Summer Daze

Already half-way through July and just so much to cover, so where to begin?

For us, the days sort of blur together and watching Landon grow and develop is as commonplace as going to work or making dinner. But I realize that we’re the spoiled ones that get to witness this on a daily basis and one of the reasons that we started blogging in the first place was to share these experiences and observations with our extended family and friends. I realize that I’ve been somewhat slacking, or dare I say “completely negligent” in this these past few months as we’ve been chronicling our running adventures in much more detail than the milestones, achievements, and perils that come with parenting a crazy-fun four year old.

So catching up on all things Landon, he is now a 49 lb 4-year old, and trust me, he’s really slimmed down…the kid is just huge. One thing I've really taken note of these past few weeks is the tapeworm in his belly. I think his most commonly-used phrase has been "I'm still hungry Daddy, can I have something else to eat?". Sure nine times out of ten he's looking for candy, fruit snacks, or ice cream, but he always settles for apples, crackers, or cheerios. Since he’s been back with us full-time (after his very fun Yuma trip), the long days of summer have lent to much later bedtimes for our little guy. We’ve introduced him to the wonderful world of household chores and the idea of earning an allowance. The kid is always asking for candy or toys or fun stuff and we thought that earning money, saving it, and then physically handing it over to a cashier may help him understand the value of money (as well as being a good listener and doing what is asked of you). So far the results have been mixed but I have seen some progress recently. Don’t get me wrong, we’re not infringing on child labor laws or anything like that, it’s mostly stuff like helping to feed the dogs, clearing dishes after dinner, brushing his teeth without being asked, and generally displaying good behavior. For me personally, I’m just counting down the days until the littler bugger is big enough to push the lawn mower!

Outside of the home we had a huge milestone for the entire family last weekend as Landon spent the night at a friend’s house. Originally we were just looking for someone to watch him for a few hours but after the invitation was put out there Michaela and I thought “What the hell? Let’s give it a shot!” fully aware that we’d most likely be getting a call at 2am to come pick up a crying child. So we dropped him off at Jack Sheehy’s house, gave him a hug, threw a look at Jack’s Mom that said “you poor, poor woman, we are really sorry already” and then got out of there before she could change her mind! Turns out she had an ace up her sleeve...she took the boys to a car show and kept them up very late (to the point of exhaustion) so there were no middle-of-the-night adventures. And for that, I salute her (and her husband of course).

We are also starting to look at the next sport we’re going to enroll Landon in. He semi-enjoyed soccer this past year (I don’t really blame him, I’ve never been a huge fan), so we’re thinking about looking at T-ball the next time that comes up. Another option we’ve looked at is karate. I actually took Landon to an introductory class which was just a one-on-one with him and the “Master Sensei” of the Dojo (I feel ridiculous even typing that). Anyhow, Landon really enjoyed it and we are strongly considering enrolling him but we have a couple of issues we have to figure out before doing so…the big one being the fact that there is a high probability that we’ll be moving in the next few months and signing up for a 6 or 12 month karate class in our current location may not be a smart move.

Speaking of the move, we have not nailed down a place yet and are just beginning our search but we’ll most likely be moving out to the country. Specifically, we are looking in the Auburn, CA and Cool, CA areas and you can bet your boots we’ll have a post shortly after making that decision.

In other news, Michaela is still recovering nicely from Western States and has already started to get back into the swing of running. I have been training for the Tahoe Rim Trail 50K run on July 21^st in Lake Tahoe. While it’s “only” a 50K, word on the street is that it is one of the tougher ones out there and is truly more like 34 miles (rather than the traditional 31 miles), filled with climbing and more climbing, as well as having to deal with the altitude (which I’ve never run in before). All things considered, it should make for a fun way to spend the day before my 31^st birthday!

We should have a great deal more to report over the next few weeks with the housing situation and some cool changes that are coming down the pipe for me at my work, so until then…stay cool!