The McGarys : Madly in May

Brad did a sprint triathlon and I wasn't looking forward to it as much as his other races because not only was I up late the night before because I couldn't sleep, but the kids and I had to arrive with him at 6am. Part of the race blocked the entrance so they had to close it to cars right away. As soon as Brad got out of the car the rest of us fell back asleep. I woke up when Brad texted that he was about to pass us on his bike. Guess we completely missed the ocean swim! That would have been fun to see but it was just too early for us. I played a movie for a bit and then turned off the engine and continued the movie off the battery because for some reason I thought that was better for the car but I learned my lesson! Obviously it died so we had to jump it before heading home. Brad finished the triathlon in 1 hour 59 minutes! He did great. I love to see him accomplish these goals. They are far beyond anything I've tried to do with my body.

Kallie helping Daddy find his results

As we waited for Daddy, the kids made friends with this sweet random girl

The last three cockroaches we've spotted in our house escaped before we could catch them. Two of them ran under the couch and the other ran into the laundry room behind the deep freeze. *shudder*

The dedication of the Fort Lauderdale temple was broadcast to our stake center so it was wonderful being able to attend! The last dedication I'd been to was the Rexburg, Idaho one right after President Monson was called to be the prophet. The song The Spirit of God always strikes a chord in my heart. It gets me choked up (to the point of having to stop singing for a bit) every time. It's just so exciting to think of the miracles happening on Earth and the Lord's work being done through priesthood power.

That's a swim suit bottom on her head.

The closest street to our house has every fast food restaurant you can think of except for Taco Bell. There's a Burger King, McDonald's, Wendy's, Chick-fil-A, Subway, Arby's, Bojangles (fried chicken) and Papa John's. In short there are at least three burger joints in a row but no Taco Bell. And I've realized lately how much I love Taco Bell.

I was reading a blog I love of an acquaintance from my hometown and she mentioned her boy demanded mac n' cheese and hot dogs for lunch the other day. She was secretly happy because sometimes she craves that unhealthy food. I totally agree with her. I try to make things like mac n' cheese, hot dogs or raman very sparingly but sometimes when I do, it's just because I want some.

Brad, as the scout master, organized the annual fundraiser for scout/girls camps. We have a lot of kids for whom to raise money this summer: 14 scouts and 8 young women! He and the other leaders put a lot of work into it. They hiked it up a few notches this year by expanding the auction from just dessert at the event to online bidding of goods and services a whole month ahead of time, they added lots of entertainment and decorations and it went really well. I was impressed. I also totally scored at the dessert auction. Not only did I win a chocolate bundt cake at a great price but I got to keep the awesome container it was stored in!

We went to a water park that offers super cheap entrance right before the big kids get out of school. It was guaranteed to be a bright sunny day but I never thought to check the actual temp since we'd already had a few weeks with highs in the mid 90's. This day was the first of a slight cold front and the high was only 79 so we were pretty chilly (Minnesotans, don't judge me for turning wimpy since moving to Florida). Luckily kids don't mind as much so it was still fun. Kallie (of course) has no desire to ride the water slides because she's still traumatized from last summer but I sure as heck threw Jayda down by herself for the first time! She screamed at first but I think she ended up liking it.

Kallie has entered the "why?" stage. Sometimes I'm okay with it. Those are the times her questions actually make sense and warrant an answer. Other times she answers her own question within her question. For example, "Why is that Daddy sad because his kids are hopping on his belly so it hurts?" or the ones that just have no response: "Why is that a mouse?"

We quite possibly have the most uncomfortable mattress. We were assured of this after our friends stayed at our house with our kids while we went on a trip. At the time I responded, "Yes, this is true but we're used to it." I realize lately that no, I'm not used to it. Maybe I was for awhile but I don't sleep well on our bed anymore. Our couch is way more comfortable.

Recently I realized I may sound like a hypocrite when it comes to food. When discussing what "healthy" means to different people I tend to say I try to eat "all natural" but then I'm frequently seen eating things that are definitely not all-natural. The truth is I'm nowhere near an all-natural eater and I've never proclaimed to be 100% organic or anything of the sort. But if there are parts of my diet I can conveniently change for the better, I try to do it by switching to the "natural" alternative (as opposed to low-fat, low-carb, vegetarian, etc...). For example, I buy natural peanut butter and jam, whole grain bread and pasta, organic milk, and try to avoid ingredient lists that are a mile long and sound more like Latin than English because it's a very simple, convenient way to improve parts of my diet without really having to sacrifice. It makes me feel better about the unhealthy parts I don't want to give up right now like ice cream and using canned "cream of" soups in my dinners. I clearly eat out and crave horrible food. I'm certainly no expert and still have a lot to learn but from the research I've done, these are the ways I try to improve my diet a little.

Went to the beach on Memorial Day and when the thunder convinced me it was time to pack up I walked to where the kids were playing in a little of pool of water. I picked up Jayda and told Kallie to follow me back to our stuff. Instead she started running away from me. I walked after her for a bit and yelled to her to come to me. She'd stop and look back at me and I'd think I was about to catch up to her but then she'd turn and run even further. This continued for WAY longer than I expected and I eventually had to sprint (with Jayda bouncing on my hip) until I finally caught up with her. I was SO mad. She's never run away from me like that. Normally I would have spanked her right then but I hesitate to do that in public with lots of people watching and also, she was giggling when I caught up to her so she may have innocently thought it was a game.

Rough time on the soccer field. We took the kids to the playground and Brad kicked around a ball with Kallie. Looks like the sun got to her. She is her mother's daughter.

My friend Laura visited town for a couple days so a few of us girls gathered at our friend Erin's house and it was so much fun to catch up (even if there were piles of kids running around screaming the whole time). I wish we had taken a picture of us girls but we did get a picture of the 8 kids.

We went camping for two nights at Disney's Fort Wilderness with our friends the Kelloggs. It was so much fun. We went swimming, roasted marshmallows at the community campfire during a sing-a-long with Chip and Dale, watched a movie under the stars, went to playgrounds, rode ponies (well, Calvin did but our kids were too scared), watched fireworks and ate lots of yummy food. The first time we left our camp site and came back there were squirrels all over our picnic table and they had ripped into our bag of trail mix. No worries, Brad fixes everything with duct tape.

Our fancy Disney bracelets. They're connected to our credit card, allowing us to buy stuff without our wallets.

The perfect size kiddie pool

Kellogg kids are fun and fearless. McGary kids run screaming from the ponies.

Waiting for the bus back to our camp site. I love when Jayda is cuddly

Eating our Mickey Mouse suckers

Playing with rocks was apparently more entertaining than The Princess and the Frog

Kallie decided to sit on this random rock for about 15 minutes while Jayda explored a nearby playground.

Erin caught me at the perfect part of my "feel better" speech

My immediate reaction was "Jayda get away from the mud!" But then I realized camping is the perfect time to let the kids have dirty fun (as long as you have a way to shower them afterward)