Summer happenings….

Summer is in full swing around here, and we have been busy busy busy!  Owen has been lucky to go on some fun excursions this summer with Gavin and Bridget.  They went to Multnomah falls, Trillium Lake and Mt. Hood.  Looks like they had a great time!

In the early morning of the 4th of July, Brian, Michelle and I ventured out to Sauvie Island to run the Sauvie Island Flat Half Marathon.  It was a great morning for a run.  Brian completed his first half marathon and Michelle broke the 2 hour barrier for the first time!  It was a great morning.  Here's a pic of us with our finishers medals along with some friends:

 

Sauvie island flat half – finishers!

Later in the day we had our annual neighborhood block party – this year complete with a bouncy house.  It was a nice and relaxing way to spend the afternoon after having such a busy morning!

 

Over the weekend of July 17/18th we participated in the Relay for Life to raise money for the American Cancer Society.  Our team, the "Pineapple Express" raised $1700 for the cause, and the relay itself raised $55,000+.  Debbie and I helped to run the craft table in the kids zone play area during the day, and I walked three shifts during the day and throughout the night.  Owen spent the night with me at the track, and he even walked/ran one of my shifts with me.  It was a great event, and we're looking forward to next year and raising money for such a good cause.  Here's a pic of our team…

 

 

Team Pineapple express

And then finally here are just some silly pix from the last few months….

 

Hope everyone is having a great summer!

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Reese’s 3rd birthday and other spring photos…

 

 

Birthday girl!

Reese celebrated her 3rd birthday in May. She had two requests for her party: 1) Cake, and 2) Pink.  She really didn't care about anything else.  So we commissioned our cake-maker extraordinaire neighbor Michelle to make her a pink princess cake, and she was happy as can be.  We had paper crowns for the kids to decorate and wear.  Many of Reese's little friends came, and it was a great party.  Here are some pix:

And in other news – Owen lost a tooth!  He was eating a fudge-cicle and it just popped out!  He is very excited to get $5 from the tooth fairy – but he also understands that that is what you get for your first tooth only!  The tooth fairy can't go giving out $5 for every tooth – we are in a recession after all! 

 

Owen’s lost tooth

And then here is just some other picutres of the happenings around here this spring.  Kids are silly and so funny!

 

That's it for now!  Owen is done with school next week, and we're sure to have some fun summer adventures coming up!

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Finisher’s photo

Race4therosespic

In lieu of medals, the Race for the Roses gave a free downloadable finisher's picture.  This is me, Been and Michelle, the running crew.  We trained together for this race, and I'm so proud of all of our accomplishments!

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1/2 Marathon PR!!!

Race for the Roses result

I've been training since January to improve my half marathon time.  My previous best was 2:07:45 at the Sauvie Island Flat last July.  This Sunday I ran the Race for the Roses half marathon in downtown and KILLED my previous PR!  I am so proud!  My official chip time was 1:55:02 with an 8:46/mi pace.  WooHoo!!!!!!!!!!

My running buddies Michelle and Been also posted huge PR's.  Michelle got 2:00:18 and Been got 2:01:37.  Our goal was to break 2 hours and they were sooooo close!  We are a great running team, and I know we'll keep pushing each other to do better and better.

In the meantime, off to find a new goal.  Running the Sauvie Island Flat again this July – we'll see if I can keep improving!

 

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Owen’s 6th birthday

Owen's 6th birthday was this weekend and boy did we have a busy time!  To start the day, Brian and I took Owen down to the waterfront to run the 1k Leprachaun lap at the Shamrock run.  He did really great and had a super fun time.  Here are some pix of the little runner:

After that, I ran the 15k while Brian took Owen home to hang out with Mima and Papa Shoe who came into town for the weekend.  When I got home from the run we gave Owen his big birthday present – a basketball hoop!  His response as he walked into the garage and saw the hoop: "What the…?"  Nice…..

After this, Owen had a basketball game with his LayUps team, and then we came home to a fun little party with some friends and family.

Whew!  It was a busy, but super fun day. Owen deserved a special day because he's a pretty amazing kid!  HAPPY BIRTHDAY OWEN! 

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Wise Owen…

Owen

Owen informed me this weekend that the only cool things adults can do that kids can't do is: 1) drive and 2) do the trick where you take your thumb off and put it back on….

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The cousins meet…

We had baby Logan over at our house the other day to meet the kids.  I couldn't get a good picture really (seems to be impossible with my children) – but they are pretty cute!  Logan is a good sweet baby, and Reese and Owen are very taken with him… 

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Baby Logan’s debut

 

Deb and logan

Debbie and John's baby finally arrived!  10 days past the due date, and after being in the hospital most of the day, they finally decided to break Deb's water at 7pm on the 17th, with Logan arriving at 2:38am on the 18th.  Debbie was so amazing in labor and delivering that baby!  John was a fabulous labor partner, and John's sister Robyn and I were honored to be there to help and witness our nephew being born.  He was a big baby - 8lbs, 6oz and 21 3/4" long.  Here are some pix of Logan Collins Pickett:

He is an absolutely gorgeous baby, and I don't know that I've ever seen more happy parents!  Welcome baby Logan!

 

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Hiking around Tryon Creek

Tryon creek hike

Owen almost has a normal smile….

 

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New Years and a little snow…

This is what happened when we tried to get a picture of the kids on New Years….

 

Just can't get them to sit still!

We also got a little snow on the ground one day so the kids bundled up a bit and went out to play in it.  When we left the house there was still a good amount on the ground, by the time we went inside it was pretty much melting off…

 

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