Uberthons

This post is long overdue, but I'm finally doing a huge shout-out to my amazing hubby and his new company.  You may remember THIS POST from about a year and a half ago when Alan first started the NW Running League.  Well, it has gradually evolved into something much bigger and better with the help of Alan's experienced, business-man father and has now become Uberthons (pronounced "ooberthons."  I seriously hate that name, but I didn't get much say in it and I guess it doesn't matter so much as long as people are running their races.)

This is the UBERTHONS WEBSITE that Alan spends hours and hours working on.  I'll let it do most of the explaining, but in a nutshell, Uberthons is a road race (5k, 10k, etc.) company.  They time races for other people with their fancy (and expensive!) new equipment and they put on their own races.  Alan has timed 10-15 races so far this summer and Uberthons directed their own first race last Saturday.  It was a huge success and you can check out this NEWS CLIP about their race.  The video doesn't actually mention Uberthons, but Alan, his Dad and their race director in Washington organized and directed the whole thing.  75% of the proceeds went to the Palmer family, but Uberthons still made a decent amount of money too.

I'm so happy and excited for Alan.  He has been unhappy at every job he's ever had.  I think he always knew he wanted to start his own company, but didn't know what it would be or really how to get it going.  Now that he is working with his Dad, I think his dream is finally coming true.  And it's perfect that their company focuses on one of Alan's main passions - running.  He is definitely hoping that Uberthons will eventually become a full-time job so he can quit working at Farmer's, but it's not to that point yet. 

This summer has been hard because Alan is basically working two full-time jobs.  He spends nearly every free moment at home working on Uberthons; either preparing for a race during the week or timing/directing a race on Saturdays.  We have a lot less family time now than we've had in the past and I really miss it.  I understand that this is what it's going to take to get Uberthons off the ground though, and am willing to live with it for now.  I can handle just about anything as long as it's short-term.  I'm so proud of Alan for his hard work and dedication to this dream.  I think this is the start of something really exciting for him and our family. 

Feel free to pass on their website to any NW running friends you have.  They are currently just doing races in Washington and Oregon, but plan to expand to other states as things progress.

Gone

Every time I've cut Alan's hair for the last year, we've talked about just cutting it all off since there's been less to cut every time.  He finally took the plunge last night and I buzzed it.  I have to say that I think he looks pretty handsome!  Now his two older brothers (who still have hair) can really make fun of him.

2nd Tuesday

The 2nd Tuesday of every month around here is $4 day at the zoo.  I had taken Spencer a couple of times when he was one, but he was too young to really enjoy it and we hadn't been back for almost two years.  We went again last Tuesday and it was SO much better.  Three-year-olds are definitely more fun at zoos!  We met a couple of friends there and had a great morning despite the crowds.

Last time we were there, Spencer had a hard time seeing the animals if they weren't moving.  He was much better at that this time.  I think the zebras, lion and sea lions were his favorites.  While we were driving to the zoo, I asked Spencer what animals he wanted the see.  The only thing I could get out of him was, "Not lions!"  Funny though that he wound up really liking the lion. 

Our zoo has a train that you can pay to ride around the park.  Someday I will have to splurge and take him on it because he got so excited just watching it.  He was so good though and didn't throw a fit at all when I told him we couldn't ride it.

I actually think this tractor was his very favorite part and it really has nothing to do with a zoo.  Our zoo has a family farm area with a petting zoo.  Spencer didn't want anything to do with touching animals, but waited his turn so patiently for a chance to sit on the tractor.



I love his toothy smile!  Thanks for such a fun day, buddy!  We'll have to do it again after all of the big kids have started school and it's a little less crowded.

When we got home, he had to play zoo with all of his "animals" of course!  He made them all a custom, gourmet lunch of stacking rings and various other small toys.

Smart Cars

This isn't the greatest picture ever, but I thought it was funny.  These two were washing cars together and there wasn't a whole lot of difference in size between the two!


We are just borrowing this smart car from Alan's parents until Alan figures out why his car won't start anymore.

More cousin fun

We had some really nice summer weather while Caralee's family was here, so the kids got to play outside a lot.  This was Spencer's first experience with playing in the sprinklers.  He was hesitant at first, but got a lot more brave and a lot more wet eventually.  Camille was so careful not to spray him right in the face and did a great job making "tunnels" for the boys to run through.

A few of my neighbors did a yard sale on one of the Saturday's Caralee was here.  I decided to join them since Debbie and I both had a few things to sell.  I recruited Hailey to help me (since Alan was gone to Washington to prepare for race), and she saved my life!  Spencer had a couple of major accidents (which is very unusual for him) and there's no way I could have taken care of him and run the yard sale at the same time.  Hailey did a wonderful job taking all of the money.

Carter came over too to help entertain Spencer during the sale.  These two played in the garage together for about 6 hours!  They had so much fun transporting expired cans of cat food all over the yard and making "stop" and "go" signs out of some of Alan's old race signs.  Carter turned out to be almost as helpful as Hailey.  Spencer would have died of boredom without him.

My clogging group performed at our county fair one afternoon, so Caralee's family came along to check out the fair and keep an eye on Spencer during the performance.  I was surprised at how many fun, free activities there were this year.  This tent had all kinds of science museum-type activities.

Spencer was a little scared of all the animals.  I think the sheep were his favorites of the ones we saw though.

Aunt Caralee was nice enough to get everyone a treat after lunch.  Spencer got this snow cone, but didn't really understand how to eat it.  He sucked all of the juice out and didn't eat any of the ice.  I guess he needs to spend more time at LeFevre's Hawaiian Snow in St. Johns!

 

 

We've done hopscotch at home for preschool before, so he was excited to find a real hopscotch mat.

 

Our cousins wound up staying a few extra days to attend the funeral of a good, family friend.  We sure had a wonderful time with them while they were here.  Spencer keeps asking when they are coming back and I have to tell him probably not until he's 5.  :(  Thanks for all of the fun Caralee!  We hope to see you again before another two years!

Silver Falls

I was so glad that Caralee wanted to visit Silver Falls while she was here.  It's one of our favorite places to hike around here, but we probably wouldn't have gotten down there this summer if she hadn't wanted to go.  At the last minute, Alan decided he didn't want to miss all of the fun and took the day off work.  It was so nice to have him there even if it meant that Spencer suddenly decided he couldn't walk and had to ride on Alan's shoulders.  Thank heavens Grandma convinced him that she needed him to help pull her up the hills so Alan didn't have to carry him the whole time. :)

I already had quite a few pictures of South Falls, but it's so pretty that it's hard not to take another one every time we go.

The trail goes right behind the falls so you can check out the gorgeous view from these cool, little caves.  Notice that we all have jackets and hoods on.  No summer weather for us this day.  It was cool and rainy at first.

These two guys had so much fun together!  There was a little fighting and onriness on both sides, but they were good buddies for the most part.  Carter came to play at our house several times.  He completely entertained Spencer for me and I got a ton done while he was here.  It was great!

 

 

 

We managed to find a covered picnic table for lunch and then the rain stopped by the time we were finished eating.  Hooray!

 

All of the older cousins were so patient and good with Spencer.  They let him chase, tickle and tag along endlessly.

This was Upper North Falls.  I think Silver Falls State Park has around 15 different falls.  We saw three that required very little hiking on this trip.  All of the little legs couldn't make it very far.

Playing in the foamy, yucky stuff that collects at the bottom of a waterfall.  Those rocks were super slippery and he almost fell in several times.  I think Carter did fall in.