...Part The Second

On Monday we went to Old Town. Our kids weren't happy about it; they wanted to stay at the hotel and watch tv. We decided they were being too whiney, so we threatened them with the Old Town jail



Pioneer children sang as they walked and walked and sat in the wagon and whined -- oh wait...


I have three boys -- of course they're going to go for the cannon. According to O, they shot twenty hundred, fifty three thousand million people. Thanks for keeping us safe, boys!


We drove to the San Diego LDS Temple. It was closed for remodel/cleaning so we just walked up the sidewalk, looked at it, and then got back in the van and went to the hotel. Can we say, "What up, H?"

My poor whitey husband. He slathered himself with sunscreen, waited the appropriate amount of time before going out in the sun, waited even longer before going in the water, and still got sunburned. It may have something to do with all the monkeys clinging to him in the pool, thus wiping all the sunscreen off him. Or he's just really white. His sunburns hurt for days and then they itch. My sunburns, if they can even be called that, are slightly tender for about 4 hours. I need to write myself an instruction manual on the care of whitey husbands.

California, Part I

After a day of travel and a night in a hotel, we made it to the beach!

J spent most of his time taking too many embarrassing pictures of me and trying not to get sunburned (it didn't work).
The boys played in the sand and chased seagulls around the beach

While I am reluctant to make California our vacation Mecca, I have to admit that Coronado Island off San Diego is a beautiful place. We stayed at the Coronado Island Marriott Resort (for free! There are perks to having J travel so much for work! Thank you, Marriott Points Reward Program!) There's a great bike/walking path that runs right by the hotel so I was able to go running. From our patio we had a beautiful view of the San Diego skyline. The weather was perfect. It was so nice to get away for a while.

Gone Fishin'

O's been asking to go fishing, so we headed up to Deer Creek and spent the day.
















We bought each of the boys a fishing pole. J showed them how to put the bait on and watch the top of the pole.

















With H's tiny little pole, J caught some weeds















J & O













We didn't catch anything, so as we were packing up, we let the kids throw rocks into the reservoir. That was their favorite part of the day.













































O well, maybe next time. As J reminded the kids, it's not just about catching something, it's about the experience. Peeing by the lake, eating candy, and drinking root beer -- yeah, I think they enjoyed the experience!

I Think This Kid Likes Baths

What do you think?

Little Sahara

We took a Saturday drive and ended up at the sand dunes. It was farther away than we remembered, but worth the effort and the "Are we there yet?"s


Uh, O, that's a zoo map. No giraffes here.


My fearless explorers contemplating the trek ahead of them


According to J, "...so much sand it'll freak you out!"

Which I think it did, for H at least

Sorry, can't get this one to turn the right way

H finally got down from J's shoulders...

only to demand to be picked up by me. Not too fond of the sand getting in his sandals

But he adapted

long enough to check out the bug corpse S found

disgusted and fascinated all at the same time!

Still Running

Two weeks ago I ran 10 miles. By ran I mean that I ran about 8.5 miles, stopped and almost puked, walked, tried to run, walked again, stuck my head under somebody's sprinklers, and then ran home (because my neighbor was out in her front yard and I couldn't be seen walking by people I know!) As was to be expected, I was pretty much useless for the rest of the day.

The next week I got back into my schedule of running every other day, so the 11-mile run last Friday wasn't too bad. Tomorrow I have a 12-mile run and I am admittedly a little nervous. I generally eat pretty well, but I'm thinking Chewy Sprees, Flamin' Hot Cheetos, and homemade chocolate ice cream aren't exactly the best fuel for keeping me going on a long run. Weird monthy cravings...

So why am I running so much? My awesome amazing friend and neighbor Crystal is running the St. George Marathon in October and I told her I'd train with her for it, even though I'm not doing it. What was I thinking?!?! I must be crazy, but I feel sane because the jarring of running is killing my brain cells. That must be it.

Actually, I am finally starting to have more energy. I like the way my body looks and the way J looks at my body. Besides the hours of time running still seems to take, the perks are pretty good.

Camping Out

Every year J, S, and O camp out in the backyard. Here they are setting up the tent.


O's cute little smile lately just makes me happy.

The all-essential S'Mores. Notice how the fire reached out of the stone circle and lit our weeds on fire. S and O were freaking out, while I couldn't take a picture because I was laughing so hard.

Being silly by the fire

It's a fun tradition. H and mommy sleep in the house while the older ones and dad get eaten by mosquitoes. In the next year or two, though, we'll all be out there together. Can't wait!