Randoms

I had some fun putting together collages of pics... SOO much easier than posting them one by one! I hope they look ok when I actually post this. Anyway, it has been SO ridiculously busy this month. It seems like it has been that way for everyone so I won't act like I have it worse because I don't..... but seriously why has July been so insane?? Now that it's basically over I feel like, WHERE the heck did my summer go?

I am usually a summer lover..... and don't get me wrong I still am ...... but these 100 degree days are really wearing on me! I used to tell Collin I wouldn't mind living in Arizona in case we ever moved there but I have definitely changed my mind! It is not even fun. It's been 80 degrees by 10:00am which means if I want to go for a run before it's sweltering I have to get up early! And we all know that ain't gonna happen! Having a kid to entertain day after day really has made me wish it wasn't so hot outside every day! Ashlyn isn't huge on playing in the water so we can only do that so much! But we have managed to have some fun amidst all the craziness and heat.

We met up with Collin and the wrestlers at Mack's Creek for some boating! Ashlyn had a lot of fun exploring the little shore to the reservoir before we went out on the boat. Don't you love the "ooooh!" face! Whenever some waves from a boat would come in she thought it was amazing.

 You can't tell from any of these pictures, but she really did have fun out there! She was just being a poop about smiling for the pictures. She didn't even mind the life jacket. I only got SUPER crappy pictures of Collin wakeboarding so I'm not even bothering to post them. They look like full-body portraits of the guy driving the boat. That is how awesome a photographer I am. But we were out on the boat for a good 2 hours, Ashlyn just chilled and ate snacks and enjoyed the ride. She loved watching Collin in the water and the couple of times he went down when we swung around to get him set up again she would try to climb out of the boat to jump in with him. A little scary for momma, but pretty funny!

And now on to my favorite thing about summer.... MY BIRTHDAY! I had the most fabulous birthday ever. I think I probably say that every year. But anyway, it was great. I taught lessons for a few hours in the morning, but after that Collin was actually home all afternoon and I got to actually take a nap... (oh sweet mercy, why don't I do that more often!??!?) then I played around with my awesome new KINDLE (!!! so excited!!!) until one more student came, and after that we dropped Ash off at my buddy Chandra's for the evening and headed out to have us some fun!

Collin's plan was to go try out this Basque restaurant in Meridian--Epi's -- (because we are long-time fans of another Basque place in town, Bar Gernika but wanted to try somewhere new) but we didn't realize that we needed a reservation so we were DENIED! And after driving around some unfamiliar streets in Meridian we had to make a quick decision so we stopped in at this place... I can't even remember the name. Wild Bill's or something.... total disappointment but I was hungry enough that I didn't care. And honestly at this point, any time we get out to eat just the 2 of us is a treat in itself so it was really great. And really truly, the sweet potato fries were good.  After that we headed to the SNAKE RIVER STAMPEDE baby! We have been to it before for my birthday and I wouldn't mind if we went every year. One rodeo a year is plenty for me but it is really fun. We didn't try to be cowboy posers this year but had a great time enjoying the festivities. Collin was so wonderful to me all day, thanks honey. I felt very spoiled by friends and piano students stopping by and or calling. I am super blessed to have wonderful friends!

This is backwards I know, but the night before we had a fabulous girls night out for my birthday! My buddy Amber put it together and it was so fun. We ate at Old Chicago and had a good time (as you can see from my red face in the pictures I feel like I was laughing most of the time!), then Chandra and I stopped in at the Cheesecake Factory! holla! Then we hung out at Amber's and eventually shut up enough to watch This Means War, which was a fun one. It was a great night and really I'm so lucky to have such great girls to spend time with!

 

On to cuter things...how can you get cuter than Ashlyn? Collin and I really ask each other this like every day. It seems like each day she is doing some new funny thing that we laugh about. She is so entertaining and keeps us on our toes. These pics are from a couple of weeks ago--I had bought these cute little red sparkly shoes for fall but she found them in her shoe box in her room. She brought them to me and sat right on my lap and "helped" me put them on her. Sadly they are almost too small already! I was so bummed. But they fit ok, and let me tell you she LOOOVED wearing those! She walked all around the house just looking at her feet, and even when one came off she wouldn't let me take off the other one. I was dying. It was so adorable.

She does this with headbands and hairbows too. She will pick one out of my drawer in the bathroom and "help" me put it on her head.... then run to the mirror to look at it and then keep it on all day unless it falls off. Is this a future diva in the making??? I am not sure how I feel about that...but it is so so cute.

