Zion's

The annual Tucker/Eliason reunion in Zions is one of my favorite summer vacations.  After our fun filled 4th of July we followed my mom and dad to Springdale.  Sam is obsessed with two things at the moment, "bampa" (grandma and grandpa), and "gycles" (motorcycles).  He had 5 hours in the car to watch his two favorite things.  I think he said "bampa" "gycle" about 500 times.  Too bad he couldn't ride with grandpa, it would have been much quieter in our car!  We headed to the pool the second we arrived at the Desert Pearl and Sam was stoked.

He is the comic relief in our family for sure.  He fell asleep for about 30 minutes and as he woke up, he resumed his fist pumping dance, eyes closed and all.  Sam will do anything for a laugh.  Such a little ham.

Randy, Hank and Max joined Robyn and Andy and their kids on a hike and I stayed back with Sam.  The brief rainstorm brought out this little toad.  

Sam was intrigued and immediately poked him in the eye.  Poor little toad.  Riley and Sam took the toad back to the river before any more damage was done.

Once Randy and the kids got back, it was a chaotic mess of ball and Frisbee throwing.  It's amazing no one was hit in the face!  After some catching up with the family we headed to bed because we had an early hike up the Narrows the next morning.  My mom and dad volunteered to stay back with Max and Sam. 

We were equipped with the proper shoes and walking sticks and excited for the upcoming adventure.

Hank, Phil and Tom at the trail head.

I've been to Zion's multiple times but never hiked the Narrows.  I've always wanted to.  I mean a hike that's 90% in the water is my kind of hike.  The crowds were minimal and we had some great cloud cover.  The water was also pretty low which was nice.

Since the conditions were so optimal, we hiked pretty far up the river.  Hank was such a trooper.  He never complained and carried on even after he tripped and fell in the water a few times.

Good thing he had his buddy Riley to hike with.  He became Riley's shadow for most of the day. 

We made a few pit stops, checked blood sugar, and grabbed and snack and a drink.

The best part of the day was catching up with my family I don't see very often.  I had some great conversations with almost everyone.

I've never been in a more spectacular setting.  The beauty of the rocks and the water took my breath away.  You quickly realize why it's so dangerous to hike the narrows when there is potential for a flash flood.

We capped off the end of the hike with a good ol' fashioned cliff jump.

I had to do it twice to convince Hank it wasn't scary.  He was a little hesitant but agreed to do it when Riley volunteered to jump with him.

The water was freezing!

It took Hank a good 30 minutes of hiking back down the river to stop shivering.  Randy sat the rock jumping out since he injured his foot the previous day doing a cannon ball into the pool.  

It started getting hot on our way down and Hank had low blood sugar so Randy and I took turns carrying him the last mile.  We were spent when we got back but it was so worth it.  I would do that hike again in a heart beat.

Joyce took all of the group out to eat later that night at The Spotted Dog.  The kids always make dinner at a restaurant exciting.  Sam hit his head on the fireplace and screamed loud enough to stop all the diners from enjoying their meal.  My mom and I took turns with him outside.  After that, I was ready to let the kids run wild back at the hotel.  My mom managed to snap this cute picture of our family.

Sam was mesmerized by Keith's musical ability.  He just stood there and stared at him in awe.

We decided to take it easy the next morning.  I got up a little earlier than the kids and went for a beautiful run.  Then we headed to Oscars for breakfast.

The kids were quiet for approximately 5 minutes.  I'm really surprised we didn't get kicked out.

I left the rest of the afternoon up to the kids.  They wanted to swim so that's what we did.

Sam and Monet made a connection on this trip.  He calls her '"Maaney".  He is smitten by her adorableness and so am I.  They played so cute together.

After the kids were sufficiently thrown all over the pool, my dad took them to Despicable Me 2 in Hurricane.  They needed a break from the sun and had a great time.  I stayed back with Sam while he took a nap.  It was a quiet, relaxing afternoon for me.  When everyone got back, we had a little social hour at our room.  

