille's camera of the nearly 3 weeks they lived with us. Camille came over to hang out and we played games, including Rummy. I think I won. I often do that. Tee hee. Nick loved having Ethan to play with and it was nice to get to know him and Sam and Joel and Nicole better. They are settled in San Jose now- too far away, but much closer than Seattle. :)

San Francisco

We lost our camera, so these pictures of our day in San Francisco were taken with Ken's phone. In this picture, we are on a fun bridge in the Japanese Tea Gardens. We had learned about Japan and their gardens in our Geography class for our co-op. The kids loved the gardens and so did I.

Besides going to the tea gardens in Golden Gate Park, we went to the Oakland temple visitor's center, went down Lombard Street (the kids were not impressed because we had to drive so slowly! They thought the other side of the big hill would be a fast ride straight down.), and went to Pier 39 for clam chowder in a bread bowl and Trish's d

onuts and to watch the sea lions.

We walked on the Golden Gate Bridge to the first tower. The kids have seen the bridge destroyed in a couple of movies. For that reason and the height, they were a little nervous, but they thought it was cool.

To add to the many activities we packed into one day, we also went to a beach with a great view (Baker beach). Nick loves to dig in the sand. It was so relaxing and beautiful. I love the ocean. It was a perfect day.