We loved staying at Bartons Motel in Laconia, NH - June 2 2013

The only thing I wanted to share (other than how super cute my kiddos are!!!) or point out was how cool these butterflies were!  We could literally touch them.  They must have been really tired or really liked tanning at that beach.

A beautiful day!

A beautiful day with my beautiful girls!

Sister time

An alien life form.

Go!

Cliffton loved looking at the butterflies too but I was kinda tired of taking pictures of them at that point.

Here are some self portraits.  :)

Violet dives headfirst into most activities.

beating on Daddy

guy talk

Oh no!  a blanket monster!

Having fun!

The fun got a little racy after this picture so we decided not to take anymore pics!

the mud! the ice! the hills! the mud! the barbed wire! the tunnels! the mud! the muddy water! the not-so-electric electricity! the teamwork! the mud! the walls! the logs! the mud! and of course... the headband!

What a fun family vacation we had!
 We left on May 31 to drive up to New Hampshire for the 'Boston' Tough Mudder at Gunstock Mountain.  It was a great time for us overall.  We took a ferry from the North Fork of Long Island to New London, Connecticut.  What a fun way to "drive!"  We had a lot of traffic getting out east on the island.  Once we reached the ferry, everything was fine until we got to our motel late that night.  Nobody was around.  The office was closed.  No key drop, etc.  We tried emailing and calling.  Apparently he didn't have our number and had tried to find us.  So, we tried to find a new place, even stayed in the lobby of a hotel for a short while, but then slept in the car a little and had an early breakfast at McDonalds.  We got into the motel soon after and slept a few hours.  I originally was going to meet a team that morning.  I decided I wanted my sleep more than meeing up with them.  So I got over to the event and joined in the nearly last wave and man, Tough Mudder is awesome!
    Some of the obstacles were quite tough, but overall, I was happy to get through with little injury and successfully do each one!  My vote is that they were not as  hard as I thought they'd be except for the hills and arctic enema (ice bath!).  Most I could do alone but a couple I needed teamwork which just happened to be the time I hooked up with a team (around mile 8 I think).  They were fun and incredibly friendly.  About 4 guys and 4 girls. We finished together and we agreed that the hills, um, MOUNTAINS, were rough!  We went up and down them about 5 times.  Oh, my calves hurt sooooo bad on Monday!!  (I was sore on Sunday too, but Monday was the WORST!).
    Although this event is a challenge, and never a "race" I did bring my watch to see my time.  It took me about 4.5 hours.  If I had not teamed up with anyone and just used whatever help I could along the way, I'd likely have finished in about 4 hours.  I would love to do a few more.  I'd also like to try a few other events that are similar (Savage Race, Spartan Race, etc.)  It really beats road racing!  Guess I'm a dirty gal  ;) 
     I have found two pics of me online and it looks like that's it.  They are several hundred pages of pics though.  I''m not sure I have the time to look at each and every one!  I had so much fun at Tough Mudder and it was an incredible feeling to get that orange headband.  I'm hooked!  I should add, the electric eel and electroshock therapy did not seem to have the electricity on when I went through - no complaints from me!  I'm sure the staff wanted to get us through a little quicker!

Here are some before and after pics from my own camera.  Oh, I would like to get a super tough camera one day to have at events like these!  I left mine with the bag check and they kept the area very secure.

Gettin' my tough on!  And darn happy about it too.

Mess with a Stacey?  Only if you're crazy!

Azure and I down at the little beach, Saturday June 1.  Paugus Bay.

Azure is more into the sand than the water.  Well, I should say, she loves to touch the sand but doesn't really like to get her hands dirty either.  Its cute.

Riding the shuttle over to Gunstock.  We had to drive nearly 25 minutes to get on the shuttle to come all the way back near our motel.  I was so worried I wouldn't make it in time for the last wave!  Really, that's my worried face.  :)

#toughmamasaretoughmudders  #thinkyoureastoughasme  #mudon  #imsodoingthisagain  #whywouldIwantafreebeerwhenimfeelingsogood?  #jointhemuddersweknowfun

Now I got my tough on AND my mud on!

I was a fortunate (or maybe unfortunate, if thats how you roll) mudder who never slipped and kissed the mud.  Sloshed through it plenty and swam in muddy ice water and ponds.  I looked worse after crawling under the barbed wire though.  Wish I had some pics of that!

Feeling good!  Before the icy rinse station ("bonus obstacle")...

...and after.  I think my skin lightened a few shades.  

Going back to the shuttle pick up/drop off.  

Since Siskel and Ebert weren't around, I had to give myself a two thumbs up.

Waiting for the fam to get me.  We needed the green band to  participate and the orange was for over 21.  I like event jewelry!  No alcohol for this tough mama.  Just mud, fire, ice, wood, tunnels and hills.  Oh yes, and the water stations!  The clif blocks were yummy (we only got those at one station).  

Loved it and doing it again!!!  Richard and I want to do one or something similar together.  That reminds me I saw pics online of a couple who got engaged at the end of the challenge.  I think its great.  (The shirt says Tough Mudder 2013 Finisher.)

And the theme of this blog post is....

 Has anyone ever hear of the Sweet Tooth Fairy?  Its so deliciously decadent!  I've only tried cakebites and cupcakes and they were all, super good, high quality, beautiful treats!  When Richard worked at the Zermatt, he would periodically receive items leftover from conferences/company retreats.  One fateful day, Zermatt had leftover cupcakes.  Oh goodness.   A little bit of heaven on earth.   For Jessica's bridal shower, I think it was for Lily, we had some of their cupcakes.  I recall Almond, coconut and red velvet being the best ones!  For a birthday or two, I used my birthday coupons that you can receive to get a free treat.  Sweet!   The owner, Megan something, was featured in a few articles.  http://www.thesweettoothfairy.com/

During our New year's eve/Janelle's birthday with our friends, Cliffton fell on their stairs and popped out a tooth!  It was a canine or next to one.  We found it and after talking with Papa (Richard's Dad) we put it in what I remember as milk, what Richard remembers as salt water.  We'll  have to have Papa declare which voice retains truth and clarity of mind.  :)  Then we gently put his tooth back in.  Oh, it made me cringe!  I could hardly stand it!  I remember having a tooth partially come out (I was about 6) and when I looked in the mirror, the way it was hanging on made me pass out!  I still pass out with ease.  :/ Cliffton was in a lot of pain right when he lost it as you can imagine.  After a few minutes he had calmed down.  When we put the tooth in, he was OK until just before it was all the way in.  He ate carefully for a few weeks but has been otherwise great. 

One of the shyest girls in Primary, Jayleen, very proudly showed off her two new teeth this past Sunday.  What a darling lil' lady.  She is about 4 months older than Cliffton.  So, maybe Cliffton has another 3 months 'til he loses his first baby tooth?  Well, for good this time. 

My camera has bit off more than it can chew.  I guess its teeth aren't very sharp.  Its very grumpy right now and appears to be giving up on life.   OK, that one was a stretch, but still, I do like to share my ability for camera euthanasia. (BTW, was I the only one that for several years wondered what the heck the "youth in asia" did to cause such heated arguments?!!)