The 6th and 7th FOURTH

The 4th of July is a lot more fun now that the girls are old enough to participate in the activities.  It is a tradition to go up to Goompa and Nana's on the 3rd of July for a firework show.  They live adjacent to a golf course where they have an annual show.  We get front-row seats in the comfort of their back yard.  The evening included a barbecue, a water slide, lots of fun with cousins and fireworks.  I forgot my camera, so close your eyes and imagine the wonder.  It really was great. 

To compensate, I took tons of pictures the next day. Neema and Pa's home-owners association has a bunch of fun Fourth of July activities followed by a barbecue every year. It starts with a neighborhood parade. We didn't get home from Goompa and Nana's til about 1 in the morning. We missed the parade... and the fire truck. Boo. Luckily we had plenty of fun to keep us busy like...

 Throwing wet sponges on daddy (and other fun games)

 Running races with other kids:

 Fast... like her uncle.  

 Sizing up the competition.

 I wish I looked this cute when I was running!!

Naiya got 1st place  and Eva got second.  For some reason Naiya looks sad... or maybe just annoyed that someone keeps sticking a camera in her face.....

There was also face painting (always a big hit with the girls).

 

Hanging out with Neema (and Pa).

Playing on the playground.

Of course there was a great barbecue with plenty of treats....

Top it off with swimming, and you have all the fixin's for a perfect 4th. 

I can't believe this was Naiya's seventh and Eva's sixth fourth of July.  Time is flying by!! I am lucky to have so much time to pause and enjoy these kiddos each summer.  Let's hope that is a tradition that we get to keep up every year!!!

RAGNAR

It was a couple weeks ago,  and I haven't posted anything about it, but I made it.  I survived my first Ragnar.   This Ragnar is 197 miles run in teams of  up to 12 people.  (We had 12.)  They split into 2 vans.  Van1 starts Friday early in the morning up in Logan.  Van2 meets them up in Ogden Valley around noon and Van1 gets to rest.  I was runner 8 (the second runner in Van2). 

My first run was a HOT 3 1/2 mile run in the Ogden Valley.  It was the middle of the day.  Not too much I want to post about that one other than I made it, I got 12 kills (kills= # of people you pass) and I ran under my projected time. 

The second run was PERFECT.  It was 7 miles out of East Canyon at about 11:30 Friday night.  George parked at the finish of the run and then ran up to meet me so that I could have company. (Ya know, cause 7 miles by itself is not enough for George.  He needed 14.) The temperature was perfect and much of the course was a nice loooooong downhill (my favorite).   Finished with 29 kills and under my projected time.  I would have done that same run 3 times if I could have.

The last leg was a little (lot) painful.  By the time we finished our 2nd legs and got to the hotel room, it was about 3 in the morning.  We showered and climbed into bed for a whopping 2 hours before it was time to get up, eat breakfast and get on the road again.  (It maybe could have been 3 hours if not for the stomach issues that 4 of us were dealing with...). 

We got to our first exchange just in time... only it was the wrong exchange.  Ooops!   So... we got to our REAL first exchange for the day about 10 minutes late.  Good thing everyone in Van1 was easy going! I started my 5 1/2 mile leg at about 11:30.  It was already hot.  I was having some problems with my achilles and had a little funky asthma/breathing problem going on.  If I ran, I couldn't breathe.  If I walked my achilles fell like it was going to pop out of my leg.... and I ran out of water 1/2 way through.  Boo!   In the end I made it  in 10 minute miles (a couple minutes longer than my goal time).  I still got 13 kills,  I only cried a little, and I only cursed twice (out loud). 

We followed the the rest of our runners and made it to the finish line in time to run (limp) the last 100 yards to the finish line as a team.  

Challenging?  YES!

Fun? YES!
Will I do it again?  DEFINITELY! 

What's next?  Glow in the Dark 1/2 Marathon in July.... guess I'd better start training!  Good thing I have these to get me going:

Too Busy

We're too busy having fun.... and driving around in this:

I'm super spoiled... but now we have room for friends.  Hit me up if you wanna ride to the mountains/zoo/aquarium/park...
Will have to find time for a real blog entry later.
Have a happy-filled day!!!

To be or not to be?

