September 10, 2013

Today was Isaac's first day of Kindergarten!  He was mostly excited but a little bit nervous because he is worried about having to do lots of "paperwork" this year.  (His preschool teacher told him last year that there would be a lot more sitting and writing when he went to Kindergarten.)  I assured him that he probably wouldn't have to do much paperwork on the first day and that seemed to ease his mind a bit.

His teacher is Mrs. Hurwitz.  I was able to meet her a few times last year and I really like her and am glad that Isaac got to be in her class.  I had to say goodbye to Isaac at the door and didn't get to go into the classroom.  Instead Luke & I had to go to a Back to School parent meeting.  I hope they didn't say anything too important, or that's not in the packet, because Luke kept trying to run away (he wanted to play outside) and my best attempts to entertain him with toys, snacks, and the iPad were simply not working.  We left early.  

When I picked Isaac up after school (he apparently hadn't spotted me yet in this photo), he said that his first day was "awesome" and he loved it.  But as I started asking him more questions he quickly changed his tune and decided that he didn't like it after all.  Oh no.  He said they made him sing nursery rhymes and he doesn't like nursery rhymes because he is not a baby!  But luckily the only "paperwork" was drawing a picture of a bear.  Overall I would say the first day was a success.

September 9, 2013

This photo is kind of embarrassing, but I apparently forgot all about 365 today and it is the only one that I took.  Well actually there is one more that shows even more bites, but it's also a little more revealing.  I was snapping this to send to Mikael to show the millions of mosquito bites that I have all over.  When we were standing at the start line waiting for the race, we were attacked by huge swarms of mosquitos.  Like hundreds or maybe thousands of them, everywhere!  Even with constant swatting and smacking I could not keep them off of me.  And for the first four or five miles there several more swarms that I had to run through.  When I got home tonight I counted 52 bites.  So gross!  And itchy.

September 8, 2013

I wish we had taken this photo in better lighting (and maybe with my camera instead of my phone) but with 5 kids and a dog all holding still for 10 seconds, I'll take it!  We went to Chris & Carly's house for dinner tonight and then the kids all played together for a long time afterwards.  Ginny is really great with Luke.  Isaac & Lucy played together really well on this trip too.  And both girls love Cracker.  Asher is a little scared of him, but Cracker likes to follow Asher around because he quickly figured out that Asher drops food!  

September 7, 2013

When we came to Utah in July I started talking with Chris (Charlie's twin) about some of the races he had done because I was thinking of running a 1/2 marathon sometime soon.  Last year he and another brother Tyler ran the Little Grand Canyon 1/2.  It sounded like an awesome course so I put it on my calendar and then decided I probably wouldn't be going back to Utah that soon and forgot all about it.  When I double checked my calendar this week to make sure I wasn't forgetting anything in California I noticed the race I had marked on Saturday.  Could I do it?  I had not been training, but I have been running regularly and felt I was in pretty good shape, so why not?  I registered on Tuesday night to run on Saturday morning.  I was nervous about it, but in the end I am so glad I did it!  Chris was so nice to drive me out there and wait at the finish line to cheer me on.  I finished in 1:48 with an 8:16 pace, and 5th place for women.  I loved the race and am tempted to do it again next year - but to maybe actually train for it next time.

September 6, 2013

Is Utah the only state that has fry sauce?  My favorite fry sauce has always been at Taco Amigo.  It's a whole in the wall little drive-thru in Pleasant Grove.  I think what makes me love it so much is the nostalgia of going there with my Grandma.  My family moved to Utah the summer before my Senior year of high school.  I spent a lot of time with my Grandma that summer and one of the fun things we would do was to drive to Taco Amigo and get a root beer freeze.  Anyway, I wanted to go here for lunch today and my parents, my sister Lisa, and my Grandma came along too.  When we arrived we were pleasantly surprised to see my aunt Kay & my two cousins already eating at a table.  It's a family favorite!

September 5, 2013

Usually when we go to Utah we are pretty rushed trying to see all of our family in every part of the state.  This trip was nice because I had a little more time and was able to see some friends too.  It was really last minute, but Erin and I figured out a time to get together and then we thought it would be fun to invite some of our other old roommates over too.  Melissa & Alena were so great to drop everything and come hang out!  Rebecca was teaching her pre-school and couldn't make it, and everyone else lives out of state.  But it was so fun to get together with these girls and catch up.  Thanks for hosting us Erin!

September 4, 2013

After a really long long day in the car, these boys needed to burn off some energy!  After dinner we drove over to a park near my parents house to let Isaac and Luke play.  They had races down the slides and ran all around on the grass.  My parents haven't spent a lot of time around my boys and they seemed a little surprised at the energy (and noise) level, but they had fun playing with them.  

September 3, 2013

Today was a little crazy.  Since I decided last night to leave for Utah tomorrow morning, I had lots of packing and getting ready to do today.  Charlie dropped me off at the airport this evening to pick up a rental car (van) and then came home and started the dinner.  This is an easy meal that my mom used to make when we were kids - little pizzas on English muffins.  Isaac is a weird-o and doesn't like pizza, but if he helps make it then he will sometimes eat it.  Both boys always like standing on a chair in the kitchen to help with or watch anything that's being made.  They especially like watching the popcorn popper.  We had that for dinner too.  Popcorn and pizza.  Why not?

September 2, 2013

Today is Labor Day, and the start of our last week of summer.  We spent a few hours at the pool this afternoon.  Luke prefers playing in the baby pool lately rather than practice his swimming in the big pool.  And apparently he has taken to sun bathing at a young age.  When he needs a break he just climbs out and lays by the edge of the pool for awhile.  It always makes me laugh.  

While we were there Charlie asked what our plans were for this week.  I told him there wasn't much going on and he suggested that I take the boys to Utah (he has to spend a few days in Scottsdale for work).  Hmmm.... I just might.  

September 1, 2013

One of our family's new favorite dishes is "Paris Chicken."  It is actually chicken cordon bleu (Tyler Florence's recipe), but the first time I made it we told Isaac that it was from Paris to get him to try it.  He really likes learning about other countries and sometimes we can get him to try new foods that way.  It worked and he loves it!  Tonight Isaac was really excited because when Charlie set the table he put a "Paris knife" at Isaac's place setting (I don't normally give my children sharp knives).  We have a set of Laguiole knives (from France) and Isaac loves them.  It is really crazy that he made this connection, but he actually noticed a certain type of knife being used in the movie "Ratatouille" and later when we received a Laguiole cheese knife as a Christmas gift, he recognized it from the movie and labeled it the "Paris knife."  I think he's kind of a little genius.