271: clean air!

Many parts of southern Oregon are in a rough spot right now weather-wise. There are tons of wild fires that are creating pretty harsh air conditions. Businesses in Medford are offering free masks for people to wear if they have to go outside. Kevin says he doesn't really notice it, but often times I feel like I'm in a wood shop here in Brookings: the wood mill spurts out saw dust and I notice it on every run and even just when I'm in the "downtown" area. But I am incredibly thankful that the air here is nowhere near the poor quality that other areas are dealing with ... and that we usually live in Eugene and Portland where air quality has never been an issue.

270: A week of Eugene running

I've said it before, but I'll say it again: I'm not a fan of running and REALLY not a fan of running in Brookings. Even though every one of my runs in Eugene last week was pushing the girls in the burley (including a hill workout!), which is much harder for me than running by myself, I am thankful for a week of Eugene running. I love my running routes in Eugene and I miss them. I'm excited to get back to them so it was nice to have a small glimpse of that again.

269: fun with Yaya

It was a fun weekend getting to spend time with Yaya. Kinsley got to go swimming with her Friday evening and show her how she jumps off the diving board. It was also Kinsley's movie night. Saturday we spent the day down at the harbor, walking the boardwalk, after visiting the sperm whale that washed up on shore a few weeks ago. We then attempted to go to the beach, but it was the windiest day I've possibly ever experienced. Kinsley still had a blast, though, running from the waves with Yaya while I did my best to keep Dagny comfortable and out of the wind.

Pictures coming when I find my camera cord.

It was a great weekend.

268: time to hang out with Papa

Papa feels like crap this weekend and isn't up for doing any hiking or exploring while there here in Brookings. But I am thankful for the chance to have some time with him at the apartment anyway. And the girls love being with Papa.

267: parents willing to drive to see us

Yaya and Papa made the drive to Eugene last night and continued the drive to Brookings this morning with us. I'm thankful for parents that are willing to make a nearly 7-hour drive to come hang out with us for a weekend.

266: a full week of beautiful oregon summer weather

I feel as though I endure the wet, cold winters in Oregon because the summers here are so dang beautiful - and so worth the wait. Brookings summers, however, are not what I consider summer weather. High 60's is not summer to me. I'm thankful that we got a solid week of 90's in Eugene before heading back to Brookings for another couple of weeks. It was a nice little recharge and I feel like I got a little taste of why I love Oregon so much.

265: ice cream

because every now and then I need a treat ...

but ... of course ... I will only buy it if the ingredients are not ridiculous.

264: an upstairs for the summer

Like the other nice additions that we get to enjoy this summer in Brookings, it is great having a two-level apartment. It is still small, although larger than our apartment in Eugene, but having the space split makes it feel a lot bigger. And it is nice being able to feel separated a little bit. The girls can be asleep in their bed and I can feel like I'm in a separate space downstairs. It's nice.

263: Christina

While we were at the farm, the little gals had a blast playing together. Kinsley and Taya have really become great little friends and they play together so well now. Bijoux is the sweetest little thing and Dagny had so much fun chasing after the big girls. At one point, I had a bit of an emotional minute with Christina. As always, that girl knows exactly what to say to pick me up. I'm not sure how she does it. She is the sweetest and most genuine person I have ever met. I am so thankful to have met her on this journey and am so sad that she won't be here for the last year of it. We have only known each other for just under two years, and yet she has become one of my dearest friends. I truly hope that, even though her path is taking her to Boston, we remain close. She is one in a million.

262: a beautiful day spent with beautiful people

We went out to Redneck Organic (AKA Mackenzie River Farm) to do some blueberry picking and have a picnic today. It was not only a beautiful day in an absolutely gorgeous place, but our company was fantastic as well. Christina, her sister, Taya, and Baby Ike, Abbey, and Penelope, and Anna and Bijoux all joined us. Such a great day with really great people. I've been missing this down in Brookings and I'm thankful to have had an entire day today.

