So ya'll weren't lying when you said time flies and days are busier than ever when you are a parent! I started this post in July and am just now getting back to it in December! Thankfully Adam put a "placeholder" on it so he could continue on with his hunt blogs! I have also had some notes written up and stuck to my computer this entire time, however, they are just notes so I'm sure the details are long gone! I seriously do not know where the time goes, it is unbelievable! Anyway, here is a brief summary of our summer and some photos!
We started our summer with a trip back to Iowa for my cousin/friend/college roommate's beautiful wedding and for Ashton to meet family and friends. When we got back at the beginning of June we headed out for his first fishing and camping trip to the Deshka river for King/Chinook salmon. I was training for a mountain race called, Mount Marathon and Adam was training for sheep hunting. Adam was continuing to work on his app, Happenshare. We were both preparing the house, paperwork, buying materials, advertising, etc for my in-home childcare. We played softball on Monday nights. We did some more fishing, dipnetting, and camping. I ran/climbed the Mount Marathon race while Adam was deployed to Washington D.C. for the 4th of July. We hiked A LOT and picked berries. While Adam went on his sheep hunt, Ashton and I went back to Iowa. We got back and my childcare opened two days later! Meanwhile, Ashton was growing and changing each and every day. He looooooved being outside and if he were every fussy (rarely), we just had to take him outside to calm him. He hit some milestones like rolling over, sitting, developing sounds, and eating solid foods. We really got to know him and his personality, I swear Adam would say at least once a day, "Gosh you're awesome!" He truly is an amazing baby!
My oh my, it is difficult to choose photos when there are thousands! Especially of our trips back to Iowa. I decided to keep the family/friend pictures from Iowa to just the grandparents. Ashton met grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends, great-grandparents, great-aunts/uncles, etc and I just can't possibly pick and choose which ones to include, especially when I have difficulty with technology and uploading to this blog usually gives me fits! Perhaps at Christmas we will get more group photos to help narrow it down! There are more photos on Facebook(easier to upload to and manage).
Looking good Herky!
Ashton's first horseback ride!
Ashton met Grandpa Harris for the first time! He snuggled right in!
My happy boys!
Camo and xtratuf family!
Happy little camper!
5 months!
My biggest adventure (besides Ashton) of the summer. That is Mount Marathon in Seward and I raced from this point to the top and back down! There is a men's, women's, and junior (go 1/2 way up) race each 4th of July. Our buddy encouraged me to put my name in for the drawing. It is difficult to get in, but is a weighted lottery. So basically, you have a better chance of getting drawn the more consecutive years you apply. I wasn't expecting to get drawn the first year, nor was wanting to since I just had Ashton and would have to train hard after recovering from C-section but wanted a better chance of being drawn the next year. But TA-DAAAAAAAA, I got drawn! I trained when I could which was sometimes at 10:30pm or even midnight, but you can do that when there is always daylight! Then we found out that Adam would be deployed to DC over the 4th and not there for the race, nor would our original place to stay before the race work out. Our friends volunteered to watch Ashton for me during the race and asked me to join them at the cabin they were staying at the night before the race. This was perfect since Adam wouldn't be there and I had no chance of finding a place to stay that was cheaper than $300/night at that point. This is deemed a dangerous race for many reasons, basically it is a straight up climb with lots of loose rock. First time racers have to attend a safety meeting and are encouraged to climb the mountain with veteran racers during a safety tour in June. I had climbed the mountain before but had decided I better go to the safety tour to be sure of the route I would take and further familiarize myself. (This was the furthest and longest I have ever been away from Ashton! I left at 8 am and got back around 5pm) At this safety tour, a rock the size of my head was kicked down the "cliff" area from above me and flew past my head. Our group's guide was pissed and yelled at the person who failed to warn us by yelling, "ROCK!" Red flag right? Well luckily there are 4 different routes to take up/down the first part so even though the cliffs are the fastest, I vowed then and there to never go back to them and to just take the safest route! So let's talk about red flags....
1)Adam wasn't going to be there and in fact would be across the country! (side note- Adam was deployed to staff the incident command center in Washington DC over the 4th. He got to work with head honchos from the police department and fire department! I was bummed, but was a cool experience for him!)
2)A rock the size of my head flew past my head during the freaking SAFETY tour
3)The cabin our friends had booked cancelled on them two days before the race due to water damage which meant we would have to sleep in our cars! YEP- Ashton and I slept in the back of my Chevy Equinox the night before the race!
4)I got a UTI and had to go to the ER the day before the race. Since Adam was already gone, I had to call a neighbor for a favor....she came over to stay with Ashton while he slept and I went to the ER at 4am! The doctor said I could still race if I felt up to it. Thank goodness for antibiotics, I felt amazingly well 24 hours later after a lot of pain and peeing straight blood in the middle of the night!
5)While getting in/out of the equinox the night before the race, I tripped, fell over a root, and sliced open my knee. I decided to use some super glue and tape...... it took a loooooong time to heal!
Sooooo I ran the race anyway! I was aiming to run up and back in 1 hour 37 minutes or less because if you get 250th place or better, you are automatically in the race the next year. So I was going off the previous year's 250th place time. I did it in 1 hour 24 minutes and placed 152 out of 350. I would like to do it again because I got stuck behind a line of racers several times and wasn't sure if I should burn energy to pass but now know that I could have with good I felt both at the top and bottom. I also took the slowest route at the bottom (the safest)
-
Bear crossing! This spot is where Ashton saw his first bears. We came out to the opening and saw a cub fishing in the river, then mama bear stood up on her hind legs so see us over a little hump/brush. We yelled and waved while pulling the gun, Tundra barked, and they took off! Whew!
The wildfire near our house! We hiked to it in under an hour
Things have obviously slowed down a little bit since Ashton is just a lil guy and can't go on crazy boat, ATV, or week-long back country adventures. We have taken him where we can and he seems to enjoy the great outdoors just as much as we do. We are so grateful!
No comments:
Post a Comment