Friends, Family, Wine

I don't think there is a better way to spend a weekend than with family you love, friends that are family, yummy food, good wine, lot's of sun, water, boats, and airplanes.

I have not been to the boat races (hydroplanes) in E WA in a very long time. I was trying to figure it out and the best guess is I was kid, like single digit to my age kid...so it's been a very, very long time.

Gosh I had so much fun hanging out at the river all day, watching the air show and the boats race past. Friday is the "free" day. It's the practice air show, and the time trials with only the last two races of the day being "real" races. Way less crowded for sure, and much more enjoyable for someone like me who doesn't really enjoy crowds.

Going Friday freed up Saturday for winery hopping...my favorite thing! My other favorite thing...coming home to cooler weather. The plants and garden are very happy indeed.

 Red Solo Cup of goodness! 

 Michelle and Sky

 Brilliant idea...moving our chairs into the river! 

F16 overhead...was so cool! 

 Rose at Tucannon Cellers

 14 Hands Winery...their reserve wines are amazing! The above pic is not a reserve wine, I had already tasted & purchased when Michelle & the girls and I stopped in on the drive over a few days before. 

The adult part of the gang enjoying 14 Hands on Saturday. So nice to have kid free time for all of us! 

 The girls enjoying the water feature at 14 Hands Thursday on the drive over. 

 Out of order, but this is how much fun Sky had at the river watching the boats! 

 Big glasses...the theme of the weekend. 

 Treveri Cellars is on the way to my Aunt and Uncles...it's my new favorite pit stop! Champagne cocktails for the win! 

Easily one of the most fun drives to E WA ever! Leaving early with the girls, and stopping along the way to enjoy ourselves was perhaps one of the best ideas ever. Not to mention all the entertainment coming out of the back seat with a Frozen sing along, and other fun and games. So much fun from start to finish. 

Thank you to Mark, Bob, and Michelle for sharing your pics!  

Dad and Daughter Birthday Weekend

Last weekend was the weekend between my Dad's birthday and my birthday, so we made plans to drive to E WA and combine the birthday fun!

This is how I road trip!

This is how Sky road trips...with a smile on her face, a few books/toys at her side, and her favorite blanket that has seen better days.

Traveling with Sky has, thankfully, forced us to find fun stopping points along the way. It works well that my Mom lives at the half way point and makes a nice lunch/dinner (depending on the time of day) and play stop. 

And, when you have worked so hard at your swimming skills, and move on up to the next class, it calls for "I'm proud of you" gifts from Grandma!

Looking at this picture I'm realizing she may be too tall for her car seat. I need to check the specks and see if it's time to move up to the next one. Growing so fast.

She was super sad about saying goodbye to Grandma and held onto the duck Grandma gave her the rest of the drive. She also scored new Roper boots (we love the feed store in Ellensburg...great kiddo boot selection and they always have sales!) that she is wearing non stop. Boots (real leather ones) for kids = brilliant because they outgrow them before they wear them out!

The rest of the weekend was full of good company, good wine, good food, and lot's and lot's of fun! I felt so spoiled not having to cook or do dishes the entire time. :)

Sky making pizza for all of us...she made my favorite Margarita, it's also the type of pizza I eat for dinner the night before races.

She was so pleased with herself!

One of the things I enjoy most about being a parent is watching her with other people. Usually I'm the one helping her help me cook, or do laundry, or whatever. To sit back and actually pay attention to the looks of frustration and satisfaction, and see how much she enjoys doing big girl things is eye opening really.

 Gluten Free crust for the win...this was one good pizza!

After that it was all about the wine tasting! We had so much fun winery hopping. It was a beautiful day, windy but sunny, which gave Sky an opportunity to run around outside and burn energy as needed. She really is pretty great about coloring and visiting with any and everyone else in the winery, she's fun to go tasting with actually.   

Birthday shoes! Apparently I needed them because I've worn them every day since getting them! 

