McCall

I finally found my camera, so now I can catch up on my summer adventures. At the end of July we went to a Vaterlaus family reunion in McCall, Idaho, one of my absolute favorite places. I love all of the trees, the woodsy smell, and the lake. One morning I went running through Ponderosa State Park and got to run alongside the lake, pretty cool, but the altitude left me panting for air. We did some boating, and then the next day we took a bike ride around the lake. It was pretty awesome. I had a great time with my cousins, and I LOVE McCall.

Big Week

I have two excuses for lacking a blog post for the last month or so: 1. I lost my camera in the back of our car, which is currently parked at my dad's office having the timing belts changed for the last week and a half, and 2. I set two goals for myself this summer and was coming down to the wire to get them accomplished. I did have one week where I was so overwhelmed that I didn't even make the beds one day, had a melt down, and almost didn't shower. That is saying a lot for someone who prizes cleanliness like I do.

Goal #1: Take the GRE and do well enough that I will not ever have to take it again. I finally took the GRE last week and did much better than I thought that I could do. I actually scored higher than I ever did on any of the practice tests, and when I took the real GRE I thought I was literally doing so badly that I was about to cancel my scores. Now I just need to get the rest of my stuff together and graduate school here I come!

Goal #2: Finish a half marathon, and actually run the whole thing. I have had a series of injuries that have made this goal illusive, but this summer has been mostly injury free (I HIGHLY recommend cross-training, I was faster and less sore when I rode the stationary bike 2 times a week). I signed up for the Provo River Trail half marathon, and my sister Emily and I drove down last weekend to run. We had an awesome road trip, despite the fact that she would not let me listen to Johnny Cash in the car. The race was great. We started pretty far up the canyon and had a ton of down hill stretches, so I did not feel too tired, but it was a lot harder on my muscles. I was able to do between 9 1/2 and 10 1/2 minute miles, pretty speedy for me, and didn't stop once, not even to drink water (I did however try to drink and run, and that resulted in most of the water running down the front of me). I could not walk for about two days after, but I am so glad that I did it.

Max, I am pretty much a big deal.

Hiking the Foothills

The other day the kids and I decided to hike to the top of the foothill nearest my parents house. The kids really love climbing and hiking right now, and got a kick out of this 1.5 mile excursion. Horses had passed through this trail and left their mark, and Hayes asked of every branch, rock, or tuft of grass "is that horse poop?" I mean like every 30 seconds. Madison's pose in the second picture is a tribute to Gene Simmons of the band KISS, my kids current favorite. They know the words to "Rock and Roll All Night," and love to stick out their tongues and pretend to break their guitars. This is probably a normal phase for a 2 and 4 year old, right?

Not a Wimp Anymore

I have always felt like the family wimp because out of all my brothers and sisters, I was the only one who could not get up on one water ski growing up. However, I am a wimp no longer. On a whim I decided to try getting up the last time we went boating and got up on my third try! I was so excited because I honestly never thought I would be able to get up. Go me! I relinquish my title of family wimp!

South Central Idaho Road Trip

A weekend or so ago (I am behind on my blogging) we drove out to Shoshone to meet one of Joe's classmates who is doing a rural medicine internship there, and her two kids. I seriously loved Shoshone. It is right on the railroad and has a main street of old brick buildings. I get so excited every time we pack up for a road trip and head out of the city. The semi-arid desert of southern Idaho is not always appreciated for its aesthetic appeal, but I love it! I make Joe listen to Johnny Cash and Marty Robbins as we cruise through the mountains and buttes. It drives him nuts. We went with Annamarie, her mom, Sienna, and Alder to the Indian Ice Caves just north of Shoshone. The caves are the result of an ancient lava flow that created a cave, and now has naturally occurring lake of ice covering the whole floor. We walked on a pathway about a foot or so above the ice and and at the end of the tour we got a chance to stand on it. It was pretty fascinating.

Our next stop was Shoshone Falls, near Twin Falls. Our family had gone to see the falls last summer, but they were particularly impressive this time of year due to the high volume of water. They are higher than Niagara Falls, and far superior in my opinion.

The last stop on our trip was the Balanced Rock near Buhl. We hiked up the hill to get a closer look. Madison and Hayes are getting really into hiking.

Emmett 75th Annual Cherry Festival

Northwest from Boise lies Emmett, a small town of about 6000 people and the 75th Annual Cherry Festival. It had all the great elements of a great local party: pie eating contests, cloggers galore, little booths selling tie-dyed everything, fair food like "fresh-squeezed" lemonade and pronto-pups, and amusement park rides.

Joe and Max both participated in the pie eating contests. Max was in the 16-18 age group and should have won (according to him) but came in second. Joe was in the 18-54 age group, and unfortunately couldn't shovel it in fast enough, but at least he got a taste of the great cherry pie and the chance to meet Miss Gem County!

Max and Joe coerced me into riding the mechanical bull, and I did put on quite a show. One of the guys working at this particular venue did ask for my permission to record my ride on his cell phone. Creepy! But, scour the Internet and see if it ended up somewhere.

Madison and Hayes enjoyed riding some of the rides, visiting the petting zoo, and getting their hands on some of those fantastic Emmett cherries.

Ironman Boise

Yesterday my sister Emily, Joe, and I participated in Boise's second annual Ironman Triathlon. A 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike ride, and 13.1 mile run. Pretty grueling in itself, but at around 3 o'clock that afternoon it started to rain and did not stop until around 8 o'clock that night. Drenched and fatigued we all finished what we had set out to do: volunteer at an aid station providing power gels, water, oranges, and bananas to the runners! We did get praised by one runner as "the best aid station on the course," most likely due to our zealous cheering and willingness to look silly at times. After about two hours of holding out wet bananas and gels we made our way to the finish line to watch people finish. It was so exciting to see everybody come in. We were surprised by a lot of the athletes who definitely did not look like a stereotypical triathlete. Those finishers were inspirational. Emily and I definitely got bit by the Ironman bug last night, and have been talking about training for one ever since!