Catch Up

Sweet Corn on the Cob!

What a whirlwind it's been the last few months.  I finally found some time to get some blogging in. Instead of separate posts, here is one long post :-)

Let's start with the Reno Tahoe Odyssey. 178 miles of running. 12 people. 2 vans. 1 brilliant adventure! We started downtown Reno at Wingfield Park, headed to Verdi, over to Tahoe, through Carson City, up Silver City, into Virginia City, and back to Reno at Idlewild. Talk about being tired! To the point of absurdity and hilarious shennanigans. I did not expect the instant community that was built while out on the course. Usually you show up, you run a race, you go home. But in this case there are 249 other teams running at the same time. So you make friends, crack jokes, and cheer each other on. Now that some time has passed, I feel that I definitely want to do it again. However, I will let someone else run Dog Valley next time ;-)

I love how our team changed right up until the hour before the race began. Could not have asked for better people to do this with. And the free fried chicken rest stop? With the DJs and water and fruit? On point! Nicely done Intuit!

The Homewood grill in Tahoe with the beautiful ski hill where we had a rest and van swap that was not prepared and had no food? Big no-no. Y'all knew we were coming. Y'all knew over over 3,000 people were coming your way. Shame. On. You.

If you want to challenge yourself in every way possible, start training now and get ready for next year!

We did it!

2am? 

It was this top in the middle of nowhere that we came upon tents full of music and fried chicken. Yes please! 

This was from a practice run where we got to see what Dog Valley was all about. So thankful we did the practice run!! 6 miles up, 2 miles down, 8 total miles of brutal work. This is why I call myself a Dog Valley Diva.  Go Leg 4!! 

Santa Rosa,CA!

Thanks to the wonderfulness of Aunt Kitty and Uncle John, we had a couple free days in Santa Rosa. Our original intent was to see Reverend Stefani and Joe, the previous leadership at our church. They had relocated for awesome jobs to the Bay area. Stefani is the Canon of the Ordinary. Sounds fancy, huh? Joe is an associate Rector and doing research and sitting on boards of stuff. They had an open house on the summer solstice (also my momma's b-day and anniversary with her hubby Karl). So we stayed in Santa Rosa and drove to Alameda. We were blessed with perfect weather and traffic. Two rarities in the Bay. We got to the island early and hung out at one of the best farmers markets we've visited! I still think the best farmers market we have been to was in St Joseph's with Matt's parents- definitely one of the best trips ever! Anyway, did you know that there is a pinball machine museum and arcade in Alameda? Did you know Matt Smith LOVES pinball? So much so, that for father's day, we sent him to play pinball at a comic store in Reno for several hours. 

Guess what else is in Santa Rosa? The Schulz Museum, cartoonist of Peanuts. And they just happened to be having a free viewing of "Stripped" with a talk by the directors! Secondly, there is a place called Hogwarts Park...no wait, that's not right. Howarths Park! Gigantic park with sprinklers, horses, carousels, a barn with petting zoo, lake, and so much more.  

You know what else is in Santa Rosa?? Panera. LWT understands my obsession. And, John's house is on the property of a family who also has horses?! Just when I think this trip can't possibly get any better...it does. How, you ask? 

We're driving through gorgeous country. Wine country. Sonoma to be exact. And Cassidy points out the window and shouts, "Momma, it's a princess castle!" Indeed it was. So we pulled in. Savvy was asleep and Matt is reading Game of Thrones, so Cass and I took a little trip to the castle on our own. We walk in and the sommelier spent a good 20 minutes with us, talking about Sleeping Beauty upstairs and the castle dog. This amazing woman brought me free wine and water for Cass in the same types of cups. She went to her office and brought highlighters and paper before leading us to a dining room and telling Cassidy she could draw the princess a picture and when she woke up later, she would get it. Are you kidding me? I couldn't believe it.  I highly encourage you to visit. The wine was just as delicious as the service. http://www.ledson.com/index.asp 

The only thing that would have topped the trip is if we could have seen Romi and Ben! Due to some communication issues, we'll have to postpone and hope to see them on the next go round. 

The hills are alive....

Rodeo

I'm not going to get into the ethics of the rodeo or animal treatment. It's too heavy a topic for this post. And I feel I would need some hard data and facts and I'm not going to spend the time to do all that research right now. Do we patronize the rodeo? Sometimes. Do we feel ok about that? Sometimes. 

Are there people there who are super conservative, glaring at my beautiful mixed babies, and giving the shake of disapproval? Certainly. The mantra seems to be God, beer and horses.

However, this year we saw way more diversity than we ever have and the evil stares were at a minimum. And as long as Matt and I don't make a big deal, the girls at their ages right now don't notice. They only notice the horses and other animals. 

So for now, that's enough.

Thanks to the generosity of some friends, we got free tickets to the rodeo this year! They raise a lot of money for awesome charities, some local. And we really were greeted by super friendly people this year. Cassidy has expressed an interest in mutton busting, but I heard that you have to be on your computer 30 seconds before the online sign ups open. I heard through the grapevine that this year, spots filled up within 10 minutes!  Like little girls do, Cass loves horses and we might allow her to explore that culture. It's part of our home. In Nevada, ranching and farming is huge. And important. But we do have some strong thoughts on doing it right. 

I remember, I said I wasn't going to get into it! I'll stop. 

We went to the rodeo! It was fun. The girls wore cute bandanas and shirts that we made. There is a really neat event where a real, honest to goodness cattle drive happens starting in Virginia City I think. Lucky us, they drive the cattle up part of a road past TMCC, so the girl's daycare went outside to wave and see it. It was awesome. And the two rodeo queens were very sweet with the kids, answering questions and letting them pet the horses, Thunder and Red. 

Happy 4th of July!

What a great day :-) We had brunch at a friend's house. Y'all who know me, know that brunch is my favorite meal.  So many options!! And a great time of day. After a quick family nap, we headed to the chicken wing festival. Really we just walked around and had ice cream. But we each tried one wing and shared some pizza. Then we played in the river. Headed home, had dinner and the girls went to sleep. Matt and I watched a movie all the way through!  Seriously, a great day with no rushing or major crowds or parking issues.  Thanks mom for getting the girls cute clothes! I didn't take pictures of that, but I will and send them to you!

Billie's 5th Birthday Party- Camping!

Good gracious last weekend was a blast celebrating Billie's 5th birthday! 

I was sad when my camera battery died just as things were getting going, but I did manage to capture a few smiles and tents! By the way, who knew a van was so much fun? The girls played in the van quite a bit! That does not mean I am getting one, I stand by Team Smith Policy #9 no-van-or-mini-van allowed on the premises. But it was nice to play with someone else's! Cassidy rode her bike sans training wheels for almost 8 seconds! 

Jackson's Meadow is a gorgeous spot, right outside Truckee.  

See my bug band? It protects me from all things with wings, teeth, and stingers.

This tent rocks! Small, lightweight, sleeps 4-5, assembled in less than 10 minutes and could be done by 1 person.
Or one adult and two small children. 

Frozen Dance Camp!

For Cass' bday this year, my mom helped pay for Cassidy to attend a week long dance camp that was completely focused on the movie Frozen. Excitement knows no bounds. There were arts and crafts, singing, acting, dancing, tumbling, all related to Frozen. Whoever came up with it, is a freakin' genius.  The class was full and the wait list got so big, they opened another camp at the studio for next month. One camp is enough for us. They had a show today to celebrate the end of the week.

There have been many many other fun things around Cass' swim class advancement, my classes, Matt's job, Savannah's words, and more. Look for another post before the end of the month!

Love and hugs to all

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Team Smith