104 Miles!

Sometime in January my girlfriends and I decided to do a century ride, 100 miles on our bikes.  Two of them had done it before, The Red-Bell 100. It raises money for World Bicycle Relief and Cascade Bicycle Club, two amazing organizations.  We also joined an awesome team, Team Nuu Muu (the AWESOME exercise dresses I love).  I have been wanting to do a longer ride since it's sometime I can do with my super fit friends :-)  So I did a little training; 20-50 mile bike rides. I am super slow on hills and still have a ways to go to consider myself fit but moving is always good.  We did a couple of almost 50 milers and then a 55 mile training ride...only half of what was going to be done! I felt like I might not make it.  I also asked my mom to do it with me. I ran a half marathon with my dad, why not bike 100 miles with my mom! 

At the start line in Marymoore Park, Redmond, WA. 

A text I sent Adam along the way. 

The ride was AWESOME. We rode 8 miles on a great trail before heading up one of our only big hills outside of Woodinville.  We stayed with the whole Nuu Muu group until the big hill when we lost them. Then we went along back roads till we go to Snohomish.  In Snohomish we got onto the Centennial Trail. What an amazing trail. Flat, smooth, wide, paved trail that goes for more than 30 miles.  Our first stop was at mile 28 for breakfast.  

Breakfast stop @ mile 28. 

My friends were still at breakfast and had only been there a little bit before us. So we were able to bike the whole rest of the trail with them. It was nice to be a part of the group, and with my mom!

Aimee and Jill @ breakfast stop

Some of the trail was in the forrest and some along roads.  

Outside of Arlington it started to pour down rain. We were wet! We had a snack break in Arlington @ mile 45.  We hopped on our bikes in the rain. The food was so good and the trails were so flat, that I was feeling good even at mile 45. 

Selfie on a bike. 

Outside of Arlington we went off the trail and back onto back roads. I lost the girls again on a few small rolling hills. I am SO slow on hills. My mom stayed with me, she is a power house! We crossed 

I-5 for the first time and rode along it until we dropped down into Skagit Valley. Our lunch stop was in Conway off the freeway @ mile 63.  I ate a bunch and even downed a Pepsi! The sun was trying to come out for us!

The gang of us that rode together for most of it. We lost a few much faster friends with the Nuu Muu group. Vicki, Jill, Aimee, mom, me, and Becky!

We wound our way through the fields of Skagit Valley. Never once was I feeling like I couldn't make it. We pretty much stayed together for most of the Skagit flats. I remember hitting the 75 mile mark and feeling really good! While training, I was thinking if I made it 75 miles, I would be good!

My dad biked down from Bellingham and met us around mile 80. He let us draft off of him, it was a nice welcome break! Aimee's husband met us shortly after. Again, nice to have some fresh legs! 

We had one last stop at the Allen County partk at mile 83 for some coconut water and another Pepsi to get me up the Chuckanut hills! 

@ mile 83. Feeling pretty good!

Chuckanut is @ mile 88...the first hills we have seen in a while. Wow! My legs were feeling it for the first time. I let everyone go ahead of me, even my mom, and my dad stayed with me until the very last hill right into Fairhaven. Never once did I feel like I couldn't make it. The hills were hard. I was tired. But each time you went up, there was a little down after to catch my breath. A couple of times as we neared the end, I caught myself getting a little choked up and a little teary. I couldn't believe I had done this. I had biked over 100 miles in one day! My dad went ahead to see if he could catch my mom and I came into Bham by myself. Ending at Boundary Bay Brewery, just like my half marathon. But I felt better, stronger, and less tired than in my half.  I went across the finish line at 5:13pm . I started the ride at 7:09am. 10 hrs and 4 minutes to go 104 miles! My phone had died at mile 84, so I am not sure of my total riding time vs. my total time but my guess is around 8 hrs. Wow! 

Pretty proud of both of us! My mom is almost 65! She rocks!!!

Glad to have these two amazing role models in my life to keep me going and moving! 

