A Genius With A Dimple

This morning while we were getting ready for church, I told Kelson that he was cute. He looked at me in disgust and said, "Mom, I am not cute. I am a genius." I replied that that was fine but I still love his dimple. He sighed deeply and in apparent resignation. "Fine, then. I'm a genius with a dimple."

Some random thoughts

Thanks for your suggestions regarding running. I've been jogging a little more each day this week and then walking when I need to. I have discovered that I definitely like running downhill better than uphill! I also like how my muscles feel a little sore during the day- it's weird but it makes me feel alive.

I just read a fantastic book called "Whatever You Do, Don't Run". It's by a guy named Peter Allison who spent most of the last twelve years as a safari guide in Botswana. It's always been a dream of mine to go to Africa- now I am going to start saving my pennies because I'm so excited. Troy agreed to come with me, but he's not nearly as enthusiastic as I am. I know he wants to see the animals, but camping and unfamiliar foods are not his thing.

We took the kids camping overnight earlier this week and it turns out that they love it! Maddie was hesitant before we left, but all night she kept remarking about how much more fun camping was than she thought it'd be. We just went up American Fork Canyon- away from civilization but not too far away from civilization. We also saw "Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D"- of the three movies we've seen lately (including Wall-E and the Dark Knight) it was by far my favorite.

Oh, and guess what? The Office, Season 4 is out on DVD September 2! This is my favorite TV show, maybe of all time. Troy got me the first 3 seasons for Christmas and we've watched them so much we have most of the dialogue memorized.

One final random thing- I'm posting a picture of my penpal Tim and his new wife. They live in Australia and Tim and I have been penpals since I was in 8th grade (closing in on twenty years). They got married in April and he sent me a photo so here you go:

I'd love to hear your suggestions

OK, I have been inspired by the blogs of several friends who have either recently started running or picked it up again. I've never been a runner, but so many people like that I decided to give it a shot. I found a training schedule (The Couch-to-5K Running Plan) which looks pretty good. I'm not actually starting from the couch- Troy and I have been walking about 30 minutes every morning this summer. But I'm still way in the beginner stages.
The plan suggests that for the first week I should do three workouts. Each workout starts with a 5 minute brisk walk to warm up. Then I alternate 60 seconds of jogging and 90 seconds of walking for a total of 20 minutes. Sounds pretty good, but I really have no idea. What do all you experienced runners think? I'm anxious to get started Monday so let me know right away! :)

Another full day in DC

Ok, we have mastered the Metrorail system- even Lara likes to swipe her own card. We started the day at the National Air and Space Museum then headed up to Capitol Hill. We spotted several ducks and duck babies in the reflecting pool- the kids were captivated. After some photos on the steps of the Capitol, we walked (and walked and walked) to Union Station for lunch. It looks like a pretty short distance on the National Park Service map, but it doesn't feel very short when you are walking in heat and humidity. There are trees everywhere here, and everywhere there are trees there are also squirrels. Now, I know that our children have seen squirrels at home. But here they are absolutely obsessed with the squirrels. And the squirrels here are extra jumpy- we saw one come straight off the ground when Eric startled it. Kelson is sure that one was throwing rocks at him when we were at Jamestown. Hmm, they're smart but I don't know if they're THAT smart.

We had an interesting experience at lunch. As we were finishing our burgers, a man who appeared to be homeless approached Troy and asked if he could have what we weren't going to eat. We told him to help himself, of course. He was very grateful and insisted on clearing our table for us. I couldn't help thinking about how much we have to be grateful for and the responsibility we have to help those less fortunate. It was a good opportunity to talk with the kids about King Benjamin and principles of charity.

After lunch, we went to the Museum of Natural History, where the highlight was a squirrel skeleton (obviously). We took a break for cold drinks and enjoyed watching two bus drivers who were apparently brothers (from New York it seems) try to hold a conversation with their Asian riders. Then we strolled down to the Washington Monument and over to the World War II Memorial. That memorial made me cry- I can't believe what that generation did to preserve our liberty. Now we're back at the hotel, resting and hoping our muscles won't be too sore for walking at the National Zoo tomorrow . . . :)

On vacation!

Ok, here are some things we've discovered so far:

1. Toll roads are a pain. We are always looking for quarters.

2. Seeing the DC temple from the freeway is awesome. Really. Usually all you can see is TREES everywhere, so seeing the temple was amazing.

3. Our kids are great- they're getting along well with each other and trying to be patient with us, especially when we got lost for two hours in the wrong state on Friday night. We ended up in what might be described as an "iffy" neighborhood and stopped for a quick and very sincere family prayer.

4. On a related note to #3, if someone offers you a rental GPS at the car rental place, RENT IT.

5.This whole area is so cool- we've made a lot of great memories so far and will be posting more soon!

Only 9 days to go. . .

We are SO excited! Only nine days until our big vacation!!! I can't believe we're finally getting so close. It feels like Christmastime where each day drags because you're anticipating and anticipating. I can't wait to take lots of cool pictures and videos and post them here. Hope everyone is having a great summer so far!

Skirts and P.E. Class

I think that sometimes I get too interested in reading everybody else's blog and forget to update my own. Maybe it's just that everyone else seems so much more interesting than I am. :) Anyway, today was a big day for me because I wore a skirt to work. Wow. I still can't believe I did it- I normally do all I can do to avoid skirts; they're just something to be endured once a week. But I am sitting here typing in a skirt and it's surprisingly comfortable. It's not hot enough here yet for my legs to be sticking together so I'm happy.
The kids and Troy have been out of school for a week now- I think they're pretty much ready to go back. :) Actually, they're having fun staying up late and riding their bikes all over the neighborhood (except for Kelson, he's not a "bike kid"). Troy found out that he'll be teaching P.E. along with history next year (yes, this is hilarious to me, too!) so he's planning his "lessons". But really- what is there to plan? Everybody knows the drill- put on your gym clothes and do some warm-ups followed by whatever sport is in season, then "shower" and back into your school clothes. It's not brain surgery. He says he's going to participate with the kids and he's looking forward to wearing sweats all day. I can't help but think of Mr. Johnson, who was my 7th grade history teacher/boys' gym teacher. I had him first period- that guy must have had seriously overworked sweat glands because even at 7:30 in the morning he had pit stains to his waist. I DO NOT want my darling husband to end up in this situation!!!