So... I think  I can call myself a runner now.  I've been putting it off.  I see a lot of "real" runners out there doing their daily run.  I run, but I don't know if I'd call myself a runner.  I started running on January 2nd when a friend asked me to join her team for the Ragnar Race for June 15th.  I ran and  s.l..o...w....l.....y built up some miles and improved my pace.   Do I run at my goal pace?  Nope.   Have I reached my goal weight? Nope.  (In fact I haven't lost a pound- not 1- since I started running 5 months ago.) Do I run?  Yup.  Do I like it?  Yup.  Well then, I guess I might be a runner. 
In the last month and a half, I've run a 10 miler, a 1/2 marathon (13.1 miles), two 5K's (3.2 miles) and now a 7 mile trail run.  Although running doesn't define who I am. I am a lot of things before I am a runner. (My running schedule proves that.) BUT, when I saw this post-race picture today, I made it official:

Anyone who can run 'til their face is that red... in the cold and rain (okay, just a drizzle.. but it was windy and cold!) and think of it as a "super fun" morning must be a runner.  And I was just a little jealous when I saw my cute friend Casey's bloody elbow after she ate it.  (I don't know if that makes me more of a runner... It might just make me weird.)  

Plus I got like 5th place.  That kinda rocked too. ;)  



Must Do...

Saw this on Facebook. Stole it and had soooooo much fun making it our own.  We keep thinking of fun things to add to it, so this may not be our final draft, but for now....let the summer begin!!

Today we crossed the Aquarium off of the list, but with those cute river otters there, I'm sure we'll be back before school's back in session.  Took 2 phone pics.  Both were fuzzy.   It's kinda dark in there, but, if you live in the area, you should go see the otters.  I could watch them all day long. 

I made my own personal bucket list, but it's mostly work/organization related.  I'm thinking the family list will need to take precedence. :)

Even "blah" is better!

Blah day today.  Started out with a "fun" lock your keys in the car kind of adventure that threw off the morning.  Things worked out okay, but my sister-in-law and hubby both got a late start at work because of it (although both were super kind & helpful).    I was thinking about taking the 3 chickens (as they wish to be called?) to the aquarium.  Yesterday was a fun BUSY day. (My girls both ended it way past bed time with a 2 1/2 mile run to top of the fun adventures from earlier.)  The kids  & mommy were all a little tired... and maybe even a little cranky... just a little.
During the school year, if you have a blah morning, you suck it up and forge ahead. BUT... It's not "during the school year"  and... now, this is the awesome part about a blah day over summer break... we didn't.  We stayed home, colored, played, picked up a pizza and rented a movie.   Very little housework was done.  Very little work of any kind, in fact. 
To top it off when Jared paused at home, he brought me a Dove chocolate bar (my very, very favorite).  When I unwrapped it (before dinner), it told me "Do what feels right."    Good thing, cause that's just what we did today.
Have I told you yet how much I love summer break.  Cause I do.  LOVE IT!!!

I'm kinda spoiled now.

This year, at the end of the school year, I got a little (massively) spoiled by my class parents.   First I got an amazing set of gift cards that are PERFECT for what I need/want to do this summer.  One was for new running shoes at SL Running Company.  Love that place!  (And I'm really in need of shoes too!!)   The other was for a super wonderful spa called the KuraDoor.  (I'm thinking post-Ragnar massage.) I also had another parent get me a gift card for a pedicure. (Another great post race treat for me!)  Yet another great parent got me a gift card to the Cheesecake Factory. (That could go one of two ways... pre-race carbo loading or post-race cheesecake.) Then today, we had a few parents get together to throw us a teacher-appreciation lunch.  One parent that's a personal trainer taught an awesome Pilate's class for all of us and then we had a yummy lunch after class.  Another perk was that I could bring the girls (and cousin, Tayte) to play out back with all the other kids during the class.  They had fun, and I had a momma moment! 

After a fabulous morning, the 3 amigos and I went to the zoo.  It was a nice warm day.  Perfect for lots of animal watching fun... and a little ice cream.

I am extra grateful to have a camera on my phone cause I can't seem to remember to grab the camera.  It was nice to get to snap a few pics of the girls having fun.  They were happy and well behaved the WHOLE time.  Really!!  I love outings like that.  

Now we've eaten dinner- not really home cooked, but a healthy salad with french bread & lots of fruit.  (Too hot to cook today.)   Finally, I heading out to go meet a good friend at the track.  The best part of running at the track is that my cute girls bring toys and play.  I get to run, and they get to have fun.   Win-Win. That's kind of the theme for today. :)  

I'm feeling kinda spoiled. I don't know that every summer day will be as great as the first two, but for now, I'll take it!