Lagoon, Trout Fishing and Bullseye

I've been spending my off time doing a lot of little tasks, you know cleaning, running errands, taking naps, spending time with friends, taking the kids to do fun stuff, and the like.  It's nice to go into the weekend already caught up so that I can truly enjoy the time off with the rest of the family.

We went to Lagoon last weekend for a family day with Fogg's work.  The kids loved it, Reed remembered it from last year.  But Nora, she just loved, loved it as she couldn't really ride things last year.  But this year, she could do pretty much all of the same rides as Reed and she had a blast.

They were both excited to go on a ride that adults couldn't do.

 off they go!

 We did the train too

It was a great time at Lagoon, we stayed until after 9pm, Nora fell asleep on my shoulder as we walked to the car.  Reed said once he was strapped in his carseat "I'm pretty much tired".  Then out he went.  Not sure we were even out of the parking lot yet!  A great time was had by all.

I have been joining Reed's class on his field trips that they take every Wednesday.  Last week was just some kickball at the park (a bit much for 5 year olds).  But this week we got to ride the bus to a Trout Farm.  Reed said as we got on the bus "isn't the bus fun!"

 Reed and his class ready to fish!

 Didn't take but 5 minutes and he caught a fish.  It flopped on the grass and both of us were too scared to pick it up!

 Reed was very upset to find out that we don't take home the fish to live at our house, but that you take home a deheaded and filleted  fish to eat.  My little animal lover, and sweet tender hearted kid did not take that well.  I don't know if he would have fished at all if he knew the ending of the fish.

After that, I met up with Fogg and two of his coworkers for range shooting lunch.  It was the first time I've ever shot a gun.  I pretty much loved it.  I have a concealed weapons permit but I've never actually shot.

 This was my first five shots at 5 yards (15 feet).  Not bad!  One bullseye and the rest on the paper.  

This was my very first shot at 10 yards (30 feet).  First shot, right in the red.  

Better watch out, I'm a pretty good shot!

Vegas Baby

Our friend James turned 40 last week and he has never been to Vegas.  So he invited a bunch of his friends and we all went down to Vegas for a few days.  We drove his Camero - yes 4 of us packed in there like a clown car!  We went during the week so the rates were ridiculously cheap to stay at a super nice hotel.  We stayed at the Hard Rock, which is a little off the strip.  That was nice because there was a lot less foot traffic and the vibe was pretty good there.

We drove down on Wednesday, got there mid afternoon.  First order of business was to hit the gym and then lay by the pool for a bit.  The pools there are amazing.  There are 4 or 5 of them and the interconnect in different ways.  There are regular pool areas, and beach areas, and shallow areas to lay down.  It was fantastic to just sit in the water and soak up the sun.  We had a little snack then headed up to get ready for a night on the town.  We met up with some other friends that had gotten there earlier in the day and hit the strip to check out a few places.  We went to Ceaser's for a quick bite then over to Harrah's to join in at the piano bar fun.  The music was pretty good, though a bit smokey and old there, still a good time.  We stayed there the rest of the evening just singing and having a good time.  James was serenaded a birthday song that made fun of his age...

Thursday morning after breakfast, Fogg and I worked out again and then met up with everyone at the pool again.  We literally spent the entire rest of the day by the pool.  We had a little mid-day snack and then back to the pool.  That evening we did James's big dinner and night out.  We ate at the fabulous Nobu at the Hard Rock then they rented a limo for everyone.  We piled in the hummer limo and off we were to party! (I'm in the blue dress).

We went to the Bellagio, Venetian, New York New York, and Luxor.  We may have gone somewhere else, but I don't remember!  Anyway, we were back at the Hard Rock around 1 and I was done!

Friday morning we hit the gym and pool one more time before we had to check out.  We left and headed to the Mob Museum in old town area.  We spent 3 hours in there, it was fascinating.  Then we headed to the next hotel, the Golden Nugget.  Talk about a different kind of place!  It was certainly, well, heritage.  We took a swing by the pool but it was super windy and we didn't really want to get in.  We got ready and headed out to meet some former coworkers of mine for drinks.  They had just moved down to Vegas and they met us at a really neat little bar.  After drinks we went to dinner with some other friends of ours from ages ago.  They have lived down there for a few years with the Air Force.  It was so great to catch up with them.  After dinner we did a quick walk of Fremont Street (which was plenty for me!) and headed to bed.  We drove home on Saturday to spend time with the kids for the evening.

It was a good time to relax and enjoy time with our friends. It'll be a little bit before we head to Vegas again, but it was one of the only enjoyable times that I've had there.  Maybe the 33 year old me is more prepared for it than the 22 year old me!  HA!

