S'mores

This month we made a fire in the backyard and cooked up some s'mores.  Brooks and Adlyn had a lot of fun, and really enjoyed it.  I think this is one of the first times we've made s'mores with them.  My mom had brought up some giant marshmallows earlier this month, so we put them to the test.  They were really big, and stayed raw in the middle after toasting the outside.  I think I'd stick with the regular marshmallows.  The kids enjoyed the fire, and poking it with a big stick.  Brooks was tossing his marshes in the sky, and both of them did not like their face and hands to be sticky. 

Last night our friends Amy and Chad were in the area.  We went to their camp site and made s'mores.  Amy had the latest invention when it came to marshmallows, they were a flat, stackable marshmallow, and I have to say, it was clever!  I would buy these!

Brooks is showing us his giant marsh!

The gang is ready to roast!



I like Adlyn's big smile in this pic!



Annabelle, Where are you Going?

When I was in elementary school, we would sing "Annabelle, Where are you Going?".  The words have stuck with me as some of my friends at the time called me Annabelle, so I heard the song a lot.  As a tall, skinny kid, the lyrics fit well.

The other night, I sang it to Brooks and Adlyn before bed.  They thought it was funny, and have asked me to sing in 10+ times before they go to bed.  They are learning many of the words and hopefully they will be able to sing a song before long.

I did a quick Google search to find the actual lyrics before I posted this.  To my surprise, I found many variations, none of which are a perfect match to the ones that I know.  Oddly, the name is different as well!  Instead of Annabelle, I came across Alice, Gladys, Ellie Mae, and many others. 

Annabelle, Where are You Going?
Annabelle, where are you going?
Upstairs, to take a bath.
Your legs, are like two toothpicks.
Your neck, like a giraffe.
Annabelle, stepped in the water,
To pull, the stopper out.
Oh my goodness, oh my soul,
There goes Annabelle down that hole.
Annabelle, Annabelle,
Glug.

Yes, You are a Girl

I feel that I've been writing a lot of stories about Adlyn lately.  She has been doing a lot of memorable things!

In the past few weeks, Adlyn reminds us that she is a girl.  She is not a nut, or a pudgy wudgy, or a stinker, or anything else for that matter.  Let me explain.  It started when I was giving them a shower, and towards the end, they were both on the shower floor, pretending to swim.  I looked down at her and said, "You're a nut."  She quickly responded, "No, girl."  It hasn't stopped since.  Deep down I think she feels she is joking with us by saying it.  The other day she had her shirt off and Zach called her a pudgy wudgy jokingly.  She quickly responded that she is a girl, and told Zach he was a pudgy wudgy.

It has been cute to hear her reactions and constant reminders that she is a girl.

Dear Adlyn, Please Go to Bed

Last night was a long night...as if Adlyn was an infant again.  I was ready for bed around midnight, and between midnight and 3 AM, Adlyn was up a total of ten times.  I'm not making up the number, I was counting each and every time...  Typically she sleeps all night.  She would get up and tell me she had to go to the bathroom, then back to bed, then needed a drink, and then back to the bathroom.  It was nuts.  I was exhausted, and I think she had to of been tired, too!  She never cried and she wasn't in a bad mood.  Who knows.

I don't think she was sick, but maybe her tummy hurt.  The tenth time she was up, I gave her a Tums, which she didn't eat all of, gave her some water, and rubbed her belly.  It worked, as she slept from 3 AM-9 AM straight.  So much for my plan to go to the gym at 6:30 this morning. 

She woke up happy, came into the room, and said, "Morning."  It was pretty cute.  Please Adlyn, go to bed tonight and sleep all night.  I'm glad today wasn't a work day.

One Lucky (or not so lucky) Grasshopper

One night this week we rode bikes to a small park in town near a large pasture of cows and horses.  The weeds were tall near the fence, and the kids went with Zach because they wanted to find a hop-hop.  The grasshoppers are plentiful again this year, and Zach caught one and handed it to Brooks.  Brooks was so excited to be holding a grasshopper!  He immediately said, "Hop-Hop, Weeee!".  We looked at each other wondering what he was up to.  It didn't take long for him to run to the slide at the park.  We thought he was going to let the grasshopper go down the slide, but instead he went down while holding on to it.  The next time up he pushed it down and Adlyn stood at the bottom to catch it.  Then Adlyn took the grasshopper for a ride down the slide.  They were laughing and having such a good time.  By now, I'm sure the grasshopper was dead from being held on to a little too tight.  The next time up, Adlyn threw it and they couldn't find it amongst the wood chips. 

