The Zoo

This week we went to the zoo.  It was hot but the animals were especially active so it was neat to see them playing. 

 It was neat to see the new polar bear exhibit.  He was enjoying a nice swim. 

The tigers were also very active.  Two of them got down into the pool and were playing with each other and a giant ball.  It was so cool to see them interact with each other. 

 Alex loved the snakes. 

Pioneer Day Parade

Thanks to my family sleeping out, after running the 10k we were able to go over and watch the parade.  We had perfect seats in the shade. 

It had already been a long night for Jaden.

Waiting for the parade to start. 

It was also a long night for Jessica. 

Clearly the best float. 

 Alex ate the entire time.  Luckily he did not get sick afterwards. 

The early wake up call also caught up with Brandon. 

It had been a lot of years since I had been to the parade so it was fun to go again.  After the parade we went swimming with Brandon's family and then ate at the Asian Star.  Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures but we had a lot of fun and it was good to have such a delicious meal after such a long day.  Instead of going to fire works that night we went home.  Alex went immediately to bed and stayed asleep despite our neighbors mowing their lawn at 9:00 pm and then doing fireworks right out his window.  I also fell asleep on the couch not long after.  All in all it was a fun day even though it took us a day to recover. 

Deseret News 10K

Instead of going crazy again this year I decided to scale things back and just run the Deseret News 10K instead of the marathon.  It certainly was much more enjoyable to be running only 6.3 miles instead of 26.2.  Although I was surprised at how tough the run still felt.  I am sure that was because I was not as well trained and I also ran at a faster pace than I normally do.  It was also fun running the 10K because we got to run the entire length of the parade route instead of only one block like with the marathon.  It really helped to have people cheering you on for a good part of the race.  Many of the members of my family had slept out the night before so it was fun seeing them as we ran by. 

Here is the starting line: 6:05 am

 Ready to go!

 My sister Jen ran this race with me.  It was fun having someone to run with and helped me keep my pace up. 

 

Here we are finishing. 

 We finished in just over an hour.  My official time was 1:01.  That is a 9:50 pace which is faster than I normally do so I was pleased. 

 It felt really humid to me and I was very sweaty at the end.  It was so great to know that Brandon and Alex would be waiting for me at the finish line.  Brandon got up before 6:00 to get down town to meet me by 7:00 am.  He also stopped for donuts on the way.  He is the best!  Also, Brandon's Grandma Maryann and Aunt Stephanie were there to greet me which was great too. 

It was a fun race and I am sure I will be doing it again in the years to come. 

Culdesac of Fire

The Culdesac of Fire 2012 was another fun success.  As usual the Everitt's hosted it and we ate lots of yummy food off the barbecue.  We played a few games and once it was dark the fireworks began!

Here are Alex and Wilson enjoying some dinner at the kiddy table.  They seem to both be very concerned about something. 

This photo can be used as blackmail later on in life. 

 I'm sure this photo can also be used as blackmail.  Sadie insisted that we dance while she sang the Rainbow Connection.  It was lovely. 

Thanks Everitt's!  We had fun!

Summer Fun

It's hard to believe that it is already July.  We have been having so much fun this summer.  Alex is at the age now where he can really enjoy a lot of new things.  We have been having fun taking him lots of places and experiencing many new things.

Enjoying bubbles in the backyard.  Notice Boo in the back round hunting mice. 

Doing a little bit of swimming.

Going with some cousins and aunts to Wheeler Farm. 

Alex is loves animals and is not afraid to run up and touch them (this can be good and bad).

Mindi took this sequence of pictures.  She had Alex feed the horse, then things went south...

 The horse tried to swallow Alex's entire hand...

 He is shocked...

and then mad and needed to be rescued.  We are actually lucky he didn't lose any fingers.  We will stay a little further back next time!

This week Brandon and I took Alex to the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point.  Alex often has us read him a book about dinosaur bones so we thought he would love it.  We were right!

Alex pretty much loves any where he can be loose and run free.  Since we were inside and it wasn't very busy it worked out perfect. 

 Building a dinosaur.

We thought this was funny.  They had a sand and water pit where the kids could dig and find little toy dinosaurs.  This was the most crowded place because all the kids loved getting their hands dirty and finding the toys.  Alex on the other hand did not like getting his hands dirty (he gets that from Brandon) and was much happier at the hand washing station than playing in the dirt. 

However, he did enjoy digging in the sand to find the dinosaur bones.  He is a funny kid!

This 4th of July was a little bit crazy.  I woke up the night before feeling very nauseous and sick.  It lasted through most of the holiday.  Alex hadn't been eating very well for the few days before but we thought he was just teething because he was still acting normal.  However, at my parents house he ended up getting sick.  We decided to brave the fireworks anyway.  Alex was definitely more interested than last year but still not super impressed. 

Here we are waiting for them to start. 

Even though it ended up being a long night we had a lot of fun and we were so glad to be together as a family.