Oregon Adventures Await . . .

I hit a HUGE milestone today!  300 running miles in 2012!

Only 200 more miles to go this year! 

I will be running the Hood to Coast Relay on Friday and Saturday . . . and I am starting to get VERY excited and a little nervous.

My team of 12 runners will run 197 miles from Mt Hood to Seaside, Oregon.  We will be divided into 2 vans and a runner will be running at all times.  It will take my team about 36 hours to run this relay across Oregon! This is the experience of a lifetime, definitely crossing something off my "bucket list" this week!! 

Mt Hood

Haystack Rock, Cannon Beach, OR
Just a few miles from the finish line.

Here are my legs . . .

Leg 10:

5.12 miles along the Springwater Trail, just east of Portland, OR

http://www.hoodtocoast.com/files/course_leg_10.pdf


Leg 22:
6.81 miles on country roads in Vernonia, OR

http://www.hoodtocoast.com/files/course_leg_22.pdf

Leg 34:
3.36 miles on country roads in Astoria, OR

http://www.hoodtocoast.com/files/course_leg_34.pdf

I will be running this race for my mom, in celebration of a beautiful life.

End of Summer, Part II

It was on our summer "to-do" list to explore a new park and ride bikes on trails. We spent the day at Heritage Park in Olathe last week and accomplished both things! The kids had fun riding on the paved trails even thought G couldn't quite keep up on the big wheel. I ran around Heritage Park a few times in the past, but never had an opportunity to explore - we thought it was a beautiful place! There's a little peninsula that goes out on the pond, walking trails, picnic areas, playgrounds and PLENTY of greenspace. We walked around the peninsula (we called it our secret island) and saw 3 great blue herons, ducks, geese and butterflies. We had a picnic and relaxed in the sun. We found a playground and climbed some trees. We even found a mini-beach! A perfect day.

Riding the trails

Exploring our secret island



My Biker Babies

We also spent a day at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art and Loose Park with Dan, Tara & the boys. We saw a really neat exhibit about Egypt with a real mummy. The kids were seriously impressed. They also loved running around outside in the sculpture garden!

The rose garden at Loose Park was amazing & beautiful as always, and it smelled glorious! I can't believe how great it looked during this KC summer heat. We also had a picnic at the park, played on the playground, and walked around the duck pond.

The reflection pool

shuttlecock

sweet Danny boy inside the shuttlecock

Look who's walking!!

Loose Park Rose Garden





One of my favorite moments that day. Just relaxing by the pond and enjoying the view.


One last day at the zoo today (even if it was a little drizzly).Nikita the polar bear was doing tricks for treats and we were able to check out the new tiger enclosure. We LOVE the zoo!



This is what happens when I ask them to "pose"



Nikita doing tricks



It's official. Summer is over! We met the teachers tonight and school starts Thursday! The girls are over the moon excited, they each got the teacher they wanted and have lots of friends in their classes.

It's always kind of hard to say goodbye to summer but even more exciting to move on to the next big thing. KINDERGARTEN for Sophia and 2nd grade for Ava. Yay!!

End of summer, Part I

School is starting next week and we have been making good use of what little time we have left! 

We have been spending time with friends and family and doing a few things on our

"Summer Fun" list that we just hadn't gotten around to doing yet!   

Papa built the most AWESOME  orange backhoe and digging pit for his grandbabies.  We had fun visiting with Grammy & Papa and checking out the new toy. Papa also took the kids for rides on the 4 -wheeler and wagon.  FUN!

Papa & G

Safety first

Taking rides around the pond



This horse was a birthday present for my brother, Dan, in 1981.
He has given a LOT of rides in his day.

No visit to Grammy's  house is complete without time on the porch swing. 

We decided to try out Splash Cove.  It's located in Shawnee, KS, right beside Wonderscope.  It was an AMAZING place for little ones.  There's a mini wave pool, baby pools, a wet playground and a 125 ft water slide!!  My kids were in heaven.

Wave Pool

Buddies



G wanted to hold Ava's hand

Ava went down the slide 100 times, singing the whole way!

It doesn't get any cuter.  Seriously!!

Matt and I celebrated our 9th anniversary this week, too!!

End of summer, to be continued . . .

August Running Update

My 2012 Running Progress:
JANUARY 31.6
FEBRUARY 23.64
MARCH 63.07
APRIL 40.95
MAY 29.10
JUNE 38.0
JULY 35.48
AUGUST (so far) 5.01

Total miles 266.87
Miles to go = 233.13



Only 22 days until Hood to Coast Relay!  Trying to keep calm and RUN HARD!!
My 12 person team will run 200 miles . . . from Mt Hood to Seaside, Oregon. 

Some running motivation . . .