a day without kids!!

Our nine year anniversary came and went a few weeks ago- and while we went to dinner- it was a pretty rushed day so I was determined to do something fun and kid free on Kent's time off.  The stars almost didn't align when the day we were set to leave we couldn't find Kent's passport ANYwhere.  After much prayer- it turned up- and off we went!  Laney and Taylor owe us about a week of free childcare- so we cashed out just a bit of it with a trip up North.  But- shhhh- it's a secret because I don't think Kent is allowed to cross borders.  And speaking of borders - we were detained shortly on our return to America because the border agent accused me of recording our conversation.  He was one nasty man.  And I couldn't stop giggling at his accusations and questions :)  We're lucky we weren't really detained!!

We hit the big city- Toronto- the day after the Canadian Thanksgiving.  I love visiting big cities.  I love the feel, the people, the chaos.  All of it.  I don't want to live in it- but I love the adventure of a visit!

Our first stop was St. Lawrence market!  It's an indoor street market with shops of every kind! I love big city markets!!

They had the most delicious fresh pastries!  

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and lots of nasty meat cuts on counters :)  I'm sure that's semi common in some New York City neighborhoods- and other big cities- but it seems so foreign to me.  It reminded me of Russia and Kent of Brazil :)

We spent a lot of time just exploring the city.

It was a gorgeous fall day.  And I love just wandering around places and taking pictures so it was lovely.

lots of great art-

and several beautiful churches spread throughout the downtown area!

There was so much we wanted to see- and parking all over town is OUTRAGEOUS- so we ended up parking on the lakefront (Lake Ontario) and renting 'BIXI' bikes for the day!  it was CRAZY.  they only cost five dollars a day! but there is one stipulation- you can't have the bike out for more than 30 minutes at a time without getting charged an extra dollar per ten minute increments!  There are 40 something bike depots spread throughout Toronto so you have to make it to the next station and 'click' in your bike to exchange it for another within thirty minutes.  It was NUTS. and a little like 'The Amazing Race' Toronto version.  And Kent and I once again confirmed we would not fare well as partners on the show!!  navigating a new large city while being timed can be VERY stressful :)

I love this picture.  We are at a red light and Kent is feverishly trying to figure out the map we took a cell phone pic of that has all of our bike stations on it.  We were in a rush to get to the next spot and we could NOT find it for the life of us.  So I'm sure I was giggling while simultaneously blaming him for our predicament. and snapping pictures.  so funny.

It was really fun!  and a little scary at times.  and a lot crazy.  We got to see so much of the city and were only penalized once for not making the time cutoff :)  And we blame our tardiness on construction!!

Toronto is very much a biking town!  and I'm sure all of the regulars and business men and woman didn't love me and my touristy bike riding and picture taking!  Kent was a little worried about me, too.  He thought for sure I was going to veer into traffic!  we just rode in the lanes with cars and hard core bikers flew past us during rush hour with crazy traffic and fast cars!  it was really adventurous!!

In several spots- we dropped off our bikes at stations and did a lot of walking around.  We spent quite awhile in China town and loved it.   Toronto is such a melting pot!

The shops were filled with all sorts of crazy trinkets and toys.  Imagine this lady telling us over and over with a thick chinese accent: 'no pictures! no pictures!  toy 15 dollars! 15 dollars!  no pictures! no pictures!".

 

 Those are intestines. of some sort.

We love all of the Great Lakes! Toronto is on Lake Ontario.

I'm so glad that Kent shares in my love of adventures- small and large!   and I can't wait to explore more big cities of the world together!!!

Ohio to New York...

Kent had a week of vacation, the fall colors were in full bloom, and Laney's husband was off work thanks to the government shutdown.  Perfect timing for a visit to Western New York!!   We go every fall and the drive through all of Ohio, Northern Pennsylvania, and Western New York is stunning.

Plus- we got to make a pit stop In Ashland to see our very favorite Ohioans!  the Starkeys!!  these are some of the best and kindest people you'll ever meet.  They've hosted us for Easters, Thanksgivings, Halloweens, and all sorts of weekends in between.  Definitely our Ohio family.

