Day 15: Action (and wish fulfilled)

It has been a good year or so since we have told her she wasn't tall enough to ride the roller coaster, so she has been eating food (bribery on our part) and measuring herself waiting for the day she was tall enough to ride.  Thank heavens for short height requirements at the local carnivals.

Day 14: someone I love

It has been fun to watch these two become such good buddies this past month.  Brenden is gone for the summer, so they have had to kinda rely on each other for entertainment.  She thinks he walks on water.  I think I love them both so much.  This truly has been the BEST summer that I can remember.

Mt Olympus and Y mountain

Wade's love language is "time spent together", but getting him out of the house to do something is nearly impossible. While Aspen was out of town on Wednesday visiting her grandma, I dragged Wade out for a hike.

Well... Let me restate that.

I drove to the hiking location, and he drug my old body up the mountain. 

Whomever said that if you can run X amount of miles, you surely can hike.... was sorely mistaken.

My friend John suggested a few hikes for us and then asked if I was tough enough to take on Mount Olympus.  Yeah, I wish he wouldn't have said that because my ego had to prove that I COULD do it.  

Dumb ego.

You are so grounded for next hike.

I was dying by mile 1, and was really hurting by mile 2.5.  The last big .25 mile climb to the top, we passed on because we were dead tired, and it looked very intimidating (and we were basically out of water) and because I am old and wussy.

The trip down should have been much easier than going up, but considering I wore my barefoot shoes, it was NOT GOOD.  Going up, my foot hit the ground on my pads of my feet, using mostly toes to climb.  Going down, my toes were pushed into the front sections of my toe shoes because of the incline, and rocks would hit my heels and arch of my foot.  I counted 8 blisters when I got home.  My heels still feel bruised 10 days later.  I haven't put on my toe shoes since I have been home, but plan on running in them tomorrow.

 As a solution to our little water problem, we found a spring coming out of the side of the mountain on our way back down.  I could hear grandpa Frank cautioning us as the the many ill effects we would suffer from drinking it, but figured water coming directly from the mountain had to be just about as filtered as you could get.  So far, there have been no side effects.  So there Grandpa!!

Last week, in order to make myself feel less wussy, I planned an easier hike for the both of us.  Aspen went to visit Emily (sitter), and Wade and I hiked to Y mountain.  Yeah, yeah... I know... Y mountain is a BYU thing.  The view was worth all the crap I had to take for it from my fellow Utah/USU fans.  The morning was cool, the path was wide but steep, and it wasn't very long.  I think Wade has caught my vision (finally) with this whole hiking thing.  I have only been bugging him to go hiking with me now for 4 years.  We are hoping to get in the big Mount Timpanogas climb before summer ends.  It will be an all day event, with a round trip total of 15 miles.

I won't be wearing my barefoot shoes.

Monkey

 I never know what I am going to get lately from Aspen.  Today it was "mom, come help me climb this tree".  I knew she was already filthy from making mud pies in the backyard, so a little tree dirt wasn't going to do much damage.
Oh well... this just helps her be a little more "tom-boyish" and a little less "princessy", right?

Right again

A race I shouldn't have ran combined with an hour and a half of direct sun for the Lehi roundup parade, and I have a headache that has not let up all day.
I should have heeded Hayden's advice and spent the morning in bed relaxing.

June 13: (yes... I'm behind) Reminds me of childhood

More than anything this time of year, the smell of these wonderful (weedy) trees reminds me of growing up.  I can't get enough of them.  The sweet smell of Russian olive trees.  The lovely memories of the prickly things that we had to cut down from the fields when I was growing up.  Good memories.

A good laugh

We went to pick out a cake today. Aspen is quite particular. She wanted a dinosaur cake...again. So I grabbed one and she protested.
"not the grumpy dinosaur, I want the smiley one".
I laughed for five minutes.

A little bit of music... A little bit of Ed

Hayden introduced me to the musical group LIVE when we first met. I has heard some of their music before but since then have fallen in love with their sound. The group disbanded in the last couple years and the lead singer, Ed Kowalcyzk, was in town on saturday. The only thing better than an hour of listening to him, was being able to be standing in the right spot afterwards and being asked if we would like to meet Ed.
Ummmm...yeah.
Hello.
Too bad my good camera battery was dead and this the picture I came away with. Thanks for a fun night Hayden.

June 12th: Silhouette

Long Beach, CA
2006

Why I love summer

The best and most amazing part of summer is that I get to spend it with this girl.

As she climbed in bed with me this morning to cuddle, she wrapped her arms around my neck and said "your my best friend".  One day she won't think so... so, until that day, I'll be drinking in these moments, realizing all too well that they don't last.

June 11th: Sun Flare

June 10th: An animal

Toby is so big he is sometimes mistaken for a small horse... mostly by Aspen, who likes to ride him.
He is getting old, has arthritis and more gray hair everyday.
He has a red KONG toy that is his kryptonite.  He ran through a bonfire to get it once... not sure if that means he has a KONG addiction, or if it says something about his intelligence... or both.
We got him as a middle aged skinny dog two years ago, and he has put on a good 40 pounds since then.

June 9th: Fresh Fruit

Bananas and grapes... that is pretty much all the "fresh fruit" we see at our house.  Fresh is a relative term at our house... FRESH just means they aren't brown yet.

June 8th: Sunset

While at a conference in Phoenix, I had the opportunity to hike up Camelback Mountain.  The cool part... being at the top at sunset.  The NOT cool part... hiking down 1.3 miles with no daylight.

June 7th: High Angle

June 5th: My Breakfast

It has been a crazy week.  So much to write about: summer, graduation, mud race, Les Mis, Kids growing up, airport, etc.   I have been logging my pictures for blog challenge as well, which is proving to be a bit more challenging than originally anticipated.

Sunday morning I was double lucky.  Hayden held down the fort while I ran a long run AND he made me breakfast!  Hashbrowns, home grown eggs (thanks to Amber next door), bacon (extra crispy, the way I like it) and sausage.  Love you Hayd.  Thanks for spoiling me!

June 4: clouds

June 3rd: Hands

My hands say a lot about me:

• I am not a high maintenance chick and I rarely, if ever, do nail polish.
• I usually have yard dirt I am cleaning from under my nails.
• I am related to my mother.  I always used to run my fingers along her veins when growing up, and now Aspen does it to me.
• I've had too much sun for my own good over the years.
• I bite my cuticles.
• I am a hard worker.

June 2nd: My Favorite Shoes

Much to Hayden's dismay, these are my recent favorite shoes.  He says I look like a burn patient, but I didn't get them for their fashion statement (which is NONE).  I am trying to help my running form improve, and these are supposed to do that.  They are comfortable and I am getting used to them.  Perhaps if I were to wear them on a regular basis (other than breaking them in or running) I might get a more fashionable color.

June 1st: "Self" Portrait

Not sure if having Aspen take them counts as SELF-portrait, but she wouldn't give me back the camera once I had it out.  

Can't believe it is already June.  

Brenden graduates tomorrow.  

My summer is well underway, and it has been cold this first week off.  

Most mornings have been in the upper 30's.

Time to get our summer bucket list figured out.