Summer Adventure

This past weekend was one of our greatest adventures yet.

Its always such a joy to be able to say that after a trip requires so many months of planning, so many hours of driving, and race fees in a sum you swear you will never pay again.

Except we are totally paying the race fees again.

Yep, the weekend was that great.

On Friday we loaded up the kids and the camping gear and hit the road for Washougal, WA.  Skilled parents that we are, we planned ahead and found a great park in Hermiston, OR for our pit stop.

Giant xylophones built right in!

And a splash pad to boot.

By mid-afternoon we arrived at our campsite in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, where Justin's parents were waiting for us.  We've talked about camping together for years and finally made it happen.  Bonus: they have a trailer!

Can you believe these trees?  I was in awe.

I even had got to wear a sweatshirt most of the time at our campsite.  It was wonderful.

I really need to get out of the desert more often.

As was expected, the boys thrived in their camping habitat.

The twins' finally conceded that s'mores are indeed delicious.

Not long after setting up our tent Kendry asked why he couldn't see the volcano (i.e. Mount St. Helens).  Darn all those tall gorgeous trees!  So on Saturday we took a short drive up to a great lookout.  

{Incidentally, on our drive back home on Sunday he also got to see Mt. Hood, another volcano.  We pretty much made his summer with these two sightings.}

But the real weekend adventure was our race. On Saturday morning Justin and I braved our very first Spartan Sprint, 4+ miles of running, mud and obstacles.  

We were both pretty pleased with how we did.  While we don't anticipate becoming regular Spartan racers, we are already looking to register for another sprint in 2016.  This really is an impressive and challenging race.  A big shout out to Justin's parents who watched the boys for several hours so we could do this; you both are amazing grandparents!

We headed home on Sunday, finding another neat rest stop and playground in Arlington, OR, where the boys practiced their own Spartan skills.  

Did I mention that I totally bombed on the monkey bars and rings in my race?

I taught him this pained look.

Not on my next race though.

A Half-Marathon Weekend

On Saturday, September 27th, I completed my 3rd half marathon - the Happy Girls Run held in Spokane.  First and foremost, this was an awesome race.  I felt like I was in great shape, the course was difficult but beautiful, and it was amazing to run with so many women.  Secondly, this race kinda kicked my butt.  It was a tough course, with nearly the entire first half on rocky trails.  I had hoped to PR with a sub 1:51:00, but that just didn't happen.  I also came away with a foot injury.

All smiles before the race:

Looking a wee bit exhausted at the finish:

My race groupies:

The weather seriously challenged my packing strategy for our weekend.  As you can see, Kendry had to wear Daddy's coat in order to stay warm.  Fortunately, it was great running weather.

All along we had planned to spend the entire race weekend in Spokane, a short two hour drive from home. Justin's sister lives there and we intended to crash at their place. However, four days before the race our niece came down with fever that eventually developed into hand, mouth and foot. Yeesh!  For those who aren't aware, the twins came down with hand, mouth and foot - one baby right after the other - in August.  It was quite possibly our most brutal parenting week ever.  Needless to say, we were more than willing to make alternate arrangements for the race weekend in order to avoid hand, mouth and foot.  We ended up booking a hotel room for the weekend.  With a five year old and two babies still sleeping in cribs, it was quite an adventure, but we made it work.

Off we go!

With my race completed on Saturday morning, we strolled down to Riverfront Park in the afternoon.

 

In hindsight, walking probably wasn't the best choice for my injured foot, but its not like we were going to stay cooped up in the hotel room.

Before heading home on Sunday we hit up Trader Joe's and Manito Park. 

All that playground time paved the way for this on the drive home:

It was a fun weekend away.  While I didn't PR, I did finish under two hours with an official time of 1:59:37.1.  Out of 591 women, I placed 43rd.  

The babies did not get hand, mouth and foot.  Yeah, baby!  

And I came away with a cool new tee.

This race could be a fun yearly tradition.  Any volunteers to join me?

Happy running! 

(particularly if its hand, mouth and foot that you're running from)

How a 5k Can Impact Your Parenting

Last month marked a milestone for our oldest kiddo: at a mere 4 years of age Kendry finished his first 5k on foot.

