So Much Summer

Family and food.  What more can a girl ask for?  Our summer is officially in full swing.

We went out with Zach’s parents for dinner on Monday evening for Family Night.  Mark, Zach’s dad, requested to sit outside.  The weather was perfect and our meal was delicious.

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This week was my turn to plan our afternoon for Activty Days.  We had popsicles at the local splash pad.  I was worried the kiddie splash pad would be a little juvenile for the girls, but I was wrong.  Sometimes I forget how young these gals really are.  They keep me laughing…and on my toes!

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Wednesday night I totally spaced dinner and decided to drive up to Kaysville with Zach for some “World Famous Corn Dogs”.  It wasn’t fancy, but it was extremely filling.  I haven’t had a corn dog in three years.  This was a great finale to hold me over for the next three years.

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Thursday I took my built-in best friend to the pool to swim some laps.  I have been slacking at hitting up the SDRC [running on the treadmill at our club house is so much more convenient] and decided to break my streak.  Baby girl has been constantly moving lately.  Her movements feel more and more pronounced as the days go by.  As I was swimming back and forth I would feel her move steadily.  I hope she takes up swimming like her mom so we can do laps for real one day.

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Besides the Kaysville Corn Dogs, we checked off another summer restaurant we’ve had on our list.  Rye, a little hipster restaurant, down town.  They are known for their breakfast, but we dined there for dinner.

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Zach loved the Coke in glass bottles and I was ga-ga over their branding and menu.

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Zach highly recommends the fried chicken.  I selected a shrimp appetizer and was pleasantly surprised.

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Saturday morning I drug Zach out of bed to hit up the Farmer’s Market down town.

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We got tri-tip, a giant bag of sweet basil, and some honey wheat bread.

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Afterwards we had brunch at the Park Cafe.  The pancakes were on point, as usual.

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And because we hadn’t eaten enough, Zach begging me to stop and get an obnoxiously oversized snow cone in Bountiful.  I passed, but Zach was so distracted with his treat that he made me drive home.

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We concluded our Saturday night at City Creek testing out rockers for the nursery and dining at Brio.  Zach is taking this daddy business pretty seriously…

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Our weekend ended at my parents house for Sunday dinner celebrating my dad’s 56th birthday.  I made him a version of his favorite dessert [Eclair Cake] but jazzed it up for the summer by trying it s’mores style.  It was beyond rich, but pretty good if you ask me.  Pinterest is always keeping me entertained with these new summer recipes.

And because I am a slacker, weeks 18 and 19 have officially come and gone.  This week marks the half way point for me and my gal pal.

18 weeks

19 weeks

Nestful?

This week of my pregnancy has been my favorite thus far.  At 17 weeks I started to feel what other pregnant people call “flutters”.  Almost as soon as I hit 18 weeks I started to feel sharper and more pronounced movements.  Everyone I talk to tell me it feels like a fish flopping around.  I am not sure if my child is just wild and crazy like her mother, or if she is surprisingly strong, but these movements feel more like actual kicks to me.  Tuesday morning I was sitting at my desk working and I felt another pronounced “kick”.  I decided to put my hand on the exact spot she moved to see if I could feel her again.  Almost instantly she kicked again in the exact same spot, moving my hand.  It surprised me so much that I gasped out loud!  Since then I have been feeling her every single day.  Zach hasn’t felt her yet, but I suspect in the next couple of weeks it won’t be hard for him to recognize these movements.

Feeling her makes it seem more real to me.  After getting all my work projects done each day, I work on a projects for her.  Sometimes it is just serging a silly fleece blanket.  Yes, girls wear camo too, of course…

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This week I cleaned 6 black trash bags of clothes out of my closet.  I saved a few soft t-shirts to make into headbands.  Having a serger has made sewing projects much more obtainable for me.  And if I can make a baby headwrap, anyone can make a baby headwrap.  Is this what they call nesting?  Because if so, I think it is hitting me a bit too early…

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I have tried to keep the more private details of my pregnancy to myself, but have decided to document them for my posterity by making a baby timeline of each week.  I record things we did that week, any special milestones [like this week’s movements], ultrasounds, weight gain, and the like.  My mom documented certain details so well that it was important to me to do the same.  I loved reading about what she craved, how she dealt with certain symptoms, and other general details.  And even more special to me is how I can see so many similarities between us.  I have never seen any traits of myself in my mom.  We don’t look alike at all and our personalities are polar opposites.  But I will say that we have more similar in our pregnancies than anything else in our lives.  It’s meant a lot to me to read about hers – it has helped me thus far through mine.  Not like I have had a difficult time at all, just that I can relate to her in so many ways.

