Inspiration Found

I am WAY behind... so I am just going to talk about the most significant thing that has happened since my last post. A couple weekends ago, I attended a women's reTREAT in Kingston, WA put on by Beth Brewster (owner of Kingston Adventures). She is an amazing, inspirational female athlete who has done just about everything - including ironmans and ultraman competitions (6.2 mile swim, 261.4 mile bike, 52.4 mile run -- YIKES!!) -- and is really one of the coolest people you will ever meet. She held a 30 woman retreat that was filled with stand-up paddleboarding, yoga, trail running, lots of yummy food, crazy fun, and some really cool free swag!! (see shirts below - courtesy of Oiselle) I didn't know anyone that was going to be there. I seriously contemplated not going (but I had already gotten on the ferry at that point -- so there was no turning back!) ha ha But -- we all know that we just need to put ourselves out there sometimes... and I quickly made friends and knew that I wouldn't regret it from the moment that I walked through the door :)

The weekend was filled with challenging physical activities, and also goal-sharing, and talk about distractions and things that hold us back from achieving our goals, etc. It was really great to be around a group of strong, athletic women -- and to hear that we all deal with similar stresses, time-restraints, and fears... just a really empowering experience... hard to put into words..

Here we are on the paddleboards... yes, not only did we stand on them and paddle around, we also did a "boot-camp" workout... push-ups, squats, plank poses, etc... so HARD... but so FUN!Here I am with a new friend during the morning trail run (hats courtesy of Kingston Adventures)... we aren't too tired... yet :)Here is the group pre-trail run... we are all sporting our compression sleeves courtesty of RecoFit -- awesome product for fellow runners... :)
So... had a great time, had good workouts, made some new friends (running with one of the ladies this Saturday morning - Yay!), and most importantly... I found new inspiration and motivation for my goals :)

Little Peanut... Growing Up Fast

Evelyn started school (Pre-K) recently at our parish school. She was excited to wear her "unicorn" on her first day. She only called it her unicorn for a while (I don't think Travis or I wanted to correct her at first - it was too darn cute!!). Here she is with her Hello Kitty lunch box all ready to go:Evelyn also started soccer a couple weeks ago (also a school/parish related team). Here she is looking like a pro already:She had a heartbreaking experience the first game though (heartbreaking for me, anyway). She did okay and was excited and everything during the practice portion, but had a hard time during the game. She completely froze on the field and burst into tears. She couldn't even move to walk herself off the field. I had to get her and carry her off. Boo-hoo :(
She couldn't really verbalize what the problem was -- but I think it was a mixture of being confused about what she was supposed to do, overwhelmed by all the kids chasing after the ball that she wanted a turn to kick, etc. It was tough to watch... I am doing whatever I can to help her just have fun with it-- and trying not to push too hard. I really hope she gets the competition bug and enjoys athletics someday though!! :)

Family Time

Made a family trip to the circus on Sunday... kids (and Travis) finished this popcorn before the circus even started! We all enjoyed the show -- amazing stunts/tricks by humans & animals -- SO glad we went!!
Made a trip to the Evergreen State Fair today. This has become a Labor Day annual tradition for us. We started out with the Alaskan Pig Races --- so cute!! Nothing better than tiny mini pigs racing around a little track!! Highlight of the fair for me - every year :)

This year we decided to do some rides (last year Noah wasn't quite tall enough -- so we avoided that whole area). Noah enjoyed the teacups ride... until Travis got it going around and around... I think that was a little too much for him. He enjoyed it again after they stopped spinning so much. Here is a video (not great quality though - I used my phone)

Cute kiddie roller-coaster...

Ended the night with a bath after dinner -- in our master bathroom. This was a treat for the kiddos -- they usually are in their little tub.

Well -- feeling a little anxious tonight. Evelyn starts Pre-K tomorrow at a new school. Noah will still be going to his daycare/preschool center for another year. I will post some pics soon of Evelyn in her big school-girl uniform. Gosh - I feel old all of a sudden!!!