261: a break to Eugene

We came up this weekend for a couple of races - I did an 8k yesterday and Kevin did a half today. It is SO nice to be back. It is really making me miss it here. It is so nice to be able to let the girls just run around outside, ride their bikes, play in the sprinklers, play with their friends (!), and to be able to see my friends, and it is real summer weather! It has been mid-80's every day so far and is supposed to stay like this all week. It was nice to be here as a family, all four of us, and to be in our space that feels more like home. Kevin had to head back this afternoon, but the girls and I are staying through the week because I have a meeting that I want to go to. I'm so thankful for this break to Eugene - I feel like it is going to be the little rejuvenator that I need to go back to Brookings for another month.

260: the Groh's

Not only am I thankful that I got to see the Groh's (and Robbins and Greggs) but I am thankful that they are still in my life. We have been through a LOT together and they were such a huge part of my life throughout all of college. They really were my second family. Life has gotten busy and has taken us to different places geographically, but I can't imagine my life without them in it and I am so thankful that they are still part of it.

259: time with the Groh's

I am so thankful that the timing worked out to see and get to spend time with the Groh's. They planned their family vacation week for this week in Florence. I was originally bummed when they told me because Florence is so close to Eugene, but it's three and a half hours from Brookings - that's a tough trip with two small girls. But it worked out fantastically because Kevin and I decided to come up to Eugene this weekend for a couple of races. I left one day early and drove to Florence with the girls and got to hang out with the Groh's before finishing the drive to Eugene that night. It was so so great to get to see them all. I haven't seen Shannon, Chris, and their kids since just before Kinsley turned one. And I haven't seen Brad and Megan or Debbie and Dan since Brad and Megan's wedding reception a few weeks before Kinsley was born! 4 years! That seems crazy and not possible. But we finally were able to connect and we spent all afternoon and evening together and it was great. The girls had a blast sledding down the sand dunes and playing with Cooper and Callie and hanging out. And I had a blast spending time with some of my absolute favorite people on the planet.

258: library books

Not only has the library been great for the girls, but I have actually checked out quite a few books lately and forced myself to find time to actually read them. I stay up just a little later and read for at least 15 minutes each night. It has been really nice to get a book and FINISH it in a reasonable amount of time! I think I've already finished three books since we've been in Brookings. I'm definitely going to start making myself check books out when we go to get books for the girls.

257: story time

Every Wednesday, the library has story time. It has been so great. It's something for Kinsley to really look forward to and Dagny has even proven to have a much better attention span than I thought! There are TONS of kids that show up each week (and yet that's the only time we ever see them?), which is fun. Dori, one of the librarians, reads 3 or 4 books and sings songs in between. Then there is always an art project set up that relates to the theme of the books. One week was all about babies, one was about sea creatures and they made 3D seahorses out of toilet paper tubes and cut-out faces/tails, one week was about picnics and they made colored picnic baskets and got to glue all of the different things inside. This week's theme was safety - the kids glued faces and shoes and helmets onto a little kid character and then got to color them. The girls are getting so much more comfortable and I love watching them. They were both so proud of their coloring and wanted to show Miss Dori. It was so sweet to see Kinsley (who is relatively shy lately around people she doesn't know) go up to her and proudly show her the rainbow shoes, shorts, and helmet that she colored. And it melted my heart to watch Dagny follow Kinsley proudly holding her picture up in both hands to show Miss Dori her creation.

256: Brookings wind

See 255 on hills, but apply that reasoning to the wind of Brookings. Every day. Wind every day. But it's good because it's helping me. Again, that's what I tell myself to be positive.

255: hills

I am not a fan of running in Brookings. Every direction I go there are hills. And not just little hills. They are either short and crazy steep or they are gradual but really long. Literally, every direction. There is no such thing as an "easy" run for me here. They all hurt. I don't REALLY like running anyway, I love the atmosphere of races and I like the feeling AFTER I run, but I'm not much of a fan of the actual training. But here's my positive spin on this little situation we're in: the hills are going to make me stronger and when I get back to Eugene, which is about as flat as they come, running will seem easy. At least that's what I tell myself.