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Non-bambino related things have been that Zach is back at playing ice hockey steadily two times a week.  I love when he has games at the Oval in West Valley because I can run around the track while he warms up and then relax and watch his game afterwards.

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Also this week I made a print for a client and liked the phrase so much, I made one for myself.  It will reside in our upstairs hallway when I get the chance to hang the thing up.

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As for our summer list of things to do:  we checked off one item on the list.  We tried Pago, a restaurant I have been dying to dine at for months.  It was really good.  I liked Zach’s meal more than my own, but we are definitely going to go back again.  Besides, it won 2014’s most favorite Utah restaurant.  So that was enough to convince us both to try it out!

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And because we hadn’t indulged enough – I made Zach drive to Smart Cookie to get a red velvet number.  Swig still has bester sugar cookies, if you ask me, but it was the perfect indulgent treat.

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Lastly, after an eventful Sunday with family, I started a new parenting book which I adore thus far.  It is my third pregnancy related book since getting knocked up.  I had read previously from reviewers on this book that Americans don’t really love it.  I can totally see why.  When Zach and I visited Paris for our four year anniversary I constantly gawked at French children.  They were always in stores, restaurants, and public places – and always so well behaved.  I have been trying to figure out how French parents get their children to act so mature and polite – and this book is an entertaining clue into their posh parenting tactics.

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Or maybe it’s because I secretly would move to France tomorrow if Zach would come with me.  Regardless, I love it so far…

The Artsy Fartsy + Outdoorsy Types

Things haven’t changed much around here, if I am being completely honest, since Zach and I found out we were pregnant.  I feel like our lives are pretty much exactly the way that they used to be before.  I keep waiting for life to “change” but I figure that won’t happen until baby girl is here.  As for pregnancy symptoms, I would say my biggest “craving” this entire month is basil.  Basil and Cool Ranch Doritos.  Not together.  Independent of each other.  But basil is a lot better for you…so…

I have this “summer pasta” that I make once a week lately.  Angel hair pasta + (2 Tbs) Olive oil + (2) roma tomatoes + (lots of) fresh basil + (2) minced garlic cloves + salt n’ peppa to taste.  I am completely hooked.

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As of work, this week I received an email alerting me that a project I helped on whilst on my internship at Mauk Design was completed.  Back on my internship in San Fran I helped do renderings for the New Doha Airport in Qatar.  I think the elements turned out pretty amazing…

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I also got asked to work on a darling little man’s baptism invite.  His step mom, Whitney, wanted a hand drawn version of the Salt Lake temple.  So I busted out my Prismacolor markers and Macron pens and went to town.  I forget how much I love creating things with my hands vs. a computer sometimes.  They were happy how it all turned out…

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Mid-week I had my OB appointment.  It was a pretty quick one:  listened to baby’s heartbeat (which is strong and healthy) and did some minor checks and measurements.  I also go to schedule my 20 week anatomy scan so we can see baby girl in all her glory.  All I am hoping for is 10 fingers and toes and that all is well.

I’ve been keeping a pretty steady work-out routine with baby.  I figured once she comes she will be my newest gym buddy.  So I invested in some dri-fit onesies so she can get her sweat on with her mom…

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Speaking of gym time.  I have kept up running and plan to continue as long as I am physically able.  The only change is that I have to slow down my pace to keep my heart rate down.  Apparently you aren’t supposed to have your heart rate over 140 while pregnant.  Turns out I can get up to 140 walking up and down the stairs, so I find that pretty irrelevant.  But regardless, I ran a 5K practice this week to prep for a bitty race I am doing this month.  Not knocked up I can run the 3.1 miles in 27 minutes.  With the baby on board I am 10 minutes slower, but at least I know I can still get there, I guess…

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I am still loving my calling as the Activity Days leader.  This week we went to the Church History Museum of Art.  The girls loved it, but I think the highlight for them was trying on the hats in the gift shop…  Here are four out of the eight that joined us.

