Gym or Mountains?

I've been an exercise slacker because of lots of travel and visitors (update on all of that coming soon), so I knew I wanted to get some exercise while I had our sitter booked for 3 hours this morning.  I considered doing a quick trip to the gym to do 30 minutes on a machine while watching brainless tv.  It was really tempting because it would've meant I'd have time to read at a coffee or run errands too.  Then, I remembered--it's spring!  The snow has melted on some of the lower peaks!  Maybe I could get my exercise in a less commercialized way!   It'd take longer and be a little harder, but I figured the fresh air would do me a lot of good.  It's like I had a choice between the McDonald's version of exercise or the cute-little-locally-owned-Italian-restaurant version.  Clearly, I had to choose the latter and get some exercise in the mountains!

The hike was so refreshing, but was also a wake-up call for me because I am definitely not in good enough shape for hiking season!  There's no way I could've managed this hike with a 20+ lb Matthew on my back!  I have a lot of work to do to prepare for summer and all the hiking (and biking--currently shopping for a road bike) we hope to do!  

Here's some pics from my morning hike.  What a wonderful way to start the day!


View of Oquirrh Mountains (the "small" mountains on the west side of the city):

The big guys still have tons of snow on top:

The end of this hike is called The Living Room because people have arranged the rocks into chairs looking out over the valley:

I know there's definitely a time and place for the McDonald's workout, but I think it's really important to keep reminding myself that efficiency is not always the goal.  Today was definitely the perfect day to get outside, slow down, and enjoy some quiet and prayerful time while taking in some of God's most impressive creations.

Summer Goals

I've noticed that it is really easy for me to get into a routine of doing all kid stuff all the time when B is at work.  When I think of outings, I think of kid-centric things like the zoo, children's museum, playgrounds, etc.  I actually have fun at these places, but recently I've been thinking more about what I would do with myself on an average day if I wasn't toting along 2 little people.  This question led me to think about what I did with myself before kids during my summer breaks from teaching.  Here's what I came up with.  These all happened while living in Chicago:

1.  Head to Montrose Harbor with it's beautiful views of the skyline and cook some brats on my smokey joe with good friends.
2.  Walk around the Lincoln Park Zoo.
3.  Go for a bike ride along Lake Michigan.
4.  Sit on a blanket near Lake Michigan with a good book.
5.  Try new restaurants/cuisines.
6.  Walk over to Wrigley Field and get some standing room only tickets for the Cubs.

Looking over this, I realized I can make recapturing these interests my goal for the summer.  With a few modifications, I think I can find ways to do the things I enjoy and bring the kids along for the ride--my parenting philosophy in the first place!  How quickly we forget our goals when we get lost in day-to-day tasks of every-day life!

Goals (based off above list):
1. Two options for this one.  First, head up to one of the gorgeous picnic places in the mountains for dinner together as a family (cookout part optional).  Second, take advantage of our big fenced-in yard to have lots of cookouts with friends.  I may actually host a regular cookout for the neighborhood moms with their kids--watermelon, a bunch of hot dogs and buns, grilled sweet potato--done!

2.  This one's easy.  I love zoos & always have.  I'll continue to take the boys to the zoo frequently.

3.  B has talked me into joining him in road-biking.  That will satisfy most of this, but I'm not sure how to include the kids in this one.  Perhaps getting a bike trailer (or finding somewhere to rent one) and heading out on mountain trails will do the trick!  Andrew's not too into riding his bike yet, but when he is, this will get easier!

4.  Since any outing with the boys requires constant supervision, this will be best attempted in our backyard while the boys are entertaining themselves.  I can also encourage them to sit with books with me.  This is also something I can put on my to-do list when we have our weekly sitter and I can head to one of the beautiful mountain lakes!

5.  Hm, I'm going to primarily reserve this as bonding time for B and I without the kids.  We LOVE food and we can make it more of a priority to book a sitter and head out for fun dinners.  However, it is important to us that we help our kids develop diverse tastes and learn to behave well in restaurants, so we'll let them join in the fun occasionally too.  I definitely want to avoid only going to places that serve chicken fingers with the kids.  Gross.  Thankfully, we are good on this so far.

6.  While there is absolutely no substitute for a summer afternoon at Wrigley, I definitely want my kids growing up with an appreciation for The Great American Pastime.  Looks like I'll have to plan some trips to see the Utah Bees (minor league team here) with the kids.

Ok--there's my goals for the summer!  The funniest thing is that I spend a lot of time reading about all these crafty moms and feeling like such a failure for not painting, sewing, and knitting during my down time.  But look--I'm not a failure!  I just would rather be outside than crafting!  Looks like it's time to give myself yet another slap in the face.

Now, if I do this correctly, I should have 6 follow-up posts as I conquer each of these goals.  We'll see!

The Great Salt Lake!

Somehow, it has already been almost 8 months since we moved to Salt Lake City.  For those of you who don't know, the Salt Lake is on the edge of the city and not too easily accessible or full of great things to do.  However, I have found it a little ridiculous that I tell everyone I live in a city named after a lake that I've never seen (besides from airplanes).  So, since both kids were boycotting their naps today, I  made an impulsive decision to drive an hour to Antelope Island, which is in the middle of the Great Salt Lake and is known for having tons of Antelopes hanging around.  

