"Be Careful--I just saw a bear back there," and other Island Park Delights

It has been so nice living close to Island Park and having a fun getaway. Last weekend, Judge Dunn (the judge for whom Doug works) and his wife, Wanda, invited us up to their cabin for the weekend. Then, because I knew Doug's mom would be coming up to our family cabin on Sunday, I stayed in Island Park with her and the kids when Doug went back for work. Her brother, mother, and sister-in-law were in the cabin next door to us.

During my most recent Island Park stay, I marveled at
1) indoor s'mores (they involve golden grahams, chocolate, and marshmallows)
2) Watching "Beauty and the Beast" at the Playmill, and being able to sit through it the whole time with our two kids! I was stunned that I was able to enjoy that play with my kids!!!!!!
3) how fun it was to hang out with Sheila (the court reporter) and her little family and Wanda and the judge. They're all awesome.
4) I felt so spoiled because the judge took us out to eat twice and paid for our Playmill tickets--how often do we get free meals and tickets? It was heavenly.
5) My children slept so well. They repeatedly woke up after 10 in the morning, and I loved all the extra sleep I got.
6) We threw rocks in the lake and got to watch the ducks, cranes, seagulls, geese, rodents of all shapes and sizes, and gorgeous hawks all the time.
7) Isaac loved "swimming" in the lake, and peeing in the lake was a highlight, as usual. My favorite quote from him is as follows: Isaac had just plunked himself in the lake and he said, "Mommy! I'm going to pee in the lake! I'm SO excited!!!!!!!" I was properly excited for him.
8) It was nice to see the kids cozy up to Kayla while we were there. Because she lives in Arizona, we don't see enough of her. It was sweet to watch her reading to Isaac and holding Lucy's hand as they walked from the lake to the cabin. It was also good to visit with Grandma Jeune and the Ellsworths.
9) The runs were beautiful, as always. But I didn't like it when a guy on a 4-wheeler warned me that he'd just seen a bear. Running "away" from bears is a really bad thing and my daily run could have been misconstrued as a very slow escape from a violent bear. Glad I survived.

I got home last night and spent almost my entire day working on Relief Society things today. I made an agenda for a Relief Society planning meeting later in the day, then went shopping for fruit so I could prepare porcupine kabobs and make cookies for the rest of the day. I was exhausted by 4 and was glad I got a nap before my meetings. Everything went well, and I had a powwow with the Bishop and Relief Society president after the meeting. I feel like we're all on the same page regarding what kind of activities we'll do for the next half a year.

I'm still preparing for my half-marathon, and I like feeling like I'm on track. We'll be doing our longest run this weekend and then we'll take it easy next weekend. After that, we'll race! I'm running with friends, so I'm kind of bummed that I can't control my pace. But because this is my first half-marathon, I'm deciding it's okay that I'll run it kind of slowly. I'll focus on getting hydrated when I need to, and better understanding the feel of a half-marathon. It would be nice to run another one in September, so if anyone knows of a good one here or in Northern Utah, let me know. I don't go back to teaching until September 9th and I am really enjoying the break. I love not being connected at the fingertips to my computer.