Sam snagged some of Monet's chocolate covered raisins.

And a cuddle with "bampa".

Hank played catch with Grandpa,

and Phil.

Then, Randy picked Joyce's brain for a few hours.  It started with a few questions about her life and ended up being an entertaining tell all Q & A.  I learned so much about her I never knew.  She has lived an amazing life and loved that Randy cared enough to find out about it.  Honestly, the best part of this reunion is the amazing conversations we have.  I just love my family.  They are simply the best.

My sweet mom and dad captured Sam's heart on this trip. He got panicked when he couldn't find them.  He is so affectionate with both of them.  They were so much help to me since Sam is a handful these days.

You can only imagine how mad he was when he realized they were leaving on the "gycle" without him.  He sat on the back seat in protest.

Grandma said her good-byes but Sam couldn't accept it.

I had to pry him out of her arms.

I guess I couldn't very well let him ride all the way back like that. He couldn't understand why.  We stayed  for the rest of the morning and let the kids play in the pool a little while longer.  I wasn't in any hurry to come home and resume regular life.  We've had a busy, fun couple of weeks.  I didn't want it to end.  I wish my sisters and their families could have made the trip.  Maybe next year!

Independence Day

I officially came out of retirement from racing on the Fourth of July.  I hesitantly registered for the Freedom Festival 10K a few weeks ago, not really sure if I wanted the stress of a race on my plate.  It's really hard for me to enter a race situation and not get overly worried about it.  I wish I could just treat it like any other training run but I can't.  I've been running for over a year and I'm feeling like I'm in pretty good shape so I decided to go for it.  The race started at 7:00 a.m. so Randy stayed home with our sleeping kids.  Hank really wanted to come and cheer me on, so he woke up around 5:45 and went with Natalie, Isaac, and me.  What a little stud.  It really meant a lot to have him there.

I started out a bit fast and finished a bit slow but ended up finishing in 48 minutes, a 7:45 per mile average.  It was a challenging course, starting and finishing up hill so I really had to give it my all.  I was happy to learn I finished 8th out of 100 women in my age division.  It felt pretty good to be in the racing scene again.

There isn't a better way to recuperate after a hard race than some quality pool time.  

(Some of these pictures were taken a few days before the 4th.)

Precious brother moment.

Tucker, Lucy, and Hank

Sam loves Izzy!

Pool squats, a must for Sammy-boy!

I can't get over how unafraid Max is in the water this year.  I really think goggles have made all the difference. He is such a good little swimmer.

The boys played golf with my dad and then joined us at the pool later for a BBQ and lots of swimming.

Sam spent some quality time with Grandma.

They have the cutest little relationship.  He is definitely my biggest grandma/grandpa lover.

Later that day, Jeri and Scott invited us over for a BBQ and fireworks.

Lennon and Sam shared a plate.

Scott wowed us with his deliciously patriotic cake.

It couldn't get dark fast enough for the kids.  They couldn't wait for the fireworks show to begin.

Max is my little pyro.

He couldn't get enough.

Crazy cousins! 

Sam hated the fireworks last year and this year he refused to even look at them.  In his defense, it sounded like Jeri's house was under attack.  I've never seen so many fireworks in one neighborhood.

He kept pointing to the car saying "done".  

The fireworks were pretty impressive.  Who needs stadium of fire?

It was such a fantastic holiday.  We managed to squeeze in a race, 18 holes of golf, swimming, a BBQ, and fireworks.  The best part was spending the day with my favorite people.  We had little time to rest because we were off to Zion's the next day!

