4th of July

Brooklyn's cute sign she made for the occasion.

This 4th of July weekend started off on Friday. Casey had the day off so that afternoon our family went for a little hike. It was little. Because it was almost 100 degrees outside. I think we need to do more hikes though. The kids love them, but because we don't go on them too often it always takes a while for them to have fun. They always start out complaining that they don't want to walk.Then they realize they can run and explore. At the end of this hike (actually just the place we decided to turn around they had fun running on the dirt bike hills.

Then on Saturday the 4th I started out my day at 5:30am. Rebecca and Ashley came and picked me up for our Half Marathon on Sauvie Island in Portland! This was my first Half and the first time I had even run the whole distance. (It is really hard to find the time to run for 2 hours!) I was pretty nervous! I hate the unknown. I had never been to Sauvie Island and I hated not knowing how everything would turn out! The race started at 7 am, and at 6:40 we were still waiting in traffic to cross the bridge. By the time we got parked the race had begun. (We had timing chips on our shoes so we were able to start late and still go with our actual time) Once we got there we all took our energy gels. (Ashley found out she is not a big fan of the texture or taste!!!) Then we began our race! It felt so good! We got plenty of water breaks and shade! (I never had water when training, it helped alot!) Sauvie Island is a completly rural island in Portland. They grow every kind of berry and in the fall have a corn maze and huge pumpkin patch. It was a gorgeous run past the green fields and farms. (No car exaust! But there were a TON of runners and it was kind of annoying to have to weave through them for the first 2-3 miles.) Ashley and I ran together the whole time. Then at the end my family and my dad were waiting for me. We had some strawberry shortcake and fruit from the "islanders". Awesome race! I just might have do it again next year. Maybe I can convince Casey to do it with me....maybe. I'm not quite sold on ever doing a Marathon though. That is just sooooooo long!

When we got home I took a much need nap, then back to work. I needed to make two pies (I put stars on mine for the holiday) and a pasta salad then head to my parents for swimming, barbecue and fireworks!

The Dyers all joined us, as tradition, for the barbecue and swimming. Then we all headed over to the Foltz' (my parent's neighbor and my friends parent's home) for a awesome firework show. This is Brandon's (Callie's husband) favorite time of year. And he always heads up the show. Casey is more of a Christmas guy. He has a hard time "lighting money on fire".....Anyway I love fireworks, and they were awesome as usual. Thanks for the show! Happy 4th of July!