Monday, June 30, 2008

Vintage Emily Photos

I found some old photos on my parents' computer, so here are a few to share. I can't remember if this is at Nationals or Pre-Nationals, but there I am in Indiana. Yippee.
This was the summer of 2002 I think. My fam was in San Diego for a few weeks. While my dad worked, we swam and played at the beach (and ate large pizzas). And ran. Lots of running there. It was gorgeous.
This was at my high school graduation. We were supposed to wear nice dresses and white shoes. So I wore my track uniform and some old Skechers. Take that.
My bro was my hairdresser for my senior Prom. Thanks Dave. I poked my date in the eye more than once.
This is me many moons ago. I think Bruce makes this face every once in awhile.

Sunday at Dan's

On Sunday evening we went to my brother Dan's house for dinner; it was Make-Your-Own-Pizza Night. Scott's sister came and brought her hubby and 2-year-old son. This picture is after he took a dive into a puddle outside.
My brother had dough ready so we put it on parchment paper and threw toppings on it. Then he put it into his oven on a baking stone. Yum!
Here we are assembling it all. Thanks Dan and Leslie!

Exodus to Mars

Scott is doing a short internship this summer; we packed up the car and drove to my parents' place. Bruce and I are partying here for a bit while Scott learns, works, and commutes to Pittsburgh. Today was his first day and since his cell phone died, I'm not sure how it went.

Bruce is adjusting to life with the extended fam. He got some cousin time today that involved foam swords and a train set. For some reason, Blogger won't let me delete that last sideways photo and reload it. So there it is.

I'm sure we'll have many more interesting things to put up on the blog, but it's late and I'm tired (too much playing today...).

Sunday, June 22, 2008

V-I-C-T-O-R-Y

Scott looked amazingly good at the finish of the race. He said he was seeing stars and couldn't breathe well, but he had a "second wind" towards the end.
I was taking pictures with one hand and holding Bruce in the other. We were right next to the finish line; Scott stopped to give us a big hug and kiss before finishing.
Yep, that's the hug.
Scott said he's "just happy I exceeded your expectations." I guess I underestimated them, but Scott and Tadd both finished a few minutes under two hours (they said it took them almost two minutes to cross the starting line too). I am totally impressed - and very jealous too.

Scott's First Race!

Saturday was the Mt. Washington Road Race. Scott and his friend, Tadd, have been training for this for a few months. Despite a nasty cold and hardly being able to breathe, Scott braved the mountain.
Here is the typical pre-race food.
This is Scott preparing before the race.
And his friend, Tadd. Once they were ready, Bruce and I drove to the top of the mountain. There is only one road that goes up, so vehicles have to go long before the race starts. Before going up, park rangers gave me a disclaimer and told me to pull to the side if my engine started smoking. I cranked our car into first gear and began the climb. I must say I had serious doubts that Scott and Tadd could run up this mountain. Our car sounded like a tractor and 5,000 vertical feet is what people ski, not run; how could they possibly run up this?! Once at the top, we explored the finish line area and hiked down a trail for a little while.
The road on the right side of the picture is a switchback away from the finish line, which is by the big tower.
Here is the view from the top.
Bruce and I hiked slowly because the summit is really rocky. Here, Bruce goes for the classic nose-wipe.

Bruce was very entertained by the cog steam train that came up to the top of the mountain.

When we hiked, Bruce built a zillion tiny cairns (those piles of rocks that mark the trails).
Our church's Boy Scout troop happened to be hiking Mt. Washington the same day, so we ran into them at the summit. Amazingly, one young man had the energy to hoist Bruce in the air for some "jumping jacks," as he calls them.
The race began at 10 a.m., and right at 11 a.m. the winner crossed the finish line.
The women's winner came a few minutes later. The race was the USATF National Mountain Running Championship so there were a lot of good runners there.
Here comes Tadd.

He gave Bruce a high-five before crossing the finish.
Here they are after conquering the mountain. Amazingly, they are already talking about doing the race next year.

Day at the Museum

We did do one touristy thing. We went to the Museum of Natural History. Bruce fell asleep on the way there and slept through the African mammals.
But he did wake up in time for the dinosaur bones. He LOVED it. I didn't think he'd be excited about stuff he could only look at and not touch, but I was wrong.


We also made a stop at F.A.O. Schwartz and played with toys. We just so happened to get there right when it opened, so we got to see a guy dressed up as a toy soldier roll out a red carpet in front and welcome everyone in.
Another BYU cross country teammate is living in New York, so we met up with her for dinner one night.

After dinner it was raining on and off. At one point there was a rainbow between all the tall buildings. You can see it faintly in this picture.

Chilling in Harlem

When we weren't running around New York City, we decompressed in my friend's tiny apartment. It's about the size of our place, but they fit more people in it.
Bruce really liked oogling over the three-month-old baby.
Bruce ate rice pretty much the whole time we were there. That and bagels. He's very picky when we're on the road.
Bruce picked up a few tricks from my friend's 3-year-old daughter. Bruce put his arms in a pillowcase and flew around like a butterfly.

NYC Parks

We skipped all the touristy stuff in New York; we've done most of it before anyway. Instead we visited about a half-dozen playgrounds. Bruce loved this gigantic stone slide. Sharing snacks.
Perhaps it's just me and my tuned brain, but everyone is pregnant.