Camp Out

  Ashlyn and I recently created a list of all the things she would like to do this summer.  One of the things she included was sleeping in a tent in the backyard with her Dad.  Last Friday night was beautiful, so Joey and Ashlyn decided to pitch a tent and sleep outside.  Ashlyn was besides herself with how excited she got.  I think she really enjoyed the one on one time with her Dad.  They drank root beer, told stories, and read books.  They had a great night and Ashlyn is already excited to do it again.  

The tent

Inside

Holding up the root beer that the got to share.  One of Ashlyn's favorite treats!

Smart Girl

     It's funny how things work.  I thought being on summer break would give me more time to do things like blogging.  Instead, it seems like I have less time and lots more to blog about.  We have just had so much going on.  I have a lot of posts to post that I have gotten behind on.

     I wanted to write a post about Ashlyn and the things she has been doing this summer.  I blog as a way for family and friends to keep up with what we are doing.  But, just as importantly, Joey and I publish our blog each year into a book.  These keepsakes are amazing because we have now have such detailed descriptions and pictures of pretty much everything exciting that we have done or has happened since Ashlyn was born.  They are AMAZING keepsakes that I know I will cherish for all my life.  Sometimes I include things on my blog so that I can remember what my kids were doing at different times in their lives and not as much for other people to catch up with us.  Some posts are more for me than others. 

    Anyways, I wanted to write about how smart Ashlyn is.  I have known since almost birth, that she was a pretty smart little girl.  Her pediatrician was always commenting on it at her appointments.  I thought it was just something he said to every parent to make them feel good.  I am now starting to realize what he meant.  As I have mentioned before, Ashlyn has a PHENOMENAL memory.  It is almost freaky sometimes what she can remember.  She is constantly spouting out different facts that she hears places.  The other day, I decided that she should start learning my phone number in case she would ever need to call me.  I kid you not, I told her my number exactly two times and she could recite it back to me.  I ask her about once a week what my number is, and she still remembers it. 

      Ashlyn is reading like a rock star.  She reads a book to us every night.  She is doing so good sounding out words.  She has also become obsessed with drawing.  She has a drawer full of drawing paper and markers.  Her new favorite thing to do is get out paper and draw and draw.  Her favorite picture to draw is one of her family.  She draws it several times a day.  A few weeks ago, I heard her sounding out letters while she was drawing.  I asked her what she was doing.  She explained to me that she was writing our names.  I was pretty impressed that she managed to write Dad, Mom, and Dawson (she spelled it phonetically as Dasyn). 

        My mom bought her some flash cards the other day designed for 4 and 5 year olds.  The cards ask different questions about just about everything.  I sat down and did one set of the cards and she did not miss a single one!  I was amazed by some of the stuff she knew.  My mom then went and got her the kindergarten set.  Sure enough, she got almost all of them right.  The only thing she struggled with was time, but I am in no hurry for her to master that concept just yet. 

   So, I included this post to mainly brag about my daughter.  I will admit it is bragging, but I am so proud of her that I feel I should be able to brag a bit.  Plus, its our family blog so I feel its very fitting to include posts like these. 

      

Ashlyn and Dawson drawing

Ashlyn showing Dawson how to color

Here is one of her many drawings.  I love them because they are so cute!!!

First Cabin Trip

   We have been wanting to get up to the cabin all summer.  We have just been too busy to go up there.  We planned on going up last weekend because it was the first weekend that we didn't have anything going on.  We talked about it for weeks.  Ashlyn was so incredibly excited to go.  Unfortunately, Dawson was too sick to go.  Ashlyn and Joey decided that they would still go up for the weekend.  Ashlyn had a blast with just her Papa and Daddy.  They went fishing, fed the chipmunks, had smores, and much more.  She came back with lots of stories for me.  She is already wanting to go back again soon.  I hope we can find another weekend very soon that all of us can make it up there.  I can't wait!

She was very fond of wearing the helmet

Going for a ride

Here is the lake they rode to and fished at.  Beautiful!

Ashlyn and Daddy

Sitting by the lake

Our wilderness girl

Ashlyn and Daddy

Ashlyn liked the helmet so much she didn't even want to take it off while fishing.

Fishing

Papa and Ashlyn

Feeding the chipmunks

Roasting marshmallows

She loves her smores

Last year, we decided to start measuring the kids heights on the door frame to see how they grow from year to year.  Ashlyn has clearly grown a lot in the last year!  This year she even wrote her own name!

Ashlyn on the way home.  Clearly, she had a great time!

Busy Week!

