The Hazard Chronicles

Okay...It's been an awesome week. Like, really awesome. The coolest part? We bought a house! Yep, you read that right. We are now "home owners."

But that's all I'm going to say about it for now.

I know, it's a little bit mean of me to throw that out there with no follow-up- sort of like laughing at an inside joke without letting other people in on it. But it is what it is. Come back in a few days and I'll have pictures up and everything. For now, however, I want to focus on the rest of the week. It really was a great week and I don't want it to be overshadowed by the whole "house thing".

So, now that I've taken care of that...

On Wednesday I think we found Evelyn's new favorite place. It is a great park in Spokane and it has a CAROUSEL! For those of you who haven't heard yet, Evelyn loves carousels. She was introduced to them at my parent's home in Rexburg and since that time the whole idea has become an obsession to her.

On Friday I had a very active day. If you read the blog last week then you know I am "training" (in a non-commital sort of way) for an ironman race. Really, I think I like the idea of doing an ironman more than the actual thing. Anyway, I woke up and decided to push myself a little bit. I ran 7 miles, ended at the river, and immediately did a 1 mile swim. The run was fine. I am a good runner. The problem, however, is that I think I almost drowned. Well, not really, but anyone who was watching me flail around in the water probably would have thought that. Obviously I have some work to do.

Later that day we went to the beach again with the whole family. It was a different beach that we havn't been to yet and it worked out great for everyone. I was a little self-concious at first, because it was "park day," a social thing for the moms in our ward to get out of the house with their little kids. Rachel convinced me to go and I ended up being the only adult male on the entire beach. It was actually a lot of fun once I got over the fact that I was the only person without a shirt on (don't get me wrong- that is a good thing), and I got to play with the kids a bunch while Rachel socialized with her little group.

That night, for dinner, we went to another cool park that we just sort of stumbled upon while driving around one day. It was seriously one of the coolest play structures I have seen. I can best discribe it as "McDonald's playland on steroids." The kids liked it.

Saturday was pretty much consumed by "house stuff." Again, come back later this week and I'll write more about that.

Sunday was my birthday! I am 29 years old. That's old. For my birthday Rachel helped the kids put together a surprise party for me. Evelyn planned out the games and picked out all the party favors. And even though I'm not really "into" Tinkerbell and jewelry, I had a lot of fun. Evelyn in a great planner and executer. She totally took charge of the party and directed the whole thing.

I am a very happy daddy tonight :)

Tinkerbell cupcakes, party hats, and candy jewelry. Evelyn was very excited about this party that she planned and it was totally contageous. We had a great time!

Evelyn and Jackson totally bonded at the park. They ran around and played with each other for a long time. I can't tell you how happy it makes me to see my kids interacting like this. Also, it means that Rachel and I got to just sit on the grass and talk!

Addy was more interested in the food than the play. She sat alone at the picnic table and finished eating all of the Cheetos and hot-dogs that were left over after our BBQ.

Oh- I forgot to write about this. We went to the "Pie Festival" on Saturday. It was like a farmer's market, and they sold pies (among other things), and we got some good pastries and cookies.

Here's just a short video that we took at the park.