It was so nice to sit out in the sun, getting our vitamin D, drinking reserve wines, and noshing on simple yet yummy snacks. My new favorite way to "shop" for wine to go with dinner...go wine tasting and pick it out that way! 

All too soon it was time to come home, but not before stopping in at my aunt and uncles to say a quick hello, and check out the progress in the vineyard. 

It's hard to believe that in a few weeks we will be there planting vines, and this will be a full fledged vineyard! It's going to be hard work, but I'm excited to be able to help!

Sky was not thrilled with all the goodbyes. She cried and cried after leaving Grandma, cried and cried after leaving Grandpa, and was down right pissed off after leaving my aunt and uncle. It took all of her favorite things, plus my special blanket (yes I have a special blanket that I travel with...can't sleep without it) to calm her down enough to fall asleep, and give us a break from the tears. She just loves her family so much it breaks her little heart when we have to leave. :(

All in all a great weekend celebrating birthdays! Happy Birthday to dad and me! 

Birthday Weekend Fun

We had lots of liquid fun for Mark's birthday!  The theme of the weekend was wine, wine, and more wine...with a few bloody mary's in the mix as well.  :)  

The final destination was my aunt and uncles in E WA and the Tri-Cities Wine Festival.  It worked out perfectly that the Beckham's could go with us, and that my aunt and uncle have enough room for all of us!  So much fun, and Sky LOVED having Grace and Kiera around to play with the entire weekend!  

Usually when we are driving over we really just want to get there.  We typically have a reason (holiday/family stuff) for the trip and just want to get there and start the visit.  But, since Mark took Friday off we decided to leave early and take our time getting there.  

Sky is ready for the road trip!

There is so much to see and do (and drink) along the way that we wanted to experience that a bit. Plus, we were given an awesome book last year for Christmas and thought it would be fun to make a few of the suggested stops along the way. 

Since we didn't have a dd, we opted for two wineries along the way, and spaced our food intake strategically, and made sure we had enough time at each stop to safely taste and drive.  I had gone through the Yakima Valley section and picked out all the tasting rooms that sounded like they would have wines we liked, and after a few texts from my aunt we narrowed it down to two that were right off the freeway to make it easy.  

The first stop was Kana Winery Tasting Room downtown Yakima.  Seriously good wines, and so friendly.  They had coloring books for Sky and made sure she had water (in a wine glass) to "taste" with us.  One of the many things I love about her is she is friendly enough and curious enough that wine tasting is an adventure to her.  Can we do it all day with her...no, but she's good to go for a few hours!    

Starting the weekend right!

We started with an oaked chardonnay, my favorite kind, and made it through 4 tastings (Mark dumped most of his since he was driving) before we heard from the Beckham's, and discovered we could catch up with them on the road at the next winery. 

Our next stop was only a few minutes away, and while I had marked it in the book as a place to stop, we probably would have skipped it had aunt Candy not suggested it.  I love champagne but wouldn't have thought to taste through a whole selection of it.  

I'm so glad we did though because Treveri Cellars ended up being so much fun!  And, I learned so much about champagne and the differences between each type.  I feel so much more confident now in my ability to purchase champagne for parties/personal use!  

  Champagne Cocktails for the win!

We had so much fun tasting the different styles, and fell in love with the tasting room/grounds that we decided to stay for a bit and get cocktails!  Plus, it gave the girls time to run around outside in the sun (cold sun, but still a sunny beautiful day) and play lawn games while we kicked off the birthday fun!  This place was so fun in fact that the Beckham's joined the bubble club...how fun does that sound?!  It's nice it's on the way to my family because club pickups make the perfect excuse to visit should Mark and I join the bubble club.  

Grace, Kiera (in the back) Michelle and Sky at Treveri.  (photo credit - Michelle Beckham, with her mad selfie skills!)!

From there it was on to Paul and Candy's and as Sky said "Let's start the party"!  

