Staying close to home

For our anniversary back in Nov Ryan took me to this wonderful little hotel in Huntington Beach. We loved it so much we booked reservations for the past few days. We simply enjoyed being together with not much to do. The first day we spent at Disneyland. Very few people there and the lines were minimal. Since we could just walk on splash mountain Ryan and I both got to go on it in a very short period of time. I even convinced Josh to go. He said it wasn't so scary but he didn't want to go again. He sat next to me in the back and wouldn't let me go the entire ride. I loved the look of delight after the big drop when he realized it wasn't so bad after all.

We stayed until around 5 then headed to the hotel. We got a few groceries on the way and the kids enjoyed cereal for dinner. The little mini fridge was not big enough to hold all the milk I bought so we figured we should use it up. They loved that. Ryan walked around and found me some yummy fish place. So good. Our hotel had a huge balcony that over looked the beach. That is where we enjoyed our meals. There was a nice cool breeze and it was so relaxing being right on the water.

The next morning I ran a nice 3 mile run along the beach in the rain. I went to the south of the pier and was surprised at how many people where out in the rain. I stopped of at jamba juice and got breakfast.

Later that day we decided to walk along the beach. It wasn't raining at this point so it seemed like a good idea. We ended up at Ruby's on the end of the pier. The food reminded me a little of Denny's style but the ambiance was nice and the kids really enjoyed themselves. We laughed a lot and it felt good.

When it was time to leave the heavens had really opened up. We smiled and laughed as we walked back in the rain. I don't know why walking in the rain brings out the child in me but it sure does. I was running with the kids acting as the I were one of them. The best!

We dried off, took naps, and relaxed some more. The girls and I walked around the local shops. I bought Sarah some earrings and Emma picked out this huge owl locket. She was so thrilled and hasn't taken it off since.

We decided to go bowling. We have not been bowling in years and I think we all had a great time. I was surprised that every one enjoyed themselves. We went to Irvine bowl which is where I bowled with my parents win I was little. They were on a league and I remember loving hanging out there. When we were almost there I could taste ketchup. It was so weird to have a taste accompany my memory.

We then spent the next 2 hours trying to find a Macaroni grill. Wait what? Yes 2 hours. Traffic was really bad. We thought we found one. Took a wrong turn then another wrong turn. Finally got there and it was out of business. We laughed. By the time we finally got to one the wait was almost an hour so we opted for to-go and enjoyed eating dinner on the floor of our hotel room. We watched a movie and crashed.

I was so tired I feel asleep before 10. I was glad because I knew I had to run my first 10 mile run in the morning. Then around 10:30 Emma woke up crying from pain. Her ear hurt so bad. She woke up every thirty minutes to an hour after that for most of the night. I felt so bad for her. You could tell she was in a lot of pain. I am not sure at what time but she did finally fall asleep. In the morning when we looked at it she had blood and puss coming out of her ear. It had burst. The dr has told me in the past that when it finally burst the pain is relieved some what so that must be why she was finally able to sleep.

I did not want to go run. I was tired and I had a stomach ache but I went any way. I put Gatorade in my camel back and off I went. I normally use water but I thought I would give it a try since this was a long run for me and I knew it would take me a little less then 2 hours. I averaged 10:47 per mile. That is not fast by any means but to me it felt great! The first time I ever ran 6 mile's I ran it at and 11 minute pace. So any time I run quicker then that in distance I am proud of myself. My shorter mile runs are a little under 10 minutes. I used to be able to run faster then that but I have decided that I am training for distance and not speed. I think after this marathon I will start trying to gain speed. But for now I am celebrating every new mile as a huge victory!!

I went to the north of the pier this time. The rain had stopped but their was a nice cool wind that seemed to push against me. The run was fairly easy. I worked really hard to keep my slow pace so that I could endure. Every once in a while I would start to speed up then remind myself I needed to slow down. I found myself pondering and reflecting. It seems to take a few miles until I get to the point that I can really think about anything besides the run. But once I get to that point it feels so wonderful to have quiet time all for me.

I now teach the Sunday school for the 14-15 year olds at church and I was thinking about my lesson for next week. I thought about Noah and how he must have loved the people. How he must have pleaded with them to please repent. I imagine he must have been saddened by their unwillingness to change. He taught for over a 100 years. They were his offspring and relatives. It made me think of our lives today. Are we living the way we are commanded to do? Do we listen to the prophets both current and old? I felt for Noah. Being a teacher to the youth I have felt such love and compassion for them. I to have yearned for them to make good choices and hope that they to can learn to turn to the Lord for guidance as I am sure Noah taught his sons to. I was amazed that while running I could receive insight and inspiration. It made me love running even more.

By mile 8 I could see the pier and I thought, "only 2 more miles? I still feel great." I was able to speed up a little and I felt so pumped. Here I was about to run farther then I had ever run and I still had mojo to keep going! About this point these amazing fast runners past me for the second time. As she past she said, "keep it up!" and gave me a thumbs up. Man I love you fast runners. You keep me inspired and motivated!

When I stopped running my legs felt a little like jello. Kind of a strange feeling. It is kinda like when you have been in the ocean for a long time and then when you finally get out your body feels like it should still be moving. I had a nice cool down then went inside to stretch.

Emma had thrown up a couple of times while I was gone but was now resting. I figured our vacation would end short but I was so happy with how the couple of days were spent I didn't mind at all.

I decided to hit the showers. They where awesome with two shower heads and really hot water. But I started to feel really nauseous and had to sit down. I laid down on the bed as everything spun. I couldn't figure out why I felt this way. Then it hit me. I accidentally bought G2 which is meant to be a light version of Gatorade. It has that fake sugar in it. For some reason my body always reacts that way to any fake sugar. And I just drank 40 ounces of it. Wow that was smart. I was glad that Emma was finally sleeping so that I was not the reason we were just chillin. In fact no one seemed to care that we just hung out for a bit. Ryan and Josh went on a walk and did some video taping. I think they both had a good time. Jared and Sarah finished up homework and Jacob, Emma and I slept.

When they got back we packed up and headed home. We had a sleepy mellow drive. When we got back I took Emma to insta care and got her on antibiotics. Her ear was surprisingly still filled with liquid. I just felt so sad for her. She feel asleep almost instantly when we got home.

We all had a great time and I am so grateful we stayed close for our family vacation. I can't imagine a long drive or plane ride with a sick Emma. We took it easy today and she is feeling much better.

My camera battery just died so I will post pictures soon.

No toys needed

Last Saturday the While Ryan was cleaning out the garage the kids played for hours in the front yard building and rebuilding a fort out of these big boxes. They really had the best time.



Every once in awhile Josh would knock it down just to get a reaction out of the kids. It worked every time with Emma.