LOTOJA 2012

I've become a blogging slacker lately. I'm finally getting around to posting about this year's LOTOJA, which took place about a week and a half ago.  This LOTOJA was different than any other before because...drum roll please...*Mike* actually did LOTOJA this time around!  He and my dad did a relay and each rode about 125 miles each.  Are they crazy, or what?  I've always known my dad was crazy for doing this race, but now my husband has joined the ranks of the crazy cyclists too.  And he liked it!  That's even crazier!!!  Here's how the weekend went...

The day before the race, we checked Connor & Aiden out of school around lunchtime to head up to Logan.  This day was actually Aiden's birthday, but I've decided that deserves a separate post.  So look for that next.

When we got up to Logan, we all headed straight for the pool.  Here's Cohen playing in the kiddie pool...

And getting a ride from Dad in the big pool...

Vivvie wasn't a fan of the water at first, but after being cuddled by Nana for awhile, she became a fan...

The big boys practiced their diving in the deep end.  Here's Aiden...

And Connor...

We also hung out in the hot tub too...

After we had soaked up enough sun & chlorine, we headed to Texas Roadhouse for dinner.  Cohen had fun delivering peanuts to each of us while we waited...

Viv was quite the fan of the cinnamon butter.  Obviously...

Since it was Aiden's birthday, he got to ride the saddle--while holding his birthday ice cream...

After dinner, it was home to bed to get ready for the big race the following morning.  Vivvie made herself comfy in mine & Mike's bed.  She wasn't too happy when we took her out & put her in the pack 'n play...

The next morning, we woke up bright & early for the race.  My Dad rode the first leg of the race from Logan to Preston, Idaho.  The support vehicles can't drive by their cyclists for the first few stages of the race, so we headed for Preston & waited for him there so he could tag Mike.  Cohen had fun playing with Mike's biking accessories while we waited...

Once Poppy got in, he told us that tons of the bikers had gotten flat tires during the first stage.  It appeared that someone had thrown a bunch of goat head burrs all over the road, which are notorious for popping bike tires.  The speculation is that it was done by some local people who aren't fans of the race coming through their little town.  Why are people so rotten sometimes?  Luckily, Poppy was able to avoid the burrs and didn't get a flat tire.  He handed the tracking device over to Mike & Mike took off.

Mike's first leg of the race was from Preston to Montpelier, Idaho, which took him over Strawberry Pass.  Again, support vehicles can't follow bikers during this part of the race, so there are no pictures.  We met Mike in Montpelier a few hours later.  We ate our annual picnic lunch there while we waited for him to come.  Once he got in, he handed the tracking device off to my Dad so that he could start his next leg.  While we were walking back to the car, I asked Mike how his first leg went.  I was really surprised when he replied with, "It was great!"  Ummm, you just rode your bike 45 miles over a steep mountain pass & you think it was great?!?  See why I think he's crazy?

The next stage that Poppy rode was from Montpelier to Afton, Wyoming over Salt River Pass--notoriously known as the "King of the Mountain" stage of the race because Salt River Pass is such a steep mountain pass.  Even professional riders sometimes have a hard time was just how steep it is.  But, of course, Poppy did fabulous...

We stopped several times to let the kiddos ring their cowbells to cheer on Poppy and the other riders...

Viv loved waving to each of the bikers as they came by...

As always, the boys loved giving their Poppy a high five as his rode by...

Look how cute this little bell ringer is...

Once Poppy got to Afton, Mike took over for the next leg which took him from Afton to Alpine Junction, Wyoming...

He did great again!  He got in with a group that was averaging 27 mph & he kept up with them just fine...

We, of course, stopped several times to ring our bells & give high fives to Mike as well...

Once Mike got to Alpine, both he & Poppy had already ridden about 80 miles--but they weren't done yet.  There was one final stage into Jackson Hole that was 45 miles.  They decided to do it together.  Here they are riding through the canyon between Alpine & Jackson...

We stopped again to ring bells & give more high fives.  Vivvie was asleep at this point...

And, a few hours later, they both crossed the finish line.  Unfortunately, this was the best picture I got of them.  You can see Mike just crossed the line & Poppy was about to...

In total, they both rode about 125 miles--and yet they still have smiles on their faces...

What a crazy race!  It was proven to me again how crazy this race really is when we found out the following day that one of the bikers had died while doing the race.  He hit a pot hole in the road while crossing a bridge & actually flipped over the guardrail & fell to his death.  Isn't that sad?  I have thought about his wife & kids a lot over the past week & a half.  I can't even imagine what they are going through.  It just makes you realize how fragile life is, and that you need to appreciate every minute of it.  Sorry, that was kind of a sad tangent.