And lucky to have such wonderful women friends who encourage me to do fun things too. You guys are amazing too!!

My bottom was sore. My legs were tired. But I would do it again! The ride was beautiful and the company was GREAT. Thanks everyone who rode with me and who sponsored me to do this charity ride! I appreciate all of you! 

February X-Country Ski Weekend

Oh man, I have been such a bad blogger. I just went back to get the pictures from last years trip and it's not there! Ack. I use this blog as a journal and to keep track of all that we do, especially since I don't do picture albums any more. No good...but here we are 2 years ago, CRAZY how much the kids have grown!

 This last week has been crazy stressful, epic, sad, maddening, and then it's normal fun, chaotic, great, and tiring all at the same time. Long story short--- a week ago I emailed our vacation rental and was told that the guy had "totally screwed up and double booked you." And that he was not going to honor our contract even though we were first. But we could have next weekend if we wanted. SERIOUSLY! He somehow canceled our reservation, even though we reserved in October and had a confirmation and deposit in. This is a vacation rental for 7 families just finding out 4 days before we were supposed to leave. He said, "I hope you can find somewhere else to stay. Sorry". Again, SERIOUSlY. Those were the soft words said... Anyway, he was a total ass, would not answer our phone calls and took more than 24 hours to get back to us. So we had to scramble to find a place for 7 families 3 days before on a long weekend, near snow! Ugh! We are trying to figure out what kind of non legal action we can take against this guy. No compensation, no trying to help figure out how to help us. Just a total jerk!

We finally found a new house near Chelan, WA.  We found there is a small gem of a nordic ski area just outside of Lake Chelan that turned out to be AWESOME! Then, to add to all the epic parts of the last few days, one family that was supposed to go with us came down with fevers and vomiting. NO! They were super bummed as were the rest of us. You were missed; Jen, Toby, Quin, and Silas!! And our friend Julie decided to back out of the chaos too..we missed you too!

Our new house was a HUGE vacation rental right on the Columbia river outside of Chelan. It was the nicest house by far we have ever stayed in, and it was HUGE! We were now down to 6 families. The biggest bummer of it when we arrived is that there was no snow at the house. But on Saturday we ventured out to the Echo Valley Nordic Area and checked out the trails. They were great! There was a small loop that was perfect for our kids. The snow was blowing and it was cold and windy but they all did great! The group of 5 year old boys were doing awesome! Eliza, Uma, and Miles rocked it too. It was the farthest Eliza has ever skied.  Then they had fun playing in the snow while the adults took some faster loops to warm up!

The boys with Becky & Margo. 

Do you see some girls in pink anywhere?

Corbin the snow man!

The snow came down at the house in the afternoon. The kids took advantage and built a huge snowman and had lots of snow wresting contests. 

The Columbia rivers snow man. 

A huge table for all 10 kids to fit around!

Did I mention that we had two girls who like pink with us?

The snow stopped and the sun came out for Sunday. We decided to split up and let the big boys ski without kids and then switch and let the big girls go. The kids meanwhile (and the adults) spent the whole day tubing at the Echo Valley "Ski Area".  They loved it! Eliza, Uma, Corbin and Eliza probably tubed on and off from 10:30 till almost 4! They were SO tired! 

Lunch in the snow. 

It was so warm and nice in the sun!

They have a love/hate relationship! 

The trails here were so great. Groomed well, although soft that day because of the new snow. But so fun! And beautiful. I think we found a new gem! So much terrain and for very little amount of money. 

Adam on his boys ski. 

Selfie with the girls; me, Jill, & Becky. 

Another selfie; Aimee, Me, Jill, Becky, & Lynette. I wish you could have seen the view behind us!

The view!

Lake Chelan in the distance. It was SO windy up there but so gorgeous!

A few movies were watched to try to keep the volume down. 

All 12 of us for dinner around the HUGE table. 

Miles, Uma, Eliza, Margo, Alden, Baynes, Terra, Corbin, Brody, Luca! 

