Say Cheese!

Merrick is now willing to "smile" for you when you take his picture. Let's just say, we don't always get the smiling face we'd like...

Isaiah's Birthday Party

Birthday boy Isaiah!

Isaiah turned 2 and we celebrated his birthday with him last Saturday. The party was a costume party and Merrick loved putting on his Winnie the Pooh costume. I was even able to get him to say "Super Sleuths are on the case". The party was lots of fun and included pizza, cake and a parachute!




Super Sleuths are on the case!



Yummy cake!

Fun with the parachute

Marathon Babes

Leslie, Coleen and I having fun in the photo booth at the Nike Marathon Expo

San Francisco Weekend

I just returned from a weekend in San Francisco for the Nike Women's marathon.

Coleen and I arrived Friday night and got into the city at about 9. While going to get on the BART at the airport, I realized that I had left the directions to the hotel and all of our confirmations to pick up our race packets at the ticket counter in Portland. Luckily I remembered what stop to get off at and the address for the hotel and even luckier is that Coleen had a GPS on her phone and we were able to find our hotel relatively easily. We got checked in and then went to find some dinner. When we got back and I started unpacking my bag, I found a surprise from Travis. He had gotten me a new camera, which I've been talking about getting for months. I was so surprise and excited.

The next morning Leslie arrived and we went to find an internet cafe so we could print our confirmations to pick up our packets. We then headed down to Union Square to the expo. We got our packets, after a little hiccup and then went to experience all the expo had to offer. The three of us got our pictures taken in a photo booth and then got in line to try the oxygen bar. None of us felt like standing in line for a manicure or a massage, so we then headed over to Niketown to see what all was going on. They have a huge display that shows the name for every person in the race, so each of us had to find our name and get a picture. Then we decided to head back to the hotel and rest up a little before dinner. Susan had planned ahead and made reservations for all of us (there were 8 of us running in the race). It was great to see everyone, especially knowing that race morning was going to be hectic and that I might not see anyone.

Since I did the half-marathon last year, I knew a few things about the race start and what to expect. We were able to get our stuff in the bag check buses, use the porta-potties and make it to our start areas with no problems. There were over 20,000 people running in the race, so the start is very hectic. I had a hard time getting into a groove at the start and really wasn't able to break away from any part of the crowd until the marathoners split away from the half-marathoners. I ran a solid race and felt really good the entire way, the last two miles were probably the hardest part of the race for me. Mostly because you could see the finish almost the entire way and it felt like I would never get there. I didn't run my fastest marathon time, but I felt so good about the race, I'm already thinking about my next marathon.

The best part about the weekend was being able to celebrate finishing with my sister. She ran her first half-marathon and I am so proud of her. It is such a huge accomplishment. I also enjoyed being able to share the race with Susan, Bhavna, Sara, Gretchen, Leslie and Karen.

Beautiful October weekend

We had beautiful weather here in Portland this weekend. Friday, I took Merrick to the Children's Museum to see Bob the Builder and his gang. I didn't realize that there was no school on Friday, so the museum was pretty busy. Merrick especially enjoyed being able to "drive" all of Bob's vehicles. He also enjoyed using the computer and phone in the "hospital area". I could not get him to go play in the water though. Maybe another day... I bought us a museum pass, so we will have plenty more opportunities to go back and play on yucky, rainy days.

Saturday morning I went for an 8 mile run with Sara and Gretchen from Sara's house. We did a couple of loops around Mt. Tabor. Unfortunately it was still pretty foggy when we were at the top, so we didn't get to enjoy the great view of the city. Afterwards, I met Travis and picked up Merrick, so Trav could play flag football. I was able to have lunch and go shopping with my mom and sister, which is always fun.

Travis had prepared me that he had a surprise planned for me that night. He ended up tying someone at work and they both raised $800 for the Race for the Cure. His prize was a gift certificate to www.livingroomtheaters.com We met Kris and Sara there for dinner and a movie. We watched Kabluey www.kabluey.com and we were all surprised at how funny it was. It was so nice to have a night out without Merrick and hang out with fun people.

We took Merrick to Lee Farms today to visit all the animals and pick out a pumpkin. We saw goats, llamas, cows, pigs and chickens, all of which we were able to pet (except the pigs... apparently they bite). Merrick really enjoyed seeing the animals, but what he liked best was the giant slide. He kept asking and asking to go on the slide, so we bought some tickets and let him go three times. I think he would have stayed there all night, but Travis and I cut him off after three rides since it cost $2 every time he went. We tried to talk him into picking out a pumpkin, but he wasn't into it. So we will have to make another trip to the farm (or the store) to get our pumpkins.

Pictures will be posted soon...

Busy days

The last two weeks have been very hectic and busy. Travis travelled to Alabama to visit his brother and was home for a day before I had to leave for a three day work trip to Bozeman, Montana. I got home Friday evening and crashed. I was supposed to join Bhavna, Susan and Sara for a 12 mile run (our last double digit run before the race), but decided to sleep-in instead. I guess I needed it because I was in bed until 10 am. I haven't done that since before Merrick was born.

I got up and going just in time for Merrick to get sick. He had some kind of bug and was throwing up and had a fever for several hours. Thankfully it didn't last too long. Sunday morning we went to Corey & Rebecca's to cheer Bob on. It has been an annual tradition for the past 4 years to go to Corey and Rebecca's on the day of the Portland Marathon. They live right on the course between mile 19 and 20. We always know someone who's running and it is a great chance to cheer on all the runners.

Then Sunday afternoon I met Coleen at Leif Erickson for a run. I put in 12 miles and she did 9. I was incredibly proud of her. She has come a long way with her running and 9 miles is a huge accomplishment. She is going to do awesome at the half-marathon in SF. My 12 miles felt good, although I missed my running companions. I am really looking forward to my marathon next weekend and feel really good about the training I've been doing. Hopefully it all pays off and I feel good after the race.

Monday I headed off to Pullman, Washington for another work trip and got home around midnight on Tuesday. Only to jump in the car at 7 am Wednesday morning to drive to Centralia for a work conference. The good thing is I am home the week of October 13th, although I leave on the 17th for San Francisco, get home on the 20th and then will be in Corvallis for work on the 22nd and 23rd.

We just have to make it through fall recruiting... which ends towards the end of November.