The Summer Blog Barf

School starts in 3 weeks. Aaaaaaaaagh! I'm way behind on my blogging, so prepare for a barftastic overload of things we've done this summer.

The boys went on a mule ride. Because you can't really call yourself a redneck until you've been on a mule ride, am I right?

We ran in Torrey's Redrock Race this past weekend. My grandparents live there and my granny was the race coordinator, so we all went down to enjoy a run in their beautiful scenery.

As you can see by the glorious medals hanging around our necks you're reading the blog of a couple of champions! I took second place in my division, and Coleseph took first. Woot woot! I don't think it's any sort of reflection on our speed or agility that the first place winner in my category beat me by 10 minutes, or that in addition to taking first place, Cole also got second, third, and technically last place... because he was the only one in his age group. We still feel like winners. Plus they ran out of medals (I was borrowing this one for the photo op), so for my consolation prize my grandma gave me a jar of her homemade currant jelly. It's pretty much the best thing on the planet. Sure, I was soundly thrashed by the first place runner, but did she get a jar of currant jelly? I don't think so. Who's the winner now, speedy? Muah hah hah!!!

Cole pushed Tukk the whole way (CJ was spending some quality time with Grandpa Fred), so Tukk felt he deserved the gold medal. After all, Cole was pushing him, so he technically beat his old man across the finish line. They did the 5k, so when they were done they waited for me to finish my 10k and Tukk ran the last 10 yards or so with me to the finish line. It was the best finish of my life. I seriously loved it. I just wish we'd had a camera so we could have recorded it.

We've also been doing some 4-wheeling.

And camping.

Caulder spent a week gnawing on apples like a rabid beaver...

...because he was trying to accomplish this: his first lost tooth.

Tukk has discovered the joy of the ultimate bubble bath. (Okay, I'll admit it - I'm pretty much just including this pic to prove that we really do bathe the kid occasionally, despite how filthy he always looks.) 

And we partied like rock stars at Genola Days.

Genola has the indisputable best parade on the planet. How can I say this with such conviction? Because it only lasts 10 minutes (including the time it takes for the whole parade to turn around at the rodeo grounds and come back for a second look), AND they throw candy, popsicles, and hot dogs. That's right, people. Hot dogs. Some dude was grilling them in the back of his truck and chucking them to the crowd. 

That just blew your minds, didn't it...

Why does Cole look so upset? Because The Babe got a hot dog, and he didn't. The Babe is the king of Genola.

We took the boys to some crazy Endurocross race in Nephi, and afterward they got to go run around on the track. It was 11 o'clock at night and we couldn't get them out of there. I bet they ran the track a dozen times - even Tukk with his tiny legs. Best playground ever.

And the boys got invited to an animal show birthday party at Miss I's house. Here's Caulder getting comfy with a fox.

Tukk was amazed by the giant fat rabbit. I think it weighed more than he does.

And of course the tiny turtle was a big hit with the kiddos. They also brought a bird. What kind of a monster brings a bird to a birthday party? There are no pictures of said bird to post; I didn't have time to take a picture because I was too busy preparing myself to battle with the evil winged demon in case it started attacking children and trying to peck their eyes out. Luckily it must have realized I was onto it, because it minded its manners and just flapped its wings and preened a few times. But I know it secretly wanted blood... and eyeballs...

On the 4th of July we hiked up the Santaquin Narrows.

Caulder dug a bunch of "gold" rocks out of the river, and then had to stash them in a secret hiding spot so we could bring them back with us at the end of the hike. They were cool enough to earn a spot in his special rock collection... along with EVERY OTHER ROCK HE'S EVER FOUND. It won't be long before we have to reinforce the floor joists under his room to keep it from caving in from all the rocks in his collection.

I think he was just giving me an opportunity to look up his shorts. Woot!

And this dude is just as big as his dad, so he had to follow suit.

Tukk inherited The Babe's love of hiking up the river, even when he got stuck in a hole and needed a helping hand. 

We hiked 2 miles in 4 hours, so you can understand why we'd all be exhausted and famished and in need of a nice picnic lunch to give us the strength to get back to the truck.

And, of course, we've been running through sprinklers. I think it's against the law to NOT run through sprinklers when you see them spraying in the summer.

This is actual photographic evidence that Caulder ran through some sprinklers AND got water on his face. GASP!!!! It was awesome.

I'm not really sure what was happening here (they were at my mom's house), but they look like they're having fun. Or like they're trapped and pleading for their lives. Either way someone must have gotten them out of the plant at some point, so all's well that ends well.

And we hit up the BOG. We got rained on like crazy, but the water brought out a zillion little tiny frogs, so the boys had a blast doing some frog hunting.

I can't believe summer's almost over. I must stop blogging and start eating snow cones while there's still time. GO!!!

