More Summer Fun

It has been a really hot summer so far. We've spent a lot of time outside in sprinklers and at the pool. Ashley is so great to take Justin and Mia out with her and they can spend an hour playing in that sprinkler. It always ends with the need for some downtime. We've watched a show almost every afternoon and Mia falls asleep on the couch. It's great. The girls are in their tie dye shirts they made at Elizabeth's birthday party. They turned out better then we expected. Now they look like they are from Colorado when they wear these with their crocs.

We go on a lot of bike rides. At least one a day. Ashley got a new bike for her birthday. We bought it early since we will be in California for her birthday. It's a sweet bike. Full suspension. It's a little big for her but she has figured it out. She loves that it has 6 gears and a kickstand. The picture on the left is what I see as I am putting Mia in the stroller and try desperately to keep up. Even running this is a challenge these days. I used to wonder when I would be chasing them instead of encouraging them along. Crazy that I am there already. We rode to Hans' office one day. 5 miles round trip. They are impressive. Our favorite ride we call the horse loop. It's a nice balance of ups and downs.

We were lucky enough to have the Mabeys drive through on their way to SLC from Austin. They have 4 cute kiddos. Ashley and Megan were born 4 days a part. They were cute babies and now they are both getting baptized. Here is a picture of Betsy and I together right after we'd had our babies. And yes...I'm wearing overalls. Can you get away with that when you had a miserable labor and delivery? I don't have the overalls anymore... Betsy is one amazing person. We were grateful to have them here with us. We played on the trampoline with sprinklers, walked to the park, walked through Garden of the Gods, and generally just let the kids play. My kids were in heaven. It's fun for me to see Hans with old friends. He and Justin have been friends forever. And, of course, we played Settlers. I couldn't pull out the victory. Betsy is queen until we see them again. Hopefully we see them before 5 more years pass...

As for me, I have been just trying to keep up with my kids. Life is busy. We do swim team every morning, stay and swim a couple days a week for a few hours, which requires all sorts of preparation with lunch, sunscreen, etc. and lunch is my hardest meal to prepare. I can easily do Gluten free at home, but it's harder to make it portable in a cooler. One day I just brought snickers bars for Mia and Katelyn. That's healthy, right? Calories, anyway. Katelyn is happy eating fruit all day, but she can't get enough calories that way. She's tired with the swimming and gymnastics. I took Justin out of his gym class for the summer because he was always too tired by the time we got there. We are hiking - We did Stanley Canyon on the Air Force Academy yesterday and had a great time. The kids are such great hikers. Mia rides in the backpack. We enjoy looking at bugs and being in nature. Justin said yesterday, "oh, mom...this is so beautiful" so I asked him what was beautiful about it and he said, "just being outside." So cute. Ashley and I are going to go back on Thursday and finish the hike. I took the kids to a free open gym, to baskin robbins, and to Chick-fil-a for all our free summer reading coupons. Ashley is an amazing reader. We went to a friend's house yesterday and she taught the girls to knit. They are great. Ashley is working diligently. We go back next Friday to learn more and start on a project. It requires all sorts of patience, which is why I don't knit. Ashley has patience. Katelyn...not so much. She's figuring it out though. Hans and I are still riding together once a week, which is fun. He hiked the incline with Jeff yesterday. My marathon training is underway. 2 weeks done. 14 to go. I ran 9 yesterday. I felt pretty good. I was able to hike with the family and do yoga with Hans in the evening. I have lofty goals of running a super fast marathon in St. George. I think that's all. I did a nutrition thing for 2 weeks to find out once and for all what's been bothering my stomach. Turns out I can't eat: gluten, dairy (including yogurt and cheese), egg yolks, and chocolate. Soy was fine. Sort of sad. Okay, a lot sad. But I feel so much better when I eat stuff that doesn't bother my stomach, it just makes me not very much fun to eat with. I did go to the farmer's market yesterday since I bought a week of a farm share from a friend. The kids loved it. We got to pick out what was our share and bring it home. They immediately wanted to make a salad since it was all greens, but they wouldn't eat it. I cooked with mizuna for the first time last night. I always thought it was just a running shoe, but no. It was tasty. The kids hated it. We got snap peas, collard greens, mizuna, spring onions, garlic, spinach, red leaf lettuce, beets, radishes, and all sorts of herbs. I think I might want to be a farmer.