Seattle: Around the House

There's nothing like a bunch of random pictures to end a vacation. Brody and Austin holding hands in the car. Too cute!

Brody's attempt at taming Baxter. Brody is totally a dog boy. He was all over Baxy. I felt bad for the dog, but he didn't mind. Too bad we won't ever get a dog. #1 because we don't want one and #2 because Braden's allergic to them. I guess that's why we have Mema and Audrey/Toren to fulfill that wish.

He looks like he could be one of mine, right? He is just too kissable.

Braden loved helping my brother with the yard. He was willing to point out dog poop for my brother to get rid of. While Toren was away, Braden thought he would do some rearranging.

 

The walking machine.

 Brody ate the whole time. I swear we ate them out of house and home. We finally broke out the cute jammies. The Batman ones with the cap are my favorite.

 The deck is the biggest most gorgeous deck I've seen. The boys loved playing outside.

We slept in on Sunday and then got things in order and headed home. The drive was long. I think the boys were ready to be home, although, Braden kept saying he was worried and nervous about Austin. We asked why. His response: I just love him so much and am going to miss him. That's what we expect with his cousins. We will miss him too.

Seattle: Victory Dinner

The best thing about running in a race is that you burn TONS of calories (3304 to be exact) so you can eat anything you want. We met up with the Bell's here:

It's similar to the Mayan (in Utah) which means that there was a great atmosphere, but the food was way overpriced and not too good. While we were waiting we couldn't resist taking silly pictures.

Hoping for Prince Charming. Or at least his kingdom and money.

There was an alligator at the entrance. Braden was a little nervous until we told him it was fake. There were many animals in the restaurant (gorillas, elephants, birds) that moved.

We left Brody home with Audrey and Toren (he's terrible at restaurants) which made it some good time with Braden.

Camille and Jared

Braden loving his time with Dexter.

And just to show that Ms. Evelyn was there too. Cheesin it up for the camera.

The Bell's even went as far to order this yummy dessert. My stomach was still hurting, so I didn't eat too much of anything. Although this looked good, I passed. Blake said it was delicious.

It's tradition to go out to eat after our big races and wear our shirts. We are incredibly proud of ourselves even though the race didn't work out exactly how we anticipated it to. There's always the next one. (Fall 2012)

Thanks Audrey and Toren for watching Brody. It made our dinner so much better.

Seattle Day 3: Kids Free Day in Auburn

Auburn (the city where my brother lives) had a free kids day. This included tons of booths and about 30 blow-up castles, obstacle courses and so forth. The park where it was at was beautiful and big. We were there for a little over an hour. The boys had a good time. I didn't get any pictures of Austin or Brody. I guess I am a bad mom and aunt, but enjoy the ones of Braden.

The lines for the obstacle courses were way long, so we only went in 2 of them. Braden thoroughly enjoyed it and would have done it longer if we let him. We came home, got the kids situated with their naps and then headed to the expo. I already wrote about that though. It was a nice morning.

Seattle Day 1-2: Children's Museum

We drove to Seattle on Wednesday night. It's only about a 4 1/2 - 5 hour trip and the boys did great. We got there in time for a delicious spring roll dinner (thanks Audrey and I still want the recipe). We hung out that night and visited. The next day Audrey found that the Children's Museum in Tacoma has free Thursday's. We couldn't pass this up. The museum was not the best I've been too, but it was still cute and the boys had a good time. (Click on the images to enlarge.)

It's fun to see how big Braden is getting. He was more interested in building and how things worked.

Austin loved crawling (well, walking actually) around and getting into everything. This was a great place to do it. To brag a little about nephew, he just decided to start walking full-time the day we arrived. He's such a little flirt and has a smile that makes you want to kiss him forever. He's pretty mellow, but can sure scream if you make him mad.

He's also a sensitive soul. Later Thursday night, Audrey, Heidi and I went to the store. We took the babies, as Toren and Blake were watching the NBA Draft and didn't want to be interrupted (mostly Blake). Brody was screaming most of the car ride home (he's a screamer and I hate it). This upset Austin. He just couldn't understand why he was screaming. I think it's because Austin is very empathetic. He is just so cute. We had some delicious spaghetti and salad (carb loading of course) and tried to go to bed at a reasonable hour. Toren made us watch X-Files and as much as I loved it when I was younger, it didn't engage me this time. Nice try Toren. It was so nice to be around family.

What Movie?

There are many things I love about my sister-in-law (Audrey), but the one thing I love most about her (besides the fact that she still has her baby blanket too) is that she loves Hollywood spots just like me. Example: our giddiness when going to the Roloff Farms. What movie was this school in? It was a pretty big movie with some big actors.

 A certain truck rolled down this hillside.

 A certain actor (who has died since) ran across these exact bleachers and sang a great song.

 And a band played on that very roof at the end of the movie.

Please name this movie. 1,000 points to everyone who can name it. Audrey actually went to high school here and was too young (by 1 year) to be an extra in the film. I love this movie and know my childhood friend, Jennie, is too, as we made up a whole dance to "I want you to want me." If I could get a hold of that video, I would post it.

Seattle Rock & Roll Marathon

My first marathon. I have been in training mode for a whole year and it has been to run 26.2 miles. I can't believe I paid over $100 to do this. I am so grateful my running partner (Camille) talked me into this. This was the ultimate challenge for me. Here is the course make. There were 3 out and backs. Those felt long.

