Some of My Favorite Things...

Island Park

And this little guy!

Spanish Fork Fiesta Days

Welcome to Spanish Fork Festival Days! aka: The day I almost threw up in front of my children.

Pioneer Day is a huge holiday here in Utah. In fact, it's my husband's favorite holiday! He LOVES taking the day off from work and heading to SLC to see the Days of 47 parade and touring around Pioneer Village. However, Pioneer day came on a Saturday this year. This seems to have deflated Sweetie somewhat because he didn't have to take the day off and everything was going to be SUPER crowded. After an early morning run together we decided to part from the norm and head South to his mom's house for the day and find things to do in that neck of the woods. Enter: Spanish Fork Festival Days. Craft vendors, amusement rides, & sweet treats. Somehow I got left with the kids and Grandpa Archie at the amusement rides while Sweetie and his mom when to look for ducks for the duck races. (Think rubber duckies.)

First I was shocked at the ticket prices for rides and with there being six of us I'm thinking..."no way." Next thing I know Grandpa Archie (seriously one of the kindest and sweetest men you'll meet in this life) is slapping down his cc for a sheet of tickets. "Oh good..." I tried to pick a ride that looked harmless enough that we could all go on. Well, with the exception of Grandpa Archie. Why? Because that man is SMART I tell you.

I don't know what this ride was called and it wasn't TOO bad. The kids were giggling and happy. However, I had to sit on the outside with my two youngest. Tears running down my face from the wind and trying to hold my head up straight, I'm wondering..."How can these two be so freak'n heavy?!" G -Forces anyone?

Ride is over. That was fun. Kind of. Where did Grandpa Archie go? Oh, here he comes....with another sheet of tickets....awesome.

I look for another ride. I find one that I think shouldn't be too bad, but I haven't actually seen what it does. *Duh* I'm pretty sure it's called something like "Nightmare" or "Loud Screamer" or "Lose Your Lunch".

So we're all loaded on the "Death Launch" and this thing gets really going and yeah...the kids aren't really laughing. In fact, I think my youngest next to me has stopped breathing altogether. I'm pretty sure I shouldn't be looking at the horizon from this angle. But then again my eyeballs seem to be jumping around in their sockets and I CANNOT wait for this thing to land!  Finally after what seems an eternity it begins to slow but wait...wait...Oh no...it's just going to go in reverse now. Hooray? See that girl in black sitting behind my kids in that picture? See how happy she looks? That smile was wiped right off her face as I saw her trying to rip that lap bar off before it came to a complete stop so she could throw up with dignity. And this is how I win all those "Super Mommy Awards" - by throwing my four year old on traumatizing amusement rides.

The good news is that once we got our land legs back, we ended the SF Fiesta experience with over priced snow-cones and a great story to tell.

Child #3 still hasn't recovered.

Summer Fun Midterms

Well we're half way through the summer and we've checked some things off our list.

The ICE CREAM MAN came. And....they're back in the tub.

FIRE

Roasting marshmallows again. Again and again....

I used to like eating  S'mores. I liked eating S'mores up until the time I got my fire pit thing-y for Mother's Day a few years ago. There really can be too much of a good thing? So this year I've tried to mix it up a bit by using Chocolate and Cinnamon Graham Crackers and all types of chocolate like Peanut Butter Cups and Mint Patties. Ugh! If I'm going to ingest extra calories and fat I'm going to make it good and eat something like...a delicious PIE! Unfortunately, if you have kids, you know I would never get away with eating pie or let's say... a chocolate cake donut without sharing - no matter how much they like eating the S'mores. And let's face it; they don't like eating the stuff either, it's just fun to make.

FEEDING THE DUCKS

HUMORING Mom for a picture

EXPLORING

Oh what do YOU do in the Summertime? 

As for me: I just got back from my 20 Year HS Reunion, Camping in Island Park with an outing to the Playmill Theater in West Yellowstone, and had yet another birthday - I'm still in my thirties. Seriously... 

The Cold Tub

Look at our new cold tub swimming pool! This is ideally where we would put my hot tub...but ya know, I don't have a hot tub so welcome "Cold Tub". There below lies the remains of a sandbox that fills with weeds. Pretty ingenious of us to smother the weeds like that don't you think?

The kids think is super great!(Apparently they are easily amused on a boring summer day?) We filled it with ice cold water straight from the hose. So shivering and splashing; teeth chattering - they had a blast! Here's to hoping they won't put a hole in it and flood the house. Whose brilliant idea was that to put a pool right next to the house? *Pashaw*  I'd rather have a hot tub anyway.

On another note: There's a 5K update below.

Liberty Days 5K

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED BABY! 

I ran (without stopping) in a 5K! I was so proud of myself; simply because I've always been the VERY non-athletic type. Trust me when I say it's a huge deal. 

Here is a picture of the signs I saw as I neared the finish line. I have great kids. I also have a great husband who thought of the idea and gave the kids poster board with markers and cheered me on. 

I was so focused on just finishing I was a little mad at myself for going too slow. I definitely wasn't last, but I finish nearly 2 minutes behind my best time and I still wasn't out of gas. I know I didn't give it my all but I'm happy to have achieved my ultimate goal. So now, of course, I want to do it again and pick up the speed. So okay, I'll do again. How about this Saturday? Okay. I may have even convinced Hubby to join me.

UPDATE: WE DID IT!
Farmington Festival Days 5K, 10K & Half Marathon

My man seems to have broken into a bit of a sweat. I was SO PROUD of him. He finished without stopping and had a pretty good time! He tells me I signed him up against his will when the truth is all I had to do was tell him there was a free breakfast afterwards. 

I am on this list! I'm #19 in my age division. That's pretty good! I Couldn't believe it when I came up to the finish line. I ran my best time and crossed nearly 4 minutes faster than I had on Monday. I was feeling quite giddy the rest of the day. :)

That's two 5K in one week! It's time to take a racing break but I'll do it again Sept. 11th.