A Touch Of Tyrell

For the last 3 years Jake has been invited to the dunes with his friends. He looks forward to the trip every year and I look forward to the video afterwards! They went to the dunes in Oregon and rented a house/cabin instead of camping (Jake was headed to Oregon as I was headed home from my race). . Well, here is the video! Jake is the one with the black quad, black/white helmet and gear, the one flying the kite, oh... and yep, the one with his shirt off. And I think there is a swear word in the music so don't get offended because I told you so... AND make sure you watch the very, very end- so funny! Dunes Trip 2011 from ernie lay on Vimeo . Boys Trip 2010 and 2009 (P.S. Ernie, I LOVE LOVE LOVE the videos you make. It totally makes 3 days without Jake worth it!)

So I got this totally cute text from a friend today who wanted the "recipe" to the caramel apples we made. I told her that she'd die when she found out how easy they were. So here is the "recipe". 6 Granny Smith apples 2 T water  1 lb of caramels... like these bad boys I got from the bulk candy section at Winco: You'll also need sticks, toppings of your choice (crushed into pieces), and chocolate. (A good way to crush candy bars/cookies/graham crackers is to put them in a baggie and smash them with a rolling pin. Works every time!) You unwrap all 10 million of the caramels and stick them in a bowl with the 2T water and melt away. (Melt however you like to melt. I chose to do the double boiler method... put the bowl over a pot of boiling water and stir. But don't let the boiling water touch the bottom of the bowl.) Stick a stick (we used kabob skewers because that's what we had) into the apple and then dunk it in the melted caramel. (We spooned ...

A few Saturday's ago we went to the pumpkin patch. I like to go to the pumpkin patch for the pictures... and the fudge, pumpkins, gourds, corn, and festivities.... but mostly the pictures. Within a matter of minutes it was a repeat of the tulip festival ... I was a little upset but I've become used to it. So we don't have any good pictures of the pumpkin patch because Everett played in the mud the entire time AND he was a monster. He cried and threw fits and wouldn't cooperate for one second. (So this is life with a toddler boy? Sweet.) I'm trying to convince Jake (and myself) to go again this Saturday for the sake of having pumpkin patch pictures... But a few days later Jake and I made caramel apples and carved our pumpkins after Everett went to bed. The caramel apples were thebomb.com. So delicious. ("Apple pie" {graham cracker crumbs with cinnamon and sugar}, Snickers, Oreo, Heath {MY FAVORITE}, coconut and mini chocolate chips, and a Reece's on...

I ran the Columbia Gorge half marathon yesterday. It was amazing. The course was breathtaking and we had the most beautiful weather. Everything about this race was a surprise... here's the story: After our last race in Tacoma, Brenda asked me if I wanted to run the Gorge in October (with the same group that ran the Tacoma Narrows Half ). I wanted to, but I thought it would be too cold (because I thought it was in Eastern WA) so I decided to think about it for a few days. Well, a few days later Brenda came to me and said that she accidentally overbooked herself and wouldn't be able to run and asked if I wanted to run in her place. (I said yes). Last Saturday, during cycle class at the gym, Brenda asked if I was ready for the race next Sunday. I said yes... but wondered why she said next Sunday because I thought the race wasn't until the next, next weekend. I went home and checked the website and realized that I was a week off this whole time! Then, as we were driving on...

Did you know that when you workout you will burn 30% more calories for the next 24 hours? Pretty good incentive to workout, huh?! At the gym, we often joke about what we'll be able to eat after our workout. Things like brownies with frosting, beer, peanut buster parfait, onion rings, and cheesecake are often blurted out. It's no lie that I go to the gym 5-6 days a week. I LOVE IT!!! All day I look forward to working out. And when you're only 5'2" it's a necessity to burn 30% more calories all of the time (because 5 pounds on a short girl looks like 15 on a tall one) and I LIKE TO EAT! Plus, someone my age, weight, height, and gender should only eat 1,588 calories a day to maintain the same weight (if they didn't workout) and that's not very much food! So, a few months ago I asked a friend about this nifty watch he has that tracks your heart rate, running distance, pace, and calories burned. I asked him where I could get one. He said that he had two a...

Everett and I rode bikes to the park and played for hours. It was a beautiful ride with the Fall colors. The park was fun too... until Everett wanted to watch the two guys playing basketball with their shirts off... talk about awkward! "Ball? Ball?" "Yes baby, that's a basketball. Let's go swing..." "Ball? Ball?" "Yes, a ball. Do you want to slide..." "Ball? Ball?" He didn't want to swing or slide- so we just watched the two guys play basketball for a few minutes. I felt bad for them... but eventually we made it to the swings! I love this kid! And I love fall and the beautiful colors!

Today was one of those Fall days that you only dream about. It was bright and crisp this morning. Perfect for a little bike ride around the neighborhood. It was so cold that we could see our breath... (Everett was spinning brodies in the street... backwards. He's a crack up!) When we couldn't feel our fingers anymore, we went in and Everett took a nap. He woke up the happiest little boy ever. He was running circles around his crib. And then he threw SMU out of his crib and tried to follow:  The afternoon was pretty dreamy as well. We played outside for hours... in our T-shirts! It was so warm, it was perfect. And I hear tomorrow will be even better than today... which is great because I could live today everyday! (And I'm sure this little person wouldn't mind either!)