We had dinner- used the bathroom- and enjoyed the most delicious ghost cookies I've ever tasted. mmmm.

Metta LOVED their cats and dog.  

Once in New York- the weather was perfect.  absolutely perfect.

Day 1. Hike to the eternal flame.  Some flame that's burning in a mini cave in a mountain.  It stinks like rotten eggs. But it looks nice.

The men and their babies.

This little girl loved being on Kent's back.  

Much of the trail ran alongside/through a creek.  The water was FREEZING- but the kiddos didn't seem to mind in the slightest.

Milly goat only calls Kent- 'Dr. Kent'.  It's pretty funny. 

What are we going to do when cousins don't live a day's drive away??  I'm sad that these regular visits may be coming to an end soon!

I love fall.  I love leaves.  

I love her.

I don't know if baby Milo had as much fun as metta.  

we found a great little frog on the trail and all took turns kissing and holding it!

He's pretty cute, right?

I put him on Kent's shoulder so metta could pet him- and then the frog bolted. Jumped right off.  You can see his hind leg in the picture.  She never even got to touch him.  Kent thinks he broke some bones on the jump down.  I think frogs are meant to jump long distances.

There were some fun 'climbing' spots.  This looks tremendously more dangerous than it actually was.  The angle makes it look pretty steep.  I did not let my little Zeb scale a slippery treacherous mountainside.

Finally- the eternal flame. Right behind Zeb's head.  I thought it was going to be bigger.  And not so stinky.

Metta insisted on bringing along a 'baby'.  She talked to it, kissed it, loved it.  She is obsessed with babies.

After our hike we had a big Family Home Evening with my very best friend from college- and his family.   He lives near Laney and we all got together with our crazy kids.

I love this pic of my metta.  Holding onto her baby tighter than tight. while riding her bike.

 So crazy to think that twelve years ago we were in college and now we're all grown up with kids.

 Brad and I met at Ricks College in the year 2001 before our missions.  Man- I'm getting old!!!

 I've got zillions more pictures to come!

and he's caught up to me again...

Kent celebrated the big 3-2 yesterday.  and I LOVE birthdays.  Even if they aren't mine.  It still means a party. presents. dinner out. and ice cream cake.  And when it's Kent's birthday- all those things are mine, too.

I was asking my sis- Laney- for ideas on what to get him for his birthday.  She always get her husband shoes and ties and socks for his birthday because he loves clothes.  So- she asked what Kent loves.  The answer is food.  He loves to eat.  It was a food themed birthday.

He worked the day- so we went over the the base and decorated his car.  We filled it with balloons, kit-kats, and his favorite donuts. 

Kent always wants an ice cream cake for his birthday.  And I always tell him they cost too much money.  Because they DO!  holy smokes.  I checked coldstone- but I wasn't about to shell out 40 bucks for a cake.  So I downgraded to Dairy Queen for the Oreo blizzard cake.  And I used a coupon.  And it counted as one of his presents.   It was tasty- but not as tasty as it should have been for costing as much as it did.  But it was worth it when Kent saw- that despite my cheapness- I bought him an ice cream cake.  He was pretty happy.

I also got him a fancy cookie dough scoop for when he makes his famous cookies.  He makes the world's most amazing oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.

He got a few other gadgets- and then we went out for a crazy dinner (kidless) to Saya.  His favorite Japanese/Korean Sushi house.  And he got to order whatever he wanted.  Yakisoba, Bolsot Bibimbap, Salmon sushi, and potstickers.  It was a pretty delicious dinner.  And possibly something we need to get used to- since Korea and Japan are pretty high on our list of places to move next year!  any thoughts on either of the two?  I never thought I might live in Asia- and now it seems like such a possibilty!!

I'm getting more adventurous and enjoyed this sushi :)

After dinner we went home and enjoyed ice cream cake and Project Runway.  It was such a great birthday.  Kent told me he's lucky he married me.  I told him he was right. He is pretty lucky.  But- I have to say- I'm pretty lucky myself.  I hope we have many many many more October 10ths to celebrate together! 

He's kind, dependable, hard working, dedicated, adventurous, humble, and just plain fun.

