Summer is here!

Somehow it's almost the end of May!  When did that happen?  This month has been crazzzyyy busy at our house.  With the hubs working extra, beautiful weather, random events, and trying to keep up with an increasingly more active one-year-old... the days fly by!

Jake and I got all done up for a Gala a few weeks ago!

Running in the past month has been humbling for me (to say the least).  After my rough 20-miler, I felt some tight areas that, combined with a new shoe problem, lead to shin splints and a pulled quad. After two weeks of little to no running and I was finally ready to try a long run... but instead, I broke my pinky toe.

I'm sure you wanted to see my super attractive foot.  You're welcome.

I am scheduled to run a marathon in three weeks from today.  Not exactly ideal.  So where does that leave me?  Well, I don't know.  Tickets are purchased, so worst case scenario I will run the half marathon.  Okay, worst case scenario I won't run at all, but I think I could do the half.  And I'm hoping I can do the full. I'm not a person that likes to run half-heartedly in full marathons, but I also need to set realistic expectations coming off a month of injuries. I guess I will just wait and see how my body cooperates,  Lesson to all of you:  NEVER take advantage of pain-free running.  It's a blessing.

On a much more positive note... it is amazing to me how quickly children learn.  They are like little sponges! Here is a quick 14-month update on Gavin!

His favorite new tricks this month:
- Blowing kisses, pointing out ears/eyes/noses, throwing his head back in fake laughter, dancing, stacking toys, bringing books to me and plopping on my lap so I will read to him, playing outside, practicing going up/down stairs, rolling his r's, waving, coloring and chasing Diego.

This laugh.  Goof.

All of the sudden he is 18 drafting architectural plans.
(OR scribbling.  But seriously! Time.... slow DOWN!)

He LOVES running after Diego.  

Words he Says:
- Up, no, yes, all done, 'nana (banana), E-I-E-I-O (Old McDonald song), Mama, Dada, Amba,  (Amber, my sis), ruff ruff, ABC, uh-oh, uh-huh, eat, and lots of others I can't think of!  He is SO talkative and is constantly trying to mimic what we say.  Love it.

Challenges:
- His allergies :(  His skin has been at an all-time LOW.  He has a rash all over his body and we cannot figure out what it's from.  We're leaning toward a pollen allergy but not sure.  Thank goodness most kids outgrow this stuff. And thank goodness he is happy as a clam.
- Daycare germs.  He is currently sick with his 628th ear infection. Okay, a bit of an exaggeration, but it feels like every week he gets a runny nose from daycare which then progresses into a clogged ear tube (he had tubes placed when he was 9 months old) and then it gets infected.  My heart breaks for him every time.

Luckily he's just as fun as ever and really doesn't seem phased by any of it!

When the days get longer and the weather gets more beautiful, Alaskans can't stay inside.  Gavin and I have been spending time outside every day whether it is walking around in the yard, going to the park, hiking, or playing with friends.

Who's having more fun, Gavin or Mom?

Bestest little bud.

"Mother's hold their children's hands for a short while, but their hearts forever"

My little hiking buddy.

Does it count as double mileage since I'm carrying him?

I'm getting more and more excited for the next few months because we have a two out-of-state trips planned, tons of camping adventures, my BFF in the whole world will be back for 6 weeks, BBQ season, and trail running! My plan is to slow down on the road running and focus on trails a bit more since the pavement has not been very kind to my body lately.  My super rock-star sister is a hard core trail runner so I'm hoping to tag along on her adventures! There's going to be lots of fun times and I'll try to keep updating as I go!

And in case you didn't get enough cuteness from these pictures, I'll fill that quota.  

Go where there is no trail, and (attempt to) make your own...

My sister moved back to Alaska in June which has been amazing.  She is probably the most hard-core trail runner and talented athlete I know!  We just started running together because I hadn't been physically ready her 4 hour adventures in the mountains until lately.  I take that back.  I thought I was ready for an adventure with her, but this morning I realized very quickly this was not going to be your average trail run.

After dropping Gavin off with his grandparents, my sister and I drove up to Glen Alps trailhead and started our trek into a dark,  winter wonderland toward Williwaw Lakes.  The temperature was perfect, the city lights twinkled in the distance, and I was feeling great.

Anchorage in the distance

After a couple of miles on a snowy, but well-packed, trail, we steered off to a single-footprint led "trail" (not even). The snow was deep and covered roots, rocks, and streams.  I may or may not have stepped mid-calf deep into an icy-cold stream just 3 miles into our trek.  My toes were numb, my ankles chafed from snow scraping them as I plunged into the snow, but my fearless leader trudged forward!

Not even kidding.  Just another day in AK.

Luckily the views were incredible with tall mountains surrounding us, light snow falling, and a pink, glowing sunrise!

We're not alone... Lynx tracks guide us forward...

1 hour and 37 minutes into the run (uhhhh but who's counting?), we decided to turn around. My legs were cold, my stomach was growling, and I was mentally done.  Have you ever had one of those days?  Where you love being out and running but you're just over it? Yeah. That was me.  I've also decided trail running involves a lot more brain power than your average run.  Avoid that rock, don't trip on that stump, don't fall in the hole/stream/bushes... (all of which happened today at one point!) Gracefulness is not my strongest quality.  Then there's watching out for animals.  We saw just one moose in the distance and Lynx tracks, so that was good!

Winter bliss. Or torture. It's a tough call :)

We made it back to the car with a lot of mental cheerleading/convincing/bribery and I was pretty excited to take my frozen toes out of my frozen shoes.  All in all, 2 hours & 45 minutes that made me a stronger person!  And it also made me appreciate my amazing sister even more than I already do for pushing to go where there is no trail and trudge forward when you're mentally wiped! Oh and I might add, she barely looked tired after the entire day.  Seriously, she's a pro.

We got home and this little wiggleworm was pretty excited to see me.  

Upside-down cutie.

There's nothing better than this smile :)