254: family time

I'm not loving Brookings. It is making me appreciate what we have in Eugene even more than I already did (which was quite a lot, actually). I was excited to live at the coast for the summer, but I had a much different picture in my head. I envisioned warm (at least) days spent playing at the beach and long, beautiful runs, and lots of quality time with my little family. It hasn't been warm - rarely even gets to the 70's - it's foggy or overcast every day. The city is covered in hills, which makes running less than pleasant for me. We don't really know anyone and have no friends to hang out with during the days while Kevin is at work. But what I do love about this place is that it is forcing us to really be a family. I am thankful that, even though there are rough moments every single day, where the girls are at each other's throats, and I struggle to entertain them and get them good exercise and get their energy out, we are together. That's one thing, but it's a lot to be thankful for.

253: playgrounds in brookings

There isn't a whole lot to do in Brookings. We haven't really met anyone and I feel a little bad for the girls. They've gone from having someone to play with at a near drop of the hat to having ... me. The weather hasn't been great so far in Brookings - it is super foggy every morning and then burns off in the late afternoon but isn't really all that warm. But it hasn't been rainy, which is nice. And there are a couple of playgrounds that we can walk to, which does give us something to do. Azalea Park has a huge wooden playground that looks like a giant castle. It's really just a lot of maze-like structures, not a ton of things that little little kids can do, but they do have a couple of slides, swings, balance beams, and some wobbly bridges that the girls like to walk through. We don't end up playing their for too long (whereas we could be at the sandy park for hours), but they do enjoy themselves.

These faces melt my heart.

252: facebook

There are things that I hate about facebook. But with all of the negatives aside, I really am thankful for it. It has been a way to stay connected to people who I otherwise would feel completely DISconnected from. It has allowed me to see my friends' kids grow up when I can't physically because of distance. It has allowed my friends and family to see my girls do the same. While the little status updates often seem pointless (and are sometimes even irritating), they do make me feel like I am communicating, at least on some level, with my friends on a continual basis. And while I would much rather that communication be in person or on the phone, that's not realistic with our lives right now. So I am thankful for facebook for allowing me to stay connected.

251: I forgot my bluetooth on that long drive

I had planned on bringing my bluetooth with me on that 13+hour drive so that I could call some friends who I haven't talked to in ages and catch up - I typically use car time to talk to friends if the girls fall asleep because it's the only time I can talk and actually pay full attention to my conversation. Knowing that I had a HUGE chunk of time to talk, it was going to be a perfect time to make some phone calls. But I took the other car and left my bluetooth in the Saturn. I'm thankful that I did because had I not, I wouldn't have had 249 and 250!

250: NPR

When I didn't have reception in the car for good music stations on that long drive, I was still able to get some NPR stations. I love listening to NPR because it makes me feel like I get an ounce of what is going on in the world. And while I was literally yelling at the radio for a good portion of one of the programs (I like to think I'm a pretty non-confrontational and peaceful person, but I have little tolerance for people who hate ignorantly), it was still nice to get to listen to the programs uninterrupted and "enjoy" some programs that really got me thinking.

249: a drive alone to belt it out!

I thought about posting this right after it happened, because I truly am thankful for the chance to do this, but I somehow forgot. So I'm posting it now, because I'm still thankful that I got the chance. When I drove up to Seattle for Aunt Lynn's celebration, I had roughly 13 hours in the car all by myself. It gave me the chance to listen to MY music, and listen to it as loud as I wanted, and to really rock out to it. It was a very free feeling in a way. I rarely get the opportunity to belt out the words to the songs that I like and sing along to an entire song. I had that chance over and over and over on this trip and it was lovely.

248: dessert alone

Sarah came over in the evening with Izzy kitty and played with the girls for a little bit so Kevin and I could go grab dessert for our anniversary. We were only gone for about 45 minutes, but it was nice to have a little bit of the day to ourselves and be able to have a full conversation without getting interrupted. I love our little interruptions, but it is nice every now and then to have a little bit of time during the day to ourselves.