 "There's no place like home!!"

I did something that I don't know if I will ever do again.... took a trip to Utah--alone--with Ashlyn! I have driven to IF with her... but that was so different. This was a longer drive by over an hour.....we stayed 2 different places in 2 nights..... we drove from Kaysville to SLC to Bountiful to Ogden in one day..... plus it's just so different not visiting grandparents because well, I was really ultimo in charge of making sure everything was taken care of for Ash! Thankfully she was a super good sport and really didn't make it any more difficult than it already was....until church but that is really a given, right?

Anyway, the reason it happened is that a couple months ago Tara and I signed up for a 5K in SLC to run together! And the reason Ashlyn couldn't either stay home with Collin or he couldn't come with us is that it happened to fall on an unfortunance I like to call Wrestling Nationals in Fargo.... ok that is really what it's called so I didn't make that name up but let's just say it is a subject we have had many "marital" discussions about! In the end Collin went for 4 days, 3 of which were when my Utah trip was. SO that left me taking Ash down there alone. It was a long drive but thanks to Elmo and Blue's Clues we survived.

Ashlyn and I stopped by my friend Darcie's house in Kaysville to see her and her adorable little twins Madden and Macy.... who are just 2 months younger than Ashlyn. Although I'm pretty sure she is like double their sizes! :) Anyway that little meet and greet didn't go so well for the babies.... Ashlyn is unfortunately totally into poking out eyes and smacking kids (oh my heck! It is my worst nightmare! I am trying so hard to teach her to be "soft" but it is taking a while!!! Tips???) so both Madden and Macy ended up crying! I really felt like mother of the year. :P Oh well. Darc, we need to get together more! :)

So back to this race. I really did train for 4 weeks for it. I ran 3 times a week all through that heinous 100-degree weather and with all of Collin's long hours of working. And ta-da! I finished! Tara.... didn't. womp. Well she finished but she walked! boo. I left her in my dust. Not really because the pace I was running at, speed walkers were passing me, but you know what I mean. Tara had talked me into not even bringing my iPod because we were going to "talk the whole time," so I was extra proud that even after I left her I finished the whole thing without even any music to listen to. That is a big deal to me! Paul was going for the 1st place male running with a jogger award.... it was $50! He came in 2nd! boo. He finished way before Tara and me. I think he had a good exposure to dealing with a kid during his run with Ashlyn.

After the race we swam in Paul's parents pool, (no pictures) then after nap time (for all of us!!) we stopped in at Bountiful Days Festival (also no pictures) and finally headed to Ogden for a delicious meal made by Tara! Legit, that is the first time Tara has cooked for me! Luckily I survived! ha ha, just kidding Tar. Anyway, we were all so exhausted that evening we just watched River Monsters and Psych (and I enjoyed some heavenly mint m&ms.....). I slept like a rock that night and even Ashlyn slept all night. Church the next morning unraveled very quickly....we made it through the first hour and Ashlyn was on her last straw so I gave up and we just packed up and headed home. Again thanks to Elmo for making the trip bearable; she was not so keen to spend 5 more hours in the carseat but we survived. It was SOO nice to get home and be with Daddy!! It was a fun trip and I think next time I go visit for something like that, I'll make sure it's just me!

And a few more pics of our awesome daughter.... (she finds this viking hat in our closet (it's from Collin's high schoo..... holla PG!!) and brings it out for us to put it on. That is currently my absolute favorite picture!!

Check out that bath hair too! I did it in some cute little twists (again no picture, dang it!) and when I took them out she had some awesome hair!

 And she is such a helper, I have to give her the broom while I'm mopping to keep her occupied because she seriously thinks it is so awesome to do just what I'm doing. I love it. Check out that sweeping technique. Maybe I should make a job chart??!

And as for that rockin' skull cap... I bought her some new jammies and it came with them! I know that a lot of newborn-size clothes come with little hats... but size 18 months? Really? I put it on her one night and oh my heck, just about died laughing. She thought it was pretty cool too... until she tried to walk and it somehow really threw her off balance. That made it even more funny. Good times. And that pic of her sitting in the rocking chair.... yes that is her new crowning achievement thus far. She can climb! She is getting pretty good at climbing up onto that chair in her room.... and she can climb up onto the couches if she really works hard. oh boy.

And I have tried to move this pic like 80 times and it will NOT MOVE! So, here are pics (courtesy of Lindy....thanks Lindy!:) of my bday girls night out. Stupid blogger.