Independence Day

I started the day early by running in the Sandy City 4th of July 5k with my friend Sarah (pictured below), my friend Kristin, and two of her kids Billy and Gracie. I have run this race for the past four years and usually push the jogger or stroller but this year I ran solo and was able to finish in 31 minutes. After the race Sarah and I treated ourselves by spending a little bit of time and a whole lot of money at our local Target. After a quick shower it was back to the Sandy City 4th of July celebration where we met up with our friends Sarah, Gracie and Sean who were all decked out in patriotic attire. We also got to see Kristin, Gracie, Colton and Billy. Lucas and Landon decided to get tattoos as their special treat and then Lucas did a couple of crafts, played some games and bounced around on some of the air slide thingies.

To cool off from the hot summer heat we headed down the street to Classic Fun Center to splash around in the pool where we yet again met Sarah and her family. I thought the pool would be a madhouse but it was actually pretty dead for being a holiday weekend. Lucas enjoyed his favorite frog slide and Landon loved going down the big slides with mommy and daddy.
After a much needed nap we once again headed to the Sandy City 4th of July celebration with a picnic dinner in tow. And you guessed it.....we once again met up with our friends Kristin & her family and Sarah & her family. The kids loved collecting candy and dancing around in the streets.

Earlier in the day while Sarah and I were shopping at Target getting patriotic attire for remaining family members we decided to play a little trick on our husbands by getting them the same red, white and blue shirt. When the guys first stood by each other in their shirts at the parade I could barely control my laughter. Matt mentioned something about Sean and Landon having matching shirts and at that time Steve asked Matt if they happened to be wearing the same shirt. At first they did not really see the humor in our little practical joke but as the night wore on they began to lighten up. In the meantime Sarah and I are watching our backs and waiting for some type of payback. All I can say is...bring it on. :)

Taking Time

Wow the busy days of summer!! I am so glad that Landon has learned early to stop and take time to smell the flowers. :) Our summer days are full of swimming, biking, running, playing and of course t-ball.

Lucas had his last t-ball game of the season and got a really cool trophy to add to his collection. After his game I took him and Landon to Sonic for ice cream but since Landon fell asleep Lucas and I ate his share. Lucas had never been to Sonic before and so when we pulled up he asked if we were going to go in. Of course I told him that we just had to place our order and someone would bring it out to us and take our money. He was so amazed by this and thought it was the coolest thing when the waitress came out on skates. I had him climb in the front seat so he could sit by me and eat his ice cream. He really thought it was cool to sit up front and watch as it grew dark outside. Now every time we pass by Sonic he thinks we should stop.

One hot summer day I took the boys to Classic Fun Center. Usually we hang out by the pool where Lucas and Landon both love going down the slides but this day we decided to take their bikes to ride inside and to play video games. Lucas loved the motorcycle game and insisted that he wear his helmet when he played it. :)

We're All Winners

A week ago Lucas ran his first race called the Mountair Mile which benefits The Sharing Place. Even though Lucas is too young to really understand that he was running for a cause I figured this was a great way to get him started in helping out the community. The Sharing Place is a grief support program dedicated to providing a safe and caring environment where children, teens, and their families who are grieving the death of a loved one may share their feelings while healing themselves. The participants of the race could either walk, run, ride bikes or whatever they wanted... so long as they had fun. Lucas was so excited and he spent quit a bit of time the week before training for his race on his bike. When the day finally arrived he decided he would just run the race with his friend Gracie instead. They both did such a fabulous job and ended up running the majority of the way. Lucas would tell me he wanted to walk a little and then say ok mom lets run now. At one point he even had us hop. At the end of the race he asked me if he won and I told him that since he finished and had fun he was definitely a winner. He even has a ribbon to prove it. :)

Fathers Day

So I thought I was only a week behind but it is more like two weeks....oops. For Father's Day we drove up Little Cottonwood Canyon one afternoon to find some special rocks for Lucas to paint for his daddy. He did so good keeping this a secret for almost an entire week (I think he might have forgot about the rock he painted) but could not wait to tell his dad that he got him a Transformer Father's Day card. :)

We all enjoyed a big breakfast at home and then headed to Park City where we eventually had lunch. We took a scenic drive in the mountains and then found a couple of different places at Rockport State Park where we tried to catch a couple of fish. We had such a wonderful day and I am truly blessed to have the best father for my two little boys. Thank you for all that you do - we love you Steve.

The McCormack Swimming Pools

So far this summer we have not had many opportunities to go swimming because of the rainy weather. There was one particular day when our little Gracie Girl was playing with us and it was supposed to be nice and warm so I told the kids that we could go swimming. Of course then it ended up raining the entire day - but I kept my promise and the kids all went swimming - in the bathtub. They all seemed pretty content to splash around in the comfort of our home rather than freeze their bums off at the local outdoor pool. As for me I was just happy to see that the jets still worked after sitting idle for so long. ;)When it did finally warm up for one day I surprised the boys by breaking out their outdoor swimming pool. The plan was to fill it up in the morning so that the sun could warm up the water during the day and then the boys could go swimming in the afternoon. (Yeah I know there are some moms who put warm water in the pool to begin with - but I am not one of them.) Anyways, of course the boys could not wait for the water to get warm and they ended up swimming and playing in the water the whole day.

Camping at Rockport State Park

Two weeks ago we went camping with seven other familes at Rockport State Park. It took me about three days to get ready for the weekend trip but it was all worth it. We left Friday afternoon and returned home Sunday afternoon. Although it rained off and on all weekend we all had a really good time. There were tons of kids for the boys to play with, plenty of room for them to ride their bikes and plenty of mud to play in. The boys didn't even touch the bag of toys they had packed for the trip which was a sign they had plenty of other things to do. My friend Sarah organized everything to where all the families pitched in at meal time and we all ate together like one big family. Everybody had so much fun and I can't wait to go camping with all these friends again.

It's Raining It's Pouring

June is turning into a very wet month for us folks out here in Utah. I can not recall a day this month when it did not rain - which I guess has been good for our grass and vegetable garden but not so good for pool time. :( Last week we met our friends Sean, Gracie and Sarah at the zoo and enjoyed strolling around watching the animals in the rain but just before we were leaving it started to downpour and we ended up getting drenched.

We spent one day at the mall with Sean, Gracie and Sarah because of the rain as well. We enjoyed lunch and let the kids run around Dino-Land before we decided it was time to get in our own therapy - shopping. Every penny I spent I can honestly blame on the rain. :) That evening the six of us enjoyed a nice dinner at Buca di Beppo and the kids actually managed to eat quit a bit - I was just thankful no one was sitting too close to us because they all seemed to be a little wound up. Then it was home for the much anticipated bath where Lucas thought it would be funny to lock his little brother out of the bathroom....... Knock! Knock!
LET ME IN!!!!
YEAH!! That is much better - he just loves his bath.