247: a great anniversary

It really was a beautiful day. And other than maybe getting to go to a private tropical island, just the two of us, I can't imagine a better way to spend our anniversary. We both got our runs in early and then we spent the afternoon exploring the river. Dagny fell asleep on the way out, so I hung out in the car while Kevin and Kinsley got to playing. We were able to drive the car right up to the edge of the river on the rocks, so I was able to watch them play while hanging out with Dagny. 

When Dags woke up, she was immediately in to playing in the water. Weird, I know. 

Here the girls are throwing the biggest rocks they could find as far into the river as they could.

 Such a beautiful picture that I got to witness. My three favorite people in a gorgeous place.

Our attempt at a family picture:

Kinsley wanted to try to take our anniversary picture. She did a great job of getting us into the frame, but Dagny wasn't about to let it just be the two of us.

 6 years married. I'm a lucky lady.

246: 6 years of marriage tomorrow!

It doesn't seem possible that it has been six years already since we got married ... and yet it feels like much longer at the same time. Maybe that's because we've known each other now for more of our lives than we didn't. Not many people can say they met the person of their dreams and the love of their life when they were 14. But I can!

245: kids' races

Kevin ran in the Funky Foot Race half marathon here in Brookings yesterday and the girls and I went down to watch him finish. They also had a kids' boardwalk dash that Kinsley got to run. She was in the 3-6 year old race and was the only 3-year-old there. She was the smallest by a long shot. But she absolutely loved it and even came in 3rd place. I'm so thankful for events like this for kids. It's so great for them to be able to see other people out being active at the event and then get to actually join in themselves. There were people of all ages at this one - from her age all the up to a 72-year-old man who ran the 10k.

Here she is waiting for Daddy to finish his half marathon

 And checking out the boats in the harbor after his race

 Getting her number pinned to her shirt before her race! She was so excited to "really get a real number of her own" :)

 Checking out the competition

 Getting instructions from Daddy

Here's the video of her race!

kinsley's race

And such a proud girl afterwards

 The girls even got to have balloon animals made! Kinsley got a lion (that ended up popping and traded for a green dog) and Dagny got a yellow bunny (that popped and was traded for a monkey climbing a tree!).

At the awards ceremony, the girls had some fun doing handstands ...

 running to Daddy and doing cartwheels ...

 getting thrown into the air and spun ...

and getting tossed way up

It was such a fun day that ended with us back down at the harbor to watch the fireworks. Kinsley loved the whole thing and Dagny fell asleep about half way through. It was great.

244: the freedoms that we have

Happy 4th of July. I am thankful for all of the freedoms that I have and for all of the people who have fought to give me those freedoms.

243: the community pool

The city pool is only a few blocks from our apartment. It's outside, which is a nice change for the girls from the YMCA pool in Eugene. They have an open recreational swim time every day as well as a family swim in the evenings. It's a pretty nice pool, too, other than being a little on the chilly side. I'm hoping that the weather warms up so that the colder water feels more refreshing - we had to keep telling the girls to keep moving around so they didn't get too cold! - but it's definitely bearable. Kevin and I got passes and the girls swim for free, so we'll likely be spending some time there this summer!

242: Kevin works 3 doors down

We live in #6 and Kevin's office is in #9. It's pretty great. That is mainly what allows him to come home at lunch. It also allows the girls to walk him down the way to work in the mornings and at lunch and meet him in the evenings when he's done. They love it. There is no commute time, either, which means more time with us.

241: Kevin's schedule

I'm thankful that Kevin's schedule this summer allows him to come home during the day for lunch. The girls get to see him and read books, I get to go for a quick run, and we make a lunchtime smoothie together. I'm not sure I would get a run in every single day if I didn't get it in at lunch. There are days when I'm just exhausted by the time he gets home in the evening and we still have to get dinner ready, eat, baths, some family time, and the bedtime routine - it would be really easy (and some days tempting) to just "take a day off" and not do it. But because he comes home around noon I don't have any excuses. And it's so great for the girls to get to spend a little bit of time with him and see him during the day - it's not only the couple of hours before they have to go to bed. His schedule really is great right now.