Bring it on 2014!

What a week (and what a year since it is the season to reflect).  This past week we had a slew of activities and social engagements.  Saturday I made it out for a leisurely 10mi run around Discovery Park and down to the water.  The run was beautiful with fog coasting over the water and very few people on the roads and trails.

Sunday the boys all went rock climbing at the Bouldering Project.  The boys LOVED scaling the walls and showing off for each other and the twin girls we were climbing with.

This week of course brought the change of year.  We made our way to my cousin's house for a very luxurious dinner of steak, lobster, vegetables, great wine, and best of all - amazing company.  We sat around talking, dancing, singing with the kids, talking some more, and then watching the East Coast ball drop until the boys were literally zombies on their feet.

New Year's day I got out early for a short run.  Then, we made our way to Laura and Max's house for another wonderful meal - this time brunch.  After brunch we made our way to Discovery Park to play on the zip line and hike in the woods.  Matt and Max hooked up again later in the day to take the kids golfing.

Looking back, this was a great week.  Moreover (and looking back further), this was a great year that included a job change, trying new sports (like cyclocross), the Big Sur marathon, many bumps and bruises as the boys' energy grew, swim class for the boys, soccer for the boys, Whistler, and much more.  In 2014 we're ready for more sports, more travels, more family adventures here and away, and starting to move forward with our goals of even better financial planning and organizing everything.

Christmas at it's finest!

What a Christmas season!  It went by way too fast.  I have a bit of catchup to do, so here goes ...

The boys did their school performance a couple weeks ago singing "Gloria!"  After the show they played with their friends in the church including their buddy Lily.

We had a gingerbread party with 7 little friends (and 2 very little friends - identical twin 2-month old boys).  After "trying" too much candy, the boys turned the party into a dance party.


Last week, we enjoyed a bout of snow in the morning one day.  By afternoon unfortunately the snow was completely gone.

This past weekend Matt's parents got into town for the holidays.  We went to see Santa for a third time ... he's a nice dude, and the boys like catching up, what can I say?

Christmas Eve was a nutso day in the house with too little sleep and too much sugar.  Christmas day was awesome!  Too many presents, too much lego building, and lots of family fun.

The boys even tried out "real golf" for the first time - Cole is amazing.  Wilson likes golf, but prefers the slide.

After dinner, the boys called Uncle Gabe and Auntie Amanda and serenaded them with their new ukalales courtesy of Grandma Lucy:


All in, a great holiday season!  Now time to get more fiscally responsible and slow down a bit.

Whew!  I'm winded just from typing that all up!

Race report: Seattle half marathon

This is overdue ... but here goes.  Last weekend I ran the Seattle half marathon for the 4th time.  On the down side, I ran my worst half marathon (boo) coming in at 1:40.  On the up side, it was a beautiful crisp day and was another fun half. 

Matt and the boys brought me to the race starting line which was awesome.  I got out and bee-lined for the porta potties at the finish line.  Little known trick - potties at the finish line are typically a shorter wait than those at the starting line, also, much cleaner. 

When it was time to line up I made my way to the start with thousands of other runners.  Crammed in, I was reminded why I hate a) people who wear strong smelling deodorant while running, and b) BO.  I took off at a decent pace logging sub-7min miles.  After two miles I decided to pace a bit and found myself slowing down for a couple rolling hills.  Somehow I managed to pull a 5:35min mile on a downhill slope but then more than made up for it with a 10min mile going up through Leschi.  Throughout the race there were gusts of cold wind that made pushing through hard at times, but no rain.

All in, good times.  Next time I'll run faster!

Weekend roundup: Thanksgiving, trains, race, Santa - oh my!

What a BUSY long weekend!  It started on Wednesday when Wilson had the stomach flu and I picked him up from school early.  That entire afternoon was spent on the couch with my sleepy flu-y boy (poor guy).  That night Matt came home complaining of an "ouchie stomach" with Cole in tow who seemed fine. 

Thursday miraculously everyone felt better (thank goodness!) and we went out for a bit of soccer fun before we hit the kitchen.  Thursday afternoon was spent cooking cooking cooking.  We had an amazing feast (with enough food to feed a village) with Max, Laura, and Sasha.  The boys and Sasha dressed up for the event:

On the menu we had turkey, bacon brussel sprouts, baked local vegetables, bread and local cheeses, salad, mashed potatoes, warm bread ... and then 4 kinds of pie.  So much!

