Half Marathon #7

So happy this is a yearly tradition in my life.  I wish I could say I run year round but I always seem to get busy in the winter.  But for some reason every July or August I agree to train for an October race (in the blazing summer!!).

This was a new one for us since we didn't love Corpus Christi last year.  We went to Austin for their Halloween half.  It was awesome! We definitely want to go back although the timing is terrible and we are all always struggling to get away!

But we managed to and had a fantastic trip.  It was a good race even though each of us had something random come up.  Sickness, injury, too busy for last 2 weeks of training, etc... Curtis and I were in the middle of a serious detox so I wasn't eating much except for vegetables, fruit and oats.  But we all had a good race and yes stopped by "In N Out" on the way home.  I forgot my detox for the day and yum it was good.  I love those ladies.  Such a positive, kind , talented group of women.  I sometimes forget and take for granted how blessed I am to be constantly surrounded by women who are not catty, who think deeply about important issues, who aren't the jealous type and don't take themselves too seriously.  So grateful I get to be around them all.  :) 

DC with Daniel

So Curtis and I are always staying up late or going on long walks and most often the topic of conversation is our kids.  Do they know just how much we love them and want them to be happy?  It's so hard as a parent of teens.  I really felt like I had the answers when they were younger but these teen years are tough to navigate.  I just feel myself losing control and have come to realize that the main thing I can control is my love for them and my example.  Of course we can also work to make our home a safe and healthy place and can provide appropriate boundaries.  But sometimes it just feels overwhelming.

Anyway, we have noticed that our kids fight a lot but one on one they are amazing.  Just really awesome people whose company I truly enjoy.  So we have been trying to enjoy more one on one.  I found an amazing deal on Kayak for tickets to Baltimore and knew Daniel and I had our trip.  Daniel is my museum kid.  He loves space and history so I've known for awhile that DC would be right up his ally.  My sweet nephew and his family live right out side of DC (Michael works at Arlington National Cemetery) and so we asked if we could crash there.  This trip was only going to work if it was almost free.

Anyway, we have noticed that our kids fight a lot but one on one they are amazing.  Just really awesome people whose company I truly enjoy.  So we have been trying to enjoy more one on one.  I found an amazing deal on Kayak for tickets to Baltimore and knew Daniel and I had our trip.  Daniel is my museum kid.  He loves space and history so I've known for awhile that DC would be right up his ally.  My sweet nephew and his family live right out side of DC (Michael works at Arlington National Cemetery) and so we asked if we could crash there.  This trip was only going to work if it was almost free.
So I took Daniel out of school for 3 days in October and we flew to Baltimore.  Then we hopped on a train that went right the Union Station in DC.  It was so fun to be on an adventure together.  We flew spirit airlines so we brought hardly any luggage and what we brought was stowed at Union Station while we walked over to the museum district.  We ate at Steak 'n Shake and then headed to the Air and Space Museum.  The weather was absolutely perfect and there were no crowds at all!  We had views of the Capitol Building as well as the Washington Monument for much of our stroll.  The museum was so interesting.  We especially enjoyed learning about comets and space probes.
We really enjoyed our time with Mike and Shalyn and their darling children.  What a great family!  They were so generous with us and made us so comfortable.  Shalyn made these delicious pumpkin pancakes and a chowder recipe that I'm actually making this week- so good!  Daniel had a lot of fun playing with their children, Naomi, Kaytlin and Charles.
We also visited the Natural Science Museum, Ford Theater, Jefferson Memorial and the Holocaust Museum.  All just incredible and inspiring and interesting.  Ford Theater was actually my favorite.  I did not know all those details about Lincoln's life and assassination.  Boy it looks like opinionated actors are nothing new.