A Spontaneous Trip to Yuba

I was having a particularly frustrating summer day, the kids were fighting non-stop, and I felt like I had been yelling at them constantly.  This isn't what summer is supposed to be like.  Then, I got a text from Randy saying "let's go to Yuba Lake tomorrow, I already have a motel booked".  It took me a minute to process and instead of over-analyzing the logistics of taking 3 small kids to a lake for 3 days, I said "let's do it".  This is one of the reasons I love being married to Randy.  He loves to be spontaneous and he loves to spend time with his family.  I have definitely learned how to roll with things better since we've been married because I realize it always works out and creates memories that I cherish forever.  The kids didn't quite know what to expect but they were excited.  We found a cool little beach once we got there and the rock skipping and throwing commenced. 

Here is Randy demonstrating the art of the rock skipping throw.  I think he may have strained his arm a bit in the process but Hank and Max were amazed.  I was amazed by how entertained boys are by throwing rocks.  Between the 4 males, thousands of rocks were thrown during the week.

Our fearless captain spent most of the afternoon dragging the kids around on the tube and teaching me how to drive the boat.  Good thing Randy is such an experienced water skier because he managed to get up and stay up with me behind the wheel.  I got lots of practice and I'm feeling pretty confident pulling a skier now.

Hank and Max were loving the tube!

 

And my sweet little Sammy-boy found a darling princess life jacket to wear.  

We spent the night in Nephi at the Economy Lodge, a real classy establishment I might add.  Thankfully we spent very little time in our room.  The kids all slept great and were pumped to get back to the lake the next day.

We set up a nice little base camp, the boys threw rocks, played in the sand and water, and ate treats.

I really think playing at the beach was all three of the boys favorite thing on the trip.

Sam kept saying "waa waa", "kuh, kaa" (meaning mud and rocks), and "bote" (boat).  He managed to keep himself occupied quite nicely on the shore.  It may have been the most content I've ever seen him.

While the boys were entertained throwing rocks all day, Randy and I were itching to get out on the boat and enjoy the perfect glass like water conditions.

My turn first!  I don't think I've ever had so much fun skiing.  I felt like I could go for hours.  The water was incredible, so incredible I had to let Randy have a turn.

I was concentrating on not hitting any boats so Hank took some photo's of Randy jumping the wake.  I felt like we were still in high school.  

Sam found a comfy spot and crashed while his parents were whooping it up.  Hank and Max helped hold Sam and the flag.  It was some great teamwork.

Sam really was a little angel on the boat.  When he wasn't napping he had his eyes closed and occasionally fist pumped to the music.  I think the lake is his zen place.

Hank and Max tried to see who could stay on the tube the longest.

Once Max knocked Hank off it was war!

Sam thought it was hilarious, almost as hilarious as wearing my flip flops.

Max was pretty proud of himself when he became the king of the tube.

Hank reclaimed his position as the tube master.

Riding the waves!

A rare moment of compromise.

We were positioned perfectly in a little cove so the kids could learn to ski from the shore.  Hank was a little apprehensive so Max said he would try too.

Randy held Hank in position and I drove the boat, I can't remember what Sam was doing at the time...prob. chucking rocks.

Hank got up for a few seconds on his first try.

Max made good on his promise to try and did amazing.  He got up too for about 20 feet!  It was so cute to see Randy teaching the boys how to do something he loves to do.  I'm so glad we got a boat.  Randy really is in his element.

Day 3, our final day, was more fun in the sun.

Mr. Baywatch himself

What a little cutie.

He's got some serious quad strength.

I couldn't resist a photo op with Max.  It was such a beautiful morning.

Hey there Captain!

Lunchtime ended up being on the boat and Sam kept all of us laughing with his dance moves.

It was really hot so I jumped in the water and got my ski's on. 

Randy snapped this awesome picture while I was out on the water.  My little family is so incredible.  Randy and I are so lucky to have each other and these awesome boys.  This trip was exactly the thing we needed.   

Once we got off the lake, we headed back to Nephi  for dinner and ended up at a park teaching our kids how to do the spider on the swings.  That's how us Griffin's roll.  Summer needs to slow down, I don't want it to end!