Elephant Man Trip

In September Kenny completed 2 triathlons including his first Olympic distance (1 mile swim, 26.5 mile bike, 6 mile run), called the Elephant Man Triathlon.

Completing this race was the main goal of Kenny's training all year. The race took place at Elephant Butte Lake in New Mexico and of course the whole family (aka Kenny's cheer team) came down also and we spent the weekend there with our good friends Ron & Bridget (who kindly let us stay with them, as always).

Kenny was up early on the Sunday morning and had a great race over a very challenging and hilly course in temps of about 90degF, cheered on by his "fans" and he finished in 3hours 27 mins, which was 3 mins ahead of his goal!

Kenny is an Elephant Man!

Sunday was rounded off by a trip to the beach where we all got to play in the water and Mac got to wear her new swimsuit.

We then headed back to Ron & Bridget's and had a great meal while watching the sunset, which always seems to be beautiful down there.

We stayed until Monday and we spent most of that day out on the lake on Ron & Bridget's boat and Mac got to show off her driving skills.

Cameron got to go kneeboarding again and proved that it is like riding a bike by getting up on the board quickly and looking like a pro after just a few minutes.

Genevieve and Mac took frequent dips into the lake to cool off and Mac gladly jumped in after sitting on deck in the sun for a while. Kenny got to brush up on his waterskiing for a while too.

Below is short slide show with some more pics from our fun weekend:

Click on this link to view slide show full page in its original form or to download any of the pics: Elephant Butte - Sept 08

After working up an appetite out on the water, Ron and Bridget then took us all for the Monday night special at their favorite little taco place where we got a good feed before packing up and making the drive for home.

Every time we go down to the lake we always have so much fun and we always say we should go more often. We love being down there as a family and Ron & Bridget are so hospitable and welcoming. Maybe next year we will go there more often and not let day to day life make excuses for us.

Cameron's First Day of 5th Grade

Cameron's first day at his new school, Cielo Azul. They built the new school less then a mile from our new house. Cameron just loves the new school and his new teacher, Mrs. Knutzen.

Another hard day at the office?

Yesterday was a tough day at the office. It was the 6th event in Kenny's department's Olympic teambuilding summer games. It is basically 10 events that run over 10 weeks where 7 different team compete against each other to be top of the medals table and win gold!

So far there has been everything from basketball and volleyball to an Olympics quiz and even a Ms PacMan competition.

Event 6 was Tug o' War ! Below you can watch the video of Kenny and his team in their first round match which the won convincingly (2-0).

Kenny can be seen at the front of the rope for his team.

All good fun! But need to work on that technique now that they are through to the next round.

1....2....3.....HEAVE !!!!



Tug o War

I want to ride my bicycle

In the words of the song by Queen....
"I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride my bike"
"I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride it where I like"

So that is exactly what we did today. Kenny, Cameron and Mac went on a bike ride to the park.

Mac gets 10 out 10 on the cuteness scale as usual, esp wearing her brand new doggie helmet







Cam looks like he is too cool for school. But next week the summer vacation is over and he will be off to his new school. Cielo Azul Elementary.....home of the Ravens!



Kenny and Mac on the "Mean Machine".

A serious work out for Kenny in the engine room of the Mean Machine, especially when Mac is sitting back with her juice in her hand shouting "GO FAST DADA!!!!!"



We also got to fly the kites at the park, however Cameron was the only one who had any success in the light winds we had this morning.

Another fun day in the Black household

Mac's Bath time

Mackenzie, just like her Mum, loves her baths!

Unfortunately for her, Mum was busy tonight, so Dad was on bath duty.

But Dad can be fun too............really!

Is there anything more fun than making strange hair styles or bubble beards in the bath?

But what do you do when your cool hairstyle becomes a flop?

Just get more bubbles and keep on smiling!

But then just as your having fun Dad says it is time to get out.......Uh-Oh!!!!

When does Mama get home?

Angry Face & Sea Lion Impressions

There is no end to the talents of our Mackie Moo as can be seen in this recent video clip taken in a restaurant while on vacation in San Francisco where she shows us some of her "talents"

In the beginning she shows us her "Angry Face" (which it seems she can never do for long without laughing and shaking her head) and then as the clip progresses we get to see her impression of a Sea Lion (we had just seen them from the pier and Mackenzie seemed to really love them).

You will also notice in the clip how well she takes direction on her performance!

I am sure stardom can wait for a few years yet.........but not as far as she is concerned

Our California Vacation

The Blacks are back from vacation!

Genevieve had to go over to Folsom, CA on Intel business for a few days so we decided to make this into a family vacation trip. We all had a great 10days over in California and manage to cram in far to many things to mention here in one short blog post.

Some of the highlights included:

• Getting to visit family (Grandma (several times!) and Todd & Dee)
• Day trip to San Francisco (WOW....way cool, to many things to list)
• Going on a WWII amphibious vehicle tour of San Francisco (Cameron even got to drive it)
• Visiting the Jelly Belly jelly bean factory (no other comment needed except yummy)
• Swimming in the American River (beautiful but cold water)
• Going to Fairytale Land in Sacramento (Mackenzie loved it)
• Folsom Zoo Sancuary visit (cute little zoo where all the animals were rescued from labs, horrible owners/breeders etc)
• Snooks Candy Store visit in Old Folsom (handmade chocolates to die for!)
• California Railroad Museum (tons to see and do, Cameron loved seeing all the fancy sleeping cars but Mac was disappointed that the trains did not have a swimming pool, LOL)
• Wandering round Old Sacramento (visiting cool old stores and eating too much saltwater taffy!)
• Going swimming almost every day (I think Cameron and Mackenzie are almost part fish by now!)
• Cameron jumping off a 12 ft springboard at Folsom Aquatic Center (Go Cam!)
• Eating at ton of great places (the 7lb weight gain I made on the trip will be testament to this)
• etc
• etc

Just too many things to go on about to be honest.

I think one of my longest lasting memories of the trip will also be one of the simplest ones. Every time we returned to our hotel room and opened the door Mackenzie walked in and said "Mmmmm, nice. I like it". i.e. basically mimicking Genevieve's comment that she made when we arrived on the first day.

Below I have added a slide show with a load of pics from our vacation which you can watch. You can also view the pics separately and download them by clicking on the photo of Mac in the plane ready for the trip

Enjoy the show:

California Vacation - Jul/Aug 08