Utah: Fourth of July

We spent the 4th with both families. In the morning we went to the Centerville 5k where we both were painfully reminded that we are no longer 18 and can't just up and race a race without training. I don't know why we thought it would be pretty: we haven't been running, AZ doesn't have anything that looks remotely like a hill, we were up late the night before eating nothing but ice cream and cookies, and Utah's altitude will kill the best of em. It was brutal, but it was fun. No actually I can't even say it was fun. It was just brutal.
If we are going to be totally honest, I wish I would have stayed with Ethan the whole race. He doesn't run very many races and ever time I actually run with him, I have more fun than if I try to win my age group. We got separated right away, but I still could have found a way to wait for him. His commentary would have been more fun than listening to my own wheezing for 25 minutes.

So I know you will all roll your eyes, but as luck would have it, I ended up winning my age group. I guess the 57 people that passed me in the last half mile weren't my age. It helps that my age group is the "baby division" as me and my friends call it. Half of the women my age are having babies, are pregnant, or just gave birth so naturally the amount of us running at "full" speed is always significantly less. Probably not true, but still a funny joke. Well I got a prize, but we also wanted to get back to get ready for the parade. They were taking FOREVER which was terribly disappointing because this was like 25 years in a row. You think they would have figured out what works by now. At like 7:45 we asked if we could just get my ribbon and leave. They were like, "we are going to start very soon" At 8:10 they finally started things and here is how it went "Welcome! We are going to start with the awards now. We will start with the men and work our way down age wise. Can Danny Conner come up. He is the winner of the 75+ with a time of ...Lets all give Danny a around of applause while he comes up." WHAT!!! It took like 10 minutes for them to get through one division. Ethan being the awesome person he is, walked up to the table and was like, "so we want to get the parade. Can my wife have her ribbon?" They handed it to him kind of in disbelief that he didn't want to stick around and then as he was walking away they were like "don't forget her prize!!"Without looking Ethan grabbed the first thing he saw which happened to be shampoo and conditioner and a free hair cut. Not too shabby! But I go back to and stand by my original statement: it would have been way more rewarding and fun to run with Ethan. It was not worth the side ache, muscle pain, and shampoo. I walked away thinking, that was fine, when I could have walked away thinking, that was fun.

After the race, we ran home, got ready, grabbed the girls and headed to the Centerville parade where we met up with the Wing gang.

Not the best picture lighting :) 

After the parade we had naps, made a salad and headed over to Scotts for a barbecue complete with deliciously smoked meat.

Madison was having a really hard day. We have no idea why, but she was. Medicine helped some but she just hated life. I felt bad for her, but after the constant complaining it just started to push my buttons. People were so helpful and would try to distract her best they could. Aaron took her to the park for a whole hour so that we could be free of the tears. In hindsight I just feel so awful for getting so frazzled by her, but at the time there was literally nothing that we could do. She was so angry. She is all better now which is why I can write about it. Maybe she was just totally out of her element making her a bit wacky? We will never know.

unplanned and wonderful

Madison kept trying to tickle Jakco. She'd run up and go "ickickick" and make this weird noise and basically scratch him

 She was happy with an ice cream sandwich in the shade, but who wouldn't be happy with that?!

From the barbecue we headed to West Jordan park where we watched one of the coolest firework shoes I have ever seen. The finale lasted FOREVER (which is a glorious thing!!!) I thought it was awesome, but I was confirmed of its awesomeness when I looked at everyone else in the group and they were all smiling equally as big as I was.

All of us together for the first time in 5 years!

I thought this selfie she took was the best!

 

 

 Some how, after avoiding the urge for a few years, we have come full circle to Ethan once again "recreating" his already perfect smile. He does it because he knows it drives me nuts! I can't wait for this phase to once again be over.

 The girls were so good, but naturally fell asleep instantly. I parked in the neighborhoods by my parents and walking back with them, my mom pointed to the stroller. Both the girls were out. Madison jolted a bit when the flash went off, but don't be fooled. She is dead asleep in this picture. My favorite part about this was, like 2 seconds before, as we were fighting through the crowds they were both yelling at each other and at life becasue they couldn't get comfortable. And then it just went silent. They fought their last fight and then there was nothing left for the day. They excepted reality and fell fast asleep.

The 4th of July really is so much fun even if you don't go to sleep until midnight. Happy Birthday America