Well now that we are officially into school and summer is almost over I figured I would update everyone on what we did this summer to keep us busy. Most of you know about the trip to Bora Bora and our week in North Carolina but here is what I have not blogged about yet.

The Warrior Dash


In June, Jennie and some of her family members ran in the Warrior Dash alongside some friends. It is a 3.10 mile obstacle course filled with water, mud, fire, trails and obstacles. They do these races all over the United States and she would recommend you participating if you ever get the chance. There are thousands of people who participate in these races and provides for a really good time. This is what you can expect to look like after the race.


Here is Jennie at the finish line jumping over a trail of fire.


This was obviously before they started the race. Jennie heard it was a good idea to wear some type of eye protection when going thru the water and mud. This was all that she could find around the house. The funny thing is that it wen right along with the theme of the race. The idea is to dress up in the most bizarre outfit you can imagine and run the race in that. They award prizes for the best costumes at the end of the day.

Cleveland Indians Game


We managed to catch a couple of Indians games this year which was a lot of fun for the kids. Thanks to Mitch Talbot and his wife, a pitcher for the Indians, we got to go down on the field and watch batting practice before the game. It was a cool way to see the players and I was probably more excited that the kids to be at that level. We got to sit with some of the players families and there was a very cool fireworks show right after the game which surprisingly enough the kids enjoyed. Our kids don't always do that well with fireworks.


Nolan along with the Indians mascot, Slider.


Down on the field with the boys during the Indians batting practice. Most times the stadium doesn't even open up in time to see the Indians hit batting practice so we felt extra special to watch while everyone had to wait outside of the gates.


Grady Sizemore and Sandy Alomar during batting practice.

The Cleveland Corporate Challenge


Jennie had the opportunity to participate in the Cleveland Corporate Challenge of behalf of PNC Bank. She was discovered a couple of years ago and has been a staple ever since. The event is a month long Olympic style competition that faces the different corporations in Cleveland against each other in a series of 15 or 20 different events. Most teams are always lacking girls so once they find an athletic one, insert Jennie, they usually all upon them many times to help in various events. This year Jennie got to do kickball (above picture), dodgeball, volleyball, basketball, tug of war & the obstacle course. She helped PNC Bank to capture its 6th consecutive Corporate Challenge Cup.


A little action from the sand volleyball court. They actually finished third in this event with a pretty poor team. Personally this looks like an attempt at the Michael Jordan pose.

The African Safari


For Payton's 3rd birthday we took the kids to an African Safari off the coast of Lake Erie. We got a good price on the tickets and went along with Tacie and her kids as well as Liz and her girls. It was very cool because you got to drive your own car through the preserve and could find the wildlife from the inside of you own car. I would say from the comfort of your own car but there were some times when you didn't feel all that comfortable. There were giraffes, elk, deer, llamas, water buffalo, bison, alpacas and steer looking animals all waiting for some pellets or carrots. This is a great shot of Maddux feeding a giraffe through the sunroof of the car. It was also nice because you could drive through as many times as you wanted for the one price.


I am not sure what these animals are but they had some massive horns attached to their heads. We tended to keep the windows up when driving by these guys as we were not all that excited to have them hanging around. One car actually lost a windshield to this animal a little earlier in the day. It was shaking its head to get the flies away and hit some poor guys windshield in the process. The crazy thing is that the guy had the whole thing on video as he was recording them feeding the animals. Of course there is a huge sign upon entrance into the preserve that states they are not responsible for anything damage that happens to you or your car.


Here are all the kids that went that day.


Maddux and Nolan riding the ponies that we on hand. They also had camels that you could ride and I think that Payton was the only one who would not get on that.

Strongsville Carnival


Every August the city of Strongsville puts on its Homecoming Days and a carnival comes to town. The kids love going up and riding the smaller rides and playing the different games. It wasn't until last year that I got the three oldest kids to try all the rides and figure out that they loved them. Nolan will go on anything as he has no fear but the other kids usually require quite a bit of persuasion before they get on. The crazy thing is that once they get on they love it and want to go over and over again.


This was one of the weaker rides as you can tell by Brooklyn's enthusiasm and the boys fake smiles.


This is the favorite ride of the carnival : the Mummy Ride. It took a couple of hours to get Brooklyn on and once she did it the first time she had to do it over and over and over again. With there being no line I be they rode this ride over 30 times in a row. I just love Nolan's expression and he was the only one who would raise his arms up on the ride.

