{T} Early & Late Birthday Celebrations

Knowing that the family would not all be home on T's actual birthday, we celebrated him with a birthday dinner and gifts from the family the Sunday before his actual birthday.

While I was gone he was celebrated by his good friend, Hayden (who knows of T's obsession with Pandas and Legos)

And once we returned I felt like he needed one more celebration with birthday decorations as well as another gift sent home with us from Utah from Boppa & Diyah.

I'm not 100% sure whether the week long celebration was a win or a bust for T.  What I do know is that we love this kid and would happily celebrate him every day of the year!

{T} competing at State

While K, J and I were in Utah at Moon Lake, T was home competing over two days at the State level of Youth Track....USATF Oregon Association Junior Olympic Championships.  

When T signed up for track earlier in the spring we had no idea that he was going to excel the way he did...not just going to state in one event but in three (which is the limit).

800m

For most of the season he was the top 800m runner in the State for the 9-10 division.  Amazing!

T ran a 2:37:83 800m which was his fastest time to date.  He placed 2nd but the top three were all within one second of each other....I wish I could have been there to see it!

Turbo_Javelin

T threw for a distance of 85' 2.75"....not just a personal record but he destroyed his previous record by more than 20 feet!  He place 3rd overall.

Arriving the second day he was feeling pretty good!

1500m

T was seeded 6th in the state going into the meet but he shaved off a few seconds for a new PR of 5:19:01 which placed him in 4th place.

This kid is off to compete in two weeks at Regionals in all three events!!!

I think we have ourselves a Track & Field all-star!

{UT} Return to Moon Lake

My mom's extended side of the family has an annual camping trip to Moon Lake in the Uintah mountains in Utah every June. 

Living 15 hours away from Moon Lake has deterred me from going ever since we moved back to Oregon.  15 hours is a long time to drive regardless, but to drive 15 hours to sleep in a tent on the ground is borderline crazy.

Call me crazy, but this year the timing was such that K needed to be in Utah at the end of June and I figured that if we were driving her down anyway, it made sense to make the trip a week early and join my family at Moon Lake.  C wasn't available to go because of basketball and T wasn't available because of track so it was just myself, K and J.

I loved driving up to the lake and having everything look so immediately familiar.  

It was like coming home.

The week was spectacular and I loved it!  It was like stepping back in time.....doing the very things that we did when I was a kid but now I'm grown and I'm introducing it all to my own kids.

  

Fishing off of the dam.....

Driving up Hell's Canyon to hike to the overlook of the lake...

Target shooting rifles and pistols.....

Not to mention the daily morning and evening campfires, with hot cocoa and s'mores, where everyone gathers and talks and laughs and enjoys each other's company.

I reserved our camp site one day longer than the rest of my family and when the time came for them to all leave, K voted to go home with them....I think she was ready for a shower.  

J and I stayed with my extended family the extra night .  The two of us took a hike that follows the perimeter of the lake until it reaches the stream that feeds the lake with snow run off.  Those 3-4 hours with J was the perfect way to wrap up the trip.  

15 hour drive = totally worth it!

{T} Happy, Happy Birthday #10

Our youngest is 10!!!!

(I refrained from saying "my baby" is 10....you're welcome T)

I was out of town with K and J so T got a special one-on-one birthday celebration with Rich.

They began by attending the Tualatin Hot Air Balloon Festival....a tradition for T's birthday going on five or six years now.  It involves an early morning wake up and a stop by Donut Land before arriving at Tigard High School to watch the balloons launch. 

T's next request for his birthday was to go to the Ceramic Studio where he chose a cute monkey to paint.  It will get fired there at the studio and will be picked up next week.

T's last birthday request was lunch/dinner with Rich at Jersey Mike's Subs.

I was sure sad not to be there with him but it looks like T was celebrated well and had a terrific day!