Kendry is no stranger to the running scene, having been my running partner (via jogging stroller) since he was just a wee lad.

A very cute running partner he is too, and so accommodating of my costume ideas.

Alas, pushing him in a jogger the two races previous to the March 5k brought me to a conclusion: he was just getting too darn big.

The time had come to give Kendry a little push out of the proverbial nest and see if he was ready to fly.

Fly he did.

My only regret is that I didn’t have a camera to catch the giant grin painted on his face as he took off from the starting line with all the other runners. He kept glancing up at the runners around him, beaming ever so proudly. He was finally one of the pack; he was finally a runner. Albeit a runner I had to keep reminding to pay attention so he didn’t run into a telephone pole, trip over a bump in the asphalt or collide with a jogging stroller. There were close calls with all three of those risks.

Kendry jogged the entire first mile on adrenaline and excitement, with me beside him. As the novelty and adrenaline wore off (and the two of us slowly fell to the back of the pack), he started taking little walking breaks in between spurts of running. But he was still motivated.

Daddy and little brothers passed by us going the other way, having already hit the halfway turnaround.

Auntie Angel passed by us too.

I reminded Kendry that we were almost to the halfway point ourselves and that we could stop and get a drink there. The incentive of a water break sparked his stride a little. But once the halfway point was reached and the water consumed, completing the race was suddenly the last thing Kendry wanted to do.

As the mom I found myself struggling as well. I wanted my kiddo to have fun, but obviously the fun was over. His legs were tired, his motivation was gone, and his spirits were down. Not to mention the finish line was still 1.5 miles away.

Was I tempted to swing him onto my back and let him piggyback for awhile? You betcha!

But I didn’t.

**********************

I heard a Chip Ingram message once that said:
“Our kids will encounter suffering in their lives. Teach them to suffer well.”

There is a lot of commentary lately about a generation of children growing up unequipped to deal with life’s disappointments and hurts because their well-meaning parents can’t stand to see their kids suffering. I’m sure these parents have the best of intentions – no one wants to see their kids suffer - but the truth is no matter how hard we try to protect our kids, they will be disappointed and they will get hurt. It is inevitable. Instead of overprotecting our kids we should let life struggles build their character; stand back, give them independence and let them fall, then come along side them and teach them how to suffer well. Let them see your failures. Let them see you apologize. Let them see you fall, dust yourself off and get back up.

Let them see you stick to your commitments, even when it gets tough.

**********************

With 1.5 looonng miles to go, I fought off the urge to rescue my kiddo or give him a way out; instead, I took his hand and we took it one step at a time. We walked and we talked. He complained a little; I countered with praise and optimism. I encouraged him to run when he could, and he did. I told him it didn’t matter if we walked the rest of the way, but that we were going to finish the whole race.

With about 200 yards to go I told Kendry we should try to beat the little girl and her daddy walking in front of us. He wasn’t interested.

At 100 yards to go we spotted Daddy, little brothers and Auntie Angel cheering us on. His spirits lifted.

At 50 yards Kendry took off running and didn’t stop until he crossed the finish line, where he promptly turned to me and exclaimed: “Mommy, I beat that girl!”

Who knew a family fun run could provide such a teachable moment, for both parent and child?

As we run, we become.

 ~Amby Burfoot~

GO DADDY GO!

This weekend Justin competed in his first duathlon at Hells Gate State Park.

Race day started out with (what else?)... a flat tire. So we squeezed in a Walmart stop to purchase a new inner tube before heading to the park.

By the way, green goo is wonderful stuff, until you have to remove the inner tube. What a mess!

Daddy's little helper:

Ready to run!

This duathlon was a two mile run, twelve mile bike ride (w/ hills), followed by another two mile run.

There was also the option of entering as a team of two - one runner, one biker. Justin and I are entertaining that idea for the next race.

Here is hubs after completing the bike portion.

Off and running again!

Still smiling:

Finished at last!

Justin finished at just over an hour and a half.

Let me tell you, an hour and a half is more than enough time for a three year old to hurt himself multiple times on rough asphalt.

This is Kendry's "I've got an owie and I'm milkin' it" pose.

We are so proud of you, Justin!