One day while driving along with the kiddos, we passed two women running together on the sidewalk. Evelyn was all excited and yelled, "Look mommy, cool runner girls like you!!" :)



Saturday, January 29, 2011

Kids at Play

Gotta love Target's dollar bins... 4 puzzles for $4... my kids LOVE them!!! Noah is a puzzle whiz these days :)
Got a last-minute call to help out & babysit our neighbor Turynn today... she came over right after the kids laid down for their nap/quiet-time (ugh!!). But -- both Evelyn and Noah were thrilled when they woke up to find their best friend waiting for them. They were wild & crazy & had a fun afternoon & evening together :)


Good news to share - I have a fun event to look forward to.... my college friend Kara is coming out to visit in March!!! She will spend a long weekend with us -- I can't wait! She is starting to get into running --and we might even run a 5k together that weekend. I still remember my first 5k... it would be fun to share her first race experience with her :)

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

A Vacation to Remember

Well -- we survived our first family beach vacation... barely :) Ha ha -- seriously though... this trip was full of highs and lows -- and it will definitely be a trip we will remember! (Snapfish pics here if interested)

It started out with us trying to check into our resort and discovering they were over-booked. UGH!! So -- after much complaining/negotiating (and almost a few tears -- I was pretty tired from the day of travel), they sent us down the road to a different resort (actually a nicer, higher rated resort) for the first few days. They promised us a room upgrade and two free massages when we returned -- that helped to sweeten the deal :)

Here are the kids the next day -- ready to hit the pool!! They had a blast -- the resort had a designated kids area... a shallow kids pool, a kids club, and a big splash park full of sprinkler-like equipment. Very cool!!
Playing in the pool at the first resort: This picture was taken Thursday night before dinner -- at this point, Noah was starting to feel under the weather :(

Well -- he went downhill pretty fast. He spiked a fever that night, was coughing a ton, couldn't fall asleep, and started breathing heavy/wheezing. We decided at around midnight to call the resort doctor.
He diagnosed him with two ear infections, tonsilitis, and fluid in his airways (not quite down in his lungs thankfully) He gave us three different medications and the worst part was he told us to keep Noah away from water for the remainder of the trip. Not only was he worried about water in the ears and Noah swallowing water -- he didn't even want Noah to be breathing the chlorine, or salt-water, or being around the moisture/humidity of the water. UGH!!!!
I felt SO sorry for Noah -- we pretty much had to divide up during the day a lot for the remainder of the trip. Evelyn and I played at the pool while Travis and Noah would walk around, visit the kids club, etc. The kids were able to play together when they wanted to play in the sand, but we kept Evelyn out of the water when Noah was around so that he wouldn't get too sad :( It was all pretty heartbreaking. He is a trooper though -- and had a great time anyway :)
Evelyn seemed to come out of her shell a lot this vacation -- she was approaching little kids left and right and becoming their friend, playing with them in the pool, dancing with them, etc. It was pretty cute :)
Here she is at the pool at our second resort:
So -- regardless of the trials we were put up against, our family came together and had a wonderful vacation together. Was it the picture-perfect vacation I had hoped? No. But the weather was beautiful, the resorts were top-notch, everyone we met was ultra-friendly, and we were all able to get away, relax and have fun together for seven days. A success in my book :)

Saturday, January 8, 2011

Starting the Cabo Countdown!!

Really don't have much to write about these days... just trying to get back into a routine now that the madness of the holidays is over with. I love Christmas-time & all the festivities so much --- it is always a tough adjustment for me once January comes. I have been keeping busy though, and trying to spend some extra time in the gym... since we will be in Mexico in 10 days!!!!! Not sure I was thinking clearly when I planned a beach vacation so close to Xmas cookie season!

Thought I would include a couple more pics from around Christmas... here is Evelyn in her new rain jacket:
Noah received the same jacket in red -- here he is with my dad when we took a trip to NW Trek (a wildlife area with elk, bear, moose, etc)Cute jackets are from LLBean -- highly recommend them! A good quality rain coat is very important when you live in the Pacific Northwest! :)

In workout news, I am thinking about registering for a half marathon. I need to decide pretty quick... since I should get on a training plan ASAP (it is March 20th). The down-side: it is on Mercer Island and it is a pretty hilly and tough course. The up-side: it benefits colon cancer prevention/research which means a lot to me and my family.

Saturday, January 1, 2011

Happy Birthday Peanut!

Evelyn's birthday was December 26th. We had a small party for her at a Fun Center in town (kinda like a ChuckECheese). Here we are before all the guests arrived:Evelyn with Alexis -- one of her BFFs from school:Right before we sang... the little turkey blew out all the candles before we even started singing... so we had to do a "re-do". Here is the video Yup -- that is Noah's big head in the bottom of the picture :)
On a side note -- I came up with a few resolutions for this year. I thought I would share and hopefully that will help to hold me to my promises :)

  1. Stay healthy -- listen to my body -- no over-training
  2. Complete another half-marathon, sprint triathlon, and strive for an Olympic distance triathlon
  3. Work to improve swimming skills (see #2)
  4. Have a date night or a game night with Travis at least once a month (no kids!)
  5. Get out for one-on-one time with each kiddo at least once a month
  6. Pray more.
  7. Even if everyone in the house is sleeping by 9:00 on New Year's Eve... it is NOT a good idea to try to be productive and take down Xmas decorations all by myself. Very depressing... lesson learned.