Let's Wear Them Out

On July 4th I was feeling a little antsy to do something fun with the kids.  My goal this summer has been to see how much it takes to wear them out, especially Austin who seems to have an endless amount of energy.  So we got up bright and early Monday morning and took the kids on a 10 mile bike ride.  Austin rode in the carrier with the baby but it was so hot and humid I thought that would still make him tired.  But after we got home and had lunch and I suggested we all go swimming they all jumped at the idea.

So we went to the pool for a couple of hours and then came home and changed clothes and headed to our friends the Mickelsen's for dinner and fireworks.  Before dinner Evan took Ryan and the kids on an atv ride in the mountains around their house.  They came home dusty and dirty but were still up for playing with their friends and staying up late to watch an impressive fireworks show with the whole Mickelsen clan.  We got home around 11 pm and amazingly everyone fell right to sleep.

Sunday Drive

One of the best gifts we ever got Eden was a camera for Christmas.  She loves to take pictures. Ryan took the kids for a drive on Sunday the 3rd of July and both he and Eden took their cameras.  We had a very wet spring this year so the mountains were in full bloom.

Ryan took his new zoom lens and had some fun.  These pictures are all from his camera.

Fireworks

The night of the 2nd we did fireworks as a family.  It's nice that the kids are all old enough to do it themselves.  Ryan and I get to just sit back and enjoy the show.

Dirty Girl (Run)

Last January a few weeks after Evelyn was born I signed up for my first race, the first annual Dirty Girl Run at Wheeler Farm.  It looked like so much fun and good incentive to get me moving after having the baby.  Then I got suckered into a triathlon and had to really get moving.  But I was so excited to find out a few months ago that a whole bunch of my friends signed up for the Dirty Girl Race too.  I joined their team the Muddy Mommas and partnered up with my friend Kelly to do a relay.

The race was bright and early Saturday July 2nd.  We were in Heat 1 Wave 1 which was great.  It was still cool and not too crowded.

Not all of our team was here yet but can you believe they got me to wear a costume?  

Me and Kelly

It was only a 2 mile run (if you were doing the relay) with about 5 or 6 obstacles.  I was having so much fun.

Okay, so I didn't enjoy actually crawling through the mud.  But we also had to climb over a wall, jump through tires, hop along hay bales, run through a river, crawl under a net draped with bras, and climb over a net.  I liked all of those.

By the end of the two miles I was surprised at how "not" dirty I was.  So, I decided to have some more fun...

And make sure everyone else got sufficiently dirty.

I don't even know who this girl was but we had a mud fight in that puddle.  I was laughing my head off while trying to keep the mud out of my mouth.

The mud fight continues.

Oh yeah!

Ryan ran around with Evelyn in the stroller and took about 150 pictures.  What a man!

When the other half of our team finished their 2 miles we all ran in together.

Is this not the coolest way to end a mud race or what!

I love these ladies and had so much fun doing this race with them.  I hope it becomes a new tradition!  This was the perfect therapy for the crazy busy summer I've had so far.

Mini Milestone

While we were at my family reunion Evelyn learned to roll over.  The first time I was lying on the floor next to her trying to take a light nap so I missed it.  But within a few short hours she had the hang of it.  She would lead with her head and twist her body around to follow.  It was pretty impressive.  Not that it's all that new, especially since she's my fifth kid to do it.  But for some reason it's always amazing to see each child reach a milestone, even little ones, and it feels like something to celebrate, even for the fifth time.

Fun In The Sun

On Thursday Jacque and Nikki planned some really fun water games.  I was really impressed and the kids had a lot of fun!

Hold Up!

After the sweaty hike on the 27th, we went for a cool ride on the Heber Creeper to Soldier Hollow in Midway.

Austin was so excited to ride the train.  He sat for a whole 45 minutes mesmerized.  I think that may be the longest he's ever sat still.  As a side note, he got this sweet hat this summer in his little Fathers and sons baseball clinic.  Ryan took him every Tuesday and Thursday for the month of June.

Alex was just as excited as Austin.

Eden and Ella had to bring some dolls to make the most of the trip.

Unfortunately, we were robbed.  The train was held up by highway robbers who shouted and waved guns around until they found the cash box and pulled it off the train to blow it up!

The robbers weren't too happy about the Goose they found in the cash box so they came back on the train looking for a better reward...

I guess Nikki was it!  He was all ready to haul her off...

Until she admitted that she couldn't skin a bear.  Disappointed, the robbers left and we returned to the station.
It was good fun!