Friday I went into work in the morning but as it was dead quiet I made my way to the Seattle Marathon race expo - always a good time.  Friday afternoon was pretty mellow which was nice.  Saturday was another lazy day - Matt climbed and the boys and I played in the house.  That night we made our way to Laura and families new house for dinner - a feast of leftovers made into new and awesome dishes.

Sunday I rose early for the Seattle Marathon (race report to come) then walked home from the finish line to play legos for a bit with the boys.  After hours of legos, we bundled up and made our way to Snoqualmie for the Santa Train.  This was a double whammy (in a good way) - the boys first time on a train, and getting to see Santa.  Both were awesome - on the train neither Cole nor Wilson could stop smiling.  I'll admit, Matt and I were pretty giddy too.

When we finally got to see Santa, the boys plunged into deep conversations with him about why legos need proper stickers for eyes and how fun it would be if the boys could ride with him in the sleigh.

All in, a very busy and very fun weekend! 

Home repairs: knocking walls down!

Last weekend we did something crazy ... Friday night we decided we were ready to make a big change.  Lacking the floor tile we need for our basement, we decided to go bigger - and knock the wall down between our kitchen and dining room.  That night we connected with our contractor and he was able to come the next morning at 7am.  Here's the flow:

First, our contractors looked at the wall, and started covering up furniture:

 Then, the boys took a peak into the kitchen before the big knock down:

 And the wall knocking began!  To kill time, the boys and I went on two runs, hikes, and to the playground.

 And then there was open space.  The only problem is now I'm realizing we need to keep our kitchen clean ... and paint our cabinets ... the list just keeps growing!

Race report: Woodland Park cyclocross

Today I was torn between a nice 10K trail race at Carkeek Park, and the Woodland Park cyclocross series finale.  I went with the cyclocross - the clincher was that the boys could easily watch the race AND they could do their first ever cyclocross race.  The day was awesome (but I think Matt is on the brink of a stress breakdown from chasing the boys around the park all day). 

I went out with the beginners again (this is after all just race 2).  The course was HARD with a lot of hills and a fair amount of mud.  There were all more tight turns than I remember on the last race.  Again, I was one of only a small handful of riders wearing running clothes ... I'm OK with that.  I was in the last wave allowed to ride so I started in the back of the pack.  They kick off each grouping off people by having riders organize based on number - mine ended in 7 which was 2nd to last to get to line up.  The course started by going into a narrow single track down a small hill, and then zig zagging up to a big hill where we picked our bikes up and ran.  I only made 3 loops unfortunately - I landed right after the 1st place man (who lapped me) and they closed the race right behind him so I didn't get to do a 4th loop. 

After my race, we met up with Costa, Holger, and Max (one of the boys' friend from school).  Max, Cole, and Wilson were all prepping to do their first ever race.  They were so very excited - I love seeing them get excited about sports.  They were also all hoping to fall down to get to roll in the mud (which Wilson did often) which I found amusing.  We had Cole and Wilson on balance bikes because their training wheels keep getting stuck in the mud.  They now have a reason to get off the training wheels.

All in, great day, great race, can't wait to go again!  And my knees don't hurt (a plus of cycling over running).

Catching up to do! Halloween

I've got some serious catching up to do ... so I'm going to do it in the Clif Notes version.  Halloween seems to have flown by us as completely illustrated by the fact that there are Christmas ornaments popping up in every store now.  We enjoyed a great NQACC (the boy's preschool) Halloween.  We got to school at 3pm for a "parade" around Seattle Pacific University campus (good birth control for the students I think).  Wilson hugged it out with his friend Ella.

Then we made our way to Queen Anne Ave. to trick or treat at the stores.  It was SO packed it was too much.  After escaping the crowds on the ave, we went around Queen Anne and the boys overloaded on candy.

The weekend after Halloween, we went to Ella's house for apple butter making.  I had no idea what went into apple butter - turns out it's 12-hours of mixing a giant pot of apples, sugar, and butter.