Cheers~

End of an Era

The past eight years, I've worked for a company that has grown leaps and bounds, had the opportunity to work with amazing people, learned a lot about ecommerce and the outdoor retail space, interacted with some of the biggest brand names out there and grown a lot professionally.  I've seen a lot of growth and a bit of growing pains in those years.  Some people came and went quickly, a few I worked with since day one.

About a week and a half ago, I was laid off.  It's an understandable step for the company, and for my position to be eliminated.  Though it was a sad and confusing day for me, I know everything will be just fine.  I've been driving 52 miles each direction for eight years, that in itself was getting old.  I was and am certainly ready for a change in my career and direction.  I'm excited about new directions and opportunities.  I gained so much from bc.com and those times will never be forgotten, but it was time for me to graduate.  The last day there felt a little like the last day of school with everyone saying their goodbyes and "stay in touch"s.  A lot of hugs and a few tears were had by many but it was a great way to go out, with smiling faces and people just being good people.

We had a little celebration at our local stomp by the office and before the remaining employees joined for drinks, the laid off crew all got together to commiserate.

There are some really good friends in this picture and that is where I will struggle the most, not seeing those friends, not just coworkers, every day.  Annie and Anne, who are sitting on either side of me, are dear to my heart and I will sorely miss them.  Hud (in the yellow) I met on my first day in the office, strangely enough, 8 years to the day before this picture.  Ed on the far left with white glasses and Scott in the green are so funny and I'll miss traveling with them.  And to all the people not in this picture, I will miss seeing each day as well.

But the upside to this all is that because the outdoor industry is so small, really, I'll see all of these people again and for years to come in whatever we all move onto next.  And because they are my real friends, I will see them outside of work stuff.

I am so thankful for my 8 years at backcountry and for the people the most.  bc.com saw me through 8 years of my marriage, two kids, two houses, multiple cars and so much more.  I got to travel and meet very important people in the industry.

So Cheers to all and on to new things!  I'll keep you updated as to what comes along for me next!  For now, it's spending the summer with the kids, catching up on all the stuff I wished I had time for, training for a 10k, catching up with friends, swimming, painting the house and so much more.

Cheers~
Meg

Mom's Birthday

My sweet mom turned 60 last week (ok, almost two weeks ago now).  She wasn't really looking forward to it, but she seemed to have a good time anyway.  Her sister and husband came into town, my Aunt Peg and Uncle Howard, along with their oldest daughter, my cousin Micki.  My brother also flew out to spend the weekend!

On Wednesday, mom's actual birthday, she took the day off work and hung out with Peg and How.  We all met up for dinner that night.

On Saturday, we threw her a big birthday party at our friends house.  They have a beautiful house with a pool.  The weather was perfect and the company great.  Here are some pictures!

We made a scrapbook for mom, it turned out so nice!

Reed of course loved swimming and the water slide.

The birthday girl!

Nora had fun jumping in to her daddy.

Margo, Dianne, Roxy and Mom

Reed, all by himself, picked out 5 of his own cars to give to Lala for her birthday. He even wrapped them all by himself.  He was so proud to give them to her and never once asked for them back.  He wholeheartedly gave them to her.

Nora stayed strong for a long time but eventually had to give in to exhaustion.  The funny part was that she was mid bite eating when she started to drift off.

This might be my favorite picture, the look on a 5 year old boy's face as cake gets dished out to him.  he wanted the yellow balloon as you can see it cut from the cake!

I'm so proud of my mom and I love that she is here to be close to my kids and be an awesome Lala.  Happiest of birthdays mama!

Uncle Gordo was helping Reed build some Legos.  Reed just started getting into Legos and is already a master.  They had fun building a finish line for Reed's cars.

 The next day we all had breakfast at the Oaks before family members scattered to their corners of the country.

Thanks to everyone that helped us celebrate!

Cheers~

Idaho City 100

The next weekend, we went up to Idaho City for the dirt bike race.  Fogg did it last year and we headed back up again.  He did great despite little training and a lingering hand problem.  Here are some pics from that weekend.

Pretty dying fire

Almost time!  Daddy and his cheering section

Here they go!  

Here is Matt, he is in orange on the far left of picture

The kids did pretty well.  It was dusty and hot, but they hung in there.  Nora ended up getting what I think was heat stroke/exhaustion about 30 minutes after this picture and started throwing up.  I got her cooled off and out of the sun and she recovered by the time dad came into the finish!

Finished!  He said it was harder than last year, the trail was really challenging.  But he finished and better than last year!

Idaho City is stuck in the early 1900's I think.  This is for real, people rode their horses into town.

This is Nora a couple of days later, she was not feeling well and finally passed out asleep on the floor with her face down and her leg on a toy.  

Congrats to Fogg on finishing and finishing well.  Matt did great, but unfortunately didn't finish the course.  It was a rough one!