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Thursday morning I had a client reschedule so I decided to paint the canvas I bought for baby girl’s nursery instead.  I plan to hang it right above her crib.  It is literally huge – 36″x36″.  Joann’s was having a sale on their stretched canvas [all 50% off] so I went for the biggest one they had that would fit above her bed.  We’re painting all of her walls white so I thought it would be fun to do a canvas covered in some crazy colors that I am using in her room.  I did it in stages throughout the day.  Painting is a huge stress reliever for me.  I never buy any fancy paints, just .99 acrylic bottles, but I am happy with how it turned out.

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It’s loud and crazy – it will remind her of her mother…

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This weekend Zach had a plan.  The plan was to go camping.  He is on this kick lately of getting out and doing some things we don’t typically do, which I love.  It was the whole reason we started this summer list of things to do in the first place.  I would be lying if I didn’t say that I wasn’t too thrilled about it being almost 5 months pregnant and camping, but I decided I would just go with it and have the best attitude possible.  Turns out we had a fabulous time and I am so glad we went!

We drove up to the Uintas and found an amazing spot at Echo Lake.  We were the only souls there for the first 24 hours.  Zach couldn’t have picked a more beautiful spot.

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Before we left, I had told my father what we were doing.  He didn’t believe me that we were actually going camping.  I hadn’t camped [besides at Lake Powell, which is on a house boat – so technically that doesn’t count] since I was in high school with my family.  I was determined to do a few things myself to prove to my dad that I wasn’t a “priss” that he so lovingly deemed me.

I started the fire for dinner all by myself.  Zach chopped the wood, yes, but I created the fire.

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After we got our campsite organized we started dinner.  I had prepared all the food that morning so we could just throw it on the fire once it was ready.  We had a Mexican themed dinner the first night.

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Mexican corn on the cob…

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…and a giant pie tin full of chicken nachos.

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For dessert we had s’mores.  To my surprise Zach downed four of them, which is so unlike him.  He must have been really into the spirit of the outdoors.

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We don’t own a tent, so we slept in Zach’s car.  Since an air mattress wouldn’t fit in the back we just used some pads and sleeping bags.  It wasn’t “sleeping under the stars”, but technically we could see the stars through the sun roof.  So I am counting that as a win.

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The next morning I had Zach up bright and early.  Mostly to help me keep warm.  It was 39 degrees when we first woke and we huddled together in our car bed until the sun peeked through the trees.  We had breakfast up and going in no time.  We made breakfast in a bag with eggs and bacon.

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I have to admit that camping isn’t a typical activity that Zach and I participate in.  Zach pretty much only let me pack a toothbrush, toothpaste, and a change of clothes.  So I was pretty homeless looking by day two, but I felt pretty authentic.  Also, I feel like I can use this as ammo in the future.  Like, “Remember when you wanted to go camping and I was almost 5 months pregnant and I didn’t complain once…” kind of thing.  It’s in my arsenal for the future, you betcha!

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We hung around the lake for a while until we decided to pack up our stuff and set off for a nearby waterfall Zach had heard of.  It was a short drive from our campsite and right off the main road.  While we were walking down to the water Zach and I were discussing how guilty we both felt that we had lived in Utah our whole lives and have never heard of Echo Lake or the Provo River Falls before this weekend.  It was gorgeous…

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We drove around the area afterwards and explored a bit before making our way home.  Zach rewarded me with a successful camping trip by stopping at Coldstone.

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Sunday morning we went to a beautiful high-school friend’s baby blessing.  It was so fun to catch up with people I rarely get to see.

I also gave Zach his very first Father’s Day gift – a “man bag” that he will use for taking care of baby with.  He has been telling me for weeks that he won’t be caught dead walking around with my diaper bag, so I got him a super masculine version for himself.  I even threw some bottles and a changing pad in there for good measure.  Also, along with said bag, came a 49ers outfit [sized perfectly for football season] and a red Utes outfit for all the sporting events Zach plans on taking her to.  He can dress her however he seems fit now.

