I am not sure there is a better way to start the day than a sunrise run in the cool morning!

Blurry picture to show that we are actually in green season here, it doesn’t last long, I am sure things will be brown soon with all of our mid 90 degree days. I am going to enjoy it while I can.

I little morning jog around the lake

These two cuties were waiting for me when I got home.

We made it to swim lessons, and I am so happy with how well Cannon is swimming.

The line up of summer needs, coffee and ice water. We met friends at the playground until it got too hot for all of us. This time of year outdoor activities have to end by 11:30 AM unless they are in the water and/or shade.

In the evening we played on the deck with the water table and ate outside. I used to not love summer but now it is by FAR my favorite!

What is your favorite season? Mine are Summer -> Fall -> Spring -> Winter

I spent one more morning on the treadmill to be sure my cough was under control before trying to run outside. The cool morning are the perfect running weather so I don’t think I can stand running inside any longer!

When I was getting ready to run I noticed that a Rock Dove had made her nest on our deck. She is probably tricked into thinking it’s a calm house without kids or a dog. Hopefully she will be okay when we all return home.

After my run I got the kids down to the rec center for swim lessons then we met friends at a splash pad to play for the rest of the morning.

It is so so nice to have the splash pads turned on this year.

snacks….always so many snacks.

I love seeing them with their little friends, I am lucky that my friends have awesome littles!

After lunch and some quiet time we went back to the pool to play for a couple hours, I am thinking we are going to be spending many hot afternoons there! it was a water/sun soaked day!

When we got back to my parents’ house it was pizza on the deck until bedtime. Days like this make me so incredibly grateful, I hope to remember this very happy time in my life. It’s been nice having dinner every night with my parents and enjoying extra time with them.

What are your favorite summer activities?

I got up early in the morning to get my run in. I snuck out of my parents house and drove back to my own so I could run on the treadmill. It felt like the old days when I would leave the house early to go to the gym but now I have my own private gym.

After my run we scrambled to get to our morning swim lessons.

I love outdoor pools!

Both kids were very excited to start their lessons.

Cannon did great, but Emmy was too cold and wasn’t a fan of being away from me. Emmy has always struggled with separation anxiety and after social distancing it’s worse.

After swimming we met some friends for a playdate and enjoyed the summer weather.

After lunch and quiet time I went to grab some groceries and saw this on my way back:

There was a tornado just north of us that ripped through some rural areas. Luckily no humans were injured but some livestock died and there was damage.

What is the craziest weather you have ever experienced?

Any suggestions on overcoming separation anxiety welcome!

It was such a fun summer weekend, I am at the point where I never want summer to end. I am sure I will be singing a different tune when it’s early September and still 90 degrees out.

We met our cousins at the amusement park and had a blast on the rides.

We had great helpers in the yard!

We visited a playground before sharing dinner with Grandma and Grandpa.

And dogged raindrops as we ran home.

Runner’s World had an article about Women’s running gear:

https://www.runnersworld.com/gear/a20865256/best-running-gear-for-women/

I love the Koala Clip and not listed but I LOVE my hydration pack  VaporHowe 12L Race Vest .

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What is your favorite piece of gear?

Just a quick check in today because we are packing up and moving into my parents’ basement. We are so lucky that they live close and are willing to take us in for a week.

We are finally finishing our kitchen remodel and the cabinets are getting painted. Many days without a kitchen and keeping the kids out of the way seemed like too much so we are moving out for the week.

All this stuff and that is just the kids and we are going just 2 miles down the road.

We started our renovation in February of 2020 before the pandemic started and only got half-way.

So now we have had two-toned cabinets for over a year. We still need to finish the back-splash, floor, repaint the walls……the list goes on. But this step is one I have been looking forward to for so long!

Can’t wait to move back in to a fresh new kitchen, changing the island was the biggest difference.

It went from cool rainy spring to HOT summer overnight. I am not complaining too much because we needed the wet spring to help with the drought conditions and now we can enjoy all the summer activities. We have been to the pool the last two days and are loving it!

We have also enjoyed meals on the deck and playing in the yard.

I am NOT used to the heat, and have embraced the fact that I just HATE running in the heat. I love running but if it’s too hot I get sick and it ruins my energy for the rest of the day. My solution to surviving summer heat is to avoid it. I get up early if I want to run outside, or I take to the treadmill. If I do end up running outside when it’s hot (rare) I try to wear light clothing and bring ice water with me. I also try to avoid racing in the summer so there is no need for me to acclimate.

Runner’s World had these tips:

https://www.runnersworld.com/uk/training/beginners/a33381268/guide-summer-running/

What are your favorite tips for running in the heat?

I was reminded today that when we tell ourselves that we just aren’t _______ people (fill in the blank, morning person, running, athletic, etc) that we are just telling ourselves a story. We can be anything we want to be it’s just a shift. I often tell myself that I don’t like strength training, that I don’t have time or I am just not good at it. But those are all just stories, I am committed to changing that story this summer, and actually I do like strength training.

Strength Train For Trail Running Speed

Our day was fairly boring until Cory got off work and we got to go to our neighborhood pool. It felt SO good to be able to go right when we wanted to without any reservations.

Summer feels good.

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What stories do you tell yourself?

Do you have a favorite strength training program?

We are feeling very comfortable with it being full on summer here.

We started the day with a very lazy morning and then some yoga.

We have played outside a lot!

Shared popsicles.

And eaten our meals outside.

We also enjoyed some lazy afternoon time, after a few busy weeks. Have you ever looked at your little kids and felt like you were getting a glimpse into their teenage future?

