Park City Half Marathon

Pre-Race.  Don't we both look excited?

Eric and I woke up bright and early this Saturday to participate in the Park City Half Marathon.  It was a 13.1 mile beautiful run (sun rise, hot air balloons, and running on trails for most of the race). Eric ran it in 1 hour 50 minutes (8:24 min/miles) and I ran it in 1 hour 54 minutes (8:45 min/miles). Yes, he beat me... again...  My goal was under 2 hours, so I'm happy with that!  Even though I've done a several (10?) half marathons now, it has been over 3 years, so the accomplishment still feels good. I didn't train as consistently as I have in the past (busy job, kid, summer fun, etc) but I felt great the whole run.  You could tell who the locals running the race were (not breathing hard at 7,000 feet elevation) and who the visitors were (panting hard).  Just kidding.  Kind of.

Post Race!  

Grandma M & OG Visit Park City!

We had a great visit with Debi (Eric's Mom aka Grandma M) and Mary (aka Other Grandma or OG).  I didn't get a lot of photos from the visit, but here is a cute one from dinner out at Silver Restaurant on Main Street.  Cheers!

Strawberry Reservoir with Grandma & Grandpa J

Last weekend we went camping with Grandma & Grandpa J at Strawberry Reservoir (about 1.5 hours from Park City).  A few photos of our adventure:

Nothin' much better than a hot breakfast cooked on a warm fire, on a cool morning.

Happy Campers

(Literally) hours and miles of bike riding around the campsite, in search of the "bus stop"

We rented a pontoon boat.  Captain I.O. 

A family portrait... of sorts

Camping in Sage Brush.  An early morning moon.

The View of Strawberry Lake from the campsite

Aspen Grove Marina.

A cool dip in the lake

Fun at our neighborhood park before saying goodbye.

Sushi & Sunshine

Just a little of this and a little of that... Isaac eating Sushi:

Piano at the Bus terminal

He's told Eric he wants to drive an excavator when he grows up

Ready to Paddle Board on the Jordonelle

5 Years!

We celebrated our five-year wedding anniversary with a hike in the Uintas with the family:

Beautiful 12 mile hike (Isaac fell asleep in the backpack on the way back, after a short picnic lunch at the lake)

Lodi fetching sticks in the lake

 And, Sunday we had a play date with his daycare best friend, Haven.  We hear all the time about how Isaac "loves Haven" and that she is his "best friend".  It was the first time we got to see them interact, and they are so cute (and a little bit of trouble) together.

More photos of the weekend in our July Photo Album.

Northwest Road Trip (Fourth of July 2012)

Staying true to tradition, we traveled to Richland, WA for Independence Day.  We were off a full week and drove Park City, UT --> Richland, WA (10+ hours overnight).  We stayed in Richland for a couple days, enjoying the warm weather and time with Eric's parents.  Then, Eric and I (and Lodi) drove to Seattle for a quick 4th of July visit with friends and my parents. We drove back to Richland for another day or two, then we all said goodbye and headed back to Utah.  On the way home, we divided the trip into 2 days, stopping at Eric's aunt and uncles house in Boise for a night.  A whirland trip, but so fun and even all the driving wasn't so bad!

Isaac and Grandma & Grandpa Merhar

See ya later, Kiddo! We have some friends to see in Seattle.

An awesome stop-over in Boise: great company, food and some morning wakeboarding before getting in the car again!

Feels Like Summer

$0.25 per ride.  I spent $1.50.

Morning swim

Mid-Mountain Trail Overlooking Park City

All Smiles for Dad

Happy Father's Day, Eric!

Three photos of the boys:

Enjoying a leisurely Father's Day morning....

Fun at the Park Silly Sunday Market (Bouncy House!)

  

Happy (and tired) dog after an 8 mile trail run.

Dirty Dash: Round II

It was time to get dirty this weekend!

To recap, the Dirty Dash is a fun mud-run.  5.5 miles.  A dozen or so boot-camp-style obstacles. No timers.  Lots of mud.  Totally fun. Totally ridiculous.  This was the second time I participated in the Dirty Dash (see last fall's blog post here).

Our team "run-a-muck" consisted of me, Angela, Michelle & Emily.  We rocked it and had a blast!

Sounders Shorts All Clean?

Since Isaac Otto turned two, I've been meaning to write a snapshot of what he was up to at this age.  Here we go.... Isaac at 2 years (26 months):

Sleep:  11 hours at night (8:30pm to 7:30am) and one 2-hour nap (12:30 - 2:30).  Or so...

Eat:  All in all, he's a very adventurous eater.  He loves broccoli, cheese, cereal, edamame and chicken. He's eating about as many calories as Mommy & Daddy these days...  He dislikes leafy greens (although he loved baked kale chips).

Talk:  Oh boy is this boy talking.  Each day it's a new phrase or song.  He's repeating everything and is starting to ask "Why?"  He's funny and clever.  He's picking up the expressions ("Oh my Gosh!" "Get on it, Mommy").

Play:  As you've seen by the recent videos he loves to jump and try dare-devil moves.  But only after thinking about it for a minute. He's still a little cautious.  Which is a good thing.  

And of course, he's soccer crazed.  If it was up to him, he'd wear his green soccer shirt and shorts all the time. The first thing he asks when he wakes up is "Sounders shorts all cleeeeeeeeean?"  This is actually kind of hilarious, because according to my Mom, the only thing I wanted to wear at his age was this blue leotard and red tights.  Apple doesn't fall far from the tree?

In addition to soccer, he loves puzzles, trains and reading.  Oh, and how can I forget "Puff the magic dragon"?  He loves the book and can sing the whole song.

Potty:  We've put the diapers away!  Isaac has been in big boy underpants for a week.  The first couple of days he had one accident a day.  But he's getting the hang of it now.  He hasn't had an accident all weekend!  We mentioned we were thinking about starting potty training with his teacher, Ms. Terri.  She observed he was ready and encouraged us to go for it, even though this is very early for a boy.  Our strategy is to take him to the potty every 30 minutes.  He gets a sticker or M&M when he sits, no matter if he goes or not.  He still wears a diaper when he sleeps, but it is a chore getting him into the diaper.  He loves being in "big boy underpants".  But if you had underpants like these, would you ever take them off?

Friends:  Isaac has made some good friends at Ms. Terri's.  His best friends are Haven & Alex (they are also about 2 years old).  Now that he's talking more, it's so fun to hear about his day at Ms. Terri's and to hear him sing new songs that he's learned there.

Temper:  He's a pretty even-tempered 2 year old.  But he's still a 2 year old and his emotions are right at the surface.  This is fun when it's laughter and joy at the surface.  And not so fun when it's frustration or sadness. No public tantrums (yet).  And nothing we can't handle.  We're learning the value of consistency and he does well with structure.  And the occasional time out on the naughty stool works wonders for all of us.

Size:  3T clothes.  Size 9 shoes.  32-33lbs.  3 feet tall (ie: I have no idea his exact height).

Personality:  charming, sweet, smart, persistent, clever, curious, rambunctious & mildly sinister.  What's interesting, is that we've seen many of these same traits since he was an infant.