Summer Fun


As in the past, the trampoline got a lot of use this summer. Some of the kids have gotten a little more daring and started trying different degrees of difficulty while on. Maddux has gotten quite good at back flips and front flips; not sure where he picked those up from.


Of course any time that Maddux and Cannon are doing something Nolan has to be right in the middle.


Maddux with his best Spider-Man impersonation.

Sports Highlights

Cedar Point and the end of Summer.

With school starting this week and summer almost over I decided to take the older kids to Cedar Point for one last hoorah and to end the summer in style. The kids had never been and are not getting into some of the rides so I figured it could be a fun day. Plus it gave me an excuse to go and ride all the rides. I wasn't sure how the kids would do since the rides were quite a bit bigger than they were use to but I figured they could still have some fun and would maybe surprise me. It was kind of funny because on the ride there I could sense the nervousness in them. I don't know that they said more than 10 words the entire way there and that is highly unusual for these kids. With Cedar Point being one of the best amusement parks in the world I know they have heard about it from friends and TV but I don't think they really knew what it was and how big the rides were. We took the kids cousin, Cannon, to make an even 4 and hoping that he would get Maddux on some of the rides. To my surprise the one person I was worried most about freaking out, Brooklyn, was the only one who would go on the good rides with me. I think the Cannon factor had the opposite effect on Maddux. With Cannon not wanting to go on most of the rides, Maddux was also hesitant and skipped most. I think I could have talked Maddux into them but when his older cousin, who he really looks up to, won't go then he was out as well. But Brooklyn was my rock and went on every ride that I wanted to. I was very shocked and proud of her as she has been the undaring one in the past. Anyways, the day was a lot of fun and I think the kids had a real good time and the bigger rides will hopefully grow on them as they get older because I am going to need someone to ride with me.


The Millennium Force was the second ride that we went on and is arguably one of the best roller coasters in the world. Brooklyn was the only one who was brave enough to ride although I almost had Maddux bribed with a Milky Way. The roller coaster takes you up and drops you over 300 feet and reaches speeds of 70 + mph and is one of the best rides I have ever been on. Brooklyn absolutely loved it and would have gone on again had it not been for the hour and a half wait.


Cannon, Maddux and Brooklyn on the swing ride. One of the few rides that the boys would go on.


Maddux did find one roller coaster that he really liked, the Gemini. It is an old roller coaster and a decent little ride for those less adventurous.


One of the three water rides that the park offers. Two of the three rides will drench you and if it would have been about 10 degrees warmer, would have been great. The kids really liked these as we spent a couple hours go on these over and over again.


Brooklyn cooling off by running through the fountain. This was a popular spot for a lot of kids that day.


The kids riding the lift which takes you from one end of the park to the other. The kids were dying to give this a ride.


Maddux and Cannon alongside a hot rod which was parked outside of the Johnny Rockets restaurant.


This is Cedar Points newest addition, The Windseeker. The ride takes you up 301 feet in the air and swings you around at about 35 to 40 mph. The boys wanted nothing to do with this so Brooklyn and I were on our own. Not a super crazy ride but the height does provide for a nice view of the park. We actually rode this one at night and got to see the park lit up which was nice.


The Millennium Force initial drop. If you look close enough in the picture about half way up the hill you will see the ride actually stopped on the hill. Some bozo decided it would be funny to undo his seatbelt and didn't realize that a safety precaution forced the ride to stop once he did that. They had to come up and reset the ride which kept them on the hill for about 20 minutes. Not sure what that guy was thinking but I am sure the couple hundred people waiting in line were not happy with him.

Well with summer officially over it is time to turn our attention to school and soccer. I know that Jennie is glad to have the kids back in school and on a set routine. The summer really went by fast but we had a lot of fun and are glad we got to spend time with family.

