Agoura Half Marathon & the Barlows

McKay and Rachel accomplished a big thing today! They both ran the Great Race of Agoura Half-Marathon. After Rachel ran one last November McKay decided he wanted to do one too. They have been diligently training!

Mom went over this morning at 5:45 to be with the kids when they left. I arrived at 8:00 am and got the kids and with mom we headed up to the finish line. The girls really wanted to see their parents cross the finish line. They did a great job! I love this picture of McKay with the boys!



Melinda had also been training but this past week she injured her knee and the doctor told her it was best not to run. She gave her bib to Becky Meline who ran in her place. We had several other ward members and friends who ran. It was fun to see everyone at the finish line! Go McKay and Rachel....you are both amazing!

Tonight I went back over to their house and watched the kids so Bishop Barlow and his wife could attend the General Young Women's Meeting and dinner. The kids were so much fun. Brad is now to the point he is not so attached to Rachel and played with him and was laughing and giggling...it was so much fun! Since they were all up very early they were all very tired!

The Curry Leaf

I got a viral infection of my saliva glands this last week. It has been such a bummer for a lot of reasons, but one of them is Bradley has been in town and I haven't been able to see him. Today Leanne and Bradley came to lunch with us. This was my first time to see him this visit! The food was very yummy and he was so adorable! We had a great time and the food was very good!

I Spy Bags

I went to a RS Meeting in another ward about a month ago. They made these "I Spy" bags. I loved them so much I decided to make it a FHE. Corrine and I had some friends over and we had fun putting them together. Dad was so much fun! I gave him the sample to play with McKay's kids. He loved it so much he drove around to stores looking for little 'trinkets' to put in the bags. If anyone is interested in how to do them, just let me know. And don't be too surprised if you find one as a gift my sweet nieces and nephews!

A Saturday Walk

The kids have been asking me to take them on a walk on the creek from their house to mine. It is usually Sunday afternoon and it is too long of a walk. I decided it would be a fun thing to do today.

Rachel drove them over and dropped them off at my house. The girls brought their bikes. Mac had his stroller but would NOT get in it until I forced him to at the end when we walked on the busy street. He wanted to be a 'big boy'.

I love this picture of Mac on the rock. He was having such a fun time! The girls thought Mac and I were walking too slow. I told them it gave them the opportunity to ride up and back several times and they thought that was fun.



Anna was so excited to be able to stand on this rock and reach the tree! Quite the accomplishment!



One hour and twenty minutes later and lots of fun (including seeing bugs, rabbits, etc) we got to their house. It was a fun adventure!

PV 2010 - Day 7 More sun and a new place to eat

Thanks to Melinda getting us good seats, we had another good HOT day in the sun today! We all got in the cold pool and even tried to brave the ocean. This year the ocean has been really rough. Most days the water is so high you can't go in it. Today it was a little lower so we gave it a try. Unfortunately it was a comical show for anyone watching...especially of me. The sand was like quick sand and as the water was coming in it took me down to all fours. The girls were laughing and I was too. It was hilarious!

Kate got some more good pics of the sunset. It is really an amazing sunset to see here. Each night it is really breathtaking!

Each year we come down we attend Sacrament Meeting in a local branch. Each year we always wish we would have brought items to give to the members...like things from Deseret Book they don't have access to. Finally Corrine remembered to do it and this year it was Stake Conference and we didn't get to go. So, Kate got on the website and got the name of the bishop. She had Juan at the front call and tell him we had items and if was interested he could come pick them up. About 90 minutes later the bishop and his wife arrived...they were so happy and she was particuarly happy about the YW stuff we brought her. We totally recognized them from years past. This is a picture of Kate, Corrine and Juan. He has been great this year and a lot of help!

Tonight we tried a new place to eat. El Brujo or 'The Witch' was a fantasic place to eat and I would go back in a heartbeat! We had a couple of people here recommend it to us. It is off the beaten path but totally worth it. Kate and Melinda had amazing flank steak and I had pineapple chicken and Corrine had mango chicken. It is definately a place to go back to again!

PV 2010 - Day 6 Canopy tour...zip lines

This morning Corrine and Kate went on the Canopy Tour - otherwise know as the zip lines. They went to El Eden to do it. This is different from the location Corrine went before. It is closer to our place and they say it is beautiful because it is all in the tropical area and over water falls. They had a great time and have many great stories to tell so watch their blogs in the days to follow for more pics and details.

While they were gone Melinda and I stayed here and enjoyed a day of SUN. It was REALLY HOT. The past few days haven't been as hot as we have had in the past. I haven't felt the urge to get in the cold pool, but today, oh boy did we need it!

Corrine and Kate came back before 3:00 and they enjoyed the rest of the afternoon with us.

This is one of favorite servers, Victor. He is great and remembers us each year "the watertini girls'.

Tonight we went to town and tried a new place...Daiquri Dick's. It was a little more up scale, but was very yummy. We had Jorge Acosta singing to us. He has a beautiful voice. He is originally from Veracruz. He is part of a mariachi group as well.

PV 2010 - Day 5 Relaxing and a massage

No picturs to post today...sorry. We had a nice day of relaxing and playing games. Thanks to Melinda, we had decent chairs and as the day progressed we were able to move them around and get some good sun.

On our first day here they were giving free 5-minute chair massages in order to get people to come to the spa. Kate and I got one and it was wonderful. Bertha was amazing. Now we have all had one...me being the last one day. They have a special right now - buy a 80 minute massage and get a 20-minute facial free. Well, I loved it and I am glad I did.

Tonight is the Mexican Fiesta here so we stayed here and had dinner. They had live music and entertainment as well. Tonight we will be in early and so we will watch a movie and relax.