Happy Independence Day

We missed home today.  Wish we were playing with the kiddos above.  We missed the Kaysville parade and all the little girls in their red, white, & blue hair bows, family, and fireworks. The fourth of July is one of Landon’s favorite holidays and has become one of mine.  I remember being fascinated with Landon’s patriotism when we were dating.  He loves America, loves the colors red, white, and blue, and loves every country song about our nation.  This is the second year in a row we have been away from family on the 4^th, last year we were in Lithuania.  We did celebrate in Lithuania by wearing our patriotic colors and watching the movie “The Patriot” on our laptop.

Though we missed family, we still had a great day!  It began with a morning run along the beach, it was only supposed to be 6 miles, but Capri fell asleep toward the end so we ran 9 miles to give our babe a good nap and catch up from a missed run earlier in the week.  We loved running in Santa Cruz again and felt great!   I am a little obsessed with the beach houses along the water and like to dream about a day we could own one, or vacation in one.  The weather wasn’t super hot but we still enjoyed the beach with our friends the Hoopers.  We have so much in common with the Hoopers it’s a little crazy, I’m surprised we didn’t run into them prior to moving to California.  Their little girl is also named Capri, they are from Davis County, Andrea went to Davis High School, Tyler got his MBA and is working at Cisco, and they love to travel and have been to almost all the same countries we have!  They have been such good friends and have made us feel so welcome here.  After playing in the sand we met up with Landon’s mission buddy and his wife Patrick and Danielle to stroll the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk and watch fireworks over the water.  We went to bed thinking it was the weekend, but back to work and then another play day in two days!

A Beach Run

Saturday morning Landon let me sleep in and took care of Capri, it was so nice!  After I woke up (I’m not going to say what time it was!) , we packed up and then drove to Santa Cruz for our 12 mile run.   The views were so refreshing and rejuvenating.  I can’t believe we are only an hour away from this beach, we will definitely be visiting a few more times before Landon’s internship is over.  The first 3.5 miles of the run were along sea cliffs that looked over the ocean; we forgot we were even running the air felt to fresh and clean.  Then our path led us onto the Santa Cruz beach boardwalk and we inhaled the smells of French fries and BBQ while running past the old fashion amusement park.  I loved the rollercoaster and sky ride and really want to ride them next time…. I forget we have a baby sometimes, maybe by myself?  We turned around at 5 miles since our path kind of ended and ran the same way back.  When we reached 10 miles I was ready to be done since we were back to where we started…. I’m a head case.  I fed Capri a few gulps from her bottle and finished the last two miles strong.  That was the furthest I’ve ever run.  Landon and I take turns pushing the jogging stroller every .5 miles.  He was awesome and pushed it up the hills and into the wind to make my turns easier.  Capri was SO GOOD!  We thought she would take a great nap while we were running, but she was just as stimulated as we were by the sights, sounds, and smells.  We got her out to stretch before getting in the car, it, she looks exhausted in the picture and she was! We had a wonderful run and then hurried back home and showered in record time to meet the Samuelson’s at the San Jose Giants baseball game.  The Samuelson’s are also here for the summer while Craig is doing an internship with Cisco.  We are not alone with a new baby either; their James is a month younger than Capri.  

Next week is our half marathon run; I have more confidence in myself this time!