A Week at the Lake

This past week we traveled down to North Carolina to have some fun at Jennie's Uncle Jay's lake house on Lake Gaston. We went with Jennie's parents, sister (Rachel and her family), brother (Spencer) and brother (Greg and his family) for a week of adventure, swimming, jet skiing and blowing off some steam before school starts back up in a couple of weeks. Jennie drove down with the kids and rest of her family on Sunday and I flew down mid week to join them. The weather was perfect and the lake water was surprising quite warm. The kids had a ton of fun and always love spending time; aka: having sleep overs, with their cousins. We are very grateful to Jay and his family for letting us spend the week on the lake and using their boat and jet skis. It was well worth the 10 hour drive and numerous bug bites. I don't think the kids wore anything other than swim suits the entire week. It was a lot of fun and we are blessed to have family with the resources to do these kind of things. The following are some pictures from our week.


This is just about everyone sitting on the dock. This dock actually has a bunch of fish swimming around it and you can bring bread and other things and feed them if you want. There were some pretty good size fish swimming around and we even saw a turtle and a water snake. It was kind of funny because we actually went there twice (because we forgot the bread the first time) and we told the kids to make sure they didn't fall in or the fish would eat them. Well the second night we went back Nolan got a little too close and ended up falling in. The water was only about a foot deep but he freaked out because he thought the fish were going to bite and eat his legs. The look on his face was priceless and I only wish I had the camera running when it happened. You could see the look of panic and fear in his eyes. It only took him a minute or two to get over it but he thought he was fish food for a good minute or two.


Maddux and Nolan climbing a tree down by the docks.


This was the first trip to the dock and Nolan and his Uncle Spencer pretending to feed him to the fish. He was actually asking to be hung upside down above them and then once he started he had other ideas. I bet if you asked him now he would probably have different thoughts.


We also did a little relaxing while we were up there.


Brooklyn practicing some volleyball with her cousin and Uncle. You have to love the outfit. There were a couple of days where this is all she wore. Nothing like some long chicken legs.


Jay's neighbor was kind enough to let us take his boat out on the lake one night to see the sunset and just cruise around.


The zip line was one of the highlights for the kids (and adults). I wondered if it would hold the weight but to my surprise it was very solid. We tried to get the kids to go from the top but most would only go half way up. I actually had Maddux up to the top and holding on the the handle and then he looked down and changed his mind.


Spencer and I launching the kids into the lake from our shoulders. I am not sure how it started but before we knew it we had all the kids in the lake asking to launch.


The raft was also a very popular attraction. The kids loved to play sharks and minnows with Grandpa and Spencer. Nolan didn't make it very long in this round.


Brooklyn swimming around in the lake waiting for someone to play with her.


This is the candy thank you that we made for Jay and his family. We were so grateful to them for letting us use the house and just wanted to make sure that we said thank you. I don't know how many times the kids tried to get the treats for themselves.


Nolan holding a catfish that Greg and the boys caught off the dock. He wouldn't hold it without the glove which is one better than Maddux who wouldn't even stand near the fish.


Maddux and Grandpa cruising around on the jet ski. I actually let Maddux drive with me on board and he actually did quite well. He drove all by himself and I just held on just in case. He had a lot of fun driving the jet ski and is a little speed demon in the making.


Here is the view from Jay's backyard and off his dock. It is really a very nice set up and perfect place to spend time as a family. Here are the kids jumping off the dock into the lake to cool off.


Maddux showing off his spinning cannon ball abilities.


The look on Cambrie and Payton's faces relays how the week went. There was something for everyone to do and everyone had a great time.

Again we thank Jay and the Rannels family for letting us come down and spend the week. We had a great time and was a nice way to end the summer. Now it is time to get back on a schedule and get ready to start school next week. Where did the summer go?

10 Years and Bora Bora

I finally have all the pictures downloaded and almost all the video from Jennie and I's trip to Bora Bora so I figured it was time to post them. Jennie and I celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary on June 16th and I surprised her with a trip to Bora Bora for just the two of us. My mom was kind enough to fly into town and watch the kids while we were gone for the week. While the travel was very long the trip was well worth it. It took us the better part of an entire day each way as the island is down in the South Pacific. It is probably the most beautiful place we have ever seen and while we love our kids, it was nice to have a little break just to ourselves. We got to do some snorkeling, took a safari tour of the island, rode jet ski's around the lagoon and just spent some time relaxing. The island is truly a honeymooner's island as you knew there were lots of people there but very rarely saw that many of them at any given time. I think just about everyone that we talked to during our trip was on their honeymoon. I would love to go visit again but think I would pick one of the other islands to stay on. It was crazy because after about 6:00 at night it was completely dark and there is no night-life on Bora Bora. I heard from some of the other couples that the different islands offer different activities and some have more to do than others. Anyways, here are some of the better pictures from our trip. The water was absolutely amazing and Bora Bora is tabbed as having the most beautiful lagoon in the world.