The festival itself was so much fun!  It was big enough to be interesting, but not so crowded that it was frustrating, or the food lines took too long.  I loved how the wineries were set up and it was made clear who had won awards, because it made it easy to target your tasting.  There was way too much to taste everything, so we had to be a little selective.  The food was amazing, not just cruddy festival food, but really nice and really yummy (and free!  The ticket price included all the wine and food, and for the price of the ticket it was a steel of a deal)!  Paul ad Candy are in the industry so they couldn't take two steps without running into people they knew.  The 4 of us would wonder off taste a bit, circle back to them and then wonder off again.  

The only picture I took was the end of the night after all the tasting was done.

Empties!

So much fun!  It was kind of funny actually because Ali went with us to watch the girls for us while we were at the festival, and Paul and Candy had given her the next door neighbors # in case she needed immediate help (she has all our numbers as well), but who did we run into first thing at the wine fest...you guessed it the neighbors!  Thankfully Ali is an excellent babysitter, and the girls are pretty easy, so we were not worried at all.  

Super low maintenance babysitting!

Mark took Monday off too so we could recover/rest on Sunday before driving home.  The rest of the weekend was spent watching football,and playing with the girls.  Thankfully Grace and Kiera were able to stay and go home with us Monday so Sky had peeps to play with and keep her happy. 

 Bloody Mary's and football for the win!

Let's just say road tripping with 3 is very entertaining!  Mark and I laughed the whole way home listening to those three talk, sing, and laugh.  Those girls sung their hearts out to the Frozen soundtrack 3 times through, and Sky loved every second of it!  She got a good taste of what having sisters can be like, and was so sad when it was finally time for them to go home.  

We did find time to make sure the girls had fun as well.  Michelle and I took them to an indoor trampoline place while Mark and Bob went to Ranch and Home for a bit.  

I really wanted to jump, but for once I way under packed and only had PJ's or my festival outfit, so nothing that would have worked well for this, and I didn't want to take a chance of messing up my back.  4 days is the longest I've gone without an adjustment or massage in months and I didn't want any problems until I was back home and could do something about it! 

I'm thankful we got to spend a fun weekend with good friends and family!  What a way to start your 40's!  

Last Long Training Run Done!

Happy Monday!  I hope everyone had a fun weekend and is ready to make this a great week!

My weekend started with an early morning run Friday.  I wanted to get my 12 miles done on home turf before heading to the HOT side of the state.

I got it done, and the good news is there was only a little knee pain the last few miles.  But, I also picked a route that ended with 2 to 3 miles of nothing but hills.  So, I wasn't too concerned about the knee pain.  I was kind of dreading this run because 12 miles is a lot of miles to run totally alone, for me anyway.  I'm a social runner for sure and have learned through this training cycle that I would rather run with a friend, so was not super excited about this last long run.  But, you know what...I LOVED it!  I didn't get bored with my own thoughts, I never once thought about stopping and walking or cutting the run short, and my first thought when I got back to my car was "that was no big deal"!

Then I started crying.  Mostly because I was able to run 12 miles period.  There was a stretch there that I didn't know if the knee would even let me hit the start line for this race.  To run 12, still be on track for a PR, and enjoy doing it alone got to me.

It worked out well that we were driving to E WA again this weekend (last trip over for a while!) because my Dad did a quick rescue treatment on the knee and took care of the little bit of knee pain I was having.  I'm pretty sure the ice bath I took helped as well.

Mosquito bites, not the measles! 

It may seem extreme to some, but it works for me!  I notice a difference when I ice after a run and when I don't.  Even though Mark and Sky were waiting for me to get showered and ready to hit the road, I took the time to take a quick ice bath.  I knew running 12 and then driving for 4 hours was not going to feel awesome, so I took the time to foam roll and ice bath to help the old legs out.  

It felt good to get the running done so I could focus on spending time with family that I don't get to see much, and remembering Grandpa.  The memorial was nice and catching up with family from across the state/country is always nice even if for a sad reason. 

