A Run in the Woods

My favorite running buddy (other than the boy of course!) and I ran the Wicked Thorn trail run last weekend.  It was my first official trail run.  7.25 miles of single file, kind of rocky, lots of hills running.  This might just be the farthest I run before the half marathon I'm signed up for at the end of October.  Eek!

 

It was cold at the start but the views were beautiful and the run felt good to my lazy, just back from vacation muscles.  I must admit, I didn't study the elevation change much before hand and it was a lot harder than I anticipated!

And of course the after run carbs tasted so good.  You can never go wrong with a bratwurst and a budweiser.

If you take the kids to the zoo

If you take the kids to the zoo (aka the Animal Ark) because you are trying to kill time on an idle Saturday while you wait what feels like two forevers for the boy to fly home from Germany....

 

 

 



You will come home and find two wild animals terrorizing your house and threatening to "EAT YOU UP!"

 

p.s.  I'm still alive. 

p.p.s. The Animal Ark was pretty cool.  We had a living social deal we had to use up.  But now we must go back sometime so the boy can go too. 

p.p.p.s.  It was at the Ark that I realized I have a tried and true reader on my hands.  She was in charge of the map and knew what everything was before we got there.  I was both impressed and sad at the growing-up-ness of it all.

The Lazy Girl's Trip to Philadelphia

If you get lost, just look for the William Penn statue

So, I am recently back from a trip with the boy to Philadelphia.  Surprise!  We went to attend the Budweiser Made in America music festival and stayed a few extra days to do tourist-y stuff.  Seeing as how I'm really terrible at reading maps on the computer and figuring out which way is up and what distances are actually walk-able, I did next to none 'pre-planning'.

The concert had quite a few people I like but wouldn't necessarily go out of my way to see a show.  I was mostly in it for Beyonce, Imagine Dragons, and Macklemore and Ryan Lewis.  We enjoyed ourselves even though it felt ridiculously hot and humid to us desert rats. 

We passed the time between bands we actually knew people watching.  It might have been the highlight of the concert really.  This small town girl did not know that high waisted shortie shorts and fanny packs were back in style.  We saw too many to count.

A few months ago, when I flew out to my sister's house in Illinois, I missed out on a 5K bagelfest run and getting free bagels and a fabulous neon green shirt.  Why?  Because I didn't know.  Who knew really that such a thing existed and would be happening the exact weekend I would be in Illinois.  I was really kind of bummed.  And I don't even eat bagels!  So two days before we left I googled runs and Philadelphia and found this: http://www.cityrunningtours.com/philadelphia.html

We picked the 10K strictly based on starting location in relation to our hotel.  Quite possibly the best impulsive decision we made on the whole trip (that didn't involve food or beer in an way).  Our running guide was a local teacher.  We got a good tour of the city along with brief histories of most of the historical sites along the way.  It also allowed us to see what the options were and what we wanted to go back and spend more time at later in our trip.

This was one of the statues we ran past.  Created with the help of old keys and 1.8 million pennies collected from local schools.  We also ran past Ben Franklin's for profit fire house, the cemetery where he is buried, and the first bank of the United States.

We went back and checked out Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell, too.

While we were at the concert I made a random Canadian friend.  He had this to say:  That we as Americans take a lot of our freedoms and our treasures for granted.  That at the end of the day, everyone else still wants to come and visit America and we should be prouder of what we have.

I left Philadelphia feeling the same way.  How could people live this close to all this history, the history of our country at its very beginning and go about their day without appreciating it?  I will admit that when I think of American history my first thought is Washington D.C.    I had forgotten that before the White House, there was Philadelphia.  And it's begging for us to appreciate it.

Hopes

Emmers has all the spunk and confidence that I lacked in my childhood

I hope she never loses that

Which is why I never say no to pink hair or getting her hands dirty

So How Was Your Day?

 

Hey Bob, how come you haven't brought home any crafts from school yet?

 

I'm in kindergarten now mom.  We do MATH not crafts.

 

Well...we did do one craft today.  But it was just with crayons.

And then we went was camping

Seems like the new school year snuck right up on us this year.  In an effort to cram as much fun as possible into the fading hours of summer we tacked on a camping trip to our way home from Disneyland.  
Have you ever tried to pack for two very different environments into one suitcase?  It was challenging.  Thankfully, Grandma decided to meet us at the campground and so we were able to send a lot of the things we needed only for camping with her.

We camped with only  half of our extended family but we still had a good visit and the cousins got in some quality mischief making time.  We took turns basking in the morning sunshine on the logs.  It was a lot colder at 10,000 ft that we have become accustomed to for August.

The littles did a pretty great job hiking to see the Bristlecone Pines at Great Basin National Park.  We made a day of it and hiked up to the glacier too.  Better put it high on your to-do list if you want to see it.  They said in 20 years the glacier will probably be gone for good.  The last time I saw it was probably 20 years ago (that makes me feel old!) and I was surprised by how much smaller it is today.

 

 

 

Bob and I agreed, the mornings were too chilly for our liking.  I definitely should have packed more layers.

 

 

 

 The deer wandered in and out of camp fairly regularly.  That's one of my favorite memories from camping here as a kid.  It's not uncommon to find one in the trail on the way to the camp bathrooms. 

 

 

 

Someone gave Bob a flashlight and an official job on the cave tour.  That's a brave park ranger right there!  I stayed behind to be sure that Bob wouldn't abuse his privileges.  We took the 60 minute tour of Lehman Caves since we had the littles with us.  Everyone loved it and no one got restless.  Next time we'll do the longer one for sure!

 

 

 

MmmmmMmmmm....cave bacon 

 

MmmmmMmmmm....even better, real bacon!  Cooked over the campfire of course :)

Poor husband always has to fish with the pink, barbie pole.  But he caught a fish and we got to eat it so that's all that really matters right?

Emma was crashing through the woods on her way to the creek and she almost ran smack into these does.   We sat and watched them for a long time before they spotted the dog we had with us and trotted off into the trees.

 

Bob found a triangle shaped rock and immediately took it as a sign that we should go home so he could play Zelda.  Silly boy.  And that is why we go camping...

Life on the Refrigerator Door

This is just to say

I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the ice box

and which you were probably
saving
for breakfast

Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold

--William Carlos Williams



So it's been too long since I've mentioned what books I'm reading.  Rest assured, it hasn't been from lack of reading. 

Alice Kuiper's Life on the Refrigerator Door was such an interesting concept.  A story told entirely on post-it notes.  Which also makes it an extremely quick read.  It'd be a good commuting or going to a busy beach book.  It is the story of a high school student who lives part time with a busy working mom and part time with her father.  I am sure a lot of families can relate to life lived on the go and leaving notes for mom, dad, son or daughter on the kitchen counter. 

As much as I enjoyed this book, it left me wondering.  Are post-it notes on the way out?  In a world where kids are getting cell phones younger and younger I just don't think this story would have been as endearing had it been a book full of text messages.