The week in review

I thought about the fact that it had a been a week since I'd updated the blog and thought "did we even do anything this week?", then thought a little harder, and well yep, we did!

Monday we went to Wheeler Farm to have a picnic dinner on the grass before listening to a storyteller. Dinner was good, and apparently the bees there thought so too. They swarmed our food pretty good and I don't think I've ever seen bees like this. They were litterally pulling small chuncks off our chicken on our plates. Kinda scary. Dinner was over rather quickly and we played Red Rover with the kids for the first time after they saw a big group doing it. Groups of 2 doesn't work quite right, but they didn't mind. Then we took a seat on the lawn and listened to a professional storyteller from Boston in town for the Timpanogas Storytelling Festival. The festival itself is pricey (this show was sponsored Salt Lake County Libaray System so it was free for us), but would be a lot of fun next year. This lady was great, singing and telling stories and the kids had a great time. It's so fun to be able to do things like this together.

Tuesday we went to a little puppet show at the library. They love the particular lady that does the show's because she often uses funny things like a toilet brush or duster for her characters. Anyway this show was the Little Red Hen and they thoroughly enjoy it. I really like how she did the ending. Instead of the other animals just being too lazy to help, they were actually busy making other things to go along with the bread like jam and butter and milk.

Thursday we went to Wheeler Farm again with my friend Heidi and another friend of ours Ann who was down from Logan. We each have 4 year old girls, so that's a lot of fun. We had lunch while the kids played in the small ditches. Man, kids love water. Either splashing in it or sending leaves down it and under the bridge. Oh and I've decided the bees there have a chicken fetish. They didn't come over until I arrived with a roasted chicken breast sandwhich. Maybe it's just me though....great. Anway, we had a good time walking around seeing the animals and feeding the ducks. Mckayla and Talmage watching their leaf float under the bridge.

Talmage, Mckayla, Heidi's Rachel, and Ann's Kayla

Then yesterday we went to the outdoor pools for the last time of the season. It always makes me a little sad every year when they close. Later yesterday we went to a party for my Grandma Lois. It was kind of a family reunion / neighbor party and with my Grandma getting older it was good to see her happy and with people she knows and love coming to see her. She's living with my mom now so it was especially nice for her I'm sure. The kids and I go over to my mom's every week or so and Grandma's cute, she'll always have her arms out when I get there to hold Miss Kaitlyn with my help. She also enjoy's talking to and watching Kaitlyn play on the floor at her feet and talking with Mckayla and Talmage. We love you Grandma!


Then today Mckayla got to give a talk in Primary. Here she is at home practicing. Daddy said she did great. I unfortunately didn't get to see her. Talmage came down with a fever yesterday so he and Kaitlyn and I stayed home. I thought I'd throw a couple cute pics in of them too.

Hobblecreek Half Marathon

We headed down to Mapleton yesterday for the race. Jer's Aunt and Uncle the Harper's of Runner's Corner are the race directors, so we always go down to help and I've run it the past 2 years as well. I helped at packet pickup friday afternoon, then we headed down to Springville to visit with my grandparents for a little bit.

These pics are for you Sis, I thought you'd like them

Afterwards we headed to the park where the finish line is and set up our tent. They have a new and improved playground now, so that was a BIG hit with the kids and kept them occupied all night long (way later than they should have been up, too!). I woke at 4:30am to get started eating and whatnot and Jer got up at about 6:00am to start helping. Needless to say we are pretty wiped out tonight.
I got to ride up to the top with my friend Becky which was so much fun. We hung out at the top for 20 minutes or so, and we were off. This is a favorite run of mine. 1400 people line up 10 miles up Hobblecreek canyon on the narrow 2 lane road and it takes at least a mile to get some open ground to run. I really like that though, it's exciting and gives you a change to not go out too hard. I felt good the whole run, trying to push the pace so I could PR. I'm happy to report no stomach issues, side aches, or other issues other than some minor soreness in my feet at times. I'm going to have to figure out if these pretty racing flats of mine will work for St George. I felt much better than last year though and finished about 6 minutes faster in 1:36, right inbetween my realistic and optimistic goal. I earned my second Elite 100 medallion which is awarded to the first 100 men and first 100 women to finish. I was also thrilled to place 3rd in my age group. I honestly didn't expect to and it made it really neat. There are a ton of people in this race, and most of them spend all their time training for running specifically, so in that respect I have a slight disadvantage with my triathlon love. Anyway, a good day, we kept track of all 3 kids most of the time and all got naps this afternoon.

