Sometimes it just feels nice to make things pretty. 

A moment...

Mason and Allie are sharing a moment.  They are most often found pestering each other, correcting each other, being competitive with each other, etc.

Maybe it's because they are stuck in the middle of 4 kids, closest in age?  I don't know.  But they spent a few moments on a sunny afternoon sharing an umbrella and peanuts. 

They can enjoy each other, even if it is only for a moment. 

Monkey see monkey do...

Garrett loves to do whatever Allie is doing.  She calls him her little buddy and he is.  He ran down the hill to help her pull the garbage can all the way back up the hill. 

My soul is happy...

Knowing that I can end up here after a 15 minute walk from my front door makes my soul very happy. 

Trucks and trains...

I realized Mason's birthday was not properly recorded.  He did turn 7 in March and had a breakfast birthday and a dinner birthday, lucky.  He got a new Lego set and was fortunate that Garrett didn't get to the cake before we caught him. 

Words...

 For Mother's day the kids (with Eric's help) listed 110 things they love about me.  Here are some of my favorites:

She has sparkly eyes
She is good at cutting things out
She changes the Netflix order so that the kids movies are at the top
She can get the lawn mower unstuck
She can fix anything except the computer
She makes me garlic bread
She buys me shoes
She is really good at putting on make-up
She helps me be cute

Sierra and Allie also gave me a nice hair makeover one night.  They tried to use every bow, flower, ribbon and rubber band they could find.  I think they were successful.

Other forest shenanigans...here comes the bride?

 

Did you know trail runners are crazy? Not just for the distances but other things. Like getting married during a 31+ mile race at an aid station. At mile 18 it happened. Two people, complete strangers to me, ran 18 miles, had some water and power food, then walked down the trail to be married by the two race directors, really.


The bride wore a lovely white running skirt and top and a white veil that flowed in the race breeze.  Her attendants wore matching purple running skirts and aqua tops and had a little bouquet of flowers in their water bottle holsters, my favorite little detail. 

The groom wore grey shorts, a black top, vest and bow tie. 

The trail was lined with friends and strangers (like me), some holding tree branches.  The view was beautiful.  Wedding cake could be eaten at all of the aid stations following the wedding.

The men dressed like Bavarian Barmaids?  Crazy guys who were running the race, heard there was to be a wedding, got costumes and designated themselves as flower girls.  I won't mention what they carried in their baskets. 

The ceremony was short and sweet.  Vows, rings, kisses and clapping,  then back to the 31+ mile race.   

What a memory right? 

I did hear the bride and groom were having another ceremony at a Vineyard, but the one I saw was something to remember.

*Maybe I could become a trail wedding photographer since I had to run a few miles with my camera to get to the wedding.  Of course, I was really running to see Eric but the wedding fit in quite nicely.  Even if it did make me miss Eric at the next aid station.

Kissing Lovely Rita...

From the pre-race face to the post-race face.  I feel like I need to have some exceptional write-up of the race but I didn't run it.  I hope Eric will do one for posterity's sake.  All I can say is he did awesome.  He toughed it out through the leg cramps and ran his fastest ultra yet.  He is one tough man.

Thanks to our friends who cheered him on and to Will who got him through some rough miles.  And to Grandma and Grandpa for their race day support.

It's an experience to witness and I am sure something more than just an experience to run.

He did kiss Lovely Rita.  She is somewhere around Missing Link, Alien Road, Two Bits, Shave and a Haircut, Up Yours, On the Sly, Who do you Love or the What do you Know trails, and the list goes on.   

Stats from the McDonald Forest 50km (about 31 miles):
Eric Martin
Age: 34
Place: 11th  in age group, 22nd  overall (201 finishers, 245 started)
Distance: 50km, trail 18.4 miles, logging roads 13.4 miles
Elevation gain: 6700 ft.
Time: 5:09:52
5th time doing the race

A few more tid-bits:

http://m.gazettetimes.com/mobile/article_b89590c0-7eb4-11e0-b482-001cc4c03286.html

http://www.gazettetimes.com/news/local/article_493fd4ef-6d58-5a7f-844a-603fcad97d87.html

And the race is on!

The McDonald Forest Ultra Marathon

This sign says 26.8 miles, it's not the end, just an aid station.  More details to come.

If you haven't tried these don't...

You may eat the whole box!

Can you ever have too many tie dye shirts?

 

Not my kids!  Grandma C. brought a tie dye kit and helped everyone make a shirt.  

Thank you Grandma!

Some bits and pieces...

Scenes from Grandma and Grandpa C.'s visit include:

trip to the Market of Choice Bakery

(as well as Petco and Kmart, Eric and I went for a run together and Grandma and Grandpa took the kids wherever they wanted to go.)

Easter Egg Hunt

(Allie found all of the eggs Grandma hid $1 bills in)

Easter dinner

sun!

Grandpa got a well deserved nap and a bad case of poison oak which was not deserved since he was helping Eric with some tree removal.

It was a fun filled weekend..a few weekends ago.