First few days in Boise...

The drive up was okay, with the Jetta being nice up until the last 3rd when it decided to act up a bit. But we made it in and it's been fine since! We have been able to see family and friends and just slow down and enjoy the time.
Monday we went for lunch at one of our favorites, Papa Joe's. They have the best hot roast beef sandwiches I've ever tasted and we crave them all year until we can come up and enjoy one. Then we headed over to the Discover Center to see what exhibits they had going on. It's a hands on science center for kids and we all had a good time. Afterwards we crossed the bridge to the park and noticed the paddle boats while we were walking. So after a short play we went searching for the boat house and went on a 30 min ride.

Captain Ty...
Fun watching the ducks as we were going.

There were also some really big fish in the pond, someone has dumped a few koi in there and they really like the environment!

Tuesday we went down for the Buckaroo Breakfast that is part of the Snake River Stampede and was hosted by the local 4-H. They put on quite the feast and we were able to go inside and see the rodeo grounds, can't wait to go watch the show on Thurs.

The boys and I found some lunch and headed over to Settler's Park for a picnic and play time. What a cool place, and huge!

They have this cool pirate ship play structure...

Giant musical instruments to play, and a bunch of climbing boulders...

Then there's the splash area...

Tyler looked around and decided that his goggles might come in handy, but took them off after a while.

Playing with the tail sprayer...

Cody was having a lot of fun getting water dumped on him, the shock of when it would dump was pretty funny to watch as well...

Tyler was taking the more cautious approach and waiting for it to dump then running through.

Best part was they had a snack place with shaved ice snow cones, yum!

Along with all this fun, we've been trying to keep up with our running schedules and I've hit the gym for a yoga class, strength training and a swim. With any hope, I'll come home without a big vacation weight gain!

More fun is schedule for the week, so we'll keep you posted!

More crafty going on: Check it out

Crafty!

http://acraftychristmas.blogspot.com/2010/07/freezer-paper-stenciling.html

Camping at Boca Reservoir...

This past weekend we had a very successful camping trip! It was cooler, in the mountains, green and sat next to a beautiful reservoir.
So we packed up Saturday morning and drove up, arriving a bit early for our camp site, so we headed over to one of the day use areas to set up for lunch.

Beautiful!

The boys played in the water off and on while we hung out.

After a while it was time to go check in. Here are some of the views from our site.

While I was cooking a bit of dinner....

the boys were hard at work setting up the tent...

We had a nice evening, staring at the lake and watching the boaters go by.

Once it was finally dark, we lit the fire and roasted the marshmallows.

We all slept relatively well, even with the bachelor party going on next door. (Seriously...)

We woke to this in the morning...

and this...

After a bit of breakfast, we packed up and headed out for a walk around...

Going down in front of where our tent was...

Walking all around the water's edge, looking back at our site, to the left of the tallest tree...

Cool black sand...

Wondering over to where we had lunch the day before, then headed back up into our campground...

After making sure we had everything, we headed into Reno to check out a couple of store we've been hearing about. Then we snagged a bite at In-N-Out before heading for home.

We will be putting this on our yes list for sure!

Super slide...

So it wasn't a total nothing day yesterday. We did go for a 2 miles run/scoot, had lunch, and stopped by the craft store. The boys watched their movie and napped, then I watched my movie while airing up the water slide and did a bit of sewing.

Originally this came with a boogie board thing that aided in the slide, but it popped. So after a few trial and errors, they figured out how much speed was needed to fly. I'm excited that Ty is tall enough and braver this year so he can have fun too.

Cody had the slide figured out...

Ty did for a while then had some technical difficulties...

Then we fixed it with the aid of the bucket and he was off...

Splish and Splash....

Monday we headed over to another splash park for a picnic and play. This one is small, but it has water that's cool and they had a good time. The playground attached is pretty cool, so that made up for the lack of exciting water!

Running...

Cody did a lot of laying on his belly...

So, Tyler followed suit...

Then there was the head drenching...

That produced some crazy hair...

Again, following the leader...

Whoa!

Today we're taking a break from stuff. The calendar said we were heading down to Fairy Tale Town to catch a puppet show, then off to the play pool that is somewhere in Land Park. When I woke up this morning and thought about those plans, they just seamed overwhelming. So instead we went for a 2 mile run this morning, while the boys were on their scooters. They are currently watching the Princess and the Frog (their request), while I search the internets a bit. Later I plan on putting them down for naps while I watch Invictus and work on a certain stitching project that is long overdue. They know nothing of the supposed calendar plans, so all is well.

Tomorrow we'll get back to our regularly scheduled summer calendar of gym times and park dates.

Fun on the 4th...

we had another mellow 4th of July with friends. Started the day off with a late breakfast at Annie's, naps in the afternoon, then off to celebrate.

Kids sitting down to some grub...

They all had a good time in the pool before and after dinner...

Then it was snow cone time, fruity flavors for the kids, margarita mix for the adults. YUM!

Once the sun started to go down we went to our spot to watch the big firework show. The kids ran around and played, then a nice lady brought them all over a glow bracelet.
Cheesy boys...

Then we watched the sky light up for a bit...

We headed back to the house for a few more fireworks.
Ty loved the sparklers, Cody wasn't to into them though...

In between we fired off a couple of fountains...

They were the screechy ones, but very pretty...

Another successful 4th on the books!

Firecracker 10k...

Today I was able to check 10k off my list.

This was a small club style run, with maybe 200 or so runners. It was held down in Land Park, which is beautiful and shady, perfect for a July race.

The start...

Patriotic tie-dye that was made for the race....

I finished in 1:32:55, which in most books is quite slow. It was, however, a new PR for me averaging 14:57 per mile, faster than any other average I've had for a distance over 2 miles.

We all have to start somewhere, and I'm making progress by getting a slight bit faster every week. I've also come to realized that maybe my legs really are that short, because it just doesn't seam like they are moving that much slower than the rest. New things for me to work on for sure.

Like most races, the shwag was pretty cool, lots of new energy bars and treats to try.

Next week is the official start of training for the Urban Cow 1/2 Marathon in October. Can't wait to get started!