Crossfit Games...

Over the last two years Crossfit has become my main exercise programming. The general philosophy of this programming is constantly varied, functional movements done at high intensity and basically prepares you for any physical challenge. The exercises can involve anything from power or Olympic lifting to bodyweight gymnastic movements (pull-ups, push-ups) to "cardio" (run/row). I love it because everyday is different, there is always something that you can work to improve on, and it keeps me in shape to participate in just about any physical activity I enjoy. The first year and a half I worked out with a friend at the base gym doing the main website's workouts scaling as necessary and teaching ourselves the various movements and lifts. When J was born she began going to Crossfit Hampton Roads to train while I took a few weeks off to recover and slowly work back to full capacity. I began to train there a day or two a week and over the last 6 months exclusively as I love working out with the trainers and the wonderful community of athletes there. Earlier this year I was asked if I would participate in the gym competition/try-out to determine the top 3 men and women that would form a team to represent the gym at the upcoming Crossfit Games. The gym competition was in early March and I placed 2nd overall for the women after 3 events securing me a place on the team. We've trained hard the last few months and this last weekend traveled to Logan, OH to represent our gym at the Crossfit Regional Games. This competition had athletes from seven states come and compete in both the individual and team competitions working to advance to the CrossFit World Championships in July held in Los Angeles this year. The team competition consisted of 3 events the first day and a final event two days later. Each team had 6 athletes but only 4 would compete in each event. Our team members were Jay, Brent, Jeremy, Nicole, Courtney, and myself.

The first event each athlete had to complete 3 rounds of the following movements for time: 20 kettlebell swings to full extension overhead(55#/35#), 10 chest to bar pull-ups, 20 burpees(push-up chest to ground, jump to standing, then lateral jump over sand bag), 20 box jumps (24"/20").

The second event the four athletes had 15 minutes to work to a one rep max snatch which is a Olympic weight lifting movement where you take the bar from the ground to locked out overhead in one quick movement. At the end of the 15 minutes we had 5 minutes to complete the maximum number of handstand pushups with each rep completed added as an additional pound to our cumulative total.

The final event of the first day involved a 5K trail run on very hilly terrain that included a 20# sandbag carry up a steep, 400m long hill at mile 2.

On the last day, the final team event was 50 muscle ups (hanging from gymnastic rings you have to do a pull-up, transition to a dip and press to full extension of your arms above the rings), pick up and carry a 10 foot long, 250 pound log up and down a hill about 250m, complete 100 thrusters (95#/65#) (squat with weight then press out overhead), log carry again, then 200 deadlifts (135#/95#), and one more log carry.

Of the 32 teams that competed in the four events, we ended up in fourth place overall and the top six advance to the finals. So we're headed to L.A. in July!!

It was a fun weekend participating in a great competition and hanging out with friends from the gym. We witnessed many incredible feats of strength, endurance, and sheer willpower in both the individual and team events. We had some other athletes from the gym that traveled with us to cheer us on and they took all the awesome photos. Our coach's nice write-up is here.

The competition was near Hocking Hills State Park which I would recommend visiting if you're ever in the area. We only got a chance to hike to Old Man's Cave which was amazing as you hiked 200 m from the road and you dropped down into this incredibly beautiful gorge. The pictures from my point and shoot don't do it justice.

Zoo fieldtrip...

The entire kindergarten went on a fieldtrip to the zoo a few weeks back and I went along to help chaperone. Word to the wise don't go to the zoo on a Friday morning in the spring. There were at least 30 school buses there that morning. We had fun walking around and looking at all the animals but my favorite was this new exhibit:

Whitney with one of her best school buddies, Jenocea:

Horseback riding..

I few weeks back the girls and I had the opportunity to go help out at a local horse stable to do some work with some friends from the gym. We cleaned all the horse stalls and helped move some shelters and do some other maintenance. The girls helped with spreading the new straw in each stall. They loved all the animals that were there on the farm especially the new litter of puppies.

After the hard work they got the chance to go ride the horses. They were both in 7th heaven getting to ride, brush down, and feed the horses especially Maren who loves all things horse/pony right now. Whitney loved is so much that she made a book about it the next morning.

Happy Birthday Jonas!

Our happy little guy is now one years old. He is on the move and loves to play outside any chance he can get. He loves standing at the front glass door to watch everything happening outside. I love when I come home and see him standing there as he lights up with a big smile to welcome you home. He's starting to do some sign language and loves to blow kisses. He does well playing independently but occasionally that also means he's being mischievous like emptying his sisters drawers or unrolling the toilet paper. We celebrated his birthday a few days late as it was the first day we could have everyone home at the same time. He really enjoyed opening his presents much to the dismay of his sisters who wanted to do it for him. Happy Birthday buddy!

Here's the play by play on the cake eating, first a little taste of the frosting that was pretty yummy, let's try some cake, not my favorite but I'll keep tearing it apart, All Done!, guess I need to clean up my tray, "Who me? I wouldn't make a mess!", where most of it ended up.

Jonas walking...

Little J-man has really taken off this week with his walking. He walks more than he crawls now. Here's a couple of videos for the grandparents (ignore the Star Wars sounds in the background)

Easter fun...

We enjoyed the opportunity to watch General Conference this weekend and really focus on the true meaning of this holiday as we were reminded of the glorious gift that our Savior has given us through his life and atoning sacrifice. We are also very grateful that Jim returned early in the week from Chile after only three weeks instead of 3 months. Once they arrived in Chile they realized what they really needed was only the facility (tent hospital) and not all the personnel. Once they got it all set up and running they turned it over to the Chileans and returned home.
Amidst all the craziness of packing up half our house, cleaning it up in preparation to place it on the market and watching Conference, the kids, Nana-san, and I headed out for some Easter fun.

Maren and Whitney each enjoyed some activities and hunts at school this week. On Saturday we went to the base Easter egg hunt. Maren insisted on joining Whitney and their buddy L in the 4-6 group but was sad when the eggs disappeared so quickly that she couldn't leisurely walk around and pick up one at a time from each area. She doesn't have the open field egg hunt strategy down yet. That evening we enjoyed dinner with some friends and the kids all had a blast actually hunting for eggs instead of picking them up as fast as possible. Jonas even joined in the action at both hunts and quickly picked up the concept of picking them up and with help putting them in the basket. He's also quickly gained a love for chocolate as he's raided his sisters baskets.

(Maren sporting some plumbers crack while hunting)

This moving stuff sucks already and we're just getting started. Hopefully with all the work we've done this week the rest will be easier though I think we'll be in moving mode for the next 6+months until we buy a new home. Our home is mostly bare now (staged) so now the trick is to keep the kids from making a mess :)