Monster Mash

Being that I do live in Track Town USA and running is practically a religion here I started running awhile ago. It's free, you don't have to drive anywhere to do it, and I like it! Now, I don't love it like some people do, but I am liking it. There are so many millions of paths here through parks and trees, so it makes it fun. It also makes it easier to get out there (in the rain now) if there's a race coming up, so Saturday I ran the Monster Mash 5k. It is a fun race by Autzen stadium(Go ducks!) and along the river. Costumes are allowed and it was fun to see all the different ones. All of my creativity, though, only got me wearing orange and black - although the shirt did have a trick or treat ghost on it.

Before

The start was slightly chaotic. We had to wait to line up at the last second, 10kers were supposed to be one side and 5k ers on the other. I lined up way too far back and was stuck for awhile at the beginning.

Right before the finish

Not my most attractive face, but I did beat that girl by one second.

Some friends who also ran it.

My time was a little over 25 min and I was happy with that. I beat my last 5k time by about 45 seconds. Hopefully I can get faster though. I was 2nd in my age group and 46th of 209 overall.

46 274 Lindsey Swensen 25 F 2/22 F2529 Eugene OR 25:30 8:13

Lately...

Lately we have been keeping very busy...

...enjoying some great Oregon Ducks football!!,

...keeping up with this boy and his extreme curiosity and messes,

...reading books, books, and more books,

...doing our favorite activity to do right when Dad walks in the door - wrestle!,

...with peals of laughter,

...figuring out how to do the classic "cheese" face for the camera,

...wanting to watch TV after waking up from nap,

...helping Kason develop his photography skills,

...having a "daddy son date" in a fort,

...and loving the beautiful still SUNNY weather we have been having.

Family Fun

Isaac's parents and younger brothers came out for a visit. We made our way to the coast again. We love the Oregon coast! The first day we went to some fun tide pools, but I guess I didn't take the camera out to brave the crazy wind and sand. There were some fun caves and starfish pools we found though. We camped the night in a yurt, which is now my favorite way of camping. You still get the campfire/sleeping bag experience, but you get to sleep in a round canvas type thing that has bunk beds, heat and a lamp!!

Hiking up the sand dunes

Isaac and his brothers Levi and Oliver having some fun on the dunes.

Kason was SO excited for the giant marshmallows we got for smores.

In the yurt - Kason got the top bunk.

Heading out into the rain the next day.

Crabbing! This was a first for me and it was exciting!

Yep, I was a wimp and was too scared to pick one up. Kason just shot them with his squirt gun.

The winner we brought home. (ok, it was given to us, we caught lots but had to throw them all back because they weren't big enough or were female)

Male bonding time...gotta love the video games...

We had a GREAT time and are so glad they came out for a visit and didn't mind cramming into our teeny apartment all together!

School starts Monday for Isaac (even though he has been there almost everyday this summer) and that always promises to be pretty intense so we are glad to have had one last hurrah with people we love at a place we love!

The Coast!

We love the coast and we love it even more when we get to go with family. Mckay and Katie and their cute kids were coming out for a vacation and we went to Newport with them for a day. The coast was pretty nice, windy as always, but pretty sunny and we loved it.

This was Asher's 3rd time at the coast, but it was a whole new experience for him now that he could walk around and get wherever he wanted. He made the most of it and had so much fun and got so sandy...

...soo sandy.

I love that these boy cousins love each other so much. They could not get enough of each other and Kason was sure to not leave out their other cousin either, by affectionately calling Payton, "Kade" almost the whole time.

I love this picture.

We also made it to the aquarium, where the underwater shark tunnel was a hit.

They couldn't look around fast enough!

I love Kason's face in this picture.

The best we could do at a "group shot"

We had a great time and love Oregon in the summer!

Summer Lovin

I love Oregon in the summer. It has been hot lately and I love it. I would be hot anyday over cold. My favorite is going outside about dusk after it's been a really hot day and there is that smell and feel in the air from a hot day coming to a close. Isaac doesn't know what I'm talking about, but that's the best I can explain it. Here we are picking wild blackberries that just grow along the paths everywhere.

Kason has an obsession with sticks. He must find a stick everytime we walk to the car and everytime we walk back.

He also loves his buddies

Reading books to cool off.

We also had our anniversary! It's been a fantastic, fun, frugal, and full five years!

Asher is 15 months old and decided that he really can walk on his own. It just clicked, he started walking last week and is pretty good at it.

Asher is also saying more words, so, to remember, his favorites are: uh oh, ama (mama), ada (dada), u go (let's go), e go (here you go), oggie (doggie), hi, hello, hey you, aazzat (what's that), all done.

Kason's prayer last night was pretty funny. It was soo long. Some of the things he said: "thank you that the bad people be nice to Jesus",... "thank you that Jesus didn't die",...thank you that everyone can be healthy....we don't like germs."

Vacation!!

We got to go on a much needed vacation after a long and busy few months for Isaac to visit both of our families. I love going in the summer because there are so many fun things to do at both of our parent's houses.

Starting out on the loooong drive. I really like Oregon in the summer, it's so pretty. We took a scenic route this time and came out of a forest to this lava area with the Sisters mountains in the distance. We got out to stretch our legs and enjoy the view. The boys really did great driving minus a few puking incidents from too many snacks and curvy roads. Thank goodness for DVD players on long trips!

We stopped for the night at Mckay and Katie's. Payton and Kason just picked right up from last time and had a blast together. They ran around the sprinklers in their underwear to cool off that night. It was a tough goodbye with some sad boys.

We had a great time at my parent's house. I practically didn't even have to do anything with my kids. They love their aunts and grandparents! The boys loved the playgrounds,

and cooling off in the pool.

I love this picture.

We went to the dinosaur museum and the boys loved all the things to look at and do.

On Pioneer Day I ran a 5K with my mom and sister and it was SO fun! (after I was done). We were all pretty happy with our times too, which makes it even better. I plan on doing more this summer.

I love Mapleton on Pioneer Day. There's a parade, games and food in the park and fireworks. Here we are enjoying the parade and the loud sirens.

Kason got to ride in the ambulance with my Dad in the parade for a little ways.

Water slides at the park. This was Kason after practically being trampled by some older kids before coming down. He's still smiling though, but decided one time was enough.

Then we made our way through another long drive up to Isaac's house. We went boating/tubing one day, which was alot of fun.

The boys loved playing with their aunts and uncles.

and hanging out by the shore.

Kason was in heaven again playing with his cousins.

Enjoying some of the food at the fair.

These guys would just play outside all day. There was always some game going on involving guns and swords.

We had a great time and thanks to our families for all the fun! Now we are glad to be back home. Isaac has to do research during the summer, but other than that we plan to enjoy the rest of summer!