24th of July

Our 24th of July really got to start on Wednesday night. I was running in a 5k on Thursday morning and Mike had to work, my mom was in town and was willing to watch my kids while I ran. But she decided that it would be easier to watch the kids closer to the parade on Thursday morning. My brother-in-law was nice enough to come by after work to pick up my kids and drive them to my mom. So, that meant Mike and I were alone at 6:00 on Wednesday night. We decided since we hadn't done anything for Mike's birthday, that we would go out and celebrate. I went and met Mike at the hotel and we were off to eat dinner. We couldn't really decide where to go and ended up at Texas Roadhouse at 106 South. I thought it was decent. Then we hurried to make it to an 8:15 show. We went and saw Dark Knight. It is quite a dark movie (it toes the line of creepy), but it is well made. It is a very long movie (over 2 1/2 hours).


The next morning I got up and picked up Kristy so we could go run in the Mapleton 5k. She had a horrible night with the kids, and had considered not coming. I was glad she came. We got there plenty early. We got to see Kylee run her 1 mile race (she won it for the females 7 and under - she's only six); she ran it in 8 minutes and 20 seconds. Then it was time for the 5k. I went potty just before the run, but ended up needing to pee during the race - I took a minor detour to do so. Kristy ran with us for the first 10 minutes (we ran an 8 minute first mile). I made my little detour at mile 2. Julie finished 72nd and I finished 91st. My finishing time was 27:01 (Julie thought that the finishing times were about 20 minutes slow). But the fun part was that I got to be number 1 (that was my race number). It was a good race, I wish I didn't have to take my detour, but oh well.

After the race, Kristy and I walked to grandma's house (Kristy's husband has family that lives in Mapleton and he was brining the kids out for the parade). My mom and kids had stayed there the night before. I helped get a few clowns ready for the parade, and then took a quick shower. We watched the parade from Kevin's front yard. Emma refused to be a clown but wanted to ride in the trailer pulled by the four-wheeler with the other clowns - throwing candy. The parade had some good "floats" this year, but was missing the lawn mowers and the drill team (men with drills).

A good float

Clowns in the trailer

Clowns on the 4-wheeler

After the parade we spent a good part of the day being porch monkeys and hanging out in Kevin's front yard. I took the kids to the park for games (along with Ryan and his friends and their kids), but it was hot, the lines were long and the booths weren't very good. It was a short visit for us with only 1 game (done twice), the big blow-up slide and cotton candy and snow cones.


Once back from the park, I took the kids swimming in Kevin's pool. It felt so good, and was very fun. Then we had a baby shower for Austin, his girl friend and their new baby Tannen. We meant to have a shower for her before she had the baby, but he came early and we didn't get it done.


After the shower and lunch, it was time to head home. It had been a long day, with not enough sleep. I think I left around 3:00, I think my mom left about an hour after me. The rest of the evening was pretty mellow, after the long day with family. That night while getting the kids ready for bed, Ashton lost his first tooth. It came out while I was brushing his teeth. I can't believe it, he's growing up. He got $1 from the tooth fairy.

Friday I went to work in the morning and came home and didn't work. I went shopping with my mom for a little bit in the afternoon, but had to get back to take Ashton to a soccer practice. It was really hot, and Ashton wasn't much for participating, but I was glad I went because we were assigned treats the next day. On Friday night we ditched Mike's family party. It wasn't very convenient for Mike to get off of work to get there, and we weren't going to see any of the cousins we wanted to, so we just didn't go. It's too bad because that is the only time we get together with Mike's dad's side of the family.

On Saturday morning we (me, mom and Emma) went to Ashton's soccer game. Last year it was almost painful to watch. This year, I'm impressed with him. He got in the game, and really tried to kick the ball. He still forgot sometimes which way they were trying to kick the ball, but that's okay. He's still a little clumsy and ended up on the ground a lot, but he didn't cry about it. He was even willing to be the goaly. Last but not least, he scored one goal, and put up a few more shots at the goal. Way to go Ashton!! The poor team they were playing was very inexperienced. They never even got close to our goal.

Ashton's team

Ashton close to the ball

Emma playing, not watching the game

After the soccer game, I took Emma to get a haircut (and I got one too). I had promised to get her a haircut. She had been wanting to wear her hair straight - like mommy, but hasn't really had the cut for it. I really wish I would have cut a little more off. I'm going to have to get it cut again before long. It just doesn't look very good hanging straight, her hair is thin and fine.

My mom left that afternoon to be with her girl friends. It was a good long weekend.