Summer Sprinklers

It has been getting downright hot here in the middle of the day and early evening. So I decided to get out the sprinkler for the boys to play in. Needless to say, they absolutely loved it!

First they contented themselves with merely running through the sprinklers or seeing how close they could get without getting too wet. Eventually Jonah figured out that he could pick up the sprinkler by the hose and direct the water where he wanted it to go.

Before long he was washing all of his sandbox toys off with the sprinkler and spreading them all over the yard to dry. It really was a hoot!

Almost as funny as when little Eli discovered that holding the sprinkler by the hose takes a little more coordination than he thought! Also running away from the water while holding onto the hose doesn't really work!

Wordful on Wednesday as always!

Huck Finn Day

At the end of our town's annual Strawberry Days festival, they have a "Huck Finn Day". There are pony rides, a fish pond, face painting, a donut walk, and other kiddie games.

So why is it called Huck Finn Day? Well, there is a low spot in the park that they fill with water to make a pond. Then they put fish in it that you can try to catch if you would like.

My boys were not particularly interested in the fish... just the water.

Maybe a little too interested...

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

Kiddie Rides

Last week our town had it's annual summer celebration with activities, booths, and of course a carnival. They had lots of fun kiddie rides that my boys desperately wanted to go on.

Jonah is three, so he could go on most of the kiddie rides by himself. However I wasn't quite sure if I trusted little Eli to "keep his hands and arms" (and himself) inside the rides at all times. So he spent part of the day like this:


I felt sorry for the little guy, so finally I found some rides that I thought he could go on. He had tons of fun on the carousel and really enjoyed riding on this hot rod with his brother.

Of course Jonah really wanted to go on the Ferris wheel... but since it was just the three of us there that day I didn't really want to take Eli and go with him on the Ferris wheel. That would have been twelve tickets for one ride, which was a bit expensive. Plus I didn't want to send Jonah by himself because I was pretty sure he would get scared. So I conveniently ran out of tickets. You won't tell on me, will you?

Strawberry Days

At the Honey House we are having a bumper crop of strawberries this year! It must be the cooler weather and all the rain we've been having. They are big, red and delicious!

We have enjoyed eating them plain, in a bowl with sugar or whipped topping, or as part of strawberry shortcake. Yummy!

Speaking of strawberries, our town just finished holding it's annual festival called "Strawberry Days". We had a good time attending some of the activities and I have some pictures and stories to post about. It was fun, but I'm actually glad it's over. Now I don't have to listen to the rodeo announcer from inside my house each evening (and I live quite a ways from the fairgrounds!).

This week it is finally supposed to be gorgeous and sunny, which makes me SO happy! Wahoo!

Soggy Summer

This has been the weirdest weather year I can remember. First there was the snowstorms in April, and now this month we have had nothing but rain. Isn't it supposed to be April showers, not June showers?

Someone besides me is confused... I think it's Mother Nature.

Nearly Every day this month we have had clouds and thunderstorms off and on all day. Last time I checked Utah doesn't have a monsoon season, does it?

It has been so soggy that we haven't been able to play outside very much. We have also spotted some visitors to our lawn that we have never really seen around here before:


I don't know about your, but I would rather have more sun and less mushrooms!



Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

Right Round the Merry-Go-Round

How funny is it that I have two posts in a row about merry-go-rounds?

Not only did my kids get to go on the colorful steel merry-go round pictured below, they also go to go on the slightly more high-tech merry-go-round at the zoo. Are they spoiled, or what?!

Anyway, while my in-laws were visiting at the beginning of the month we went on a trip to Hogle Zoo. We went on one of the last days of the school year, so the zoo wasn't too crowded. My boys love to see all the animals, especially the elephants, giraffes, monkeys and zebras. We also cannot leave the zoo without taking a ride on the Conservation Carousel and the Zoofari Express train.

This year Eli was old enough to ride on the carousel, and he thought it was great fun. Here he is on the much-coveted baby giraffe.

Jonah was all about animals with stripes that day. We ended up with an extra ticket for the carousel, so he got to go twice. He chose the zebra the first time, and the tiger the second. I think he could have gone on the carousel all day!

Well, unless he had to keep going on the carousel with me. Apparently I was embarrassing him with my picture-taking. I was trying to take my own picture on the carousel and he said, "Mommy, stop doing that!".

Hey. It's not every day you get a picture of yourself smiling at the zoo while being mauled by a tiger!

Word.
(Wordful, that is)

You Spin Me Right Round

I love old-fashioned play equipment. It isn't too often these days that you see a park with a merry-go-round on it. I guess it is "too dangerous", along with some of the other equipment I remember playing on as a child.

Here are my boys, having a great time on the merry-go-round (and yes, it was going round and round!).

I love this picture, and all the credit goes to Honey Daddy.

He was letting the boys take some time to play at a park last weekend while I was out riding 103 miles on my bike in one day (someday I'll stop bringing that up, I swear!).



Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

Have a Ball at the Testicle Festival

It has been a busy couple of weeks. First there was my grandpa's funeral, then a two-week visit from my in-laws, followed by my 100 mile bike ride (read the post below). Though I have not had too much time to blog, I have lots of great photos to share!

On the way to Star Valley, Wyoming to go to the funeral, we passed a sign that made me do a double take- "WHAT did that say?!"

So of course we stopped on the way back home so I could take a picture to share with you.

Too bad we mised out on this festival, huh?
Actually, that's ok. Rocky Mountain Oysters don't sound like my idea of tasty cuisine.