A few pics from the weekend: 

 My cousin Nathan. 

 Sky made a new friend in Harlow!  Thank goodness there was another tot (almost 3) there because those two kept each other entertained and danced while pictures were playing to music on the TV.

 Even thought my aunt and uncle were out of town they let us stay at their place, and they have the best view for watching amazing sunsets! 

 Sky and Grandpa, reminds me of Grandpa Carl and how he always had tractors ready to go for us!

Sky is a great little road tripper and usually is very happy reading books, singing, talking to us, and staring out the window.  But, sometimes a girl just needs to learn How To Train Your Dragon to be happy in life.

Loves her books, and as long as she has water, a snack, a few books, her blanket, and a few stuffed animals that she loves she can make it through a road trip pretty easily.  Pit stops help too!  

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Who had an awesome training run or race this weekend?  Tell me about it!  

 

Home Safe!

Sky and I had an unexpected extended weekend thanks to a little snow storm in the passes. 

The Lex has a great traction control system, but it aint that great!  Wow is all I can say.  I feel bad for people who did get stuck in their cars/hotels/at the pass.  That possibility is what kept Sky and I safe at my Aunt and Uncles way past what was only supposed to be breakfast on our way back home. 

All in all it was a great weekend, and I didn't mind the extra time with Paul and Candy.  The best part is Sky got lot's of time with family on the other side of the state. 

The whole reason we even went over was to celebrate my birthday early with Dad and Val (I have some shopping to do!) and get a treatment.  Birthday dinner was amazing wine, perfectly cooked steak, and crazy good chocolate cake...the massage was amazing too, but not nearly as pleasant.  I thought I was going into this one without any issues.  Nothing hurt and nothing had been bothering me on my runs.  But, boy did some unexpected shoulder issues pop up!  I actually felt like I needed a barf bucket under the face opening on the massage table.  I'm thankful that we caught a few things early, and I know what to focus on with foam rolling and trigger pointing.

A few pictures from the weekend...

 Elya and I got in 8 miles before Sky and I left Friday morning.

I'm glad we ran before I left, and that I got back when I did, because I didn't take my running stuff with me.  I thought I would only be gone 1 whole day, so didn't think I'd need, or want it.  But, I did find two awesome trail running options for next time I'm there!  

Sky had ton's of fun!  Dad and I found Trampoline Playground, and then a few days later I took her to the Cheer Academy for the open play time, plus she just has fun hanging out with family!

 She loves that green hat!

 Lunch with Grandma!

 The Cheer Academy is crazy fun!

Movie time!

 

I can't tell you how much this stressed me out.  You can see that part of the beam has a raised platform with mats, so when you fall it's not far at all, the second half is regulation with no fall protection.  The first 6 or 7 times she did this she waited at the half way point for me to hold on to her.  But, then she got brave and looked at me and said, "No mommy help, I do by self".  What if she fell and ended up in a cast again?!  But, I stepped back and let her take on the balance beam all by herself, about 10 times, and she never did fall.  The smile on her face the first time she got to the end and jumped off all by herself was priceless!  

Top two pics are from the cheer academy and the bottom two are from Trampoline Playground.  It took her so many tries before she figured out how to make it to the top of the trampoline so she could slide down, but she kept trying and she did it!

 Sky did not want to leave her giant minion!

 Sunrise the morning we left, so beautiful!  

Got to play in a little bit of snow at my Aunt and Uncles, it didn't last very long though.

 

P.S. I have to say not only was birthday dinner amazing, but breakfast the next morning was pretty great as well!  Dad makes the best hash-browns period.  Great smokey flavor and extra, extra crispy.  I was a happy camper!

Thank you to Dad and Val for hosting Sky and I, and for Candy and Paul willingly hosting us unexpectedly!  It was kind of a nice little vacation for me, but I'm glad to be back home and back to "real" life.  

Now, time to focus on running and training!