The Lou Dog

Our family dog Sakett (a.k.a. Sakalou) passed away last Thursday. He had thyroid cancer, so we knew it was coming, but it was still awful. 

Cole bought Sak for me for our first Valentine's Day as a married couple. We've had him almost 12 years. I wish I could find a picture of him as a puppy, because he was the cutest puppy ever. He was also the WORST puppy ever. I think husky puppies have to be extra cute because they're extra naughty.

 He's been on road trips to Oregon and California with us, on a zillion camping trips, and the two of us have run hundreds of miles together.

We had a funeral for him and buried him in the backyard. Tukk cried and needed lots of time with Kenny (his blankie) that day. He just kept saying, "I'm so sad that Sakawou died. I wish we can keep him."

 Caulder didn't have much of a reaction during the funeral, but a few minutes later he came running up to me, threw his arms around me, and sobbed. I held him for 10 minutes while he cried. It just about killed Cole and me, because Caulder practically never cries, and he NEVER wants to be held. I'd post a picture of him being sad but it would literally break your heart.

Sakalou spent 90% of his life getting in trouble. Just like my kids. Must be why he felt like such a big part of our family. Rest in peace, you old mutt.

Tukk is 4!

My baby is 4 years old. Aaaaaahhhhhh! 

In the tradition of the Bott blog, I shall now proceed to make you all gag as I list the (extremely cheese) things we love about the birthday boy.  

 He’s one of the few people who appreciates cookies as much as I do. I have a hard time saying no to him when he asks me if I want to make cookies with him. This is great for him, seeing as how he's 4 and still weighs around 25 pounds. But this is not so good for me, seeing as how I'm - ahem - 29 and weigh - cough choke - 105 pounds. Yes, let's go with that.

Whenever he gets busted doing something naughty he says, “Is this naughty? Mom, I wub ya!” And then he's instantly out of trouble.

He thinks dandelions are the most beautiful flowers on the planet, and when he finds one he always brings it to me for a present.

He’s still snuggly. He’ll ask us all the time, “Will you please come sit by me? Will you suggle me? Mom, let’s go do suggles. Will you hold my hand?” Holy crap. I love it. I will "suggle" that boy til he's in college, if he'll let me.

He also runs up out of the blue and says, "Guess what Mom? I wub ya!" or "Dad, guess what I wub? You!" Or he'll run up, yell "Surprise!" and then give you a hug or kiss. I'm pretty sure it's the greatest thing ever.  

He thinks all he has to do is yell "Hulk Smash!" and he's literally as strong as the Hulk. Coming from such a tiny package it's completely adorable. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is scrawny. 

He's the happiest kid I've ever met. He's always smiling, and he's always SUPER excited about whatever we have going on. Going camping? Fantastic! Going to a grandma's house? Amazing! Taking the garbage can out to the road? Completely awesome! We took the boys hiking for the 4th of July, and by the end of the hike his shoes were soaked, he wasn't wearing any pants (his shorts weighed about 15 pounds because they were so wet and muddy by then), he was tired, he was hungry, but he was still doing the Tukker Shuffle (it's a sort of hop skip limp run he's perfected) and singing to himself, "I wub Yaya, I wub Gampa, I wub Cauldew, I wub hiking." 

This year I bought some edible cake stickers and let Tukk and Caulder decorate the cake themselves. Normally I plan some gigantic cake making project and spend hours on it, but this time I wanted to give them the experience of decorating a cake. This decision had nothing to do with the fact that my cakes always turn out so horribly that I wanted to be able to blame the ghastly finished product on my children. I was motivated solely by love... not shame....

Of course there was a pinata.

And he got a new "coota!" He spent 3 days saying "I'm so happy I got a new coota!"

We also took him to Chuck E. Cheese for the big day.

These two jailbirds helped him celebrate.

And we had a hard time tearing this boy away from the games.

Tukk's favorite ride was the monster truck, of course. He went on it about 5 times.

 Last year for his birthday he wanted a fishing pole and a shovel. This year he wanted a horse, a cow, a reindeer, and rubber boots. You read that right: rubber boots. There is some seriously powerful redneck blood flowing through his miniature veins. Unfortunately, we really let the birthday boy down in the farm department (reindeer are not as easy to come by as you might think), but Grandma Sarah came through on the rubber boots. He couldn’t wait to take them to her house so he could, and I quote, “go out with the cows and step in poop.” As if that weren’t enough to make a mother proud, this morning when I was loading him into the old mini van I’m borrowing from my grandma (the Subaru is starting to feel her age) he said, “Mom, this mini van is awesome. We gotta buy one of these!”

Dream big, my little redneck… dream big.

We love this birthday boy so much. It is physically impossible to be around the Tukk and not smile. He is amazing. We feel extremely lucky to be able to call him ours... he was definitely worth all the trouble. ;)