I really wanted to post about this day because it seemed so perfect.  It was nothing exciting or eventful and maybe that’s why it was so nice (plus Tyler was home, always nice).  It was a beautiful day so we loaded up the kids to go play for a couple hours out at 1000 Hills.  They have a little beach area where you can play in the sand, Jackson was in heaven and Olivia just loves being outside.  As I sat there watching the kids I felt such happiness.  I feel very thankful to have such a great family, great kids and beautiful surroundings.  It was one of those peaceful happy days

Jackson eventually got down to his skivvies—hot bod.

Our little Odee is sitting up.

Side note—Millie loves Olivia’s car seat, I have to put it up so she’ll stay out of it.  (btw–can’t believe i’m posting pics of the dog, guess i like her

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We were lucky enough to have my parents come and visit us for a few days.  It was so exciting to have our first visitors.  We were all very excited and Jackson loved having Grandma and Grandpa Reeder sleeping in his room.  Thank you so much mom and dad for coming out—it meant a lot to us and we were sad to see you go.

We put my dad to work—he installed our blinds and they look awesome (i’ll have to post a after shot).

Every fall Kirksville puts on a arts and crafts festival called Red Barn.  I was quite impressed with this little town.  They have over 100 vendors come and set up booths.  Lots of cute stuff and of course greasy food.  They had a kids area that Jackson had a great time in.

We went out to 1000 Hills (state park) which is only 10 miles from our house.

We gave Olivia her first little hair cut.  She was sportin’ a serious comb over.  I was holding on to the last of her long precious baby hair.

Tyler was able to give us the tour of the school and his lab, which was really nice to see.  We had a lot of fun and of course the time flew by.  It was great having the extra hands around and to have my dad cook us a delicious meal.  Thanks mom and dad, we love you.

And now meet the new addition to the Smith home—-Millie (named after Millcreek canyon, one of Ty’s favorite places to ride).  We bought Millie at Red Barn.  Tyler finally got his dog—I’ve been telling him he could get one once we were in Missouri.  She is a good little puppy and once we’re done with all the house training I’ll be a happy girl.  We bought her from an animal rescue,  she was found on the side of the road with her 5 siblings inside a taped up box—-we couldn’t resist.  They think she is a mix of a boxer and lab.  Jackson adores her and she loves to follow him around.  She is fond of Olivia as well, yesterday she jumped in her car seat and sat on her lap.  She is a cutie.

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So I’m taking my turn to post and, of course, this post will be about cycling.  The Tour of Missouri has been going on this past week and we decided to drive down to Jefferson City on Friday afternoon to see the end of stage 5.  It was a 2 hour drive but well worth it.  The tour had some of the best teams and the best riders so to miss it would have been plain dumb! (How glad am I that I married someone who thinks cycling is as cool as I do, very lucky) It had been raining all day in Kirksville but we decided to chance it and loaded up the kids and the Chambers family and headed out.  About 40 miles out of Jefferson the rain stopped and the roads where dry and the cycling gods smiled down on us.  The race ended with 2 laps around the capital building which equaled 3 chances to see the peleton roll by and plenty of chances for Brad and I to geek out! For the first 2 passes we stood at the 150 M mark where the crowd was thinner and we could get a good look as they went by.

Jackson liked watching them “go faster”  I think he expects his next ride in the bike trailer to be a little more exciting now that he’s seen how fast a bike can really go.

Once they headed into the final lap we headed up towards the finish line and found an empty spot down on the barriers at and Brad and I jumped down into the mix to watch the sprint finish.  This was an uphill sprint finish so you could see the pain as they dug in for that last 100 M.

This was the best pic I had of the actual finish. (Notice Vande Velde in the yellow jersey pushing it to the line to keep his overall lead for the tour, very cool)

Not only was it not raining in Jefferson, but it was about 95 degrees with 100% humidity so we were dying in long pants and the racers looked completely cooked.  I was able to get some pics of some of my favorite riders as they trailed in after they buried themselves to lead out their teams on the last lap.  Here is Utah’s own Dave Zabriskie

Here is Tim Johnson who is a killer road racer but and even more amazing (national champion) cyclocross racer.

After the finish we headed over to the stage to watch see the podium ceremony and the jersey winners for the day.  Here we got to see Christen Vande Velde get the yellow jersey again which I’m sure he’ll finsh with today to take the overall race win.  We also got to see Mark Cavendish get the green jersey.  I’m also a big fan of Cavendish who won 4 stages at the Tour de France this year. Team Rabobank finshed 1, 2 on the stage getting on the podium.

Here’s shot of Brad and I on the barriers waiting for the finish and as giddy as 2 school girls. (we really like cycling despite the fact that it’s not “cool”)

Here is Aimee and Mel wondering why their husbands are so nerdy and why their husbands don’t look as good as these other guys in spandex.

Jackson and the other kids were so good during the race and while driving.  You can see the sweat spots on Jackson’s shirt in this pic, that’s how humid it was and we showed up in long pants like a bunch of suckers expecting rain.

Cycling brings families together (right?!)

Lots of fun was had in Jefferson City and the Chambers are good company (not only for cycling events).  We plan on making this an annual event over the next few years here in Missouri and I’m already excited for next years tour.  For those who think cycling is boring, I don’t really care but I still decided to included these great photos of Jackson and Olivia, world’s best big brother and little sister.

Cute kids.

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