Love you, Ralph.  Happy Birthday.

the day I ran a race so hard I thought I'd die.

Today I ran the White Trails Half Marathon.  Oh my crap.  It was so hard.

On the bus ride to the start line- a lady turned to my friend and I and asked: "have you two ever run this race?" to which we answered:  "No. Have you?".  She told us she hadn't either but that she'd been warned by several friend to (please excuse my language): "watch out for the big ass hill".  Upon finishing the race I came to the simple conclusion that the entire race was one 'big ass hill'.  We ran up and up and up.  My calves screamed.  My heart nearly burst.  I thought I'd die.

My friend Kristi and I thought it would be a nice break from the kids.  A beautiful Saturday morning run.  And I suppose it was both of those things.  But it was harder than I could have ever imagined!!

I took a bunch of pics with my phone- and I think I got some pretty good shots for never even stopping to take them :)  They may be a little blurry, though!

The views were so amazing.  Most of it was under the cover of heavy foilage.  It was unseasonably humid.  I was DRENCHED in sweat.  I removed my shirt at the end and literally WRUNG it out. I'm so glad we were shaded for most of the race.  We did run across a large dam and saw some spectacular views.

Most of the race was single track trail- heavily covered in leaves, roots, and fallen trees.  I face planted it THREE times.  At some points I felt like we were running hurdles going over fallen trees.   Kristi and I have been training pretty hard- with spin classes, bootcamp, and weekly long runs.  But nothing could have prepared us for this.

Pictures don't do the steep climbs justice.  We worked so hard getting up them.  I was physically and psychologically exhausted.  Besides the full marathon I ran- this is the hardest physical thing I've ever done.  But let me toot my horn a little.  At every hill- Kristi and I attacked.  We passed person after person.  We didn't walk a single one.  And by the half way point- we were the only ones running them still.  We are convinced it's the crazy climbs we do in spin class- and the hundreds of squats and lunges we do.  The last three miles we caught up to a wave of young male runners (about our age) and passed them rather speedily on a hill as they trudged and hiked.  We were pretty proud of ourselves and it gave us a great boost for the last leg of the run :)  

The creeks we ran through weren't too full.  We made it over them by using rocks as stepping stones.

Ohio is a gorgeous state with so much to see.  I love being able to enjoy the outdoors while I workout.

This is a picture of the very beginning of the race.  It's pretty crowded for the first mile- and then people start to pace out.  We had to pass a few large groups of slower runners to find our groove- but by a few miles in were pretty spread out and could just pass small groups on the hills as we got to them.

There were several times I just wanted to stop.  To walk the hills.  To give up. I'm so glad I ran with a friend and had her there pushing and pulling me.  There is something so amazing about doing something this hard.  I feel so accomplished.    And even though my GPS said I ran 13.61 miles instead of 13.1- I am so happy I ran the race.  I LOVED it.

Welcome to October.

 I love groupon.  Last week we went canoeing on the cheap- thanks to groupon :)  And it was perfect.  Such a wonderful day.

These kids were so excited to get on the canoe and paddle.  and then we actually got on the canoe and they started paddling.  and then they weren't so excited :)

 They loved the trip and the occasional 'rapids'.  Ike called them 'rabbids'.  And really it was just water splashing over a few rocks.   We took several 'exploring' breaks to catch fish, frogs, and tadpoles.

 We found imaginary alligators.

 I love being outside and I love the Ohio scenery.  I'm sure going to miss this place when we have to leave.

 Metta didn't go canoeing with us- for obvious reasons.  We would have lost her overboard for sure.  She got to spend the afternoon with her favorite family of all girls.  We have some friends who have only daughters and she is OBSESSED with them.

She is a character.  We celebrated the 1st of October with pumpkin pancakes and Halloween decor.  She can't get enough of it all.  EVERY time she re-enters our front room she points and jabbers to the decorations one by one.   She can say 'scary', 'pumpkin', and 'hoo-hoo' for the owl.

Tonight she insisted on FEEDING her favorites.  seriously.

This rat is her very favorite.  She carries it around. Puts it to bed.  Pushes it in her stroller.  She's so weird.

She calls all the skeletons and skulls 'scary'.