thirteen point one.

Today Scoobs and I ran a 1/2 marathon.  Holy buckets.  We actually did this.  Grateful for strong healthy bodies.  Grateful for finishing what we started.  Grateful for old friends.  Grateful to my husband for wrangling kids so I could run and bringing them to the finish line because it truly was "our" race this summer.  

august and everything after.

We have been busier than I like.  To compensate, Nate and I fell asleep on the couch after tucking the kids in at 7:30.  I didn't wake up until 6 AM.  I think my body was telling me it needed a break.  I remember a conversation I had with a dear friend a year ago and we both agreed that if we could just get through this season, things would slow down.  But they don't slow down, right?  We pile on more.

We took our big kids to Disneyland this weekend and the frantic pace of the "happiest place on earth" was crazy to me.  We had fun, and we saw maybe 1/8 of the park.  We walked at their pace.  We stopped for water and ice cream (A LOT), we rode It's a Small World a billion times because that was Claire's favorite.  We took pictures with princesses and hugged Mickey and Minnie.  

Their favorite part of the trip?  Milkshakes in the hotel room and hanging out on the beach.  They don't need amusement parks, they need us.  The best parts of our trip didn't get photographed: Everett rolling in the sand and Claire building sandcastles with her hands.  

I'm glad we went.  I'll post pictures of our adventure soon.  

no turning back, no turning back.

Number 1 on the list of things to make me cry is children singing in choirs.  And if those children are singing worships songs, forget it.  Claire and I spent the weekend at church. She sang in the worship choir four times throughout the weekend.  Thankfully, I only teared up once, which was impressive compared to the waterworks I shed this spring when she was a little pig in her kindergarten play.  Also, she ate a huge pickle at Homer Days.

stunt riders?

Somebody taught himself to ride a bike this week.

And then big sister, who has approached her bike with serious trepidation since the training wheels were removed, hopped on like it was no big deal and they rode circles together for four hours.

Also, I overheard this:

C: We're really good at riding bikes.
E:  Yeah
C:  And we're getting better every day.
C:  We're stump riders.