Some Fall Fun

So in my attempt to get caught up on my blog, I'm condensing a few events that happened in September....bear with me!

Only in Arizona can you still go swimming in September with the water of decent temperatures....and so, when in Rome, we SWIM!  You may not believe me, but just a few weeks into summer, this girl wouldn't even go near a pool of water without her lifejacket, and within two weeks of coming home, she all of a sudden decided that the jacket was no longer needed, so off it came and swimming was on! I had even signed her up for swimming lessons for the first week of school so that she could get the hang of it, and little did I know that two days later she could swim just fine on her own!  We still did the lessons, but she became a little fish and every day she would proceed to ask me if we could go swimming today.  Sometimes she would get in a play by herself, and other times, I just had to put my suit on and jump in! 

 And this was one of those days, that Max was sleeping and we just had to play in the pool!  I love this little girl and so excited that I get one more year of her home before sending her to Kindergarten!

 September was also the month where we could go outside in the afternoons and play.  Yes, it's still 90 degrees, but that's better than 110!  Little Max just loves to be outside and will freak out when we pull in the garage and close the door behind us before he can escape out the door!

 And of course, there are treats to be made.  Box brownies are a favorite around our house, and this fall there was a definite need for that!  It's funny, when I ask help to make dinner, they all scatter, but when I say help make brownies....they all come a running!  Even Max!

 September was also filled with a trip back East to see Jared run his first Spartan Beast Race in Vermont.  Unfortunately, we had to leave these monkeys home but that didn't stop them from cheering their dad on!

 

Thanks to a wonderful sister who is always there for me, and is so willing to watch my little monkeys, I was able to catch a flight to see Jared run this race with a few friends.  Now, a Spartan Beast is nothing to be reckoned with and as we found out post-race, this Vermont Beast was one of the toughest the Spartan courses....EVER!  People thought they were crazy seeing how this was their first Spartan races, to attempt a Beast, but that didn't seem to scare Jared!  So in a little over 6 hours, 13+ miles, and 20+ obstacles (which I only got to see 7 or 8), several scratches, bruises, and shin splints later, Jared conquered the Beast! A few of his team mates had to abandon the course but two of them finished a few hours behind Jared.  I must say, I was a proud wife to see him take on this course and finish strong despite the pain that he went through!

 The G-Team

Angelo, Jared, Rory & Regina Swain, Brandy and Paul Jacobsen

 Getting numbered to identify his body post race

 The starting line

 Smiling before the race....we'll see if they still are after!

 After the first 4 miles, up hill....I mean up the ski hill, you know, like instead of taking the gondola, they ran up it and came back down....

 just to go back up it again, this time carrying a 60 lbs. of sand.

 the hill

 Then it was off to do more obstacles that I couldn't see...like puling a tire across a muddy field, cement blocks being dragged by chains, and then they came to these mud hills where they landed in muddy cold water at the bottom, thigh high.

 And then under barbed wire fencing through rocky ground 50 Meters long...and yes, there were two of these fields.

 running through hay bales, leaping walls, throwing arrows at targets.  And if they didn't complete any of the tasks, they had to do 30 burpies (aka suicides) before moving on to the next task.

There was rope climbing where there was a bell you had to ring before dropping into the water.

 

 Tunnels to crawl through, a rope ladder to climb, then go across, and then come back down. Swimming in freezing cold water,

 then climbing a rope to ring another bell, running a 1/4 mile, crossing a rock wall, then back in the water to climb up another rope and tarzan swing across to ring a bell before dropping back in the cold water.....many people had a hard time doing this obstacle and several people were close to hypothermia at this point too!

 Then a mental challenge where they had to remember a number they were told at the beginning of the course.  Then a traverse - a rope tied across the water you had to get so far, ring the bell and then drop again into the cold water.   I was proud Jared got so far so fast and he completed most of the obstacles, only having to do burpies twice!

 Then it was back to another run up the mountain, filling and carrying buckets of gravel up and down the ski slope, another sand bag carry, and a slippery wall, a fire pit, and gladiators before you reached the finish line!

 It's hard to believe that he paid to do this and he LIKED IT!  He said he was glad he did it and I have a feeling this won't be his last one!

But that all aside, it was fun to see him do something he enjoys and be the one cheering him on at the finish line.  I'm so proud of you honey and all the training you've done for it!  You amaze me!