Once the guys finished the race, we went to check into our condo.  Last year, when we went to St. George, we rented a condo rather than hotel rooms.  It ended up being cheaper & the condo was so nice.  So, we decided to do the same thing while staying in Jackson Hole.  Unfortunately, this condo in Jackson wasn't nearly as nice as the one in St. George.  It seemed old & outdated.  I think we just got spoiled in St. George last year.  Oh well!  Here are some pictures of the place.  First, the family room area...

The bedrooms...

And the loft area...

I guess it was alright, just not our favorite.  I don't think we'd ever stay there again.  Viv enjoyed sitting in the window seat & looking out the window though...

That night, we went to our favorite little Mexican restaurant in Jackson, El Abuelito.  Then it was back to the condo to sleep & let the guys recover from their ridiculous ride.

The next morning, we decided to head up to Yellowstone.  We went to Yellowstone a few years ago when we were up there for LOTOJA, and we were able to see Old Faithful.  This time we decided to go see "The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone."  To get there, we drove through Grand Teton National Park.  I love this place...

As soon as we got into Yellowstone, we started seeing bison...

Lots & lots of bison...

They were everywhere.  I don't remember seeing that many the last time we went there.

Once we reached the Grand Canyon area of the park, we stopped at the visitors center to get some lunch & to have a little fun...

Then we started hiking.  There are two waterfalls right at the beginning of the canyon--the upper falls & the lower falls.  We decided to first hike down to the lower falls.  Vivvie rode in style.  I love how she was holding on to Mike's head like this...

Here's our view of the "Grand Canyon" as we were hiking...

And here was our destination.  That's one powerful waterfall...

Family portrait time.  Yes, the winds was blowing pretty darn good...

And here's another one of just our family that really shows a good view of the canyon below...

Isn't it pretty?

My boys.  I think Aiden needs to find a bathroom, don't you?

Ahhh, apparently nature brings out the brotherly love...

We need to get out in the outdoors more often, I guess...

 

Love all these kiddos so much...

 

 

Potty break--boy style...

 

Next we headed to the overlook of the upper falls...

Darn that wind...

Next it was off to find some of the hot pots that Yellowstone is famous for.  On the way, we ran into more bison...

Connor was obviously impressed...

Here are some of the hot pots we found.  They smell just about as lovely as they look...

I think the look on Cohen's face tells you just how lovely they smelled...

This one was the boys' favorite.  It was called "The Dragon's Mouth" for obvious reasons...

Then, after that, it was time to head home.  Which wasn't an easy task since the bison decided it would be fun to cross the road that we were trying to drive on.  It created quite the little traffic jam, but was pretty cool to watch...

We finally made it home late that night, grabbed some food & took it back to the condo.  Then hit the sack.

The next day was our last day in Jackson.  We decided to head to Jenny Lake, which is one of our favorite spots in Grand Teton National Park.  We usually just hang right around the lake shore near the boat dock & visitors center, but this time we decided to do a little hiking around the lake...

The full hike is over seven miles, so we just decided to do part of it to an area called "The Moose Ponds."  It was a short & easy hike.  Vivvie hitched a ride again...

The trial took us by the lake several times.  At one of these areas, we stopped & let the kids play in and around the water for a little bit...

 

Then we continued our hike to the Moose Ponds.  We weren't all that impressed.  It was just a little pond with some murky water in it.  We took a picture & headed back...

 

On our way back, the kids decided to stop at the same place we had been before to throw rocks & play in the water at Jenny Lake some more.  They actually started picking up logs & branches to make their own version of a beaver dam.  I swear, the weirdest activities bring them together to do a little teamwork...

Here they are with their beaver dam.  They were pretty proud of it...

I seriously love doing stuff like this.  Being away from TV & electronics for a few days can do wonders for sibling relationships...

After that, we started the long drive back to Utah.  It was a great weekend!  I'm so proud of Mike for doing 125 miles of the LOTOJA race.  And, of course, I'm proud of the master biker--Poppy--as well.  As we drove home, it was pretty impressive to really pay attention to how far they had ridden their bikes!  It's quite the accomplishment!!  Congrats Mike & Poppy.  You are both supermen in my book!  --Lindsay

Swiss Days

If you're not familiar with Swiss Days, you should be. Swiss Days in held every year on the Friday & Saturday before Labor Day. It's in a little town called Midway which is just up Provo Canyon, about halfway between Provo & Park City. The original people who settled there were from Switzerland, and they chose that spot because the mountains there reminded them of the mountains in Switzerland. It is the cutest little town. It almost feels like you're in some country village in Europe because the architecture of many of the buildings, houses & churches has that Swiss farmhouse look to them. Anyway, every year, they put together this awesome festival called Swiss Days. There's a parade, lots of music & dance performances that are Swiss-related (they had yodeling & Swiss dancing going on while we were there), and the best scones you've ever eaten in your life!