I read this article about a year + run stresk:

Lessons Learned from a Year of Running Every Day

It was very interesting….and tempting. Last August I challenged myself to blog everyday, and while most of the time it’s not that interesting and sometimes very short I have made it so far and I have loved it. I love being able to look back on what we were doing on certain days and now I am so used to it, it’s much easier than it was when I first started. Now I am wondering what it would be like to run everyday, what could I learn? Could I do it even when sick, or busy, or traveling, etc? Could I figure it out?

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Could you run every day for a year? Would you want to?

Right after Cannon got out of school on his last day we scooped him up and headed into the mountains for a long weekend.

We camped for one night just south of Grand Junction, at Escalante Canyon Road.

It was just a stop over spot but it was still super pretty and the kids had fun exploring the site.

On Friday we drove south into the San Juan mountains and the views were spectacular. We camped along the Million Dollar Highway, then drove on to visit Silverton.

Silverton was a very quaint Colorado mining town and also the home of the Hardrock 100.

The park that is home to the Hardrock rock has instruments that the kids loved playing.

The kids also got to pan for gold.

We would have loved to take a mine tour as well but since the kids haven’t gotten vaccinated, being in a small space with no air circulation didn’t seem like a great idea. Fingers crossed they can get vaccinated soon.

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On the way back to our campsite we visited the Ironton townsite. I think I was the most creeped out, the kids wanted to go inside the houses that were falling down and full of rat droppings. It was fun to walk around but I was a hard NO on entry.

On Saturday we spent the day exploring Ouray (we spoke to locals, it’s pronounced U-Ray). First stop was Box Canyon.

There is just a short hike into the slot canyon to see an epic water fall.

You can take the stairs down to the bottom where you can feel the mist from the falls and explore a little.

We then hiked to the top of Box Canyon, which was not far but was steep and technical. The payoff was a bridge over the canyon and a cool tunnel.

After our hike we went into town to get some well earned ice cream.

We parked just off the only paved street in town but ended up with a very tired little girl. Emmy was ready for a nap so we decided to take a scenic drive along the million dollar highway while Emmy took a nap.

There are incredible views all the way between Ouray and Silverton.

In the afternoon we moved to Kendall Campground closer to Silverton to a spot right on the river.

We played in our campsite for a bit before going back to Silverton for Dinner. We haven’t eaten at a restaurant in about a year so it was an exciting experience.

The next morning we let the kids play at our campsite while Cory got in a bike ride in the mountains.

We reluctantly packed up our camp site and drove back into Ouray to hike Baby Bath Tubs.

This is an easy little hike great for kids along the Ouray Perimeter Trail, with little “tubs” of water in the creek you can hike through. After our hike we drove on towards Telluride.

There were a few things we didn’t get to in Ouray that we would love to do on another trip down here:

• The Ouray Perimeter Trail looks amazing, it is 6.5 miles with lots of climbing and descending. Cannon isn’t up to that long of a hike and we aren’t up to carrying him that far. Maybe in a few years.
• The Ouray Hot Springs – We were planning to visit but the kids were fighting colds (negative Covid test before we left town) and they don’t want sick people visiting (understandable) so we skipped it this time.
• Cascade Falls – Very close to town, short hike to the bottom of the falls or more strenuous hike to the top!
• There were many places along Main St. we wanted to stop and eat as well but since the kids aren’t vaccinated and fighting a cold we avoided all crowded places.

The drive into Telluride was as stunning as the Million Dollar Highway, maybe even more beautiful. I can see why people are in love with the San Juan Mountains.

We found camping just outside of Telluride on Last Dollar Road with the best view.

On Monday morning we went into Telluride and found coffee + breakfast at a cute little coffee truck called Cowgirl Coffee.

Telluride is STUNNING and probably our favorite of the three towns we visited. The main strip was very cute with lots of restaurants and shops.

We rook the gondola over to Mountain Village, it is very nice that it was pet friendly!

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When we got the village we walked around a bit then we were ready for lunch.

Cannon was extra excited to eat inside a gondola that they had set out in the courtyards.

You could get food from any restaurant and take it to your own gondola to eat.

It was extra nice because it started raining while we were eating. Humphry also enjoyed such a dog friendly town and going on all the adventures with us.

After exploring Telluride a little bit more we picked up our trailer and drove home. There was a storm coming in and we didn’t want to get caught on the side of a mountain in a storm. We drove through lots of rain and some snow to get home around 10 pm.

It was a great kick off to summer trip and we can’t wait to explore more of our home state!

It’s June and I am so excited for trips to mountains, lazy mornings, hiking, swimming, splash pads and all celebrating Cannon’s birthday! I counted and we only have 11 weeks of summer before both kids start school in August. It is my intention to enjoy this summer together as much as possible!

Some quick highlight from May:

We went camping with friends.

We had lots of rain to play in.

Emmy went back to gymnastics.

Cannon finished his second season of soccer.

We visited Great Sand Dunes National Park.

We went to an amusement park.

We celebrated the end of the school year.

And, we went on a graduation trip to the San Juan Mountains. We visited Silverton, Ouray and Telluride and had a wonderful time, the campsites we stayed in were spectacular.

We were outside about 130 hours, spent 9 nights camping and went on 4 hikes, we are really nailing the family goals!

May was pretty great and we are looking forward to even more adventures in June!

June Goals

• At least 100 hours outside.
• At least 4 Hikes this month to work towards our 52 hikes a year goal.
• Run everyday
• Core work everyday
• Run on a trail at least once a week
• Strength Train two times a week
• Run/walk at least 100 miles this month
• Visit a splash pad
• At least one camping trip
• Go to the neighborhood pool