It was one lucky hop-hop for a short while.  At least it ended its life doing something no other grasshopper has done before.

Christmas in July

It is summer time, and very warm.  Lately the kids have been requesting 'big jammies' after bath or shower time.  When I go to their drawer of jammies, they are requesting the zip-up fleece jammies with feet in them.  I don't know how anyone can wear those in the summer.  It is pointless to argue with them.  If they can see their big jammies in the drawer, that is what they want to wear.  Sometimes we claim they are in the wash from the previous day, but they want to go and look in the laundry room to see if they are done.  The big jammies are not hard to miss - both of them have monkeys on them and Brooks' are red and gray stripes and Adlyn's are pink with red polka dots.  They are your classic Christmas jammies.

So, they will wear their big jammies to bed, and after they are asleep and sweaty, we take them off and swap them for some summer jammies. 

Hurdle, Turtle, Golf Ball, Meatball

Last Saturday, July 9, we went down to the local high school track to let the kids ride their bikes.  They got these really neat balance bikes a few weeks ago and are doing really well with them.  Brooks loves his bike and he is getting really good at it.  Adlyn likes it too, but I think the summer heat gets to her quickly and makes her thirsty and tired. 

We thought they would enjoy riding around the track, but rather they enjoyed riding in the parking lot, on the sidewalk, and up and down small ramps.  They enjoyed walking up to the top of the stadium stairs, and while we were all sitting on the top, we were trying to explain races to them.  Brooks noticed the straight-away portion on the track where people like up for the 100M and hurdles.  Zach explained why that portion of the track was there, and that it wasn't an end.  Adlyn looked up at me curiously when Zach said this is where the hurdles start their race.  Adlyn thought this is where the turtles start their race!  It was cute.

Later that afternoon, we were cooling off by drinking some milk and watching a golf tournament on tv.  The kids were sitting on our laps and they both noticed they were watching some form of ball.  Zach asked them what kind of ball they are playing.  It was quiet for a moment and Adlyn responded with "meatball".  No, no, silly...  Brooks chuckled and said golf ball. 

Sick Day

I got home from work on July 7 and Zach said Adlyn was pretty feverish and taking a nap.  We let her rest and when she woke up, she didn't have any energy.  Poor little girl, it broke my heart to see her sick like that.  She just wanted to lie down on the couch or on the floor.  We took her temperature and it reported a 103.9.  Yikes, that is hot.  No wonder she was feeling so miserable.  I called my brother-in-law to get some advice.  We tried to get her to take some medicine, she refused.  Then, I mixed it into some flavored water, and I thought that was going to work great.  She was sitting on my lap and about a minute later, she puked.  Everywhere.  Out her mouth.  Out her nose.  She was crying, scared, and tired.  I hate puke, and it didn't help that I was trying to eat supper at the same time.  We put her in the tub to clean her up and cool her off.  Then, I called the pediatrician on call for the night to get his advice.  We gave her the medicine again, and this time it worked much better.  She went to bed and I checked her several times throughout the night to make sure she was doing well.  About an hour after she took her medicine, I could tell she was cooling off and doing much better.  By morning, she was back to normal. 

Even though Adlyn was completely miserable the entire evening, it was Brooks that could make her smile.  He would do something silly and she would give a little grin behind her misery.  I was trying to do anything to keep her comfortable and make her happy, and it was nothing compared to what Brooks could do for her spirits.

1/2 Marathon Report: A&B - DNF, Z - 2:02, A - 2:09



Brooks and Adlyn riding in the stroller.



Zach finishes in 2:02.

Anne finishes in 2:09.

Brooks offers Mom a drink.

Family photo after the race!



We're done!
















Believe it or not, this was Brooks & Adlyn's fourth time doing the Half Marathon.  They are only 2 1/2 years old, you do the math.  This is also the first year they are marked with a DNF (Did Not Finish). 

At 5:45 AM, it was time for them to get up and get ready for the race.  We needed to be downtown and ready for the start at 6:30 AM.  Adlyn got up and was ready to go, Brooks was a little tired.  While we were driving to the start, Adlyn was so excited!  She kept saying, "Race, Race, Race!".  She had her legs going fast and was ready to run.  Even though she was going to be riding in the stroller, she couldn't have been more pumped up about the race!  I am really looking forward to the day when Adlyn &/or Brooks wants to run a 5K!

The race started on time and progressed well.  Zach pushed the kids this year since they are getting quite heavy now.  62 lbs is a lot of weight to push, so I've been lucky to have a training partner this year!  Zach and I ran a half together back in 2006, and he hasn't run one since.  Zach pulled ahead of me early on in the race and I told him to go for it.  I sank into a steady groove and ran my own, slow pace.  The weather was great.  If you are unfamiliar with the course, it is important to know that it is a challenging course.  The first half is uphill and several hills are steep.  The last half has rolling down hills.  Every portion of the course is very scenic.