We stayed until Saturday morning, hit Duck Donuts on our way to the Union Station (A.mazing.  Best warm, light, cake donut ever and they frost it right in front of you!) Then Daniel and I took the Amtrak to Baltimore and caught our flight home.  The Amtrak was awesome- super comfy, wifi and plugs, a food car and plenty of restrooms.  I'd love to take a longer trip on one someday.  Ours traveled 60mph but there was another that goes 100mph.  So cool.

Overall this was an excellent trip.  I loved just chatting with Daniel as we walked along.  He is such great company and just a very thoughtful person.  I love to hear the ideas that come out of his head.  He will be a great problem solver one day.  Curtis was so sweet to hold down the fort while I was gone.  And as always, it was nice to be back home.

California & Saturna Island

There's too much to write.  And these pics are out of order but it's a huge pain to move them.  This trip was incredible!  We've been planning it in our minds for over 10 years.  We finally just did it.  It was so wonderful to see so many people we adore.  My BFF Naomie and her sweet family in CA, my aunt Karia in Sequim, WA, my oldest friend from Keith Elementary, Kate Pippinger (aka Cheryl Geelhood) and Curt's Dad Bob and his family.  The scenery was breathtaking.  Reunions were lovely.  There were plenty of tears and fists on the long drives.  Lots of hot tamales and Pringles.  Some scary moments with no GPS.  Traffic and worry.  But right now all I can remember is that it was a beautiful reminder that this earth was created for us to enjoy and God is a great lover of beauty and diversity.  And I love my family more than I can say.  The older I get the more I realize that money spent on time together (especially in nature) is so much more precious than any toy or the gadget.  

Crater Lake.  All I can say is I want to go back!!  We didn't get to do the hike.  It is apparently pretty strenuous and takes a couple of hours.  Also everyone was fighting.  But.  Look at that water.  The only source is rainwater so it is crystal clear.  Definitely need to go back.

Victoria on Vancouver Island.  This whole place is like a postcard.  It was quite crowded but then we were there on a Saturday.  Lots of great places to eat and walk.  

Curtis paddle boarding after a tutorial from his brother, Grayden.  But really look at that water (I took that picture- yes!)

Totem pole in Victoria

One of many ferry rides.  And this pic was taken right after Lucy drank Mountain Dew.  Oh boy

Hiking around on Saturna Island with Errol and Ozzie the dog. Coolest dog ever.

Bob is a kayak guide and we spent an afternoon kayaking around the island.  Lucy and Curtis were partners.  It was not easy going.  Jonah and Isaac each kayaked alone and it was really hard work.  They started complaining towards the end and I got a little annoyed with them.  Then Grayden told me that he leads these sorts of trips all the time and that all our kids did amazingly well. :)  Perspective always helps.  Errol and Grayden later said they couldn't believe how good Jonah in particular was being about the whole visit.  I thought he was being such a grumpy teenager but they thought he did great.  This reminds me that too often I expect too much from my kids and think they will enjoy everything this 40 year old mom does.  Good reminder.  The boys earned their kayak merit badge.  (We did Nature, Pets and Geneology too.  Summer trips are a great time do work on scouting)

These rocks on Saturna Island are some of the most photographed in all of BC.  They were just stunning and we spent hours climbing and playing on them.  A seal was swimming alongside us for a long time.  We also saw wild goats and several different kinds of shellfish.  

The sunset from the ferry pier.

Reunited and it feels so good.  Dang I adore this woman!  We literally became friends the minute we met and were pouring out our hearts to each other within hours.  Naomie taught me so much about taking care of people, attending the temple, serving others, working hard, enjoying art and fashion to name a few.  It was so incredible to catch up and just enjoy her laugh again!!  Time is such a funny thing.  We've seen each other like 4 times in the last 20 years.  Sheesh.  Hoping it's not too long before we can hang out again.  Oh and her house is a.mazing.  She designed every bit of it and in typical Naom fashion it is seriously a masterpiece.  And she fed us so well and just made every one of us feel at home.  My kids were so sad to leave.  

 We tie dyed for hours at Naom's house.  So fun.  And here is Curtis rolling up that sassy Isaac in a blow up mattress.

