It's not witness protection, but we have been relocated.

Our blog has relocated to http://www.rutfour.blogspot.com. Copy and paste the address into your browser and you will be able to get your fill of the The Rutledge Family escapades. This message won't self-destruct in five seconds, but it won't last forever either.

Hope you enjoy the new location.

Farewell Good Friend

As our good friend summer comes to a close we would like to say a sincere goodbye. We will remember you fondly as the snow starts to fall and we have to bundle up in 18 layers of clothing, hats and gloves in order to go outside. Before you go, here are some of our favorite moments together. Come back soon...we will miss you.

Day One for Two

Sharpen your pencils teachers, The Rutledge Kids are in the house! Finn and Harper started preschool last week and luckily I've been studying up all summer on how to take a fast photo, because we only have one shot (if that) to get both kids smiling at the same time. (Exactly two seconds after this photo was taken a complete melt-down ensued.)

When I dropped them off and got into the car I definitely felt like something was missing. The car was so quite I could actually understand what was being said on NPR. Now I just need to figure out what to do now that we have twice as many art projects coming home. I'm thinking it might be time for a storage unit.

Drive, Bike, Swim, Run, Drive

This summer Brad and I completed our first Olympic Triathlon, which was an accomplishment. But the real amazing feat was taking our kids on a week long road trip from SLC to the Oregon Coast and back via Boise, Bend, Yachats,Portland, Boise, Sun Valley and Pocatello. I can safely say that through it all we had fun and live to tell the tale.

It seemed like a good idea...

This summer Brad and I trained for our first Triathlons, which required some bike time. We really tried to make it a family affair. We would pack up the kids with toys and snacks and head out on the road. It would go really well for about 30 seconds. Then it would start...and for the rest of the ride we would threaten, bribe, beg, plead, yell and finally we would lose our minds. On this particular ride we decided that stopping at a gas station and buying the kids Popsicles was a good idea. As we peddled our hearts out to get home while the kids were quite, we thought we were brilliant. When we got home we found out we weren't.

Camp Kids

Kids and camping go together like marshmallows and stickiness. We finally took our kids camping this year and had a great time. We were lucky enough to bring the tent that my parents had when I grew up. (Shout-out to Spring Bar - the tent is almost 40 years old and in great condition. Thanks Mom & Dad for passing it on to us.) We took a short hike where Finn searched for wild Crocodile (luckily we didn't find any) and Harper negotiate the trail on her own.

We had a campfire and S'mores and only burnt a few marshmallows along the way. We are really hoping to get at least one more trip in before the summer ends and many, many more in the next few years.

Take Me Out to the Bees Game

We recently spent the evening with the Salt Lake Bees. The kids had a wonderful time and I'm pretty sure they got in more "runs" than the Bees. While we didn't get much baseball watching done, we ate plenty of ice cream and even stayed awake for the post game fireworks. (A small miracle by most accounts.)