The Beach

Last weekend we went to the beach with Jeff's parents.  We rented a house near the beach in Manzanita, OR.  The weather forecast was sketchy, but as Sam says, it's always nice at the beach.  Jeff and I did some running on the beach.  I always enjoy that.  The first couple of days the sun came out long enough for us to get some bike riding in, a little time on the beach, and a few trips to the park.  On Saturday we drove down to Cape Meares.  We walked to the light house and to the Octopus Tree.  Then we stopped at the Tillamook Cheese Factory for a tasty treat of ice cream.  On Sunday we spent time at the beach.  I did a little street shopping through town.  In the afternoon we tried to fit in a bike ride, but it decided to rain, so we turned around and went back home.  Monday we woke up to lots of rain, so we didn't make any last trips to the beach.  But we had a great time, and it was so nice to get away for the weekend.

Early Morning Run on the Beach

At the Tillamook Cheese Factory

Sam in the Sand

Catching Simon in Action

Daniel Gets Ready to Fly a Kite

All of Us at Octopus Tree

Planting & Skating

Saturdays are usually our family day and often we try to get outside and enjoy nature with either a hike, bike ride, picnic or some other fun activity.  But the weather was not functioning the way we wanted it to, so we decided to go to Home Depot instead.  Jeff was wanting to get a few more things for our garden, and I wanted to get some pots to plant my flowers the boys had given me for Mother's Day.  I found Simon to be especially cute, all bundled up in his rain coat but sitting rather comfortably in the cart, and taking hold of our possessions. 

On Sunday, Jeff finished planting our garden in the morning.  In the afternoon we went to a baby shower for one of Jeff's fellow residents.  It was held at the Mt. Scott roller skating rink.  It was nice because we had the entire place to ourselves.  Sam & Daniel had skated once before, so this was their second time.  They were eager to get out on the floor and try again.  This was the first time for Simon.  He wasn't too sure at first, but then after trying it, he decided he really liked it.  It was fun to watch them gain their confidence and become more comfortable with a new activity.  Hopefully we can go again sometime.

Simon

Daniel

Sam

Big Weekend

The Youker Family had a big 2 days this past weekend.  It started on Saturday morning with an early morning race for me.  And this was a big one...the half marathon that I've been training for since December.  I was very nervous going into the race.  All last week I felt sluggish and lethargic.  I was worried about making it to the finish line without passing out or fainting.  But I was pleasantly surprised when I started running, all of my old energy came back.  The first 6 miles were really not that difficult.  Then as I started mile 7, I thought I should hold back and keep some energy in the tank for the finish.  Last year I hit a huge wall at mile 11, and I was a little worried about that happening again.  But I was really surprised when mile 11 came around and I still felt pretty good.  Now don't get me wrong, I was tired and the finish line couldn't come fast enough.  But as I came into the stadium (the finish) and saw that my time was under 2 hours, I was ecstatic.  I didn't expect that at all.  Almost 20 minutes faster than last year.  So setting a personal record was also a really good feeling.  I can't wait to do it again next year!

Then on Sunday it was a big day for Sam!  He turned 5 years old yesterday.  He was so excited to be turning 5, almost more excited about being older than the presents or cake he got.  When asked if he felt older, he said yes.  We went over to Jeff's parents house in the morning for a brunch to celebrate the birthday and Mother's Day.  It was a wonderful meal.  Then Sam opened a few presents.  In the afternoon, we went to the park and played a game of kickball.  Then we did a short hike to see some tadpoles.  Sam's choice for dinner was McMenamins, so we went there for dinner.  While there, we had a cake that I had brought.  I felt bad that I forgot to bring candles, and the restaurant didn't have any, but Sam didn't seem to mind and after we had sung to him, he pretended to blow out his candles. 

I want to also mention that I felt the love from my boys for Mother's Day too.  Jeff took the boys out first thing in the morning, still in their PJ's, to the grocery to pick out some flowers for me.  They came home and give me their beautiful arrangements along with cards that they had made.  It was a great Mother's Day and an all around great weekend!

Pics From Spring Break

Last week I was busy subbing, so I didn't have time to posts pics from our spring break trip like I had wanted to.  So here are the pics I was going to share:

Cousin Fun

Train Table Takeover

Making Waves

Dare Devil

Hearts in SF

Redwood Adventures