Day Two......

The first official ride day started bright and early on Tuesday morning....5am to be exact. It was bright and cold!!!!

The riders bottles and snacks for the ride being prepped.....

Ryanne getting ready to roll......

Looking forward to a great day!!

I was a support vehicle so Dan & Jim are getting my car all ready....

We started each morning with a devotional, a few fun facts about the Grand Canyon and also prayer....

There were a few melt downs along the way. This is about the point she was wondering what she got herself into......

They rode to the summit which was at over 8,000ft. It was freezing cold and unfortunately for the kids they hit wind gusts up to 40 mph. It was a brutal day where a LOT of pep talks took place. You know when you have to peddle down hill with all your might and you barely move, it's going to be a rough day.

Lunch was dropped wherever we had space and the backdrop was beautiful!

I have had hardly any internet or phone reception so I am behind in keeping you all up and so I apologize. I will blog more tomorrow morning with more updates and pictures. the kids are doing amazing and we appreciate all your prayers. As of tonight (Friday) we are in a hotel because a storm has rolled in and they are predicting 6" of snow tonight. More to come!!

Grand Canyon Tour Day 1

Today was the day that Ryanne and her team have been training for. We woke up at 5:30am , loaded up the car for a week long trip and off we went.

We met our group of 30 people, some riders and some support crew like myself.

A few words of encouragement and prayer for a safe drive....

and we headed out with tons of excitement and anticipation of a fun trip

Dan will be doing the ride with Ryanne

The drive was long and of course what is a road trip with three females in the car without bathroom stops in the middle of nowhere....

Whoo! Welcome to Arizona!!

We had beautiful weather on the way

One cheesy photo op.....

Setting up some tents...

A little team work and ta-da! One of the couples driving had two flat tires on their motor home and ended having to stay in Phoenix until tomorrow, such a bummer. They also just happen to have had the pots and pans for dinner so ordering pizza the first night was what it came down too. Ha! Gotta learn to roll with the punches when your touring. More tomorrow after their first day riding. Thanks for all the prayers and support for the Strada Corsa team.

Surprise Birthday Gift.....

Dan got off work last Friday and handed me an envelope. When I opened it I found a picture of a hotel in Laguna Beach along with shopping money. He and the girls had planned a fun three day trip away for my 40th bday which is not until the 19th but with Easter and all that weekend we weren't going to be able to do anything. I packed in like 20 minutes and we were out the door to fun in the sun and relaxation which was what I really needed. That and down time with my husband and girls.

We stayed at 14 West which is a great little boutique hotel with only 14 studio rooms all on the top floor of this building. This jacuzzi was like 10 steps from our room so we all jumped in every night and hung out there before bed.

This was the view from our room/patio. It's looking out towards the ocean which is right out front and the courtyard in the middle was great for just laying around or they even had a BBQ if you brought food with you.

The room had a queen bed and then down three steps was another queen bed,a fireplace, a full kitchen that was stocked with dishes etc. and a walk in closet. The bathroom had a deep jacuzzi tub as well. It was perfect for our family because we hit up Whole Foods down the street and made our own breakfasts every morning.

We played on the beach all weekend because it was super warm and sunny. No fog or morning yuck to burn off.

We walked around all the cute stores and I bought some more flip flops.....ya' I know, it's a problem. I'm considering therapy.

Do you love Ryanne's face? Oh my gosh the attitude when they see the camera pop out ha!

Ahhhhh......happy almost 40th birthday to me!!

We went out to eat and to a movie one night. We like Laguna because you can park at the place you are staying and never get in your car again. We walked everywhere the whole weekend. I love that.

Dan and the girls had arranged everything down to asking my mom to dog sit. I literally did nothing but throw  my bathing suit, some shorts and a sweatshirt in my bag and the rest was taken care of. It really blessed me because I have been feeling a bit frazzled the past couple of months and really, really, really NEEDED to spend more than a few hours with my husband and kids in the same spot.

Thanks guys for knowing my heart and knowing that time and some sun and sand would bless me. Thanks mom for watching the "horse" and for helping keep the surprise. Maybe I will survive 40 after all. ha!

PDN Weekend

This past weekend Morgan had a dance competition in San Diego. My mom and mother in law went along to watch and keep me company. Dan stayed behind because Ryanne raced in the Redlands classic on Saturday. I don't have a picture but she took 4th place. Go Ryanne! On our way out of town we stopped in Temecula to eat at my favorite Greek restaurant. Grape leaves and curry anyone?

As we were walking back to our car after lunch I saw this; now I'm just throwing this out there but does anyone else think they might need new surveillance cameras? Geesh! Someone just took the whole bottom of the ATM.

The weekend was LONG but fun. We got up at 6:00am on Saturday morning because the girls had to meet for stretching and warm up work out time before their work shops started.

They warmed up for about 30 minutes and then hit the ground running. They were able to pick dance workshops that lasted an hour each. The kids attended 6 on Saturday alone and then three more on Sunday.

The kids were from dance company's all over Southern California

Morgan chose to try a swing class as did a few of her friends. They had a blast and the teacher was super fun and high energy.

Dan & Ryanne were able to run down real quick Saturday night to see her first dance in the competition. Dan got caught taking her picture as she was waiting to dance. Busted! The kids danced from 8am-4pm and then had one hour to get cleaned up and changed into their first outfit to compete. We did not get done until 11pm that night. Tired? Oh that was an understatement.

Morgan's hip-hop teacher from our studio taught a class and so she took Josh's class along with all these crazy kids. Morgan's in there but you're going to have to take my word for it. :)

Morgan & Sophie getting ready to get their groove on.

Some of the "shy" kids from her dance company. Ha!

These guys are brothers, Frit & Frat and they taught Musical Theater as well as stomp. Morgan took both and loved them.

And lastly Dans sister who lives in San Diego brought the kiddos over to cheer Morgan on as well. It was so fun to spend a little time with them and for Morgan to have the support. Fun weekend! Still recovering though.