Redwood National Park bear house

These hydrangeas were in the yard of the house we rented in Trinidad, CA.  Oh I miss these flowers!

Hangin out in the Redwoods

Moonstone Beach in Trinidad, CA.  The water was freezing!  But we had fun and Curtis bribed the kids to get all the way in the water so they did. Not worth a dollar if you ask me!

 Mexican food with the Demartinis.

Oneonta Gorge in Oregon.  Actually we thought we were hiking Oneonta and I'm still not exactly sure where we went but it wasn't what we had planned.  The signs were not particularly clear.  But we ended up climbing up a river bed and got to the end with a waterfall and we had the whole place to ourselves.  We had packed some french bread and lunchmeat and veggies and berries. So yummy! 

The girls hanging out on a rock after our long hike.

A visit to Sequim on the Washington pennisula with my mom's baby sister.  It was so fun to see them and enjoy their neck of the woods.  Sequim (pronounced Squim) is so lush and green but apparently it gets a lot more sunshine than Seattle.  The population is pretty small and it's an hour from Vancouver Island and Seattle.  We loved catching up and visited their Farmer's Market before we left.  My cute cousin, Leah sells soaps and bath bombs and they are THE BEST!  I bought several of them and I need more.  Her scents were so good too: grapefruit, spruce, citrus, lavender.  Hmmmm....

Playing Quiddler on the ferry ride to Saturna Island

An afternoon with my old bestie, Kate.  It was so fun to meet her younger, adopted kids.  Shay and Lucy are the exact same age and had a great time together.  We picked up right where we left off.  She is as bubbly, talented and kind as I remember her.  And she lives in the dreamiest place on Bainbridge Island.  I'm so happy for her!

A visit to Pike's market.  I could have spent a whole day here.  The Dahlias and artwork and food... it was awesome!  And aren't Curt's shoes cute?

My Saturna Island Video
And our trip movie trailer

Minnesota & Ontario

So we went back to Minnesota and Canada this summer for a visit. It was so great to see our family and old friends there. In many ways Minnetonka feels like home to me. We lived there for almost 9 years, had our first three children there and LOVED our friends, neighbors, church, school, co-op... Guess I still miss it a bit. We decided to fly into Minneapolis and then rented a car to drive the 8 hours to Dryden. The car ride wasn't bad. We forgot how beautiful Minnesota is. We stopped in Orr at our favorite little hotel there. It's an AmericInn with a pool and really fun water slide. We all went swimming and had a great time! No trouble at the border this time and no moose or deer sightings on that crazy last 2 hour stretch. :)














We had a great time at Granny Turners. She set up Granny's boot camp in the basement for our boys and their cousins, Clint and Tyler. They had a ball. The weather was pretty awful and Jonah's allergies to the cats were pretty bad but we still enjoyed long walks, good talks, a few games of Quiddler, great food including Granny's blueberry cheesecake and Great Gran Brisson's rhubarb pie. Yum! The wedding the beautiful and Sara and Jonathon looked so happy. It was really great to see so many memebers of the Brisson clan- we even got a picture with a LOT of us there! Later that week, we took a freezing dip into lake Wabegoon (so cold I couldn't form words), enjoyed some kayaking and a great meal by Suzie and Rod. One of my favorite moments was when all the kids were rocking out to "Eye of the Tiger" on Noah and Olexa's Rock Band game. They were singing like they meant it.














We drove back to Minneapolis and stayed there for 3 days, catching up with old friends. Jonah was reunited with his 4 Kinder/1st grade buddies from Groveland. It was so fun to see how big all the kids have gotten. I LOVED seeing the hydrangeas on Vine Hill Road- absolutely amazing! We hung out at Wekota beach for an afternoon and spent a day at the Thomas' where of course we were fed well and had lots of laughs. It was good to get back to our own beds and out of a suitcase but dang- we miss our friends/family in the North.