5th Wedding Anniversary

We went the inexpensive route this anniversary and had a blast.  We dropped Brooklyn off at my in-laws and headed off to a new to us mountain biking trail.  We hadn't been mountain biking in a LOOONNNGGG time and both of us commented on how much we missed it.  It is so refreshing to just be outside and away from the noise of life but spending time together and exercising.
After mountain biking we went and got a bite to eat and enjoyed the fountain display at The Village.
Love my guy and love that we can do things together that don't require money and share interests it makes us happy.

C.A.T.C.H 5K

This small 5K we participated in at the beginning of September was a successful one.  The race is held to raise money for a program that helps homeless families with children to get into homes and learn how to support themselves and be able to pay rent on their own.  Thomas had actually done a speech presentation in one of his classes at BSU about the program and had met the founder/director.  When our running team, Team Beef, posted about the run we knew we wanted to participate.  Not only were all the proceeds for a good cause but it was a new course that varied from the usual races along the greenbelt here in Boise.  We started at The Village fountains in Meridian and basically did a big loop along the park path till we finished at the bandshell.  I was towards the end of 1/2 marathon training and in that training had predicted what I my 10K and 5K paces would be for speed workout.  I thought a 7:57/mile pace was about right and was training at that speed.  When the race started we went out pretty fast but I figured it was just over three miles so I would hang tough til I couldn't hang anymore.  Thomas and I ran together for the first two miles or so and then he took off with a pack of guys.  After the first half mile I knew I was in front of the other women.  My goal was to keep up my pace and hopefully not let any women pass me.
I ended up finishing in 22:18 which is about a 7:10/mile pace! Totally surprised myself and felt like I learned a significant running lesson in that race.  Previously in my running I felt like I should always stick to whatever pace I was "supposed" to be running.  So if during a race I saw that I was running faster than what I thought I should I would slow down in fear of hitting the wall before the end of the race.  I felt like I was successful in this race because I just did what felt good and even when it started to hurt I told myself I could go further. I really believe that the mind gives up long before the body does.

I was the first woman and Thomas was the second man (kind of they gave overall ribbons and then top male finisher ribbons and didn't include the overall males so I think he was 5th male).
The swag afterwards was great too.  They had a gourmet cupcake company handing out cupcakes and chic-fil-a handing out chicken sandwiches.  Plus, each particpant received free tickets to the opening game of the Idaho Steelheads hockey team.

August Photodump

Had a play date where we met at the mall so the kidlets could play at the play area.  After playing we headed to The Cheesecake Factory for lunch where it was 1/2 price cheesecake day. It was the perfect day for eating outside and with all the 2 year olds we had at the table it went surprisingly well.

Brooklyn loves temporary tattoos and didn't have room on her arm for this big rainbow one so we put it on her belly.


Met friends at the botanical gardens and had a picnic.

Playing dress-up with friend Molly.

She went #2 on the potty and earned a princess crown from Target.

First dentist appointment.  Thomas and I had our appointments first and she got to watch and then felt comfortable enough to get her mouth checked and a fluoride treatment.  We were shocked she allowed it!


This is the bathroom at Albertson's.  She loved this chair and asked me to take a picture.

We attended a free promo ballet class through Ballet Idaho.  Brooklyn LOVED it! She loves dancing.
We were at a park downtown and stumbled across an african drumming circle. This girl who only lasts about 5 minutes sitting still was mesmerized for about 45 minutes by the music. Family bike ride and I was highly entertained by the faces Brooklyn was making in the bike trailer.

Family Pics 2014

I LOVE how our family pictures turned out.  A photographer from one of the playgroups we are a part of took them for us at the Idaho Botanical Gardens.  I really wanted to make sure we got some with Brooklyn smiling and some more playful and natural shots and I think we succeeded.

YMCA trail run

At the end of August I participated in another trail run.  This one was held up at the ski mountain nearby, Bogus Basin.  The race was supposedly 4.5 miles but it ended up being 4.35.  I was kind of disappointed in the race and don't think I would run it again unless they made some big changes.  First of all the course was three laps.  We were up in the mountains with plenty of space and they had us doing laps? Second they didn't have someone telling trail runners who weren't doing the duathlon when to turn for our second lap so myself and another runner ended up going further than we needed too and then turn back around. It probably tagged on an extra quarter mile which isn't a huge deal but kind of annoying.  I kept asking volunteers "where do I turn? where do I turn?" and they all just said they didn't know.  Also, for the 45 minute drive up to the mountains to run on trails it sure wasn't much of a trail run. The race I did here in town in the foothills earlier in the month had way more elevation gain.
When I crossed the finish line they announced I was the first female but when the results were posted it showed someone finished in front of me.  Regardless, the race director felt bed about the mess up with the turn around point and let me choose a prize so I got a $25 gift certificate to a local running store.

Zoo in August

I have a ton of posts on the zoo, I know.  But we LOVE the zoo. Zoo pass = best Christmas gift EVER! We went a couple of times in August.
Whenever we go buy the little penguin and tiger statues Brooklyn gets on them and says "Take a picture of me!".  And of course I do what I'm told.
One of our trips we met up with Molly and Sara.  The girls had fun dressing up in the animal costumes they had in the education center and playing on the tube slide.  This was the best photo bomb ever. We have no idea who this kid is and the look on Brooklyn's face says it all.  

Spirit of Boise 2014

We look forward to this event every year here in Boise. Throughout the week they have hot air balloon launches from a local park.  One particular morning I was driving home from the gym and noticed there were a lot flying over our apartment so I swung home to get Brooklyn and Thomas.  We stopped at a nearby park and watched some of them land right in front of us! One of the pilots was even nice enough to let Brooklyn stand in his basket.  The first day of the even they let kids go up in the balloons that are tethered to the ground but it's super loud and I knew Brooklyn would be freaked out.  So just standing in the basket was perfect.
One of the last days they have a night glow.  A bunch of the balloons are lined up and when it gets dark they light them up.  We met up with Joslyn, Sara and their families and the kids had a blast together.