Timpanogos Half, Zoo, and Swimming

The end of July (30th) was the Timpanogos Half Marathon. It was a beautiful day...just perfect for a race. The course was incredibly similar to the AF Half Marathon from the previous month, but since the water levels were back to normal we got to run on more trail in the second half (loved it). I ran into my friend, Cathy Boer, and I saw another one (Mindy Lewis) before the race started. I felt pretty good throughout the whole race and I ended up pacing myself with other runners who were ahead of me. It worked out pretty well, but I still didn't get my race goal. Oh well, I still came in at 1:39. Afterwards I could definitely feel some pain in my left shin. Pain that seemed to continue for weeks afterwards (still does right now, but I think I'm on the right track). All in all, it was a beautiful and scenic race! I will consider doing it again next year, too.

So we started August by venturing over to the zoo (again!). We just can't seem to get enough of this place! One of the best things about this trip was that we actually witnessed one of the tigers swimming in the water. We were both pretty excited seeing as it seems to be quite the rare occurrence.

Another zoo highlight was when Hayden got to help feed the Llamas. We just happened to be there during feeding time and he was lucky enough to participate.

A few days later we went to Aunt Lila's pool for lunch and swim time. Hayden pretty much wanted to jump off the side into the water, but I got him to play a game with Selena and me for a bit.

Helicopter Ride and Playing With Cousins

On July 28, Hayden and I went on our first helicopter ride! It ended up on my "bucket list," but this was something that Hayden could be apart of...yay! I got this awesome deal through High Velocity Aviation on a 1/2 hour tour. Hayden was excited and he got in the helicopter without being nervous at all. However, once we left the ground, then the nerves set in. I was even having butterflies because the doors were off. I just kept hoping that the seatbelt would stay snapped, or else...

Here we are just before take-off.

We started out in Woods Cross and flew over Bountiful and the University of Utah area.

Whoo-Hoo! Go Utes!

The wind was so strong that it didn't take any extra power to lift us over the mountains (this is where my butterflies did some serious fluttering).

We made it back safely! Here we are post-flight! After we landed Hayden decided that it was an "awesome" experience despite how nervous he was.

Afterwards, I headed up to my cousin Carrie's house for some playtime. My other cousin, Emily, stopped by and later on so did my cousin, Ashley. Our kids had a great time playing together and Carrie (being the cute mom she is) mixed up this homemade bubble mixture. The kids could just use their hands to create some amazing and BIG bubbles.

Jakob with his two-handed bubble.

Noah with his bubble resting in the palm of his hand.

Katy Perry Concert

Back around Valentine's, my sis (Brooke) bought us a couple of Katy Perry concert tickets for July 25. We took a couple of pics before leaving my mom's house then headed downtown for dinner.

We found a great parking spot then ate at Z'Tejas at the Gateway Mall. Even though it was pretty hot, we still ate outside and enjoyed people watching. It was easy to pick out the people who were going to the concert, too...lots of girls dressed up! It kind of made me wish we would've too.

We snuck in another picture on my phone of the both of us. The concert started at 7:30 and lasted for about four hours!!! I don't think either of us have been out that late in awhile. I guess that's what happens when you're a mom, too. All in all, we had a great time and it was fun to feel "young" again.

Donaldson Family Party

On July 23 we had a family gathering with the Donaldsons (my mom's side of the family). I wish I had captured everyone on film, but only managed to get a few pics. I guess that's what happens when you get busy eating, conversing, and watching the kids. Pictured above are Lee, Meg, my mom, Isaac, Carrie, Ashley with Samuel, Caleb, Dave, and Adelaide.

Hayden and his "cousins" (my cousins' kids) having dinner at the kid table. Pictured are Jacob, Eliza, Noah, Alexander, Hayden, and Luke.

The kids did so well playing together! They played in the sand, the water, and rode some bikes/kid four wheelers. In this picture we have Samuel, Gage, Hayden and Alexander.

I made dessert with an Americana theme. We had red, white and blue cupcakes, "popcorn" cookies, star-shaped sugar cookies, and red and white popcorn.

Art in the Park and Airborne

Hayden is taking an Arts and Crafts class through Draper and it's held at Steep Mountain Park. We found out last week that his friend, Abbi, is in the session after his. So naturally we stayed while Hayden and Ty played and I could chat with their mom and my friend, Michelle.

Group hug! This is something they did on their own---no prompting from us moms.

Afterwards, Michelle and I took the kids to Airborne (this great indoor trampoline place in Draper). The kids had a blast!

After Airborne, everyone was pretty hungry so we all headed over to Fazoli's for some food.