Little Red Riding Hood 2009

I DID IT! I ACTUALLY DID IT!
I completed my first ever century bike ride! Saturday I rode a total of 103 miles in 6 hours 26 minutes, with an average speed of 16 miles/hour.

Sometimes when I think about how far 100 miles actually is, I am still amazed that I did it and I am pretty proud of myself. Especially considering the fact that in the end I basically did it all by myself!

I started out the ride at 7:30 am with the group of girls that talked me into doing the century ride with them. We were rolling right along, and I was having a great time even though the weather was a bit cloudy and we were in our warmer gear. Here I am with one of the ladies in my group.

I was amazed by the number of cyclists who were participating in the ride. There were around 2600 ladies out on the road that day!

So I was rolling along with my group, when I noticed around mile 10 that my rear tire didn't feel quite right. I asked one of my riding buddies, and she said it looked fine to her. I told her that I was pretty sure I was going flat and that I needed to stop and check it.

At the next intersection I stopped and my rear tire was completely flat. Unfortunately, none of my group stopped with me! I was a bit annoyed, but determined to continue with my ride.

I got my tire replaced with the help of one of the support cars, and Honey Daddy showed up just as we were getting it back on. I gave him my flat tube and a kiss and headed out on my own. He met me at the next rest stop with the boys to cheer me on.

After the first rest stop my honey was going to go back to my sister's house for a while and take pictures of my sisters on their shorter ride. But then at mile 26 I got another flat on my rear tire! At this point I was really annoyed.

I didn't see a support car in sight, and I had already used my spare tube so I called my Honey. He turned around even though he had two tired boys in the car with him. A nice rider stopped and gave me a spare tube and I started to replace my rear tire again.

Two other cyclists stopped to help me with my tire as well as a highway patrolman. Then Honey Daddy showed up and helped me get the tire back on. At this point I had probably lost almost an hour with flat tires... so I knew there was no way I would ever catch up with my group. But I kept on.

Honey Daddy returned to my sister's house for a while, but then spent most of the afternoon following me around. So even though my riding group left me, I was never really alone. Honey Daddy and the boys were there at many of the rest stops to cheer me on.

They are definitely part of what kept me going through two flat tires, miles of farmland, some huge hills, and a 20 minute downpour. Honey Daddy even spent my lunch stop with me while the boys napped in the car. They were all awesome and I was glad to have them there.

Honey Daddy took some pretty great pictures of me too! Here are a couple of my favorites:

Yep! I was out in the middle of farm country in Cache County.

Then just after mile 80 I was coming down the road to find my mom, my sisters and my husband all there cheering me on. It was awesome and made me feel so good!

With such a great crew, it is no wonder that I was able to finish. I didn't roll into the finish until just before 5 pm, but I did it! My family was there to cheer me on at the finish line and it was great.

Surprisingly my muscles are doing really well following my epic ride. I actually haven't been that sore! The worst part has been the wicked sunburn that I got on my knees and upper calves because the sun finally did come out towards the end of the ride and I forgot about sunscreen.

Next year I will be sure to remember the sunscreen! That's right... I think I will be doing this ride again next year. Maybe I can beat my time and average speed... and hopefully get less flat tires!

In It Up to Here!

Thanks for all the advice on my previous post! The results of my informal poll are in, and every single one of you said I should go for it and do the century (100 miles!) ride on Saturday. So it seems that you either have incredible faith in my cycling abilities, or you just want to hear my torture story after the fact!

Whichever the case may be... I have decided to go for it! I guess you could say that now I am in it up to here!

Wish me luck!
(hopefully I will be back to tell the tale!)

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

I Could Cycle 100 Miles!?!

I seriously need some advice from all you ladies (or guys) out there! Here's the story...

Last fall my husband and I picked up cycling as a hobby. It all started when my husband started riding his old ten-speed to work to save on gas. Then we decided he was serious enough about it to get a nice, Trek road bike.

Around that time I started getting up early in the mornings to get some exercise in for the day and get rid of that baby weight. Then my husband surprised me with a Trek road bike for my birthday!

Cycling is awesome! It is the only form of exercise that I have found that I really enjoy. It has toned up our bodies, strengthened our marriage, and put a slight dent in our budget.

Honey Daddy and I have gone on numerous bike tours together, including the one on my birthday last year where we cycled 65 miles and last month's rainy 50 mile ride.

This Saturday I am signed up to participate in a women-only ride called Little Red Riding Hood. Originally I planned to do the 62 mile ride... all by myself. Then last Saturday at a group ride organized by our local Trek store I met a couple of other ladies who have also signed up to do Little Red. They said I was welcome to ride with them.

It would be SO nice to have someone to ride with... especially some other women who cycle about my speed. (Honey Daddy is faster than me, and I have to work hard to keep up with him) The only problem? They plan on doing the 100 mile (century) ride. Yikes!

Honey Daddy and I planned to do a century ride by the end of the summer, but I am not quite sure I am ready for it yet! As a test, Honey Daddy took me out for a long ride on Monday, since my in-laws are here and can watch the boys. We pedaled 57 miles in just over three hours. I was beat that afternoon and my keister was sore, but today I actually feel fine.

So I am considering riding 100 miles on Saturday. Honey Daddy says that I can do it. It might be good to do my first century ride at a pace I am comfortable with... but 100 miles is SO far!

Should I do it? Or would my body feel something like this rusty old bicycle when I'm done?

Go see if anyone else could possibly be as Wordful as me!