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.