So, turns out the drive there isn't bad at all.  It's an hour to the end of Antelope Island, but you start on this road through the middle of the lake after only about 30 minutes of driving.  When I'd mentioned wanting to see the Salt Lake to people, both locals and transplants turned their nose up a bit and said it's not really worth it.  Well, guess what I realized--Utah folk (including us now) are so spoiled with nature that these views are just ALRIGHT.  And, to be honest, there are ridiculously beautiful mountain lakes, waterfalls, and canyons a shorter distance away.  BUT, I was pleasantly surprised with what I found on my little adventure with the kids.  The lake is beautiful from a distance.  I've heard it's pretty stinky and gross up close, but I've lived near much nastier bodies of water, so can't say I minded.   

What do you think?  Would you call these views average?

Guilt

It is so easy to get caught up in commercialism.  Everything advertised promises to make life easier, entertain the kids for hours, or, the one I tend to fall for--help make your kids smart.  I think every mom has a voice of guilt, no matter what path they choose--working away from home full time, working part time, or being home full time.  In my role as a stay-at-home mom, I often feel guilty and worry that I'm depriving my kids of all sorts of social interactions and exposure to the abundance of educational toys and such that would be present at a daycare or school.  But, then this happens:

A cardboard box.  A lesson on sharing, cooperation, teamwork, and building the imagination.  And, quality time for these brothers to hang out and bond without any other peers around to distract them.  Sometimes, we just have to slap ourselves in the face, stop feeling guilty, and enjoy the moment.  

55 and Sunny

I've switched into summer mode!  Andrew and I made our first batch of lemonade for the year after naps today and we spent the entire day outside!

We just had to grill on such a nice night, so we had rosemary shrimp scampi for dinner.  I have made this a few times and always double it and freeze half (before cooking).  Let me tell you, Matthew asked for 2nd's and 3rd's and 4th's and Andrew asked if he could get more shrimp before Matthew finishes it all!  These are the same kids that reject roasted chicken.  Crazies.

One of my favorite games!

Don't you just love when little ones choose to play the Nigh Nigh game?  

One of these kids is better at it than the other...

In other news--the weather has been WONDERFUL this week!  It's been sunny every day-as in, completely blue skies and the temps are inching up every day.  We were in the 50's today and will be in the 60's by the end of the week!  

Here's the boys scooping up the last bits of snow in our yard:

What we've been up to...

Well, I have apparently become a blog slacker.  Here's what we've been up to the past several weeks:

Playing in the backyard anytime the temp is above 30 and/or the sun comes out:

Going to the zoo about once a week:

Hanging out at the Children's Museum: 

And, of course, spending lots of quality unstructured time at home being goofy, making messes, eating crayons, and occasionally sitting still:

We are very ready for more outdoor time, fewer layers, and no more snow!  Come on spring!!  It hit 60 today and we got a taste of the good days ahead.

Literacy!

Andrew wrote his very first word while making a Valentine's Day card to send to his Grandpa and Grandma in Pittsburgh. Again, sorry to my parentals that he refused to work on a 2nd card--we'll make it up to you.  :)

Here it is!

I showed him how to write the letters on a separate piece of paper and then he wrote them all by himself on the card!  And, he cut out the heart, glued it, and made the face!  So excited about all these steps toward a literate Andrew!  That's gonna be great!

Matthew's pretty eager to become a little reader himself.  Here he is doing one of his favorite things:

And, here's Andrew reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar to Matthew:  

"Look! He ate strawberries. Then he ate all this other food.  Then, he made a cocoon and stayed in it for 2 hours, and then became a beautiful butterfly!" ~Andrew

I guess that's a good cliff note version of the story, except the changing of 2 weeks into hours.  That's one fast metamorphosis!

Have a very Happy Valentine's Day everyone! 

Growing Up

Andrew recently started going to preschool one morning per week.  We wanted to get him used to being dropped off with a "teacher" and hanging out with other kids since he will be starting preschool for real in the fall.  So far, Andrew loves school, which was made very clear by the mother of all tantrums he threw when I picked him up on his first day.  Luckily, he's now accepted that he can't live there, and happily comes home with me.

When I picked Andrew up this week, his teachers were excited to tell me that he's the only kid in his age group that actually draws faces when they give him blank pictures.  They said everyone else just scribbles all over the picture, but look what Andrew did:

What a happy snowman!  I was actually shocked that he drew that--I've never seen him draw more than round-rounds (spirals) when he colors.

One morning this week, we headed to Barnes and Noble for story time and I bought Andrew some workbooks for preschoolers--we got one on writing the alphabet and one for cutting and pasting.  Andrew and I get some quiet time together to work on the workbooks after Matthew goes down for his nap and Andrew seems to like feeling like a big kid doing school work.  Ha!  The former teacher in me loves that I'm tricking him into doing homework!

Here he is getting some mad scissor skills--

This morning, Andrew and Matthew had their first dentist appointments.  They both did great, but man, are they spoiled!  This is a dentist office just for kids and they have TV's above every seat, so Andrew actually watched a movie while his teeth were cleaned.

In other news, this little guy turned 16 months old this week: