Swimming!

Tanner has had swimming lessons the past two weeks. He has done so well! The past two summers we had to bribe him just to get in the water. This summer he did it willingly and actually asks to go swimming! He still tried to talk his way out of a lot of things his teacher wanted him to do, but at least he wasn't crying and refusing to do anything. The other moms at swim lessons got a kick out of his negotiations with his teacher! But I am proud of my little fish. Here are a few pictures while swimming at Grandma Heidi's house today.

Tanner was the first one in the pool today!
Jace is Tanner's swimming companion

Lawni and Brielle are in town for a couple of weeks!

My bathing beauty

On another note, here are a few conversations that made me laugh:

While discussing the various farm animals sounds, I asked Hunter what is favorite farm animal was. His response? "E-I-E-I-O!"

Tanner: "When is Hunter going to turn three? I want him to turn three so that I can have a friend who lives with me all the time and we can have bunk beds."
I've never told Tanner that they would have bunk beds when Hunter turns three. Apparently Tanner only takes friends who are three and up.

Tanner: "Are all cats girls?"
Mom: "No, cats can be girls and boys."
Tanner: "I think cats have to be girls."
Mom: "Some cats have to be boys because kittens have to have moms and dads."
Tanner: "Oh. Kittens need Dads so that when the mommy cat has to go somewhere the daddy cat can take care of the babies."
Mom: "Yes, that's why cats are boys and girls." I did not pursue that conversation...

Check that off my list...

So, ever since we moved to Fontana, I thought it would be fun to run to my dad's house. It is a little over seven miles away and most of those seven miles are on one street that overlooks the valley. Sounds nice, right?
This weekend we were taking care of his dog while he was out of town, so I figured I would just run there and back, save on gas. As it turns out, I was supposed to run 14 miles (training for St. George marathon) this weekend. I usually go for my long runs on Saturday mornings with my fabulous running friends, but because of circumstances, we didn't run together this weekend. So, I figure I'll just run to my dad's and back, making 14 miles.
The run there was great, I feed the dog, got a drink, and called Ladd to let him know I am still alive. It is getting dark, so I grab a flashlight. As I am running back, I am doing pretty well until about mile 10. Suddenly, all I can think about is water. I have never been so thirsty in my life! I start day dreaming about all the cups at my house and how good drinking water from them would be. It was 106 degrees earlier that day and I probably sweat out all my liquids on the way to my dads. Sprinklers become my new best friend, and I am sure I looked pretty strange running through any sprinklers I saw and using my hand as a cup to get a few sips.
I finally make it home at 11:15pm. (I had to walk those last four miles!) I down tons of water, and then throw it all up, but at least I feel better. So, running 14 miles by myself in 100 degree weather was not a smart idea. But, at least I can mark off running to my dad's house from my list of things I've always wanted to do!

What is on your list of things you've always wanted to do?

Too Much Fun!

We've been busy, busy already and summer has just begun! We are paying for this busyness, though, with a lack of sleep and not so healthy diet. Lack of sleep and too much sugar are Tanner's kryptonite, as Ladd calls it. He has been so wired lately! Whenever we go through phases like this, I think I am a bad mom and doing everything all wrong! But, then I remember that thus far all of his phases that have driven me crazy eventually go away, and he becomes sweet again. So, to conquer this one, we are trying to stay away from sugar and work on getting to bed earlier. Although the late sunset makes this a little more difficult!
Anyways here are a few pics from our recent goings-on:

Bob the Builder at the Discovery Science Center
I wish this exhibit would have been six months ago when Tanner insisted that we call him Bob and he walked around the house in his Bob costume. But, the boys had fun anyways!


Amy's Farms
We went to a farm in Ontario today with a group of friends from Church. This farm raises calves. Since Dairy farms are not interested in calves, just the milk from their mothers, this farm takes care of the calves until they are old enough to become mothers and give milk. The kids got to feed the calves with giant bottles, feed lettuce to the pigs, and pet a lot of the animals. It was a fun, but hot experience!

Hunter loved petting the goats!

Feeding the pigs.

Feeding the calves, boy were they hungry!

This is Mama Tina. She is basically finished with her duties as a cow, they just keep her around for the tour. She is 12 years old. I asked the farmer the average life expectancy of cows and he said no one really knows. Not too many cows die from natural causes. Mama Tina is a science experiment to see how long cows live! Poor cows!

