Saturday, March 26, 2011

A HodgePodge of a Post

In an effort to make better usage of my time (and yours), I've done you the favor of condenscing an entire week's worth of blogs into one.

Annnnnnd yes, you are welcome.

First on the list - Happy Anniversary to us!

Can you believe it's been that long? Do we look older? Seriously now.


We always try to make a big deal out of our anniversaries every year because it's the one time a year that we have a really good excuse to take an overnighter, or a trip, or spend a little money. Now that we have kids in the mix, it's become even more imparitive that we take this time to celebrate our love for one another.

This year, Will surprised me by taking me to the Chrysalis Inn and Spa in Bellingham, Washington.


(the view of the 2-person bath tub in our room...niiiiiice).
If you know anything about our engagement story, then you would know that Will sent me to the Spa for the entire day on the day that he proposed to me.

I have retained that it is among the top 4 days of my life so far (the other days being our wedding day, and the birth of both of our boys).

So you can understand that when he told me we were going to be staying at a spa how excited it was!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (the exclamation marks are to show you how excited I was. For reals.)



(The view from our room)



(The bathtub opened up into our room, which you could see the bay and the fireplace from. It was awesome).



(The downstairs lobby of the Spa/hotel)

We dropped the boys off at my parents home, and I do just have to interject a big thank you to my parents for watching them. We know it was not easy - with Taylor not taking a bottle (if you care to read about that whole disaster, you can go to my mommy blog and read about it). But we were in dyre need of some alone time together sans children, and so thank you.

That evening we went to dinner and then saw "The Adjustment Bureau" (which was really good). We had a great night at our hotel, and then the next morning Will sent me to get some spa treatments (oh happy joy!). I had an hour long Swedish massage, followed by a facial that was called "Beyond Botox". The name scared me, but rest assured there was nothing weird or injections. It was a peel and vitamin treatment that was supposed to make my skin "glow" afterwards. It was really nice (although made me break out a little bit the next few days).

I kept trying to talk Will into getting a couples massage with me, but he kept insisting the money and time would be spent far better on me. :) When I was done with my spa treatments I asked him what he did, and he said 'Well I discovered that there is absolutely nothing on TV." LOL. :( But we did have fun walking by the water and taking a nice looooong detoured drive home that afternoon.

So happy 6 years to us - and here is to many many more!

Next, let's play a little game of....



You never know what Preston is going to pile onto my piano next.

All right, and now for those that I've been promising photos of our newly painted kitchen and family room, here you go!







It's so homey and cozy now.

And last but not least, my very good friend Erika came to visit (whom I hadn't seen since Christmas time!). She brought her two boys and we had a really fun overnighter. It was Preston's first slumber party with a friend.



Here is Camden's little baby brother...who is 4 months old. He has the cutest chunky roles.


What slumber party would be complete without....



And then the true test...would the boys be able to sleep in the same room together? We tried to make it easy on them and provided them with all the necessities...


But one "Cars" movie later, Preston had fallen asleep on the floor next to Camden's bed, and Camden was standing up asking to go downstairs next to his Mommy. So that is where he ended up for the rest of the night.

In the morning, we made...




Of course the babies did not eat waffles.

Did I mention that Erika and I were both pregnant together both times, and we both have two boys, and both of our boys are 3 months apart?

Yup.



No actual owies occured in order to get car bandaids.

Next we of course had to get some....



The weather was absolutely gorgeous and we took advantage! And all three of us redheads came back with a little sunburn (except Taylor not so much as he was wearing the very effective sun hat).






Good times were definitely had by all.


Sunday, March 20, 2011

Ultra Running. Ultra Day.

For the past several months, Will has been training for his upcoming big summer race, the Western States 100 Miler taking place in Lake Tahoe at the end of June.

Unlike most runners, who train for 5K's, 1/2 marathons, or marathons and run a few miles a day and do a longer run on the weekend - Will's version of a jaunt is a 20 mile run, and a "longer weekend run" is usually a 50K race.

Yesterday was yet another ultra race, as part of his
"training". He ran the Chuckanut 50 Kilometer Race in Bellingham. He was pulling a double, since last weekend he ran the WaterFalls 50 kilometer race at the Columbia Gorge. He normally wouldn't do two races in a row like that, but who are we kidding? This is one determined guy!

As you can see, we were all thrilled to wake up at 5:30 a.m. to be at the start by 7:00 a.m. and support our favorite papa!


Just kidding. We were actually happy to be there.

See?

Will heading out on the Interurban Trail just 5 miles into the race.
Photo: Glenn Tachiyama


Here's Will passing his first aid station, just warming up after a quick 6.5 miles...


Our next chance to see him wouldn't be for another 3 hours, and so the boys and I decided to explore the area.

I dare say we had a beeeeeautiful view.



We found an Oyster Bay where they harvest oysters, and I had to take a photo since it was called "Taylor Shellfish Co".



Those are more oysters.

We took a tour down Chukunut Drive, which reminded me a lot of those narrow winding Italian highways you see on James Bond movies in the car chase scenes.

Since we're talkin' James Bond, here is my movie scene shot sans fancy sports car.


Preston failed to inform me that his diaper was completely soaked through until it was so bad that his pants were wet, as well as his carseat.

So we stopped at the Bellingham Ferry Dock, and used their nice bathroom to do some changing. Lucky for Preston they had this little train there, and the next sequence of pictures go like this:

"Preston, can you scoot over next to Taylor so I can take your picture?"


"Okay, but you've got to look at the camera when you say cheese....and can you scoot over just a tiny bit more? Thanks."




"Okay thanks for scooting over, but you went the wrong direction."



Preston: "I no more pictures."

Will climbing up the last climb: 1,000 foot Chinsraper


Here is us around noon, when we were able to watch Will come through the aid station around mile 20. Or was it 26? I don't remember. He looked pretty pooped either way.


And then here he is at the finish...YAY!!!

And here is our little Taylor who was also finished....


Ah, the life of being an ultra runner's kid. You get to sit around a lot. Waiting. :)

But then you get THE best snuggles because your ultra runner Papa is so happy to see you again! And so excited that he has the best cheering section ever!


The 3 seconds we got to cheer on Papa after waiting around all day. Here's a quick video...

Here is our friend Rachel coming into the finish....


After the race, we met up with Grandma and Grandpa and went to the ferry docks...





It was the first sunny, warm day that we've had here in a very, very long day.

It was BEAUTIFUL.



And here is where Will and I will be returning on Monday for our 6th Anniversary getaway...



All in all...it was an ultra awesome day.

P.S. 2 other new posts below...