Just a quick check in to say that we finished out the weekend with a hike in the mountains.

Working hard to make these last few weeks count.

We spent a lot of the day in the car today driving up to and back from Winter Park. I listened to a few great podcasts while driving and especially loved the Pyllars podcast.

Dylan Bowman described his second place finish at the Hardrock 100. It was such a good listen about his mindset. I loved when he talked about suffering being a gift.

I had a mostly solo day with the kiddos since we got up later than Cory and made our way to Winter Park just the three of us.

Cory did amazing and rode much faster than we thought he would we were lucky to catch him at the finish line! I am hoping to get his thoughts down tomorrow on his first gravel race.

What are you up to this weekend?

We were meant to be camping tonight in Winter Park prepping for Cory’s first gravel bike race. I am pretty bummed that we are still home but there has been a lot of rain in the mountains and flash flood warnings for the area we were headed. So we decided to cancel the camping portion of the trip since hanging out inside our tiny trailer while it rained didn’t sound that fun. Now we will just go up for the day, luckily Winter Park is just an hour and a half from home.

We enjoyed the nice weather here at home with a visit to a splash pad/playground with friends.

And some play in the backyard.

Cannon was there too but just too busy to bother with being in photos.

I have been spending a lot of time prepping and plotting lately. We will be celebrating Halloween very early this year since we are going to the Oogie Boogie Bash in Disneyland in late September. We need to have our costumes all in order early. I also learned last year that if I don’t jump on things early they will sell out or be delivered late so I am getting things as early as I can. I have three boxes collecting items in our office, one for back to school, one for our Disneyland trip and one for Halloween. It probably won’t be long before I need to add a bin for Christmas too. We are going to be celebrating Christmas early this year (December 18th) before we take off on a southwestern tour.

I have been gathering the kids’ back to school supplies and getting excited about making their back to school bins.

I LOVE making the kids occasion bins. I will make bins of the things I would buy them anyway for back to school then give it to them in a basket so it’s more fun for them.

I love occasion bins, it’s very fun for me to make them.

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We make them bins for:

• Valentines Day 2021 Version
• St. Patricks Day
• Easter
• Welcome to Summer
• Back to School
• Boo Bins – These are things we want the kids to enjoy for the Halloween season so they get them around October 1st, things like Halloween PJs, themed plates/cups spooky shirts, things to decorate their rooms. etc.
• Arrival Baskets – These are similar to the Boo Baskets but for Christmas. We call them Arrival Baskets because they show up with the arrival of our Elf on the Shelf. Again these are things we want them to have the entire Christmas season.

This year I am also going to make them Disneyland bins with things like matching shirts, glow necklaces, bubbles wands, etc. I like to buy things and bring them into the park because it’s so much less expensive!

Do you ever make your kids gift baskets?

Anyone else prepping super early for holidays/events this year?

If you live on the Western side of the country then you are probably well aware of the wildfire problem. Here in Colorado we are often hit by catastrophic wildfires.

The air was so bad last year that ash piled up on our car, it was all very devastating. You could smell the smoke constantly and it

This year hasn’t been as bad….yet. But I thought this article from Runner’s World was a good resource for when it’s safe to run outside:

Is It Safe to Run With Wildfire Smoke In the Air?

Our air quality hasn’t been too bad lately but I don’t remember the last time I saw this dial in the green.

How is the air where you are?

We had a fun typical summer Tuesday.

We started with a trip to the library to return our current haul then pick out books and movies for the week. I love how much they love books!

We also spent time at the playground that they love near the library.

We dropped by Target to grab things we need then home for lunch. I love spending my days with these little monkeys!

Emmy took a nap then we decided to meet some friends down at the neighborhood pool.

Even though I will have more time to get things done when school starts, I never ever want this summer to end!

After a week of staying home to recover from our summer bug we are back to classic summer programming!

We met some friends at a playground and it was so nice!

Emmy was feeling very cool about getting out of the house.

I love Emmy’s crazy, dramatic personality (Cannon wasn’t upset, just very focused on a show).

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After lunch we played in the basement for a bit.

Then Emmy fell asleep in my lap while Cannon played, best feeling ever!

As I moved on from following Hardrock 100 it’s time to move on to Badwater 135. I love seeing these guys supporting Sally McRae.

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She is amazing!

Could you run in 104 degree heat? I am sure I could not! I have no desire to run Badwater, but it’s fun to watch (from home with my AC running 😉

We had a good weekend day and it was nice to finally be back out in public after a sick week at home.

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We had homemade waffles and Nutella, Emmy was a fan!

We then got to spend the morning playing and visiting my parents. Then we went to our cousin’s birthday party. I wish I had taken pictures it was so fun! The theme was carnival games, the kids got to win tickets then “buy” treats and toys with the tickets. Cannon is already asking when it will be Cora’s birthday again so he can play more games!

We ate dinner outside in the backyard which is always fun but makes it harder to get the kids to go up for bedtime. They could play outside forever!

Just a little good news from the internet:

The Hardrock 100 is working to include more women racers going forward and I think that is a great step forward!

The Hardrock 100 Wants More Women On The Startline

How was your weekend?

Read any good news lately?

Anyone else follow the Hardrock 100 this year?

Hardrock 100 Coverage on iRunFar

Incredible coverage over on i Run Far! I love that area of Colorado and hope to actually get down there to spectate the race some year!

Today marks exactly one month until Cannon starts Kindergarten on August 18th and it has reminded me that we need to start getting our act together. We have gotten very comfortable with our lazy mornings, especially after spending last week at home sick. It will be a shock to the system when we have to be out the door ready for school at 7:30!

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Anyone else enjoying a lazy summer a little too much?

Today is Disneyland’s 66th Birthday (opened on July 17th 1955)! I just love Disneyland, we were lucky enough to visit in 2015 for the 60th.

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Can’t wait to take the kids back!

Today was mostly a lazy day again while we continue to recover.

Please tell me something fun you are up to this weekend!

This week we have really started planning our trip for Winter Break, Christmas in July may seem crazy but things will fill up and we need to make plans and reservations now!

This trip was inspired by a friend who took a trip they called “Operation Christmas Cactus” last year when they couldn’t see their family for Christmas because of Corona Virus . Their trip looked so amazing I knew we wanted to do something similar. Cory’s company shuts down the week between Christmas and New Year. We always feel like we “waste” that time off so this year we want to take advantage and go on a big adventure by adding 4 more vacation days.

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*Source for all photos plus great resources for an Arizona road trip.

Our trip will also take a little diversion into California for Joshua Tree and Disneyland. I have always wanted to see Disneyland decorated for the holidays and we are going to be just a couple hours away, so a couple days at the happiest place on earth, including Christmas day!!!

I am SO SO excited to plan all the details and visit these amazing places!

Destinations we are planning on visiting:

Has anyone been on a southwest road trip? What are we missing?