Another 10k Race and a Cool Park

U and Sarah participated in the Phoenix Marathon 10k again this year.  Sarah wasn't feeling great and getting up at 4:30 to go wait at the starting line didn't help that any.  She was glad they had heaters this year.

Sarah and U before the race.

We don't have any race pictures because they wanted to charge a lot for them. 

After the race, Me, Megan and Matthew came up to see us.  Me ended up taking Sarah home but Megan and Matthew stayed to pick up some of the freebies.  On the walk back to the car, we passed a really neat park so they asked if they could play for a little.  U was too tired to be a lava monster but they enjoyed playing anyway.  There was a giant obstacle course and fun play equipment.  We stayed for an hour but still didn't use everything.  The plan is that we will go back again sometime.

Panoramic of the obstacle course.

Excited to climb!

Some parts were a little tricky.

On top of the tunnel.

It was fun to hear them discussing the best ways to approach various parts of the course.

Navigating a dip

There was a "slide" at the end of the course.  It was on top of the ropes so it was a bit slow and bumpy.

The second attention grabbing feature on the playground was a giant spiderweb structure.

Megan made it all the way to the top!  You can see how high it really was here.

The playgrounds were fun as well.

Hamming it up.

What a cute girl!

Megan spotted a humming bird in the tree as we were leaving.

Greenville part 2

On Saturday morning, the oldest four kids went to an art class to paint pictures of cupcakes. They all really enjoyed it.

Getting ready to paint

Background work

Megan hard at work

Sarah was completely absorbed

Drying the finished product

So many delicious looking cupcakes!

After lunch, we headed over to Heritage Park. We rode the train around it first. The train went under a bridge, over a bridge and through a barn.

View from the back

View from the front

Zach and Matthew enjoying the ride.

Then we played on a nice playground. Grandpa and U were monsters chasing the kids around for a bit.

After that, we went hiking on a path in Lake Conestee Park. It did not feel like the park was in the middle of the city! There were some boardwalks which are always fun for walking. We also played Pooh sticks a few times as we crossed over the river.

Boys bringing up the rear.

The kids were real troopers!

Megan and Me

We saw a baby turtle in the swamp.

Matthew loved pushing Josie's stroller.  Good thing she wasn't in it.

Grandma and Grandpa came over to watch the kids while the other adults went out on a double date.

First we had great food and fun at an Elder's Quorum activity. We learned that one of Me's zone leaders from her mission is in Jon's ward.

Playing spike ball

Then we went to an escape room and got out with almost 23 minutes to spare.  Somehow we skipped a couple steps (with U's amazing manipulative abilities as well as a bit of smart luck getting us a code before we were supposed to have it).  We still saved the world.

Sunday was Aspen's birthday.  The older girls stayed the night with Grandma and Grandpa.  They enjoyed Aspen's birthday cereal in the morning.

Aspen loved all of her presents.

Later that night we went to Kinley's piano recital.  She was great!

We played some Machi Koro with Jon and Marci and then came upstairs to find the older girls tangled together. (Megan and Matthew spent the night at Grandma and Grandpa's apartment Sunday night.)

Monday we started out by going to Airplane Park.  It is right next to the downtown airport and it was neat to see the planes and helicopters land.

This helicopter landed right by the fence. Of course, everyone ran to look.

Matthew and Zach hung out by the fence for a long time, watching the planes and playing pilot.

Thick as thieves. They do get along really well!

Cute girl in the luggage chute

Marci couldn't resist getting in on the action as well.

Pilot Quincy ready for take off with chief mechanic Zach and fuel operator Matthew.

Flying boys

After the park, several of us went swimming at Jon and Marci's neighborhood pool.  We swam, dove and played water games like Marco Polo and lacrosse.

Megan loved diving for squid.

Cousins make the best friends.

We are a bit worried about the size of Jon's head...

The older girls planned a wonderful FHE and we talked about all the things we like about Aspen.  Then we played Tenzi and had ice cream sandwiches.