But the real reason we go (and the reason so many people go) is for the shopping. The vendor booths are amazing! You feel like you've walked right into Etsy or Pintrest!  There are so many cute things to buy, and most of it is really reasonably priced too!

My mom used to go each year with her friends, but for the past few years, we have been making a mom/daughter date of it.  This year, Mom, Sosha & I were able to go.  Kristin decided to hang out with her husband instead--something about it being their last weekend before he starts his MBA program and she never sees him again until he graduates in two years.  Lame excuse, if you ask me.  Hehe!  So, here's a self-portrait of the gals who went...

We had so much fun!  We bought clothes, jewelry, headbands, wrapping paper and stuff for our kids for Christmas.  In addition to all that stuff, I brought home this beauty...

I have been drooling over this picture at Swiss Days for the past three years!  It's a picture of my favorite mountain in the world, Mount Timpanogos.  I grew up in the shadow of Timp & loved looking at it each day.  But, I can't see it from our current home.  The peak of the mountain that I live on now blocks my view of Timpanogos.  So, when I saw this picture at Swiss Days three years ago, I thought about how fun it would be to have it in my home.  Not only is it a picture of Mount Timp, but it has my favorite flower, poppies, in the foreground!  I wanted it so bad, but decided against it.  It seemed like such a ridiculously frivolous purchase, and for a cheap skate like me, it's a hard thing to throw down a chunk of change for something as silly as a picture that hangs on a wall in some random room in my house.  When I went back the next year, I drooled some more.  But, this year, I couldn't resist it any longer, so I made the plunge & bought it.

It's now hanging in my dining room--eh, I mean ballroom since it still doesn't have any furniture in it--and is one of the first things you see when you walk into my front door.  What do you think...

I love it!  It is such a statement piece...plus, the poppies in the Mount Timpanogos picture tie in perfectly with the poppies hanging on the wall in my family room.  Did I mention I love poppies?!?  I am so happy I bought it!  Now, the next thing on my list is to finally get some furniture in that room to go with it.  --Lindsay

August Dates

We're still doing our monthly dates with our kids, and August's dates were all big successes. All three of the boys decided to go to the fun center by our house this month. They love that place!  Mike & I may be getting a tad sick of it, but the kids always get to choose what we do, so off to the fun center we went.

Connor & I started out our evening zipping around the track in the go carts...

Then we did a few of the little rides like the Pirate Ship.  Can you tell how excited Connor is to have me acting like an idiot in public...

Then it was off to play a round of miniature golf, and take more goofball pictures while waiting for our turn.  This is the golf version of "The Thinker..."

Connor tried his hardest to make this shot a hole in one.  Unfortunately, his lung capacity wasn't sufficient and he ended up getting a hole in two...

My boy & me...

It was a great night & we had a blast!  Love this kiddo.  He is a great kid!

Aiden went on his date with Mike this month, hence the lack of pictures.  They went golfing, did the go carts, played laser tag & (Aiden's favorite) climbed the rock wall--but there's only pictures of the rock wall...

Aiden loves that rock wall!  I swear he'll be climbing the side of real cliffs someday.  And I'll be having a heart attack & freaking out that he might fall.  That's what mamas do, right?  From what I hear about their date, they had a good time--and Mike was able to talk Aiden out of going on the bumper boats, so they both came home dry.  Double bonus!

Cohen went on his date with me this month.  When we got there, he kept telling me that he wanted to go the Pirate Ship.  So, I took him outside to the Pirate Ship ride.  He looked at me like I was crazy & then--rolling his eyes--he took my hand & led me into the arcade.  Apparently, when he said he wanted to go on the Pirate Ship, he meant this pirate arcade game, not the ride.  Silly me...

Then we headed outside to play some miniature golf...

Don't let this cute face fool you, he is a cheater--BIG TIME...

He would hit his ball once, then go pick it up, set it down right next to the hole, then hit it in & say "Yay!  I win!!"

I, on the other hand, played the correct way--which got me absolutely nowhere--and by "nowhere" I mean right in the middle of the water hazard.  Yep, that's my ball.  That takes some serious talent to hit the water hazard in miniature golf, I'll have you know...

After golfing, it was off to the go carts...

And then playing with the water sculpture...

Then we headed home.  Cohen is such a cutie patootey & is really quite the little ham.  I know I say it every month, but these dates have been so awesome for our family!  I love seeing my kids' personalities really shine when they are one-on-one with us.  We are able to have a great time & build our relationships at the same time.  Love it!  --Lindsay