This make was at the expo. I went with Audrey and Heidi (Audrey's mom) and met up with Camille and Collette. We got our numbers, swag bags and got all the free stuff we could from the booths.

Me with my lovely ladies. We had so much fun looking at all the running stuff. We all bought Rock and Roll visors (thanks Rachel for the money to spoil myself).

 This was Audrey's first half marathon. The plan was to run it with her mom. I am so proud of her.

Now for the details. Audrey, Heidi, Collette and I shared a room on Friday night. We left the babies home with the boys. I kept with my tradition and ate pizza the night before the race. All night long my stomach was cramping. I woke up at least 5 times due to this pain. I thought it was just nerves. In the morning Audrey said her stomach hurt too. We were both nervous though. Camille, Collette and I left at 6 am and the hotel shuttle took us to the start line. It was 1 mile to the actual start from where we were dropped. By the time we checked our gear and used the restrooms, it was starting time. We ran to our corral and had just enough time to get excited and nervous before they called corral 9.

Here are my boys waiting for me. They had to wait a good hour and a half from when Audrey and Heidi finished to when we did. Blake said they did great.

Around mile 5 my stomach started to hurt again. Not digestion problems like I had in the past, but it felt like a rock was in my stomach. I wanted to throw up. Thanks to some great running partners, I pushed through. At mile 13, I finally broke down and told them I needed to walk for a minute. True to word, after a minute we picked it back up. By mile 15 I was in a desperate search for a bathroom. I found when, went inside and threw up for a couple of minutes. My stomach never felt so good. We continued on. Once again, by mile 18 my stomach was hurting again and I was feeling really weak. I had just throw up everything. We walked again at mile 19 for a minute or two (or three).

I ran another 2 miles, but my stomach was hurting and I was feeling dizzy. From mile 21-25.2 we stopped every mile and walked for a little bit. I thank Collette and Camille for being so patient with me. I was pretty miserable. I tried to act tough, but I know they knew I wasn't feeling good. I tried to throw up again at mile 24, but could get nothing out (TMI, I know). At mile 25.2 we decided the last mile was ours to take. We rounded the final corner and saw my lovely family cheering us on. Heidi was a little ahead of them and screaming like a mad woman. We loved it.

Seeing my family almost made me cry (I actually could have broke down in tears about 5 times throughout the marathon), but didn't. We finished and we finished strong.

I can't say it enough, I couldn't have finished if it weren't for these 2 girls (Camille and Collette). They were my motivators and supporters. They looked so good and I am confident they could have run the whole way if it weren't for me. So thank you lovely ladies for just sticking with me. I kept saying I didn't need you and should go ahead, but I really did need you.

Camille and I made shirts before the race. Our names were on the front. The lady messed up on my shirt though. It was supposed to say "26.2 to go..." but she ended up putting Camille's quote on both our. We were upset, but I think it was fate because I needed this saying on my back. I needed to know that I was going to finish no matter what. We got so many comments I can't even count. That was also motivating.

Blake has watched the kids every Saturday morning for the past year (except for about 5-8 Saturdays). He has been my #1 supporter and I can't thank him enough for helping me with this goal. He looks forward to getting his Friday night and Saturday mornings back.

My boys!

Braden's been telling me for days that he won't yell "Go mom!" but sure enough he did when it came down to it. He wanted me to hold him, but my legs wouldn't have it.

Audrey did great at her half. She too experienced the same tummy troubles as me and wanted to throw up during the whole thing. I look forward to her next half marathon when she feels amazing. She was still able to keep it in her time goal, so I am sure she will be too fast when everything feels good.

I am so proud of myself. Never in a million years did I think I would run a marathon (well, I guess run/walk). I am pretty sure I will do one again (not anytime soon though, maybe after another baby) so I can feel strong and enjoy my experience. I really had to focus on my stomach the whole time. I don't even think I spoke very much. And if you know me, you know I love to talk.

This was a great first one to do. There were bands every mile or so and it was well supported. The bands were ok, but still added some variety. We did get some pretty cool medals at the end. I don't regret doing this and all the time I have put into training. It was really fun to see all the different people running. There were all kinds of body types. I am so grateful that God has blessed us with strong bodies and mind that are meant to be challenged. I have to admit that I said a prayer after throwing up and asking for His help. He sure gave it to me.

Father's Day

We had a great Father's Day. The goal was to make Blake feel special. Both boys slept in until 9 am. Seriously, we couldn't believe it. I woke up early to get breakfast started and Blake woke up a little later. We enjoyed making breakfast together and without whining kids. I made thick french toast with buttermilk syrup and strawberries, hash browns, bacon and eggs. The kids woke up just in time to eat.

I have a husband who loves to open up presents, so we went straight to that after I cleaned up breakfast. His parents were cute and sent him a lantern (as we plan to do tons of camping this summer), the boys made him a card and a key hold with hand prints and I got him a shirt. There is another gift that I am still waiting to arrive. It was supposed to come by Saturday, but still isn't here. He loved everything.

The whole reason for this day.

As another little gift for my man, I made him a cake. This was my first time using fondant and I was surprised at how easy it was. I married a goof ball and I just love him for that. The cake is actually delicious and so is Blake. (Ok, that was a little too cheesy.)

Braden made Blake a crown in nursery which he wore proudly the rest of the day.

 Classic Braden face. Asking, "Can I please have another otterpop?"

Me with the father of my children. I love him so much and appreciate all that he does for me and the boys. I can't imagine my life without him.

Happy Father's Day honey.