I thought it was so cute when Ty asked Michelle if Hayden was family. Ty and Abbi decided that Hayden felt like family which just made my heart melt. Seriously, if something were to happen many, many, many years from now between Abbi and Hayden I would have ABSOLUTELY no problem with it...we already love the Anderson clan.

***On a sidenote: When did I become that mom who is already thinking about arranging a marriage for her five-year-old? Seriously, what century and culture am I living in? Maybe I should layoff all the Lisa See books immersed in past Chinese culture.

Paragliding

Continuing on with my bucket list...now I can cross off paragliding (although I would happily do it over and over again). Last week I went up to the point of the mountain for a tandem paragliding experience (found a fabulous deal through City Deals). It was a perfect day with gorgeous weather and plenty of wind.

My mom, Bob, and Hayden came to support and watch the adventure. Yes, I am lucky to have such a great family!

Hayden befriended Zeus, the dog, and played fetch with him for awhile.

Here I am getting all buckled and ready to fly.

And we're off! This experience was completely relaxing and enjoyable. I wasn't nervous at all which I think is due to the fact that I had already done the skydiving thing (now that gets your heart racing).

I was up in the air for about 25 minutes. My pilot did a few quick consecutive side-to-side movements to replicate the feel of a roller coaster ride. My family didn't know at first what was going on and worried for a moment, but Justin from Cloud 9 explained the move and reassured them.

Now Hayden, who is such a funny kid anyway, hardly even noticed what I was doing. After he finished playing with Zeus he decided to build mini mountains in the dirt. I am trying to instill a little bit of fearlessness in him and be an example of "you can do anything if you put your mind to it." However, I'm not sure how well this works when he doesn't notice what I'm doing. Oh well, we have a joint "high-flying" adventure coming up this week that he is sure to pay attention to.

Draper Days

Yay, it's Draper Days! This is a summer favorite and it was even better this year because they added a 1-mile kids race. Hayden was excited to do the race mostly because his friends, Abbi and Ty, were running it too. The 5K that I did started at 7am and once I finished I had to dash to my mom's to get Hayden and bring him to the park for the kids race at 8am. Luckily it worked out and we made it in time. We even had time to snap a few pics before the start. Below is a pic of Michelle and me.

I ended up running/walking with Hayden during the kids race. I didn't know if he would stay with Abbi, Ty, and Justin (sorry that Justin didn't get pictured...next time). After the kids crossed the finish they all got a gold medal. Here are the kiddos showing off their gold!

Now us adults had to earn our medals in the 5K. Although this race was chip timed, I really think that everyone's time is thier gun time because we never crossed a timing mat at the start. Had I known that I would've been at the front of the pack instead of the middle. When I crossed the start the timer showed that we were into the race 16 seconds. I pushed myself as hard as I could hoping to get a new PR. I ended up finishing in 22:20, not a PR, but I still think that's the gun time. Oh well, I was pretty glad to get a 2nd place medal in my division. You wouldn't think that Draper would draw such a competitive crowd, but ever year it's filled with amazingly speedy runners (the winner came in under 15 minutes). Michelle came in third in our division, and I'm still amazed at how she was able to run at that pace with a fractured arm (pretty awesome though).

After all the racing and awards, we headed over to the parade area. Once we found a spot, Michelle and Justin went to grab some breakfast while I watched the kiddos play with bugs (they were the harmless kind).

Having some pancakes and eggs just as the parade is getting started.

Cheering kids trying to catch some candy!

After the 2-hour parade, Hayden and I walked back over to the park so he could do the inflatables and check out the animals.

The Past Week

We started this last week off with a trip to the zoo. Here's Hayden on the T-Rex. We went a little later than I planned on so it was pretty warm and crowded. We still had fun and Hayden loved looking for all the dinos again.

On Wednesday we hiked up Timpanogos. Hayden made it all the way to the cave entrance, but he had already decided that he didn't feel like going in the caves this time. Two days later I went back solo while Hayden enjoyed some one-on-one time with his grandma. My goal was to make it up to the same spot in less than half an hour...and...mission accomplished!

On Thursday we ventured over to the gardens at Thanksgiving Point. We started out in the Discovery Gardens so Hayden could cool off at Noah's Ark. He spent an hour in the water and then we took our picnic over to the main gardens so we could have lunch by the waterfalls. There was hardly anyone there! After lunch we spent at least an hour walking throughout the gardens and exploring some areas we had never been to.

We had a great time feeding all the fish in the pond area. There were so many and they would swim out of the water on top of eachother just to get a little nibble. Cheap entertainment (it was only $0.25 for the fish food).