4.72

My friend Kristin and I ran 4.72 miles this morning. I met her in front of her house at 5:45 AM and we ran a loop around our neighborhood and finished back at her house. It was a gorgeous morning and the moon was high in the sky over the mountains. She is really great at the uphills and I definitely prefer the downhills. Who am I kidding, Kristin is great at running the ups and downs! She runs circles around me. Thanks Kristin for putting up with my groaning and slow ascents :) Man, the uphills kicked my heiny today. I am starting to train for the Denver Rock and Roll Marathon in October and a few shorter races throughout the summer.
It has been hard this winter trying to find times to run. Scott and I both have really taken it easy and now we are starting to step it up a bit.

Have a great day! We are enjoying beautiful weather!
Jennifer

Home.

Home from vacation. We had such a great time in California. We realized that we could definitely be beach people. Our kids had such a blast running in and out of the waves, digging holes in the sand and just being kids. Oh yeah...I didn't miss the winter weather at all. Not even when I heard that Colorado was being blanketed in feet of snow and roadways were closed. Nope. Didn't miss that at all. Too bad we couldn't afford to be beach people :) But we sure had fun pretending. We did miss our mountains and the anti-glam of Colorado. When you visit other places, like Orange County, you realize that we are really laid back here...and I like it.
Here are some pictures from the rest of our week. Wednesday, we spent the day at the pool and then had dinner with pirates. Thursday, we spent the entire day at Legoland and all the kids thought it was the best theme park ever. They were great ages for Legoland. The rides really suited their ages and heights:) You know we are height challenged, right? Sam finished the day at Legoland in the shops (he has been saving his allowance for a while now and had a pretty good stash) and arrived home with a backpack full of limited edition lego sets. He read the instructions all the way home on the plane and has been in his room all day today putting together the legos. Every once in a while he emerges and shows us a creation and then goes back in to create something else.

On Friday, we got up, ate breakfast, packed everything up and got ready to check out. Just as we were leaving our room, Scott checked the flight info and found that our flight was cancelled. What? It was sunny and 75 degrees outside. Cancelled?? We called the airlines and all flights to Denver were cancelled, something to do with snow. Anyhoo, we got a room close the airport, took the kids out for a fun dinner and spent the rest of the evening at a park near the hotel. We flew out early (very early) on Saturday morning. Here are the rest of my pics from our evening at the park. Today I am hanging out on the couch because it seems that a MAC truck ran me over (or I have a nasty throat infection). Scott is watching MSU basketball and folding laundry. Tomorrow, we go back to our regular crazy routine.

Sleep. It is a beautiful thing.

Ahhh. Yes. Sleep. We have been getting lots of it around here. Everyone is falling into bed at night and sleeping. I know, I know, who woulda thunk it??!! My kids sleeping. Ahhh. Yes.

I guess the tour of theme parks, pools, beaches and fresh air are the culprits. We have kept ourselves busy in sunny California.

Yesterday: Disney. Today: Sea World. Tomorrow: more playing on the beach. Tonight: sleepy kids. I love it.

Here are some cute pics from the last two days, Disneyland and Sea World. Enjoy! I hope everyone in Colorado is staying warm what with all that snow and cold! Yeah, I am rubbing it in a bit, I guess.

We went to Disneyland on Monday morning and stayed until dinner time. It was a busy day. Sam got to see the Jedi Training Academy, Alice (along with Paige and Sam) got her face painted at the princess faire, Paige met three princesses and Tinkerbell and Mason got his picture with Mickey Mouse. Everyone had a great day!

Tuesday we spent the day at Sea World. We spent part of the morning with my brother and his fam and then the rest of the day with Grandma Peggy, Papa Gary, Aunt Betty and Uncle Jeff. We saw Shamu, sea lions, sharks, sea stars, fed sting rays and went on a couple water rides. Sea World was a nice park and much calmer than Disneyland. Much calmer :)

Off to the beach tomorrow! Have a great night. And to all our Colorado friends, turn on your heating blankets. Sounds like it might get chilly tonight! Yeah, I am rubbing it in again. Sorry.

Jennifer

Beach Bums

We had another great day at the beach today. We met one of my college roommates, Brandie, and her family at the Corona del Mar beach. We spent the day catching up and watching the kids play in the sand and water. It was a bit chilly but the kids had no problem playing in the waves all day. Thanks Jeff and Brandie for an awesome day!

Hangin' out in Cali

Dolphins playing in the ocean just off the beach. Sea World, beat this!

Crystal Cove State Park, just 1/2 mile from our room.

We have arrived. In California that is. And it is warm and green and humid. When we left on Friday evening it was snowing like crazy and feet of snow were predicted. We were so lucky that our flight was still taking off. After sitting on the runway for an hour (with four kids) waiting for de-icing, we took off and made great time to California.

Yesterday, we got up and found some breakfast via the Starbuck's pastry cooler. We walked across from there to the grocery store and stocked up for the week on breakfast, lunch and snack items. The weather was so beautiful that we took the kiddos directly the pool and stayed there until noon. We got a quick lunch in the room and then headed out to explore the beach. After our fun day in the sun, we had a nice evening catching up with a high school friend. Dave and his beautiful girlfriend, Kathleen, came down and had pizza with us. Dave was in our wedding and we had only seen him one other time since then. We had fun catching up and laughing about times past.

Today, we are meeting my sorority sister and college roommate for a beach day at Corona del Mar. I am so looking forward to a relaxing day, catching up and watching the kids play.

Enjoy the pictures from yesterday. We had a great day.

We even stopped to let a snail pass on the sidewalk.

Weekend Fun

This weekend we spent a lot of time having fun! We were out and about a lot!


The kids really had to be flexible and understanding as we moved from activity to activity.

Alice had a swimming party at the aquatics center.

We spent Saturday afternoon biking on the Santa Fe trail. Wow, does our caravan get a lot of attention! Sam lead the crew with Scott coming next pulling Paige and Mason in the Burley and I brought up the rear with Alice on the tag-along.

Saturday night, Sam went to a sleepover at a friends house.

Sunday morning we spent most of the morning at church. Alice sang in the choir at the first service and the two older kids sang at the second service. We got bagel sandwiches for lunch and then headed home to start packing for California.

Overall, a very fun weekend for all!

Love, Jennifer