5 things for Friday

These little beauties are a major staple in our house.  The world isn't right unless Blythe has her "princess shoes".  The bad news is we left one of them at Grandma's house almost two weeks ago.  It was tough news to break to her when we got home with only one, but she has managed to make do with her pink crocs.  The good news is that we are headed back up there tomorrow so we can finally get it back!  

Saturday is my little brothers 18th birthday!!! I can't believe it. I mean really, seriously, I can't believe it.  It seems like just yesterday he was 4 and embarrassing the heck out of me in front of my friends.  Who would have though he'd turn out so great;) I'm excited to go and celebrate with him.  I am gonna take him on a bike ride and pound him into the ground.  We will follow that up with a nice big birthday breakfast, my treat, to make him feel better about letting a girl half his size beat him!  At least I hope that's how it goes down... otherwise I am going to feel really stupid for writing this:)

In other news we have been watching the debates and rooting for our candidate.  We like to call him "Mittens".  

Next week if all goes as planned I will blog about my Route 66 bike ride.  It was fun, and a little painful, and at times hot, but mostly just fun.    

I also plan on reporting on my Grand Canyon trip next week.  The Canyon beat me up a little bit this time, but I still remain faithful and dedicated.  That's saying something given the way I felt the last two miles.  You'll see!

Labor Day Weekend

This year we had yet another great Labor Day weekend at Apache Lake!  Now that the kids are getting older they spend a lot more time out on the water.  Their current favorite lake activity is knee boarding. 

My brother and sister joined us and they were awesome company and amazing help with the little kids! I just love having those guys around:)

Farrah was not such a a big fan of the water.  I think it was mainly because swimming meant that she was taken away from mommy!

Rand swimming with his shoes on.  There were some sharp rocks out there!

I forced Ains to come back and get her picture taken before we left.

Channing is my silly boy.

We even had some quality family-bed time with Aunt Candice.  This is one of those memories that will mostly be appreciated by those involved:)

It was a nice relaxing weekend.  In fact I think this year will go on my favorite's list as far as these labor day trips go.  Now we're already counting down the days until next year:)

Here we are climbing up fish creek road back to civilization.

Madera x3

After I finally made my first successful trip all the way to the top of Madera Canyon I made it a goal to do this ride at least once a month. I did it myself the first time, and the second time with a local friend.  For my third trip up I invited my sister in law Candice.  

Bathroom break and she's still smiling:)

Here I am waiting at the top.  It felt so nice to sit down and give my legs a break.  

It was fun to have company and hopefully I can talk her into to doing this ride with me again:)

Utah Trip

I am finally getting around to posting about my trip to Utah back in July!

Driving through a dust storm to get to my Dad's.  We spent the night there and then everyone headed out the next morning to make the BIG drive.

Passing Lake Powell along the way

 

Our first morning there was Blythe's birthday.  Grandma Homer is the best party thrower around so of course she went all out for Blythe and she was in heaven:)

The weather was beautiful and the kids had a blast playing outside.  They also loved having Great Grandma & Grandpa out there with them:)

My brother and I had a very eventful, but ultimately unsuccessful, bike ride! We decided to try and ride down the Jordan River Parkway. We made a couple of discoveries.  One was that it is a pretty neat idea but it is NOT friendly to road bikers who want to cruise over 13-14 mph.  There was just too much foot traffic, hairpin turns, tunnels with blind exits etc. We started out and after a few miles hit a dirt path which is kind of a no go on a road bike:(

We turned around and decided to try going back the way we came. The bike paths mostly go under the main roads so you don't have to stop to cross the city streets.

We came to a tunnel that was flooded and we were a little bit worried about biking through it because we couldn't tell how deep it was.

We decided to cross the main road through traffic and catch back up to the path on the other side.

We found a great stretch of path with no one else on it (Oh wait there was that random old man wearing almost nothing and sun bathing on a bench!) so we could really ride at a decent speed.  We were so happy that our ride was finally taking off when...

We came upon this! We were locked in and pretty bummed out about it.  We decided to turn around and ride the path back the way we came again in order to meet up with my dad who had the kids at a local park playing.  

