Parker and I ran in the Race for Autism 5k today at Balboa Park! Since I've started walking/running a few times a week, I've been thinking about trying out an organized race. Some friends of ours who do races and obstacle course types of events from time to time told me about this one, and I figured we might as well give it a try! Nate, Lisa, and Alex joined us, so it was really fun to be able to walk and talk and laugh together along the way. Parker has also really wanted to try a race out, ever since he heard that there are races where everyone gets a medal at the end :) So he joined me for some special mommy-Parker time! We walked most of the way, doing short jogs from time to time, but I'm sure it still felt like a long way for Parker. He said he loved it!
Waiting at the Starting line--there were so many people there!
Funny faces--I guess we were waiting there for a while--??!
Parker thought he'd try running backwards for a little while...
Running across the Finish line!
He was so happy to get his medal!
Surprise! Look who raced with us :)
Everybody also got a free scoop of Ben & Jerry's ice cream at the end--I don't think we burned as many calories as we consumed ;)
Parker's class has been doing research projects, and he chose to do his on Mars. Since the beginning of the assignment, he has been so excited--this is the most excited I've seen him about academics at school! I think he was finally challenged and given something interesting to do. Right now he loves science and says he wants to be a scientist. He got to do research during class on the questions he came up with about Mars, and we worked on a presentation poster at home. He was SO proud of his work, and we are so proud of him, too! It came out awesome, and he worked really hard--harder than I've ever seen him work on school stuff before. He never complained or lost his motivation or interest, and said repeatedly that he wanted to have the best project in class. He was so excited to bring it to school today! Not to mention the fact that he really has learned a lot about Mars :)
Since Parker's birthday fell on a Monday this year, we celebrated all weekend long! We started off with his chosen breakfast on Saturday morning--Mexican pastries--and then made a long, rainy drive up to Bass Pro in Rancho Cucamonga so he could get some new fishing gear. (Which was followed by In-N-Out for lunch.) The next morning, he and Jared went fishing together in Mission Bay, where Parker caught a spotted bass! They came home in time for lunch and then family and his best friend joined us for a birthday pizza party! And that was all before his actual birthday! Yahoo for Seven Years Old!
Look out behind you!
Parker requested cheesecake this year, which I was happy to learn how to make. Although it tasted delicious, it certainly felt like a comedy of errors making it--for one, don't look too hard at the raspberry sauce decoration on top, it was far from the consistency and delicate "drizzle" effect I had envisioned!
Momma's recent "surfing" safari helped to inspire Parker to get out in the water more and boogie board this year (and maybe even learn how to surf!).
Time for a new, bigger bike--this time with gears and hand brakes!
I found this picture of Levi on my memory card when I got my pictures from Catalina--I don't remember if I posted it already back then, but it sure is a cute blast from the past!
Jared's request for his 40th birthday celebration was to camp together, just the two of us, in Catalina! This was my first time making the crossing over there in his fishing boat, so it was quite the accomplishment for me. I found that it wasn't scary in any way, just a little exhausting after a couple of hours of nonstop driving. We lucked out with an amazingly warm, sunny weekend--it felt like we were in a tropical paradise. Although Catalina isn't too far away, it feels like a different world--the water is so blue, and was so incredibly clear--it felt just like staring into an aquarium. We lounged around in our blow up raft, went for early evening walks, played games by the campfire, and tooled around all of the nearby coves in the fishing boat the next morning. We had an easy crossing back to Dana Point, and I'm pretty sure Jared is already planning our next trip back :) Happy Birthday!!!
Leaving Dana Point, 6am Saturday morning.
The view from our campsite at Two Harbors (you can see part of our inflatable raft on the left--the boys are going to have so much fun playing in it this summer!).
Hiking very carefully among the cacti on the hillside.
I may be wrong, but I think this was our first vacation together since Parker was born!
Sunset view of the cove at Two Harbors. So quaint.
Tropical island paradise!
Buffalo roaming through the campground--we opted to walk back up the hill and take the long way around to our campsite! About an hour later, once it was pitch dark, we heard a man shouting and yelling--seems like he was walking along the trail in the dark carrying a load of fish he had caught while diving, and walked right into the buffalo! Scared him to death, and he dropped all of his fish...which the buffalo proceeded to sit on. We had lots of laughs that night.
Waking up in the morning...funnily enough, the small waves washing up on the beach and the seals barking all night were almost too loud for sleeping! And I thought the sounds were going to be so charming...
Jared's traditional blueberry pancake camping breakfast.
The water was SO CLEAR. We sucked it up and put our bathing suits on and jumped in before we left--it was definitely very cold! I think I swam as fast as I could to climb back on the boat! Luckily the weather was nice and warm so we recovered quickly.
Fancy lunch: plastic plates! cloth napkins! peanut butter and jelly sandwiches! good beer!
A dolphin send-off before we headed home.
Passing big ships at sea on our way home.
We also passed GIANT kelp paddies--Jared said these would have been incredible fishing opportunities if it was summer and the water was warm.