2014 Family Ski Trip! Thanks everyone!

And then there was the epic drive home. The pass was very SLOW going and closed over night.  It took us an hour more to get over it.  We only saw one near accident as a mac truck tried to pull off to put their chains on and was going too fast. It started sliding and almost hit the car in front of us and then our friends Jill & Paul had just gotten their chains on and it came very close to hitting them! Crazy! 

                                      

Now we are home safe and sound. Tired. But good. We missed our friends who were not there. But we had fun in Chelan. Now do we make the extra hour trip next year and do Chelan again? No more Leavenworth? 

Happy 2014!

Happy New Years Eve! Here we are in our 4 generations of skiers from ages 3-96! Let's hope for a happy, healthy, and adventurous 2014! 

Love, Erin, Adam, Corbin and Eliza

The grind

How does it go from mid-September to mid-November in the blink of an eye? Well, working more, kids being in more places and busier, and in general just a busy life! I also blame it on working 4 days a week now and the fact that I am exhausted when I get home each day by the time the kids go to bed, I am beat. Even thought it's been crazy,  I am enjoying my job. I enjoy working more days, the people I work with, working with older kids, and getting more money! Although, with moving up to the high school, so does some of bigger problems of high school students (sex, drugs & rock n roll). There have been many firsts in counseling but it's a challenge I am ready to take on.

The kids have been busy too! Corbin is LOVING his pre-k program this year. He likes that he is with the same kids each day, has a set schedule, has more structure, and is doing some amazing learning and exploring. He is developing some new friendships, exploring more things, and really growing into a learner! One of the parts of his program is called "The Lady Bug Program". Every Thursday they go on an outdoor community adventure. They get on the city bus or walk if it's close. They check out city parks, outdoor spaces, and different fun places around town. They go rain, shine, snow, etc. They really challenge the kids to get out of their comfort zone in a safe environment. Corbin loves it. Although he is exhausted when he gets home from these long days 7:45-4:45 pm!

Eliza is over course still loving going to our friend Jen's house. She and Silas rock it out doing all kinds of fun things! It's awesome that she can still get some great one-on-two attention doing fun things like the library, museum, going to plays, having play dates, art projects, and more!

The daycare situation is not working out quite as well as we hoped but it's not bad, just not ideal. One of our biggest challenges is that Corbin watches almost 2 hours of TV/Movies during his "quiet time".  I know they are cared for and safe but it's just doesn't seem to fit us. Next year hopefully we can have some more time to find a better place for Eliza. And now she is exposed to "real" girl things like princess and Barbies...but that is another blog all together!

Some of the biggest challenges of working more is getting everyone home, fed, and in bed before meltdowns occur. Transitions are hard and we have had many meals that are not fun...We need to come up with something else on days when everyone is very tired. I am really trying to have easy quick and healthy meals for those work days. I am also not getting in the exercise that I need/want. That has been really hard to fit in and figure out. Especially now that it's really dark and rainy now...

Ok, here goes some fall pictures!!! I guess they could each be their own post but that just seems like too much work. I vow to try to be better :-) 

Corbin and Alden's first cyclo-cross race! 

80's rocker, Eliza.

that look is trouble...

Really, this should be it's own post....I ran a half marathon! That's right 13.1 miles. My dad ran it with me. We did some walking and I was slow, but I did it!!! We finished in 3 hours and 58 seconds, just shy of our 3 hour goal. The last 3 miles were the worst, I was really slow but I did it. Thanks to my dad and my friend Jen who trained with me for 6 months!

One of the best parts was when we saw our cheering squad! I loved it!

                                      

This was about 4 miles from the finish.

                                      

The end!

My awesome team!

                                       Cider pressing down on Bainbridge. We pressed 61 gallons in the rain. We had lots of great helpers.

 

  

Pumpkin patch! 

Ok... I have to split it up it's just too much. Next up, Halloween and our trip to see my grandpa and meeting my new niece!!!