When we came back to the place where we could have to cross the main street again we found we were locked in.  We were a bit confused since this gate was open a few minutes ago and we had just entered through it!  Then I remembered seeing a maintenance truck to the side of the path when we came in.  Apparently the gate we entered is usually locked but we happened to come at prime time and sneak through without realizing it:)  When the maintenance worker left he locked the gate behind him.  Now we were on our own to find a different path out.  I decided this was getting crazy and we were going to brave the water under the tunnel.  It turned out not to be deep at all and we were berating ourselves for not using it in the first place and saving ourselves a load of trouble!  We started to ride towards my dad and we were on our way.  We were almost there when I made a navigational error that took us way out of our way and things spiraled down from there.  Eventually we just pulled over at a fast food place for a bite to eat and called my dad to come get us.  I guess I should know better than to read the map on my phone while pedaling through traffic at 15 mph!  Lesson learned.  We still managed to get in 25 miles but it was definitely not the ride we were hoping for.

They have some great parks near my Grandparents house and we took full advantage

My awesome sister who spent all day hanging out at parks with me and the kiddos:)

We decided to ride the light rail into to Salt Lake City and take the kids to see Temple Square.  The train ride was interesting.  It was super crowded because it was the 24th of July and our car was filled with college kids.  There was literally standing room only at some points.  The highest point (or lowest depending on how you look at it) of the ride was when Rand and Blythe started having a huge fight over who was going to hold on to what hand hold. The argument culminated in Rand yelling as loud as he could "Blythe you better let me hold on here or I am going to kill myself!!!" It drew the attention of pretty much everyone on the train.  Talk about embarrassing!  

My brother was a great help with the kids, but I think he was starting to get annoyed that everyone thought we were a couple out on a stroll with our children.  This actually happened several time on the trip.  He eventually took to saying "This is my older SISTER, eleven years older!"  I couldn't help but laugh.  I claimed the confusion was because I look 17.  He though it was because he looked so old and mature:)

 

This is a bad picture but we stopped by City Center to check things out and it was pretty cool. Next time we're up there I want to go back when we have more time.

Trevin and I decided (actually I kind of roped him into it since climbing isn't his favorite) to ride up Little Cottonwood Canyon.  It is known as one of the best (or worst depending on how you look at it) climbs in the US.  My dad dropped us off at the fork in the canyon and we started our uphill grind. This ride gains 3500 feet in elevation 8.4 miles.  

It was pretty tough but also beautiful and I just kept plugging along.  I was slow and steady, actually super slow and steady:) My brother started out ahead but gradually lost momemtum.  I think he started out too fast for a climb like this.  He is still learning to pace himself:) I eventually passed him on the side of the road and he seemed pretty done.  He didn't want to climb anymore so I told him I was going on to the halfway mark and then I would turn around.  I thought about leaving him there but I had probably another hour of climbing and I felt bad leaving him to bake on the side of the road:(

I continued on to the halfway point and when I turned around he was still sitting on the side of the road!  I was really hauling now so I yelled that I would meet him at the bottom.  After I reached the bottom he still hadn't shown up so I started climbing again until he came down.  We decided to just ride the rest of the way to my Grandma's instead of calling my dad since we skipped out on half the climb up the canyon.  We rode down Wasatch Boulevard back to Sandy and I put in an even 20 miles.  This was by far my favorite descent I have done on my bike and I can't wait to go back again and do it right!

Later that afternoon we drove up to the Logan area to visit my other Grandma and my Aunt's family.  I took this photo because I think they have cool front door:)

Leisel painted the girls nails and they were in heaven! My kids loved all the attention they got from my aunt and cousins.  Rand fell in love with Brielle (17) which created many hilarious situations.  Bryce (14) was a great sport to entertain the kids and let them basically crawl all over him for three days.

Grandma Great and Farrah.  We were so glad to visit and catch up and we hope they survived us.  We can be a pretty intense bunch to host when your not used to having little ones around.  

After this we headed back to Sandy packed up and drove home the next morning.  We had a fun trip but we were all glad to head home and see Nick! 

