July 2018

We had lots of time with cousins in July!

 The girls tackled the Sherlock Holmes Escape Room.  Besides that one really sneaky trick, we totally had it.  It was fun!

 Kylee asked if we could run the Firekracker 5K again this year.  Last year I ran hard and got a PR and she ran/walked with a friend.  I told her I would run it with her if she would run it and try this year.  She said that's what she wanted to do.  She did awesome!  I've been training for long distance and strength so I haven't been doing a lot of speed.  I had to push a bit to keep up with her! And she sprinted ahead of me at the end and I couldn't keep up.

The boys are funny together!

I found out Playmill had Newsies playing this summer and I knew I had to take Kylee.  She's obsessed.  She sings all the songs and watches it on Netflix often.  Grandma Cheryl decided we should all go to Playmill so instead of just my family going, we got tickets for all of our families.  Ryan and Kaden were going to stay behind.  Well, I failed to realize Kylee would be gone at Girl's Camp on the day we got tickets.  She was going to be so mad!  So I found another date that worked and invited her best friends.  Ryan went in my place (because I didn't really want to go twice) and we got a refund on the other ticket.  Then Kylee and I went with two of her friends a week or so later.  Her friends' families decided to come too, but the girls all sat together and rode with me :)  Unfortunately we could only get tickets for the later show, so we were leaving West Yellowstone at 11pm and didn't get home until 1am. Yikes! 

Kylee got to go to Girl's Camp for the first time!  "Camp" is not really accurate, since the leaders opted out of camping and instead went down to Utah, stayed in a house, went to Temple Square, listened to many speakers, swam in a lake, and did not camp at all.  Kylee was a bit bummed about that, but since they had just done trek, it wasn't a big deal.  She had a great time and I got some pictures from one of my friends that was with them.

Lyndy came to visit with her kids and we went to the lake.  I swear this is the first day it's been warm when they are here.

 It was so busy!  Check out all those kayaks and boards!

 We decided to take the kids up to Palisades to find a hike or a place to swim.  We attempted one hike that wasn't fun and the littler two kids were not being very tough.  So we looked for a place to swim.  But it was just so PACKED everywhere.  We enjoyed the views as we drove around though!  Then we stopped for square ice cream, and headed to Heise Hot Springs instead.  Sara met us there with her kiddos too.  Fun!

 I was laughing at the splashes made by my kids' dives.  Dylan's splash is huge and Kylee's is tiny.

 Sadie and her cute friend Cambry chillin' on the tramp watching her phone.

 I took the kids (minus Kylee since she was at "camp") to Rexburg Rapids with Sara.  They had a blast!  Other than Dylan and Sadie cannot get along to save their lives.  I try to force it sometimes.  I usually end up frustrated.

Grit League is always fun.  Sadie enjoyed being in the "open" group with Cambry, meaning there was no pressure to hurry or get a bunch of laps.  She just had fun.

 Kaden and Porter always have fun together.  Goofballs.

 Kaden was invited to Katelyn's birthday party.  So cute!

 Dylan hadn't gotten around to using his Pringles from his birthday yet so I talked him in to doing the challenge for the family one night.  Ryan was the clear winner on that one.

 At least once a summer I have to take them for sno-cones.  They ask all the time, but rarely when it's a good time to stop.  Look how happy they are!

 More cuteness from these little buddies.

 Is there anything cuter than this little guy playing Pie Face?  Beanboozled is not as fun...

 Kylee and Dylan went to PINE BASIN!!  So fun!  Dylan had a whole crew going.  Kylee has two of her besties.  They had a blast.  I wasn't worried about them at all. (Okay, maybe a little, but just that they wouldn't use sunscreen, not that they would be homesick.)

 Trying to keep the other kids entertained the whole week they were gone.  We did some swimming.

 On Thursday, the parents got to come up to see the place and watch a program.  Right when we got there, Dylan came strolling over filthy as can be, wearing flip flops with dirt caked all over his feet and up his legs, looking like a mountain man in his element.  LOL.

 Kylee looked much more presentable...  She at least had showered and brushed her teeth.  Dylan admitted he had only brushed once.  No shower ("the line was too long").  He was wearing flip flops because he had forgotten to pack extra socks, even though I specifically mentioned the socks a few times.  I thought I had seen him go get the socks or I would have double checked for him.  Oh well, he has to learn somehow I guess.  He wasn't bothered by his filthy feet.  He said he wore his dirty socks on the hike, and when they chased the counselors that night, but that his socks were a bit stiff- which is gross.  This kid is a bit of a germaphone, but doesn't mind dirt at all.

 This dog just wandered around the camp.  He seemed like the happiest dog.  And Kaden loved him, of course!

 I'm so happy they had this opportunity.  No screens for five whole days.  Friends, outdoors, plus learning.  Dylan wants to go again.  Kylee is too old now but she could do their science camp.  We will see.  The drive to Palisades is really pretty too.  I've driven it a bunch of times this summer, lol.

 More lake days.  It's my happy place.

I think that covers my kid's July.  Now onto what I did this month...

I decided to do the sprint triathlon at Rigby Lake.  I haven't done a sprint in a long time so it was a nice change.  Though I wanted to be faster, I just haven't been working on speed.  I had a fun time with friends and met a few new friends, because that's what people do at these kind of races, they talk to strangers.  The girl that ran with me (in the picture) caught up to me within the first mile and then just decided to run with me for some reason.  She probably pushed me faster than I would have gone.  I just didn't really know why she decided to run with me when she was clearly faster than me.  But it was nice having a buddy even if I couldn't breathe enough to talk much.

These are some views I had while riding my bike.  Pictures never do it justice.  The canola field was lit up golden by the sun.  And the other two pictures were at the top of a really long hill that I climbed with Jen (Bone to Sunnyside loop).  It feels good to get out!

The trails kept calling to me this summer!  I didn't want to waste any opportunities.  We did upper palisades lake (13+ miles total) and we ran into a moose at lower lake.  It was really close to the trail and it caused us to waste some time stressing about it!

 Moose:

 Upper Palisades Lake

 After doing Palisades a few times, we decided to try something new.  We went up to the Darby Wind Caves.  It's a beautiful hike!  A little steeper in places so not as much running this time.  But so fun!

Part of Spartan Training is running trails and hills.  The other part is upper body strength.  We spent a lot of time at the park playing on the monkey bars.  This day we had gone to the track for speed first (I got a mile in 6:56, PR for me!) and then went to the playground.  Some punk teenagers had messed up the swings so Jen and I climbed up, risking our necks, to fix them.  Later I thought our kids could've probably fixed them much easier than us.  But oh well.  It felt good to be strong enough!

 We've been spending some time at The Edge climbing gym as well.  This is the best way to train for Spartans!  Grip, forearms, shoulders.  It helps develop calluses and everything.  Plus, it's super fun.

I got to meet up with my friends in Logan.  Friends for 20+ years and still going strong.  Love these girls.

 We met up for bowling for Eileen's birthday.  Anything is fun with friends!  Sherri thought it was pretty awesome that she beat me (she claims it's the only thing she can beat me at, {insert eye roll}).  Eileen lost pretty bad the first game, but she won the second game!  And we didn't even let her.  Somehow I managed to get in Sherri's head enough that she only tied me instead of beating again.  My friends are fun.