        This week was another busy one.  Not only did Ashlyn start swimming lessons, but she also started soccer.  We decided to have her do soccer lessons at an indoor facility.  We figured that in the summer the weather here can be so touch and go with afternoon storms.  Indoor soccer made the most sense because you don't have to worry about the weather at all.  Joey and I were pleased with the facility.  It is a pretty neat little setup.  Ashlyn jumped right in and looked like she had been playing soccer for awhile.  She was trapping the ball, dribbling, and scoring goals.  The first two weeks are just practice and learning the fundamentals.  After that, I think they start playing games.  We really enjoyed watching her play.  When she was done, she said, "I loved, loved, loved that!" That is success in our book.  She already can't wait to go back.  We look forward to watching her over the summer.

      As I mentioned last week, Dawson was not feeling well.  I took him to the doctor on Thursday because his fever was just not breaking and it was high.  The doctor determined he had a DOUBLE ear infection!  Poor little guy.  He has had several ear infections before.  He has never had a double ear infection and they are significantly worse than a single infection.  He was pretty miserable.  He had a fever for several days.  I think today is the first day he has finally felt 100% again.  I pray that he stays healthy for a long time and no more bugs!

       I have a big race coming up this weekend.  I have been training harder than ever and really hope to do very well.  I think I am already getting nervous.  I am doing a 5 race series.  At the end of the 5 races, the runners with the best times earn prizes.  After 2 races, I am in 2nd place out of 198 women.  I have to do really well to keep my place.  No pressure or anything.

         This weekend is also going to be a busy one with my race, Father's day, and my brother's, sister's, and Grandma's birthdays.  Joey and I are having everyone over to our house to celebrate.  Definitely should be enough to keep us busy and entertained!

Our little soccer girl

Dribbling the ball

There was an empty field right next to Ashlyn's field.  Dawson got to run around and play too.  I was amazed at how well he did at kicking the ball.  I want to get him into soccer as soon as he is old enough.

Future soccer stud

Kicking a goal

Trapping the ball



Exciting Visit

    The kids and I are in the midst of summer and we are loving it!  We are having such an awesome time.  We have been sleeping in, playing outside, going on walks, going to the park, going on bike rides, etc.  Summer is such a wonderful time of year and we really like to take advantage of it.  I wish it would never end! 

     This past weekend was a great one for us.  Joey's brother Adam, and his wife, Jane were here from Texas.  We always love any chance we get to see them.  We thoroughly enjoy their company.  We spent most of their time at home.  Ashlyn had a blast with her Uncle and Aunt.  We also did a lot of eating out which we rarely do anymore.  On Saturday night, my mom and sister babysat and we went to a Sky Sox game.  We had a great time.  We were all very sad to see them leave on Sunday.  We really hope to make it out to Texas some time in the near future. 

      Yesterday, we finally put our house on the market.  I am not looking forward to everything that entails at all.  I am so nervous over how I will keep this house ready for showings with two young children.  I hope to work out some sort of system.  It is all bitter sweet.  We have lived in this house since Ashlyn was 3 weeks old.  This house has been great, but Ashlyn will be starting school in a year and we really want her in a better school district.  I hope that the whole process is a smooth one. 

     Ashlyn started swim lessons today at our gym.  She was a little nervous about them.  Once we got there and she met her very friendly teacher, she warmed right up.  She's in a class with three other kids.  The lessons are only 30 minutes which I think is perfect for her.  They already learned a lot in their first lesson and Ashlyn had a great time.  She is already excited to go back next week.  I am excited for her.  Tomorrow, she will start soccer.  She is very, very excited for this.  She really can't wait to play.  I  can't wait to see her out there.  The first two weeks are just practice, and her first game will be after that.  I will take lots of pictures.

     Poor Dawson has been feeling under the weather.  I think he may be teething... AGAIN!  I am so over teething it's not even funny.  Poor thing is a horrible teether.  He has had a fever all day and I don't know if its because of the teething or a cold.  I suspect it's the teething.  I pray tomorrow is better.  I hate to see him so sick and in pain. 

      Our last bit of really exciting news is that our nephew will be here in less than a month!!!  We are all very excited for his arrival.  We can't wait to see him and hold him.  Ashlyn told my sister very early on that she should name him Freckles.  So, this entire pregnancy we have called him Freckles.  We are so excited to finally meet this Freckles.  

Could he be any cuter???

This is their new favorite place to eat lunch.  The littlest things amuse them!

Dawson and his Uncle Adam

Ashlyn and Aunt Jane

Group picture



We were trying to get pictures, but Dawson was not liking it.



Ashlyn had her friend Catelin over the other day.  Their favorite thing to do is play dress up.  I had to take a picture of Ashlyn.  Too cute!