Like it, love it, can't live without it

Being poked in the eye by a baby who is simultaneously nursing and do acrobatics!  

At least if I have to get older I will do it in my favorite place

Grand Canyon baby!!!

Is anyone else sick of hearing me talk about the Grand Canyon?  You are?  Well get OVER it, or get used to it because that's just how it is!!!!

This Sunday I am turning 29 years old.  Deep down I kind of want to cringe a little bit since I am getting so close to 30.  After all I still feel like I should be 20! But I won't complain about it here.  I'll save that for the people that have to see me in real life this weekend:)

There are actually some benefits to getting older as I see it.  I am happier and more fulfilled now that I have lived a little bit more of life and experienced some things that have given a perspective I didn't have 10 years ago.  I am actually in better shape now than I was 10 years ago.  Don't get me wrong 5 babies are not a bodies best friend, but they have made me appreciate my body in a way I never could have at age 20.  Nothing is as smooth or tight as it used to be but I have more strength and stamina and I am healthier too.  I look at myself and I honestly cant help but think that for an almost 30 year old mom of 5 I'm not doing too badly:)  I can hike and bike and run and tone and it all still works even on an old lady like me!

I love being a mom of older kids too.  I love the babies, but the day to day work of having tiny ones can be draining in a way that's so hard some days.  So I am beginning to see how having a 5, 6, and 8 year old and on beyond is awesome.  They are such neat little personalities and its like a new parenting challenge everyday.  Life is throwing me something harder than teething and poopy diapers and as much as I complain when he who will not be named gets sent to the principal's office, it is quite an interesting challenge that brings me a lot opportunities for personal growth;)

I also appreciate my parents, and other important adults in my life, more the older I get.  I know you begin that "wow my parents are people too" at the end of high school/ college, and then it gets clearer again when you have your own children.  But I still feel like each year I grow wiser from the things they taught me and continue to teach me.  It's kind of like I'm seeing them and the lessons they gave through a different set of eyes.  The eyes of an old person... just kidding... but there really is something to this aging thing ok.  That's the point I'm trying to make.

Anyway this isn't at all what I thought I was going to write when I sat down here but there it is.  I am going to leave it at that and end on the note that I am so happy that I get to be at the Grand Canyon on my birthday.  Maybe someday when I'm even older and wiser I will stop attempting crazy torturous things like R2R2R in under 24 hours... but judging from my father in law's example probably not!  

A busy good day

Nick was off today and we decided to head to town to do some shopping in preparation for our big Grand Canyon adventure this weekend.  First we dropped 3 kids off at school and hit up REI.

I managed to convince Nick to invest in some nice hiking pants (he is a boy scout leader now after all) and a very Bear Grylls-esque shirt.  I think he liked them because right before bed he got all decked out and lamented that he couldn't wear those hiking pants to work the next day:) They are that comfy!   He also said that all he needs now is the Bear Grylls knife to go with his shirt.  I said "we will definitely have to look into that my dear".  If you've read this far and your jaw hasn't dropped onto the floor yet you must not know my Nicky boy very well.  Those of you that do can appreciate the immensity of this occasion and I expect lots of compliments for him on his new duds to encourage future purchases.

I also grabbed a few additions to my gear and we were off to drop Rand off at school and pick Blythe up.  Of course we were late because we almost ran out of gas and had to stop and fill up when we were already in a time crunch.  That's the downside of living so far away from EVERYTHING.

We got the kid situation settled and headed back up to get my birthday present...

I am so excited to try her out this weekend.  I trust that Candice will use the footage to make some awesome R2R2R 2012 movies for us afterward!

We rushed back into town from that errand just in time to pick up 3 kids from school and head to piano lessons.  Once that was over I headed home and Nick took the boys to soccer practice where he apparently practiced taking panoramic photos on the phone:)

I, on the other hand, sat down and ate some cake.  It helps me relax ok!  Then I prepared for the post practice rush of hungry kids.  And that was my busy good day.

Oh one more thing...

I must confess that last night when Nick tried out all his new stuff I wanted to play too.  Can I just say I am really looking forward to this weekend!

Excuse my crazy hair.  It runs in the family;)