Brooks and Adlyn were doing well until 8.22 miles when they wanted out.  Grandma and Grandpa were waiting for them with the pick up to shuttle them to the finish line.  :-(  I was kind of bummed out since they have made it the whole way in years past, but nothing goes as planned. 

Zach crossed the finish line in 2:02.  There is no doubt in my mind that he would have been under 2 hours had he not pushed the kids, and ran with a watch to monitor his pace.  He ran under 2 hours during his first half marathon.  I finished in 2:09, and was just happy to finish.  That is in my range of time for running this race for the past five years.  I never go for a PR in this race because of the course. 

Overall, it was a great experience.  It has been a lot of fun to train as a family for the past few months.  Running is something that we can do together and the kids enjoy the scenery and going for a ride.  I would do it again soon and I'm looking forward to our next challenge.  I also like the fact that our kids get to see us lead an active lifestyle, and I hope they will want to partake in similar activities in the future.

Fireworks!

Our town is the best place to be on the 4th of July!  On July 2nd, we hiked to the top of the hill (the kids rode their bikes) to watch the fireworks.  It was a beautiful evening and we enjoyed the sunset before the show started.  Brooks fell asleep about 10 minutes into the show.  Adlyn stayed awake for all of it.  Their comments included terms such as "nice" and "pretty"!  Grandpa joined us, alongside my mom and aunt who were visiting for the week.

On the 4th itself, we enjoyed the half marathon (see related story) along with the parade.  Adlyn was exhausted from waking up at 5:45 AM to run the race that she wanted to take a nap partway through the parade and I had to carry her home.  She insisted she needed to drink some milk and lay down on her bee pillow, neither of which I had with us at the parade.  Try carrying a two-and-a-half year old from Main Street to your house after running a half marathon.  I typically think she is light, but her 28 lbs of weight was getting to me. 

The night of the 4th was spectacular.  Brooks and Adlyn were well rested after taking a very long nap that afternoon.  We went out on the back deck to watch the fireworks around town, but Brooks told us that it was too noisy and that he needed to go in.  Adlyn followed.  We pulled the couch up to the front window and watched from there.  They were content and enjoyed every minute of it.  The neighbors across the street were putting on quite a show!  Brooks asked Zach to take him to bed, and Adlyn fell asleep in my arms.  Fireworks continued through midnight, and didn't wake them once.

Zoo Day




Brooks & Dad looking at the animals.

 


Brooks can't wait for the train any longer!






Adlyn is full of smiles!

 



Brooks and a buffalo.

 



Mom and Adlyn on the train.







We went to the zoo for the first time on June 28.  We thought going on a week day to Salt Lake Hogle Zoo would be a good idea.  Departure time was 7 AM to beat the forecasted heat.  Adlyn got up easily and was ready to go.  Brooks was grumpy since we woke him up early.  Once we got in the car, the roles were reversed.  Adlyn could not have been a bigger pain, and Brooks couldn't wait to get to the zoo.  I was about to pull my hair out as they were arguing over who got to sit in the back, who was in the middle, and when they could switch.  I can honestly say we must have stopped 15 times for someone to go to the bathroom.  Ugh!  Could this day be any worse?

Once we finally arrived, it couldn't have been better.  Everyone had a great time.  It was hot (nearly 100), but luckily the wind picked up in the afternoon to help cool us off.  They loved watching all of the animals, especially the tigers, turkeys, and monkeys.  The elephants were very exciting.  A two-year old elephant was being introduced to the water for the first time that day.  Brooks and Adlyn enjoyed watching it go into the water to eat red apples.  Grandma and cousin Christopher also joined us at the zoo.

The biggest highlight at the zoo wasn't an animal, but rather the train.  What should I expect?  Brooks and Adlyn loved it and went on it twice.  This was their first train ride.  They also had an opportunity to ride on a carousel for the first time, which was a big hit.  Adlyn chose to ride the turtle and Brooks selected the bear.

The zoo was also featuring a dinosaur animatronic exhibit.  They were huge, and scary.  It took a while to entice Brooks to walk past the large ones.  We took the stroller with us, and I don't think the kids ever sat in it.  The whole time they were walking, running, and having fun.   

We left the zoo at 4 PM, and Adlyn was asleep within one block, and Brooks was out before we hit the interstate.  Even though it was a blast, I've decided this is a once a year gig!