SIDE NOTE:  This year I told Zach that I didn’t want to purchase season tickets to the Utah football games because I would be 8 months pregnant and giant.  Some how, we still purchased tickets.  It’s still a mystery how it all came to be, but turns out you ‘can’t pass up third row season tickets when they become available’.  So I will brave the heat as long as I can physically stand it, but I think Zach is just as excited to take his friends and family members in my place towards D-Day.

Zach’s first Father’s Day was so special to me.  I know baby won’t be here for another 5 months, but that doesn’t mean that I haven’t seen a significant change in him.  All weekend [with no cell phone service and connection to the outside world] we discussed our future with this little nugget.  What activities we plan to take her to, sports she can participate in, vacations we plan to take her on.  I know we waited almost 6 years to have children, but I think we are ready now more than ever to do this.  We are ready and excited.

Afterward the baby blessing we made our way to T-ville to celebrate my dad.  We planned to go to the canyon to cook hobo dinners, but there wasn’t anything available.  We literally drove up and the whole canyon was packed.  We even tried a different canyon and it was also slammed with people.  So we all made our way back to my parents house and cooked our tin foil dinners on my dad’s charcoal grill.

My dad is and continues to be one of my best friends.  I completely idolize him and hope to be half the parent he is one day to this baby girl.

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But until then, I’ll keep this baby marinating for another 5 months and practice my good parenting skills on my husband.

17 weeks

Sweet 16

Monday night for FHE Zach and I went out to dinner with his parents before his hockey game.  I love when Zach’s parents come along to his games! It’s so nice to have their company.  And Zach played great – their team won with a lead of 5 goals!

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For Father’s Day this year Zach told me he wanted some new grilling accessories.  So we purchased that part of his gift together [to ensure I got what he wanted] and it wasn’t even a week before he conned me into letting him use them for dinner.  I am the worst at keeping gifts a surprise and constantly give birthday and Christmas gifts notoriously days earlier than I should.  But he lured me in with his plans to cook salmon and halibut with some fresh veggies…

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I must admit he is becoming quite the grill master.  A Father’s Day gift much deserved…

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I am the kind of obnoxious person that has excessive decorations for every holiday…with the exception of the 4th of July.  This is disappointing considering I grew up being raised by a very patriotic father.  (Literally, in his professional work resume it says that he loves God and his country.  That part gets its own line.  He is pretty serious about it.)  So I decided to make some Independence Day prints for my house.

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I am working on two more.  Hopefully I can finish them before July comes.

As of the nursery nonsense, her crib was the last piece of furniture that I had to order.  I have been putting it off because I knew I would have to save up [and do some convincing] in order to purchase the one I have wanted from Room & Board – my favorite overpriced furniture store.  A neighbor told me that she got her crib from Walmart and this week I decided to check out their selection.  I found an almost identical crib for a fifth of the price of my R&B crib.  I saved over $800 and got free shipping!  I was pretty stoked.

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I also ordered her a lamp [aka marquee light] to hang above her dresser.  I can’t decide if I want to paint it a bright and crazy color, but like I stated before, I have plenty of time left to do that, I guess.

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I also made her a mobile to hang above her crib.  It took me longer than I had planned, but I love the way it turned out!  The brass geometric shapes will go well with all the other crazy stuff I have planned.

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Zach and I also did a lot of work in the back yard these past two weeks.  The front yard has been kind of neglected, but that back yard is doing pretty good.  We have plans for a lot of late night s’mores on the fire pit…

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Early Friday morning we went out for my sister-in-law Lori’s birthday.  We ate breakfast at Eggs in the City [I seriously just get the Mama Burrito every time, it’s amazing!] and then ventured across the street to Jolley’s to do a little unnecessary shopping.  They have darling gifts and oodles of baby stuff.

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Later my mother-in-law and sister-in-law Gina took me maternity shopping for my very first time.  Luckily I can still fit into all my pants, but it never hurts to be prepared.  Besides, they showed me all the best stuff to get, which I was extremely grateful for.  I also got to put that round little pillow under my shirt while trying stuff on – which made it feel even more real.

Friday night Zach and I went to the Fault in Our Stars movie with my friend Angie.  Angie is the one who convinced me to read the book last year and we both have been anticipating the movie for months.  That’s the reason we went on opening night.