Hunter's Artwork
Don't let this sweet smile fool you! The other day while I was doing laundry I hear Tanner calling: "Mom, mom! We are going to have to get a new house." Of course I was curious as to why and he responded: "Hunter colored all over our house-with a MARKER!" Hoping to find this artwork somewhere easy to clean, like the tile floor, I was disappointed to see my brown couch and red ottoman and pillows had turned blue. Not so easy to clean! I got most of it out,
but please share if you have a secret that gets marker totally out of upholstery! As you can tell by the blue on his eye, the marker was all over himself as well! What a stinker. Good thing our couches were cheap!

Happy Father's Day!
We had dinner with my dad to celebrate. He and Ladd watched the Lakers together. The Laker's won, what more could they ask for? I am so grateful for my dad, my father-in-law, and of course my fabulous husband. They are all such wonderful fathers! We are truly blessed!

Utah Trip/ Half Marathon

UTAH!

This past week the boys and I spent in Utah. We signed Tanner up for the Mini-cubs Soccer Camp at BYU. My lifelong friend, Jenn, had her little boy, Sam, in the camp too. It was fun to see her and her cute kids everyday. It makes me wish she lived closer so we could do fun things together more often! Dallin and Josh, good friends from our ward, also joined Tanner at camp. Their family got to stay with us at my sister in law's house in Cedar Hills. It was so nice to have Suzanne and her boys around for our trip. Tanner and Hunter loved having friends to play with from the moment they woke up until the time they went to bed at night. Here are a few highlights from our trip:

Tanner and Sam ready for their first day of soccer camp.
The camp was in the new indoor practice field at BYU, which we liked for weather purposes but learned that fake turf is much dirtier than real grass. The kids were covered in black everyday!

Cute little Claire cheering her brother on!

Tanner and Sam's team: "The Angels"

The awards ceremony- Tanner was very excited about the little plastic ball he received!

Tanner and Sam with Coach Andrea. She is wearing the candy necklace that Tanner made for her.

Dallin, Tanner, and Sam = BYU Soccer Champs! Josh is a champ too, with his power kicks, he just didn't make it in the picture!

Soccer camp was in the afternoons, so we kept ourselves busy in the mornings seeing some of the sites Utah has to offer...

Tanner got up close and personal with the turkey at the Thanksgiving Point Farm.

The Farm had an old fashioned jail that Hunter locked Tanner and Dallin into! Tanner is quite the distressed inmate!
We went on a horse drawn wagon ride at the farm. The boys, especially Hunter and Spencer, loved it!

We went to the Church History Museum in Salt Lake. They have a cute children's area all about being a Child of God.

Posing for the camera in the "hospital" at the Museum. Dallin is dressed up as a Wise Man for the nativity seen.

Dinosaur Museum! There is a great Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point. The kids loved it.

Hunter and Lauren digging for dinosaur bones. They became pretty good buddies this trip as they watched their big brothers at camp. Hunter called her Lo-lo and she was such a good little mommy for him!


Fontana Days Half Marathon

We returned home from our trip Friday afternoon and I woke up early Saturday to run 13.1 miles in the Fontana Days Half Marathon. It was such a nice day for running. We started way up Lytle Creek to begin our run through the mountains. The first half of the race was beautiful! Then, we got into downtown Fontana, not quite so beautiful, but it was downhill so I didn't mind. I finished in 2 hours and 3 minutes, averaging about 9 minutes, 20 seconds per mile. I felt very good with this! I was happy to have ran the whole way and be able to talk about it afterwards! I felt pretty good after the race, although I had trouble digesting my food the rest of the day and my legs are pretty sore today...

It was fun running a race so close to home because lots of people from our ward ran it too! The smart ones ran the 5k and the crazy people ran the half marathon!

The boys showed up just after I crossed the finish line. I finished earlier than I thought I would, which is a good thing, but I think they were kind of wondering why they were even there...

Lee, my brother in law, ran also. He finished in 1 hour 36 minutes which is amazing to me! This is a horrible picture but what can you expect after 13 miles of sweating? I think we are both just about to say something when the picture was taken!

A few of the runners from our ward:
Colleen, Michelle, Suzanne, Wendy, Me, Becca, and Ethan.

What's next?
Saint George Marathon in October!