Heading way back to two Mondays ago we headed over to BYU. We walked around campus for a little while and checked out the store. In the store they have a model of the mountains by campus, accompanied by the Y and a slide! The slide was pretty steep, so it was pretty much a one time experience.
We did find Cosmo as well! Winry loved sitting in his lap.
And Brooke gave him a pat on his football padded leg to console him for the past and cheer him on for the upcoming season.
The real end goal of our trip was to have lunch at the museum of art. When we headed in they had a big new exhibit which was a sculpture made out of tree branches. It was huge and really cool to see.
After we finished up at BYU we headed up to my parents house for the week. While we were there we took advantage of the good weather and played in the back yard. The kids got to take turns riding in my parents wagon. Jonathan enjoyed pulling everyone around too!
Oriah brought the goods, such as this giant beach ball!
And Niki brought a slip and slide! You know everyone had a good time on there! Here are the best runs by Niki, Winry and Brooke! We had a lot of fun out there. It's really too bad this wasn't the day AFTER Father's day, or else I would have been rocking my flamingo swim trunks!
That night, Monica and I went for a walk, and there are a lot of places with really good views up by my parents house. To top that off, it was also sunset!
On Wednesday we headed over to Alyson's house to go swimming! We again played our favorite pool game, acting out animals while we jump into the pool. Brooke also gave the jumping a shot. On this particular trip I became the designated jumper, which was fine with me because I had been resting for Ragnar all week so I had a LOT of energy. Highlight jumps would include an ant, ostrich, and unicorn.
I would have shared some pictures of others jumping, but honestly, I think it was just me. We had quesadillas for dinner, and they were fantastic. Everyone celebrated a wonderful night with Alyson! And hopefully said "thank you!"
And then Brooke and Winry sat on the porch swing and almost fell asleep. Brooke said she never wanted to leave.
That night after the kids were in bed, Monica and I stole away to Nielsen's Frozen Custard for a date night treat. And a date night!
Thursday morning we headed to the zoo with our cousins! It's been a long time since I've been to the Hogle Zoo. They had some really neat lion statues for the kids to climb on.
And Brooke checked to see if she was a monkey.
The meerkats came out right as we were approaching, and the first one out stretched out along the ground in the shade for a nap! The next one? He came and sat on the first one's head!
The snow leopard was pacing in front of the glass window holding a bone in it's mouth, so we got there for snack time. Also, Winry thought it was really cool at first and walked up close, and then after a while of the pacing I guess it got to her and she started to cry.
And the brown bear was sleeping in the corner right by us!
Brooke really loved this... cat. I forgot it's name.
And in the same building were the desert cats! The kids had a blast and loved seeing all of the animals. And the animals were very cooperative and many of them were right up as close as possible to be seen! Super great!
To round off our zoo trip we rode the carousel. Winry picked the tiger, Brooke picked... the bench. But they both had a wonderful time. We had lunch at the zoo before heading back to my parents house.
The next morning Ragnar started. Our team started running at 6:30. They sent out a group text to let us know they were underway, and I replied with this picture, my current doings!
Ragnar was a blast this year. I got to do Ragnar hill again, and I also got to be runner 12. I got to do some of the runs I hadn't yet had the chance to do, so it was nice to see some new places. This was also my 8th year running Ragnar (in a row). My first run was up Ragnar hill. Here I am handing off to Maren at the exchange. Niki also got a video of me heading for the finish a little lower down in the run.
You may be wondering what Monica and the kids were doing while I was running 7.5 miles up a hill in the middle of the day? Oh, they were back at Nielsen's getting frozen custard!
Oh, this picture ended up out of place, but this is my van right before we left for the race. I think my favorite part of this picture is that it looks like a bunch of us are leaning over to the side. However, the driveway is actually sloped, so most of us are standing straight!
And here I am after my second run, getting ready to get my 3 hours of sleep. This picture was taken at 3 am.
On Saturday the team continued to run, but back in North Salt Lake, Monica was getting the kids ready to meet us at the finish. Brooke was so excited to come, and wore her workout clothes.
ZOOM!!! Look at her take off down the hall!
Of all the Ragnar finish lines I've experienced, this one was probably the best. It's out in Kamas, and there's a big building with lots of grass and trees around it. I'd say the most ideal thing about it that the other finish locations lacked is shade!! Blessed shade for all those waiting. Monica and the kids had a great time hanging out with the rest of the team while they waited for our van to finish. I was the last runner this year, so I even got to bring the team into the finish line! Here we all are with our medals.
And this was the scene shortly after getting back to my parents...
On Father's day Brooke went up to the front with the primary kids to sing to me, even though we weren't in our ward. Unfortunately, they sang songs that Brooke didn't know, but it was still very kind of her to go up front! After we got home my siblings and I surprised my dad with our own rousing rendition of primary Father's day songs.
On Monday, after two weeks in Utah, it was time to head back home to Colorado. We had a wonderful trip, and it was so great to see family, and spend so much time with them! Almost immediately upon leaving my parents house, Winry fell asleep... All in all there was a lot of sleeping, and then sandwiches in the car, and then we basically made it to Grand Junction.
There we got the kids out to play at the playground again. This is a really good idea, and helps the kids not be so grumpy about getting back in to the car.
When we packed up and left my parents house it didn't really occur to us that we were going to be driving through two meals, so we had to make a second stop for dinner. We stopped at Noodles and Co. and Winry got pretty good with a fork! She kept hammering away until she poked every last noodle up all by herself!
This past week Monica went grocery shopping, and Brooke wanted to bring her bear along. She also brought her carrier to help keep things easy!
Winry is going through a phase where she just cant communicate as well as she wants to. This typically leads to her throwing a fit. We're also pretty sure she's getting a molar, so I doubt that's helping.
On Saturday morning Monica surprised me and told me that we had a free breakfast item from Chick-fil-a. So I got my keys and told the kids I was off to run an "errand." Now, to be fair, I also took the opportunity to go to Lowe's and get some vent covers and light switch covers for the basement. But really, this whole outing was about a Chick-fil-a breakfast burrito!
Later in the morning Winry helped me unload the dishwasher by putting the silverware away! I remember when Brooke used to do this! Brooke can see in the drawer now, so when Brooke helps now all of the silverware even ends up in the right place.
During Winry's nap, Brooke and I went running. We had a fun time, and Brooke has really been inspired by Ragnar to start running herself. So she got in the stroller and I started out the run, but then she hopped out by a bridge to play "Pooh Sticks" and then ran 0.27 miles!! She even pushed the jogging stroller with her stuffed animal in it! She was a little swurvy, so after the video I grabbed on too and helped her go straight. I actually had to coax her to get back in to the stroller so I could finish up my run, but then on the way back we stopped at a park so she could get out and run again. Unfortunately we ran on a dirt road, and she tripped on a rock and scraped her knees and hands! :( I cleaned her up with our water, and then when we got home we put some Neosporin on. Monica also noticed a bump on her head so we put some ice on that too. And Jelly came running over to lay on Brooke's feet to try to help her feel better too!! Eventually all of that running set in on Brooke and she was exhausted the rest of the day! She even has been pretty tired today and is currently taking a nap.
We spent a lot of time this week working on the basement. I laid the tile in the bathroom and Monica spent a lot of time painting. It's getting so close!
Well, I think that's all the news from these parts for now. Have a wonderful week ahead!
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