Doggy Depression

 We think Soos has been depressed ever since McKenzie had her baby and moved out of our basement. 

The other day he climbed up on our bed (which he's not supposed to do) and just laid on Cole's back. He looked so sad we didn't have the heart to to kick him off the bed. 

Maybe he needs puppy antidepressants? Or more bacon? 

July 2022

We had some beautiful sunsets, Tukk built some bike jumps, and we had the big cousin Barnes & Noble Birthday Party of Magicalness.

It was a busy (hot) month, but we had lots of fun!

 

Motorcycle Man

 This dude finally got big enough to ride the 50 and he has been so excited about it. He's been riding all over the neighborhood. He's pretty sure he's almost ready for some big jumps.

The Douche-ers. I Mean the Tushars

Sometimes you make bad choices. 

Sometimes you make really bad choices.

I've been training since early this spring for a race in the Tushar Mountains. It starts at 10,000 feet and goes up to Delano Peak at 12,000 feet. My two running buddies signed up, too, and we've been doing a lot of long runs and as many high-elevation runs and hikes as we could.

Then I got sick.

It started with nausea and stomach issues. I lost 5 pounds in 5 days.

Then it morphed into a wicked head cold. I was coughing and congested and could barely breathe.

It all started a week and a half before the race. But I decided to run it anyway. I blame the dehydration and lack of oxygen for this poor, poor decision.

My friends bailed, so Cole agreed to be my support crew. We drove down to Beaver Friday night, stayed in a sketchy hotel, ate pasta to carb-load me to meet my death, then got up early and headed up the canyon to the starting line.

I was still coughing and feeling pretty crappy, so of course heading up where there's no oxygen was just brilliant.

This is about mile 5, I think. Cole cheered me on at the start line, then drove up to the aid station to cheer me on again. Or maybe to make sure I wasn't dead yet? Either way, it was really nice to have a cheering section.

Then I hit the start of the peak. I kept hiking and hiking and hiking, but every time I'd look up the top was not any closer.

I packed a tiny little oxygen tank, so I kept sucking that down, but I had no energy, couldn't catch my breath, and felt like death.

My only comfort was that at least my pathetic carcass would rot and decompose in a beautiful place.

I finally - FINALLY - made it to the peak and foolishly thought to myself, "Hey! The worst of it is behind me!"

See those white dots in the picture below? They are mountain goats, mocking me.

Somehow after I ran back down the peak trail, the rest of the race was all uphill. Even though it had been all uphill the entire way to the peak.

I'm no geologist, but it doesn't seem right that it could be uphill both ways.

This is mile 10. I took this selfie assuming it would be the last picture ever taken of me. I was genuinely worried that this would be the first race I couldn't finish. It was so. damn. hard.

I finally finished the 14 uphill miles, complete with a gigantic hill right at the end, and crawled my way across the finish line. Never in my life have I NOT run across the finish line. But man, I could not muster the energy to even pretend to run at this point.

It was brutal and I was way slower than I'd hoped to be, but I finished. And I didn't even die. But it was close. Very, very close.

 

Tatapult Hunting

We've been to the Bog a few times this year, and each time we have to hit the frog pond to hunt for salamanders and "tatapults."

We should probably correct him, but it is so stinking cute that calls them tatapults.

He has absolutely LOVED stomping around in his rubber boots, looking for creatures. On one of the hunts we ventured too deep and filled up our boots. Afterward he stood on the bank stomping his feet up and down to squish the water out, and I asked him, "What if you dump your boots out and there's a salamander in one?"

He answered me very seriously, "That would be the best day of my life."

 

Conquering Dry Mountain

I've been training for a high-elevation race, so Cole agreed to be my training partner one Saturday and take me up to the top of Dry Mountain.

It was raining that morning, so we had to hide out under a pine tree a couple of times until it died down a bit.

Soos did not mind the rain. Or the mud. Or the billions of hitch hiker weeds he found.

Heading up from the saddle.

It is such a beautiful hike, and it feels like no one ever comes here. Plus, the view from the top is incredible.

We took this one especially for Garritt.

I know this is picture overload, but it was so pretty, and we had such a fun time.

We jumped 5 pine hens and had a heart attack every time, found a ladybug colony, saw some deer, saw the spot where Cole's dad went hunting and had to drag his buck allllll the way down the mountain, got soaking wet from the rain, and got to see our house from way up on top of the mountain.

We also really enjoyed the 30 minutes it took to cut all the hitch hikers out of his fur when we got back home. Poor dude is having a bad haircut week now. But he was living his best life, so waddya gonna do?

 

Those Magical Parenting Moments

We spent a bunch of money to buy Dude Perfect tickets for the boys as part of Tukk's birthday present.

This is Rand complaining that it's too loud.

This is Rand complaining that he's too cold.

Not pictured: Rand complaining that he's too thirsty..

Also not pictured: my eye twitching.

So we're just over here soaking up every magical parenting moment.

Every.

Damn.

Moment.

 

Tukk Turns 14

The Tukk is 14.

Holy crap. Time is going too fast.

We celebrated with family, with friends, and at Dude Perfect, so it was pretty much a week-long Tukker celebration.

He got spoiled rotten, of course. His big gift was a mini BMX bike that he can do tricks on. 

He taught us the new "clap" method of blowing out your candles so you don't spray germs all over the cake (thank you, covid).

We took his friends out to Genola for night games at the Babe's. We played a pretty intense game of hide and seek - the boys were the hiders, Cole and I were the seekers. On the last round we had to holler for everyone to come out because it was 11 o'clock and we couldn't find any of them!

Tukk is still just as happy and fun to be around and golden-hearted as ever. He texts his grandparents and aunts good night nearly every night, checks up on Aunt Darby when he knows she's stressed about work, is always up for an adventure, and is so dang much fun to hang out with. 

We are so lucky to have him. Happy birthday Tukker man!