Redneck Water World

What do you do when its 103 degrees outside?

You gather up all your garage sale backyard finds...

 ...hook up the water hose

 ...and have a good time playing in the freezing cold hose water!

 ...for FREE!  In the comfort of your own backyard!

 That's what you do when its 103 degrees outside!

And we like to call it our Redneck Water World!

10K Trail Run

After partying like a Rock Star on both Friday and Saturday night I had to get up at 6am Sunday morning to run a 10K Trail Race in Louisville!  What was I thinking?

Well, I had originally thought the race was on Saturday, but NO it was not, so I rolled my tired butt out of bed, strapped on my running shoes and headed out the door to run in 100 degrees!

Sounds fun - right?

 I am not going to say this was my favorite race - EVER! 

 Besides for being a little on the tired side and the weather being just way TOO hot for running, the 10K race I was supposed to run actually turned into 9 miles - 9 miles instead of 6 miles!  It seems they forgot to properly identify where you were supposed to turn around on the course and head back to the finish line, so all of us 10K runners kept on running the Half Marathon course!

The course was on the Coal Creek Trail - which is one of my favorite places to run - and we were originally supposed to turn around before South Public Road in Lafayette - well we ended up running all the way to 120th!  Let's just say some people were really pissed and just stopped right there about to pass out!  I amazingly just kept running - after mile 4 my legs were numb anyways, so I knew if I stopped I probably would be done, so I just kept running - kinda like Forest! 

Run Forest Run!

I did complete the 9 mile run including two hills - which I was very proud of, but was so, so tired and exhausted by the heat.  It pretty much wiped me out the rest of the day. 

 I did learn running is mainly a mental game!  I think physically I could have kept running for another couple miles, but mentally I was just not prepared to be running that distance or in that heat!  So I think I will take the challenge of now signing up for a 10 mile run or maybe even a half marathon, since I know for sure I can handle 9 miles and mentally I should be able to prepare for that! 

But it will, for sure, be for a race hosted in the fall or even in the dead of winter - 100 degrees is just TOO hot!

We did end up getting a bunch of free stuff for running the extra mileage and also the opportunity to run in any other race they host for free!

There is always some type of reward for overachieving!

Luke Bryan

I think I am totally in LOVE with Luke Bryan! 

I mean seriously how can you not love him...and I finally got to meet him on Saturday night!  Well not really personally meet him, but I was in the same venue as him - does that count?

It was a great concert hosted at the Greeley Stampede which I have never attended before.  It reminded me alot of what Cheyenne Frontier Days are like but on a much smaller level.

We had a bit of some truck issues on the way down, so we missed out tailgate party, but got there just in time to get a good seat so I could watch that sexy man sing and dance!

 Emily and her friend Olivia came with us.  We bought Emily these concert tickets for her birthday present, since she too is in love with Luke Bryan and has never been to a concert!

The girls had a ton of FUN!  And Emily now wants to marry a cowboy...

He played all his best songs and I of course enjoyed every minute of it! 

There was a moment during the concert when Luke Bryan sang little clips of other popular songs like from Sting, Sir Mix Alot and Beyonce with a country twang on it!  It was very entertaining, but when he started singing Justin Bieber and One Direction, Emily and Olivia got all excited and started singing all the words, which in turn made Matt and I feel VERY old!  That was totally over our heads and you should have heard all those little girls screaming - CRAZY!

Besides for being an extremely hot evening - it was a great night spent at the Greeley Stampede listening to one of my favorites - Luke Bryan!

Friday Fun!

We had one of those FUN Friday Summer days again - the exact reason why summer is just so GREAT! We met Julie, Chloe and Allie at the YMCA pool for a day of swimming.  What else can you do when its literally 100 degrees outside?  My kids LOVED this pool - they played for hours so contently with no whining and I acutally got to relax a bit and gossip with Julie!  I think I could spend every day of the summer hanging out at the pool...I just love it so much!

 Eli loves when we have "snack" time at the pool - I remember loving the same thing.  Why does food taste so much better at the swimming pool then at home?

 After swimming we went home and hung around the neighboorhood with all the kids there.  I didn't want the kids to nap because I needed them to be totally exhausted so they would go to bed exaclty at 8pm so Matt and I could go out with our friends for some drinks!  My plan worked out perectly and by 8pm we here headed out the door to pick up Julie and Steve for a little night out - with.no.kids.

We headed to Buffalo Wild Wings - and hung out there drinking beers, eating and of course hearing Julie and Steve's crazy stories about life in Chico!

We laughed ALOT!

We had such a great night hanging out with friends and just having FUN!  It's always such a treat to have a night out and its even better when you have such great people to spend it with!

I wish every Friday were this fun...

Do It Up Right!

When it comes to celebrating birthdays you have to "Do it up right" - you have too!

We started celebrating Eli turning two with dinner at his favorite restaurant, Old Chicago's - he absolutely LOVES their pizza!  He actually behaved really well given the fact we waited for an hour to be seated and then another two for dinner - a little busy that night!

 I think it helped that we let him open his presents from us and Nana, Papa and Uncle while we waited to eat.  Of course he got a trash truck...

 and another truck...

 and another truck...

 ...and another couple trucks along with some adorable outfits from the Gap from Nana, Papa and Uncle.  He came out pretty well - he was in desperate need of some "trucks" and I think now he has plenty to play with!

 "Happy to you"

Eli was so excited when we sang "Happy Birthday" to him and got to blow out a candle, he wanted to do it over and over again!

 On Saturday evening we hosted a BBQ at Baseline lake to celebrate Eli's birthday with family and friends.  The party was a little overwhelming for me but I think the birthday boy and all his guests enjoyed...

I didn't go all out like I did for Ashtyn's birthday party - still recovering - but I did however make an adorable happy birthday banner, which unfortunately the wind destroyed before getting a picture - oh well!

 We of course had to wait out a thunderstorm before the party even started - what event of mine does not involve bad weather - really?

 When the guests started arriving the rain clouds made their way out and we were left with a nice evening - a bit breezy, but still enjoyable!

 Sweet baby Grant even made the party at the lake...

 Payton looked so cute in her life jacket, but didn't want to ride on the boat!

 It looks like Eli escaped into the camper to find his cupcakes and dug right in!  He was so happy sitting in there enjoying his dessert...

 All the kids loved playing in the mud...which I am sure the parents were thrilled about!

 Muddy little birthday boy...

 Captain Jason

 Sweet Alex...

 Eli again LOVED blowing out his candles...

Eli loved the big dozer Uncle Josh, Aunt Kodi, Brooklyn and Cheyenne bought for him.  Perfect for the lake!

Thanks to all our family and friends for celebrating with us and "Doing it up Right" for Eli's second birthday!  We love you all so much and you make life so, so great!

Happy Birthday ELI!