Summer Pool Party

Today we went to the end of summer party at the Oquirrh Park Fitness Center in Kearns where I work. It was lots of fun as they closed the facility to the public, so we had all these big pools to ourselves. I feel bad we haven't taken the kids swimming more this year, but Jer's been busy building his buisness and it's a daunting task taking all 3 kids by myself. Anyway, here are some fun pics from the night.

Daddy and Talm had a blast splashing eachother, I wish I'd caught a better picture. They also thought it funny to plot against Mommy and splash me too (who'd a thunk it, getting wet at a swimming pool?). That big bucket at the top of the pic in the background is Talmage's favorite thing about the pools. It fills with water and dings a bell before it dumps A LOT of water out, and he always stops what he's doing to watch saying "bucket Mama, bucket! Look!".

Some fun time in the raft

Man, picture taking with multiple young children should be an olympic sport, what a challenge! I promise we all had a good time though.

Kaitlyn's getting so big!

A fun new toy!

For Mom that is! Monday I got to pick up my new wetsuit, the Quintana Roo Hydrofull which was generously (as these things are NOT cheap - think several hundred dollars) donated by my new SPONSOR! Yep, I'm now a sponsored athlete!!! Pool 'N Patio in Sugarhouse now provides all my swim gear which is so great. The manager Brad Gale is a professional triathlete from South Africa. So if you're in the market for new suits, caps, goggles, pool supplies, or tri clothing, that's your place.

While they don't sell string bikinis, sorry, competetive swimwear has really evolved. The new polyester blend fabrics keep their color and shape forever. I've been training 3 days a week in the same suit for around a year and it still looks new. The prints and designs are sooo cute too! You'd probably have a hard time finding a solid blue or black there. And ladies, 90% of the suits there are one piece. So Ladies, (I say ladies, because they don't really sell swim trunks there and I don't think most guys are interested in speedo's or tight swim shorts, although I'm not against speedo's on the right body type, don't tell me you didn't think the olympic swimmers looked cool!),

even if you're not a swimmer, if you're looking for a cute, long wearing, snug fitting suit (even I want the suit to fit tight to, um, hold stuff in place?), seriously, just go in and check them out, try a few on, and tell me what you think. And tell Brad "Hi" so it looks like I'm doing my job :-)

The funny things kids say....

I keep forgetting to do this, but I really need a post about what my kids say. Maybe I'll start a sidebar with their little quotes. Here's a tidbit though.

We were on a walk the other day and Mckayla ran across the street without looking (no worries, I was there, it was clear, and not a big street, she normally does look both ways). I said "Mckayla! You didn't look both ways!". She returned "Don't worry Mom, I'm not dead"

Talmage came upstairs the other day with a purse on (you may refer to the Dress Up post now) and said "Bye Mama". I asked "where are you going?". He said "to the store to get juice and bread and eggs", and proceeded to try to open the front door. He was serious. And as he was coming upstairs to leave I heard Mckayla say "have a good day at work Honey, make lots of money!". Playing house, I love it.

Talmage asked for a cup of milk today. I didn't go straight for the fridge as I had to put Kaitlyn down, and he said "pwetty pwease wif sprinkles on top". Oh what a sweet boy he is. On the other hand, he has become Mr. independent lately. If he knows you're going to say something he doesn't want to hear, he'll look down at the ground and put his hand up in the air toward your face and say "Stop!" very firmly.

Mckayla and Talmage went outside to play a while back and didn't close the door behind them. Jer reminded her she was supposed to close the door and she said "well Dad, it's just been a very frustrating day". Nice kayla, I know how you feel

And a sweet one. We were driving home from playing at Sugarhouse Park with my friend Jennifer and her kids (thanks guys, it was fun!) and Mckayla asked when Christmas was. So I explained that it was in 3 months and told her the holidays and events before hand. I was just about to ask her what she wanted for Christmas and she chastened and humbled me by saying "You know why I'm excited for Christmas Mommy? Because then I get to see Stephy and Ryan and Jamie and Derek!!!" in her most excited voice. Those are her aunts and uncles that live out of state now. What a sweet little thing.