This is a show that was put on at the hotel we stayed at in Tahiti. Tahiti is the main island in the French Polynesian islands and the one that all flights arrive and depart from. The one night we stayed there they had a local tribal dance show which included a lot of fire and song. It was a great show and I wish that we could have seen more.


Here is our resort from the plane ride in. It is crazy because you fly into a little army airstrip which sits right next to the actual airport. The airport is basically an outside bungalow that is no bigger than our house. You then catch a boat and it was about a half hour ride to our actual resort. That was one of the most breathtaking half hours I have ever seen. It was nothing but turquoise blue waters and little remote islands.


Here is the view out of our bedroom. I wasn't going to go to Bora Bora and not stay in an overwater bungalow. We could jump right off our deck and snorkel in the lagoon. The room also had pieces of glass in the floors so you could look below and see the local fish swimming underneath you.


One of our excursions was a snorkeling trip that took us to feed and pet the stingrays as well as swim with some sharks. The stingrays were like puppies and would rush up to you as soon as you entered the water. In most spots the lagoon is only a couple of feet deep so you could walk for miles in the water. The stingrays would swim all around you and come up right out of the water to see who was there. It was pretty amazing because the guide as feeding the stingrays by hand and would get kisses from them. There were some really big stingrays but they were as gentle as could be.


Another day we took a half day tour around the island on jet skis. The guides then took us to a coral reef where you could walk around and see the coral life. It was a great way to see the whole island while riding in the most beautiful water I have ever seen.


Jennie sitting on the dock as we watched the sunset. While it was disappointing that the sun set by 6:00 every night, the view was amazing.


This was a safari ride that we took of the island. The guide took us to the top of the mountains on the island and showed us all the hot spots. This was a hill that you drove on top of and could look out over the entire lagoon. He decided that it would be fun to park on the middle of the hill on the way back and take a picture. This hill was almost straight down as were a lot of hills and roads on the island. It was amazing some of the roads that he drove up on to get us to different remote parts of the island. The guide was extremely funny and gave us all the good facts about the island and its history.


One of the safari stops was a top a hill that was home to a couple of US Navy cannons. During World War II the United States set up posts and camps on Bora Bora to keep an eye on the Japanese. They installed 8 cannons on the island to cover each side just in case. The cannons were never fired but still sit there to this day.


This was on the way down from the cannons and is a great view of the little cove and a small town on the island. Just another amazing shot of this beautiful island.


Here is Jennie just outside of a little art shop that we stopped at up on the middle of a mountain. There is just a little white house in the middle of no where and the couple who lives there are artist and sell various paintings and clothes out of there home. It was kind of cool because they have quite a few pictures in the store of Pierce Brosnon, who is a big fan of their work. He visits Bora Bora quite regularly and always stop by their shop when in town. Jennie bought a couple of wraps for herself and Brooklyn, which were made by their 7 year old daughter.


This is the view from the floor in our room. There were glass squares all throughout the bungalow that let you see into the lagoon and the fish swimming below. I decided to go snorkeling and see what type of picture that Jennie could get.


This is the view from the top of our resort and shows all the overwater bungalows that they had. I think every resort of that island had overwater bungalows and they all seemed to be full with people. A very popular commodity and the best way to stay on the island. Nothing else quite compares.

Well those are the best of more than 500 pictures that I took. I am hoping to get some of the video posted in the near future. I got some good video of the tribal show as well as us swimming with the sharks. I took an underwater camera and got some good footage. If you ever have the chance to get over the The French Polynesian islands I would definitely recommend it. It will be the trip of a lifetime and is well worth the day of travel to get there. it was so nice to have some alone time with Jennie and just being able to relax and do whatever we wanted. I am grateful to my mom for sacrificing her vacation time to watch our kids for the week. I know that she had a very busy week and was probably out of her comfort zone but I also know that the kids had a blast and are still talking about her visit. She had activities planned for them every single day and I don't even know if they really missed us. We hope that everyone's summer is going well and will be updating the blog with all that we have been up to this summer. Now that we have a little break in the kids sports there will be some more time to catch up on some other things.