Day 3 and 4

Wednesday we walked to a park near the Strickler's house. It was HOT but luckily there were huge sprinklers going and the kids had a great time running through them. The kids all enjoyed hanging out together and playing. I even got two runs in while I was there! I put the girls to bed and would then go for a run. Thanks to James and Kathy for letting me leave them with two more kids at night! I was a little worried about the running because although I had been running regularly for a month before I left for my trip, I don't run in altitude! When I first started running (in high school I joined the cross country team) it was in Virginia City, NV, which is in the mountains. But that was a long time ago! Anyway, I did pretty well. I ran for 25 minutes the first night (I was at 40 minutes in WI). I ran on Thursday night for 33 minutes and that was amazing because the day before I hit my toe on the back of some stairs and my nail came 1/4 of the way off. That was really painful! Shoes were hard to negotiate for the rest of the trip! Anyway, I digress. Here is a great picture of all the kids together.
Left to right: Alexis, Audrey, Nathaniel, Powell, Reagan, and Brooklyn.

Thursday we went to a schoolyard to play. They had a good time but it was hot again and my girls aren't used to the heat yet because the hottest weather we had been getting in WI was in the high 70's. After the park James took care of the kids for lunch while and then Kathy and I got to go out to lunch. We had Mexican food which James does not eat. :) Then all three of us adults took the kids to see Kung Fu Panda. They really enjoyed this. It was pretty funny too. Audrey liked the bad guy for most of the movie because, "he's the best fighter." She got a little bored 3/4 of the way through but kept watching.

After the Kung Fu Panda movie Brooklyn and Alexis went to an Achievement Day Activity. It was Brooklyn's first one. It was at a police station. When we picked the girls up they were all excited because they had pencils that changed colors when it got hot or cold. We asked them what they learned and neither one could tell us anything except Alexis said, "Uh, there's another police station somewhere." Hmm. So Kathy asks, "Did you learn anything about safety?" They both think for a minute and then say, "No, but they turned on the sirens for us!" Oh well, at least they had a good time. The morning we left the kids wanted to take pictures with Kung Fu moves in them. Which explains the picture below. Reagan and Audrey did NOT want to pose.

It was so wonderful to see the Stricklers. They are wonderful people and such dear friends. Thank you Kathy and James for having us stay with you! The food was wonderful and the company can't be beat! We love and miss you! Thanks James for letting me steal your wife for a couple of days!

One more thing: on our way to the Stricklers house Audrey found out that Brooklyn (Kathy and James' oldest) has three brothers and one on the way. She immediately said, "Wow! I want three brothers!" HA!