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There were pros and cons to going the very first night, however.  I never realized how popular this book was to the teenage population.  But I soon realized it when the demographic in the movie theater was pretty much all female and under the age of 18.  One very emotional teen [sitting in front of us] even brought a whole box of tissues (pictured below) and offered them to Angie and I.  Her clan was by far the most audible in the theater.  Angie and I were content with our Mike & Ike’s and Red Vines.  Thanks for the treats, Ang!

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Saturday we went boating for the first time this season with my parents, brother, and future sister-in-law.  This is by far my favorite part of summer.  I was thrilled to be out in the sun and to enjoy everyone’s company.

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Some of us, however, enjoyed the sun more than others.  About two hours into the day, Zach put on his burqa.  This consisted of two towels and my swim cover-up.

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Even for skiing the scum at Utah Lake, it was a beautiful day and the water was actually pretty pleasant.  Not warm, but pleasant.

This weekend also meant my last few days at 16 weeks.  I am officially over 4 months!  Not quite half way there, but still feeling really good.  I have thoroughly enjoyed being pregnant thus far and am appreciating this pleasant time while I can.  Because summer is only going to get hotter and I am only going to get larger…

16 weeks

Motherly Intuition: FAIL

There have been some fun things going on work wise this week [for both Zach and I].  I created a French macaron print for a close friend and decided to put it up in my itty bitty neglected Etsy shop.  Everybody likes macarons…right?
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I also got pictures from a friend and client of his Warrior Fuel stick packs and boxes that I designed.  If you frequent Gold’s, you might see one!

stick pack boxes

Since the second I found out I was pregnant I knew it was a boy.  I just had this feeling.  Basically for the entire 4 months thus far of this pregnancy I have been calling it a HE.  Turns out my motherly intuition sucks hard core because on Saturday we found out we are having a GIRL!  Zach thought the entire time it was a girl and will probably hold this over my head until she is 18.  When the ultrasound tech told us the gender we both were so excited!  For some reason I have always thought boys were in the cards for me when it came to my experience with motherhood, but I am over the moon at the thought of a little blonde haired, blue (or green) eyed little girl.  We celebrated by getting her some new duds…

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Also…because I am a psychopath I planned her whole nursery out.  I guess I shouldn’t feel TOO crazy because it was my job to design spaces, so…I guess it’s normal.  The scary part of this whole saga is that literally every single thing has been ordered [with the exception of a crib, dresser, and glider].  Her whole nursery was centered around a Rifle Paper Co. print that I have adored for years of New York.  All I have left to do is paint, make some custom pillows, and finish some artwork for her walls and she can move in.  I guess I can take my sweet time because she still has 5 months left…

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I haven’t had any real cravings this pregnancy and still feel great.  I haven’t been sick yet and that means I want to eat.  Alllll the time.  I find myself gravitating to things I haven’t enjoyed since I was in middle school.  Like Doritos.  And Hostess cupcakes [the kind that leave a waxy feeling on the roof of your mouth after eating them].  Also, another favorite…Mike & Ikes.  I haven’t indulged in Mike & Ikes since I was 12.  But I discovered the ALL RED version aka Satan’s version of the original Mike & Ikes and have been thoroughly enjoying them.

Mike and Ike

By the way.  I do eat other food items besides those listed above.  Just for the record.  Like vegetables and fruit. I promise.

To continue our 50 Days of summer tradition, we are checking off things on our list every week.  This week we went on a hike up Mueller Park.  It’s 10 minutes away from our house and we both had never been.  It was a gorgeous and easy hike with lots of shade.  Even at 10:00 am it was still warm but cool enough to enjoy.  We plan to go back again before summer is over.  Baby girl loved her first hike…

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Afterwards I rewarded Zach putting up with a family hike with some fish tacos at Lonestar.  He will hike every day if this is a common incentive for him…

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We also saw two independent films this week.  One was fantastic, one was horrific.  Do not go see Palo Alto.  Unless you want to be severely depressed.  James Franco isn’t worth it, I can promise you.  We dined at the Cheesecake Factory at City Creek afterwards and did a little shopping.

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15 weeks and feeling good.  No complaints so far!

15 weeks