All of our friends out there without kids or with kids not talking yet, just wait! It is so much fun!!!

Rivers and ducks and trails...oh my!

Last wednesday the kids and I went to Sugarhouse Park. They had a blast feeding the ducks and geese, which I'm grateful weren't aggresive. They did swarm the kids, but weren't pushy about being fed. After being so kind to feed them, the kids proceeded to chase them.....nice.

After the ducks we moved on to the playground which is always a big hit. Mckayla found some friends there at least twice her age and immediately took the role of boss upon herself (since somebody's gotta do it, right? Silly girl). I asked them if they wanted to go to the stream (which they hadn't seen yet) and they promtly refused, so Kaitlyn and I hung out on the grass. She's getting so big, cooing and moving around.
Once they found the water though, they were in heaven. It's great because it's never more than knee deep on them, so I don't have to freak out all the time trying to supervise. Mr Talmage found a straw at one point and got 4 or 5 good gulps of river water in before I tromped in after him. In the picture below he's serving me a pancake. Yum!..... Mckayla's project was to build a dam for the beavers - you know the beaver population in Sugarhouse is growing ;-) . They had a great time and I'm sure next time we go up we'll spend all our time in the river.

This past weekend we camped up at Jordanelle for a Howlett family campout. It was fun; a decent amount of rain, but not too bad. Mckayla adores Jer's 10-13 year old cousins so had an awesome 3 day play-date. She even got to sleep in their tent one night! Saturday I had a 15 mile run planned, and had great weather for it. I ran into Park City, along Main Street, then caught a trail. The road below is what I had to climb to get on the trail, but notice the beautiful Park City too. Quick sidenote - how do those people drive on streets so teep like this in the winter?!? Scary!


The picture above is from the trail I ran on. The definition of a perfect trail: singletrack, not too rocky or hilly, and surrounded by trees. Ah, it was wonderul! The pictures below are of the Bonneville Shoreline trail in Draper I ran last year. So pretty. Seriously, if this can't get you motivated to get out, I don't know what will.


A little later Saturday a friend from the pool met me up there to get an open water swim in. All was well till we were about 200 yards from shore. As soon as we started back we were accompanied by thunder, giant rain drops, hail, and wind which produced some nice waves. Yeah, that was a new and errie experience. Sure made me swim faster :-)

Catch up

I've slacked off a bit this week, so I'll update now.

Monday we had our annual neighbornhood ice cream social. It's cool to see a lot of the neighborhood there, member or not. The kids and Dad had a great time in the water fight. Jer turfed it into the cement at one point, Talmage got into the fun toward the end and had a great time splashing the other kids. And Mckayla...
The silly girl would stick her face in her bucket which apparently made her invisible to others so they wouldn't get her wet. It actually worked too. Anyway, here are some fun pics from the water fight.





Wednesday was fun. The kids and I went to a juggling show at the library that was lots of fun. At one point though when they said they were going to juggle knives, Mckayla came running back to me with her hands on her cheeks and a scared look on her face saying "but Mom! Playing with knives is dangerous!!!". At least I know I'm doing something right, right?
After that we went to a splash park with a friend of mine Heidi and her kids and a few other friends. I've never been to a splash park, but it was lots of fun. Spraying water features like at the pool, but no depth.



Then Saturday I had a 5k race at the fitness center I work at benefiting Make a Wish. That's something I'd like to do more of, run charity races. Put our money toward good causes. Anyway, the pressure was on me (put there by myself) to win this year since I won last year. I pulled it off, but ran a little slower than last year...20:38. Salt Lake County was supposed to turn off the sprinklers on the grass we ran over for most of the race but apparently forgot. I was worried about mushy grass, but it was fine actually. And it was actually pretty neat running right through the sprinklers at one point. Would've been a really cool picture actually with the early morning sun too. Sorry for the blurry pics, gotta love camera phones though as a mom