"epic" bike ride

*Today was a bike ride day for dad, Cam, and I. This time, however, we decided to join a group ride, which was put on by a local bike shop. It was so fun. So. Fun. To put it in Cam's words, "Mom! This is epic!" There is something very cool about being with a group of people...all of whom were so nice! We did 30 miles, which luckily were pretty easy miles (hill wise). I was so impressed with Cam because he made his way to the head of the pack, where he remained much of the time.

Here we are stopped to make sure everyone was together. You can see Cam in the middle of the pack (bright yellow shirt with black backpack).

Afterward everyone headed inside the shop for bagels and coffee. What a FUN day!

*Kendall had some fun of her own. Her group at church spent the whole day in Oak Glen. She brought the quad girls, which made it extra special. Before Chris dropped them off in the morning, he and Kendall went to breakfast for a cinnamon roll the size of her face. :)

*I'm just finishing up the most addicting podcast I have listened to thus far (Chris is a fan too). Wow. I would listen every chance I got, even if I was in the car only a few minutes. Here is the description:

"Christopher Duntsch was a neurosurgeon who radiated confidence. He claimed he was the best in Dallas. If you had back pain, and had tried everything else, Dr. Duntsch could give you the spine surgery that would take your pain away. But soon his patients started to experience complications, and the system failed to protect them."

desert flippers

*I've never been into trying different flavors of coffee because I figured, since I use flavored creamer, I wouldn't be able to taste the difference in the actual coffee flavor. This past week, however, I tried a Starbucks Toasted Graham k-cup. Oh, my goodness! It was the best cup of coffee I've had. The Starbucks brand makes the cups more pricey, but I figure 69 cents for one k-cup is much better than $5 if I were to actually go to Starbucks and get a drink. :)

*Yesterday Chris had a golf tournament and so the kids and I went to Costco. I still feel like Costco is a super fun outing. The kids aren't in as much agreement as they were years ago, but I still look forward to going. :) 

*This morning I made cinnamon rolls for the kids and we all watched our new favorite family show, Desert Flippers. It's your basic house flipping show, but it takes place in the Palm Springs area so it's fun to see if we can guess where the different house flips are. :)

*Our train tracks are one of the few toys I've held onto from when the kids were young. I'm glad I did as every now and then, the kids get in a train zone.

*Here are Chris and Cam, hanging out watching the piggies run around. Full disclosure...Chris is a pretty big fan of the piggies. :)

*Today we took the kids to see, Free Solo. It's a documentary about a man who free climbed (no ropes) El Capitan in Yosemite. Pretty amazing.

*I've REALLY been into podcast listening on my walks. I've mostly listened to healthy living/eating ones, but have grown tired of them. I've been wanting a good, Christian podcast. My favorite are interviews, rather than someone just talking/preaching. I think I finally found one that I like. In fact, the kids and I listened to this one on the way to Costco yesterday and they were very into it.

joshua tree

*And we are back! I've surprisingly not cried the first two episodes, though I've been watching each one pretty much on the verge. :)

*I've started back with Jillian Michael's in the morning. I've read (or podcast listened) a lot lately about how much muscle you lose as you near your 40's. So while I still enjoy my walks for the relaxing/stress aspect, it's been good to feel like I really accomplished something (though I sure wish I enjoyed the workouts as much as my walks!).

*One of my past fails as a mom was not feeding my kids eggs starting when they were little. I never ate them much, so I never made them. Now that Cam is endlessly hungry, I've been trying to find some other form of protein besides a gallon of peanut butter a day. Enter eggs. I decided I would make them the most appetizing I possibly could. What could be better than eggs, sandwiched in a Costco croissant?? Result? Kendall loved it. Cam tolerated it (but I think he'll still eat them). ;)

*Yes, please.

*To celebrate Chris' upcoming birthday, we headed to Joshua Tree for a few hours with my parents. We had such a nice time and both kids kept saying, "This is so fun!" We climbed boulders, ate a picnic lunch, and relaxed while we talked and watched the rock rappelling folks who were camped right in front of us.