Back to Eugene with a Few Stories

 The first thing we did when we got home was to eat the corn that Grandpa had grown in his garden.  Rocky couldn't get enough.
We also went for a nature hike and ate the five blackberries that were ripe. 

At this point our camera ran out of batteries.  I'm not sure why...it couldn't be the nonstop picture taking that I did while we were in Utah.  I haven't gotten around to changing the battery yet and since I didn't get any pictures of the Eugene Celebration parade or the 30 kids in the bouncy house at the birthday party Rocky was invited to last weekend, I figured that I should take this chance to catch up on a couple of stories.

All evening yesterday Rocky kept saying, "Knock, Knock, Who is knocking on my..." and she would change the ending.  It started at dinner and she said, "Who is knocking on my little cucumber?"  Later she said her leg and then she moved to consistently asking, "Who is knocking on my fridge?"
I finally asked her who she thought was knocking on her fridge and she said in a tone that implied that it was completely obvious, "You know, the Billy Goats."  I guess in nursery they told the story of the Three Billy Goats Gruff and she figured that if the goats could knock on a fridge, why not on a cucumber?

We were walking last night and the girls were getting kind of antsy in the stroller so Brandon suggested that Rocky tell Daisy a story.  This is what she said.
Once upon a time there was a butterfly and it fell asleep and dreamed about bats.  The bat's name was...(pause)...Butterfly.  Brandon said that it sounded like something he would be studying in one of his lit classes.  Probably Cortazar or Borges.  Maybe she will have a future in writing the next meta-fictional classic.

Brandon and I have a lot of interesting incidents involving sleep walking and/or sleep talking.  The other day when we woke up, for no clear reason, the Dustbuster was in the bed between us.  I didn't have my glasses on and I though it was one of the kids because it was all tucked in and looking so cozy.  Neither of us have any idea who put it there or why, but since I'm writing this account, I'm going to go ahead and blame it on Brandon.

As you can tell by the fact that I think these stories are interesting that our lives pretty much consist of nonstop adventure.  Although, after the excitement we had in Utah, it is nice to get back to the calm.  We've be reconnecting with our friends around here and enjoying the parks and the cool evenings and remembering why we love Eugene.   

Everything Else

Bedtime with Oma and Opa lasted a lot longer than it does at home because they have to read about 25 stories.

 Piano lessons with Eric.

Watching Yelle videos with Jilly.

 Morning faces.

The Kangaroo zoo which is as fun as it is tiring for little jumping legs.

Who would let all that pie go to waste?

Lemons anyone?

 We had a great time at Wendy's with Abia, Aynna, and Jonah.  It was just a regular Wendy's but it was exceptionally fun company.

Summer Runnin'

 Brandon, Cara and I ran the Legacy Midnight Half Marathon.  It was my first half and I felt pretty good about it.  The race started at 10 PM and I really, really tried to get to the finish line by midnight but I missed it by about 5 minutes.  I guess it is okay though because now I've got something new to work towards.  The funny thing about running 13 miles in the dark is that they all look exactly the same.  Luckily everyone was decked out it glowsticks so I could watch the bobbing neon lights along the way because other than that pretty much everything else was just blackness with the occasional mile marker.
The good part about it was that it was cool and the sun wasn't an issue.  Unfortunately all my fueling at that late hour kept me puking the rest of the night. 
The best part of the race was that Brandon made an awesome playlist for the three of us and we synched our ipods so that we would all be listening to the same music even if we couldn't see each other. 

And if running his first half marathon wasn't enough, Brandon took things another step further this summer by doing his first triathlon with Eric and Caleb.

They had made a pact to grow out their mustaches and Eric, with a little help from some eyeliner, looked only partially creepy.

Mike was so proud of his boys.

 Further proof that Rocky takes after her dad when it comes to the amount of facial expressions she is capable of making.

 Me and my BFF Becky, cheering on the men we love.

 Rocky and Daisy found creative ways to pass the time when the athletes were out of view.

 Rocky was so tired from cheering that she made sure to take a moment to rest up so that she would be ready to cheer in her dad.  While we were waiting she told everyone that she was there cheering for "my friend...his name is Daddy."

 Swim

 

Bike

 

Run.

This race they actually went two times through the whole process which seemed exhausting.  The second time looked pretty much like the first.

 Eric, Brandon and their cousin David model the mustaches.  Eric's seems to have mysteriously disappeared.

 

The Rigby bros at the finish (just be glad that this doesn't show the belly shirts they were wearing.)

Pioneer Day it Up

Since we haven't been in Utah for a few years on Pioneer Day we really partied hard this year and tried to catch up on all that we had missed.  We started with the rodeo.

You can practically taste the enthusiasm.

 

 

 Then we got up early to be there for the parade.  This year it was a little bit overcast so we weren't blasted by the sun as bad as usual.

 I remember watching this parade with my grandparents and it was fun watching my kids watch it with their Oma and Opa.

 Jill and Dad took a trip to the firework stand and came home with the wimpiest kid-friendly fireworks that they could find but Rocky was still too nervous.  We finally just put her in the car and once she was protected by a sheet of glass she couldn't get enough of them. 

 Now that we know this secret, next year we'll be able to get some real fireworks.

Hanging out with Howards

 While in Ogden we spent some time checking out the local sights.  Beus Pond is always the hot spot for baby ducks.

 Our annual Isaacson camping trip was canceled this year because the campground we had reserved was covered with snow.  It was a huge bummer but in order to help us all feel better we hiked up to Timpanogos cave as a family.  Rocky hiked her little legs up the entire way.  I was so proud of her.  Then, on the way down she started to get tired and grumpy.  I just kept pushing her to go farther because I didn't want to carry her and finally she just stopped and very sternly said, "I am NOT walking any more...and I WILL suck my thumb."  At that point I realized that she had hit the end of her energy tank so I put her on my back and let her suck her thumb the rest of the way.  After about 5 minutes of rest she perked right up and by the time we got to the bottom she was ready to play with her cousins.

On a trip to the Farmer's Market with Matt and Kristin we got to see cheese actually aging.  I think it was pretty much the highlight of the summer.

 We took a trip to the Treehouse Museum and of course had a tea party with Oma and then the girls had to run around and try every single thing that was available.