Bolder Boulder

    I need to start by adding that I can't believe that I have never run the Bolder Boulder before this year!  I now see what all the fuss and hype is about.  My brother ran it for the first time last year and went on and on about what a neat race it was.  I decided that I was definitely going to do it this year.  Since it is out of town, it makes it a little harder because you have to book a hotel room, figure out babysitting, etc.  Joey wanted to come along to experience it as a spectator and I welcomed the support.  We decided not to take the kids this year because we didn't know what to expect at all. 
     We got to the Boulder area early Sunday night.  We checked into our hotel and we were very happy with it.  The hotel was newer and the rooms were nice.  After checking in, we wanted to head down Boulder to check things out.  My brother and his friends were already down there.  We made our way to Pearl Street.  I haven't really been to Boulder since my friend was going to college there years ago.  I forgot what a neat place it really is.  Pearl Street was pretty crowded, but it was a good crowded.  We were able to walk right into a restaurant for dinner.  I was very surprised by this.  I figured with 50,000 plus people running the race the next morning, everywhere would be packed.  Dinner was good and we did a little walking around afterwards.  The wind was blowing pretty hard so we decided to head back to the hotel. 
    All day my throat was feeling scratchy.  I tried not to freak out and told myself I wasn't getting sick.  (I had just spent all day Thursday with the worst case of stomach flu of my ENTIRE life.) But, as the day progressed I just started to feel worse and worse.  I was pretty upset by this.  My throat was on fire and my chest hurt so bad by the time I went to bed.  A nasty chest cold is definitely not what you want to have before running a 10k.  I had a really hard time falling asleep and did not sleep well at all Sunday night. 
    We had to be up at 5:00 a.m. to get ready to leave for the race.  I woke up feeling even worse.  It really started to psyche me out .  I already really deal with self-doubt before races.  The fact that I was feeling sick made it even worse.  I kept thinking that I was going to have a horrible race. 
     My brother knew the best place to park.  I thought we were going to have to park miles away.  Nope, we parked about a block from the start line.  We got there, warmed up a bit and got ready to go. The weather was just perfect.  The wind stopped blowing. 
      At the Bolder Boulder, you have to qualify for a wave.  You have to submit an official time from a past race to prove what time you can do.  I was able to qualify for the B wave, which is the fourth fastest wave.  My brother was two waves in front of me.  I have never ran a race before were I didn't have someone I knew with me at the start line. Before the race started, I was getting very nervous.  I was trying to think positive thoughts and tell myself I felt good.
     Each wave starts about a minute apart.  Before I knew it was time for my wave to go.  I took of quick and my goal was to run a fast pace the entire time.  Once I started running, I started to feel amazing.  I really enjoyed the course.  I have heard that the spectators are amazing at the Bolder Boulder.  I was a little disappointed in the lack of spectators when I ran.  My friend who ran a wave an hour later, said that there seemed to be more spectators.  It was a neat course that wasn't too hilly.  I knew I was doing okay because I was with some of the people I started with.  The neatest part of the race is that you end up in Folsom Field.  I had pushed myself so hard for 6.2 miles, I thought I was going to collapse by the end.  I crossed the finish line and looked for my brother.  We immediately got in line for free massages which felt amazing! We then got our food bags and looked for Joey and my brother's friends.  We sat in the stadium for a while and watched the finishers.  It is crazy because it is just a constant stream of people running in.  I got an unexpected text message with my finishing time. I was so happy to see my time of 47:13!!!! I cut off almost 6 minutes from my 10k time!!! I honestly couldn't have been more pleased with my time.  I didn't think I would do that well. 
      We waited around a bit, and then watched the elite runners.  It was pretty neat to see such fast runners.  They are incredible to watch.  We went to breakfast at a pretty good breakfast place.  We headed home after that.  What a great day! I learned that I can do great in races even if I am not feeling well.  Here are some pictures from the day:

Here I am near the starting line

Walking around before the race

As shown in this picture, I was very nervous

My brother and I warming up



Here is my brother running during the race.  My brother did amazing like usual! He ran it in in 40:42 with an average pace of 6:30!.  He came in 14th place in his age division which means he gets a medal.  I am so proud of him.  He has been a wonderful mentor and coach to me and I love seeing him do so well!



Here I am in the pink.  (I really, really hate pictures of myself while running!)

The finish line

My brother and I after the race

The runners.  My best friend Kari ran it too.  It was her first 10k and she did awesome!

Had to pose in front of the fire truck.

Here is my time and places.  I am most proud of the fact I was the 457th out of 25,075 women!!! And 2610th place out of 50,000 isn't too shabby either.  I kept a very even pace which is a really good thing too.

Here is one of the elite runners.  The runner in first place runs behind this truck with a big clock showing their time.  Pretty cool.

   I thoroughly enjoyed my first Bolder Boulder.  I was so impressed by how well run the race was.  For that many people, it was so organized and didn't feel like 50,000 people were running it.  I would have thought it was only 2,000 people.  The only negative I thought was the lack of spectators in the beginning.  I can't wait to do it again next year!