Dave had a conference in DC at the beginning of May. We, that is the kids and I, decided to tag along. We took a small detour to visit our good friends from dental school in PA on the way out there. It was fun to see how the kids have grown and their cute house. Everyone used to think Nichole and I were twins in Portland or would mistake us for one another, which we thought was funny but now I look at Brooklyn and Kumorah and figure they could pass as sisters too.
One of the best parts was that my mom decided to meet us out there as well! The kids didn't really get how amazing it was that Grandma (from Portland) just ended up in the lobby of our hotel in DC as we tried to surprise them. For them we went far away and Grandma lives far away so I guess it all kind of made sense. Dave and I did appreciate the efforts it took her to make it out though. It allowed me to see the sites with some adult company and sanity in tact and Dave and I even got a little date night.
The next cool part was Daisha driving up for the day to visit. So fun to see her and the kids and finally meet Claire out of the womb. It was hot at the zoo and the kids were sort of slow to remember and warm up to each other, but it was so good to see the Super Mama again and remember how much we miss everyone.
The kids got to ride the train quite a bit, We made some quick stops for photos at Arlington National Cemetary, Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, Air and Space Museum, Natural History Museum, etc.
Trenton lost his first tooth with the help of Grandma. Too bad his permanent teeth have already been hanging out behind the baby teeth in back for a while, are huge and horribly crooked.
The boys have finally figured out soccer and spend more time running, dribbling and scoring than they do rolling on the ground, playing in the dirt and getting caught in the net.
Trenton lost his first tooth with the help of Grandma. Too bad his permanent teeth have already been hanging out behind the baby teeth in back for a while, are huge and horribly crooked. 
Kids will be kids and I had to laugh that one of their favorite parts was sitting outside of Washington Mall and getting absolutely filthy playing in the dirt. The trip was rushed and fun and I'm glad we did it!
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So, I started the year off running . .literally. Decided to train for a half marathon (the Kentucky Derby mini marathon) and do the Louisville Triple Crown Races as part of it (5k, 10k and 10 mile) races. Although I certainly love working out, I've never really been too much of a runner . . .and while I did get quite bored with it over the past months . .. I find myself still wanting to do it a few times a week as it became sort of habit. Anyway, training works, assuming you are actually doing it and I was . .I still remember the morning I was running with temps in the single digits and I thought I was tough/stupid/freezing until I saw some old woman sitting on her front porch wearing a robe in the same weather and realized she was much tougher, colder and maybe even dumber than me. I started off with a certain goal time in January and found myself constantly adjusting my goal as I found my speed improving. I was planning on running with my cousin's husband, Nick, but injury left him on the sidelines come race day and me running solo . . .really could have used him with my pacing and to push me in the end as my inexperience led me to going way too fast over the first 5 miles (including all the hills) and feeling burned out and crappy the rest of the race. Nonetheless, I clocked in right where I wanted to be at 1:38:18 . .just wish I would have felt better doing it. Now, I'm left with trying to figure out how to make my overly muscled legs return to something a little more normal looking. My cousin Lachelle came up and ran this and the 10 miler with me too . . .I'm hoping she'll see this and provide me with some better pictures since Dave was on Daddy duty that day taking the boys to soccer. It was a cool race though . .sold out (over 15,000 participants) although I think the rain scared some away so there weren't as many finishers. Part of the course included running on the inside of Churchill Downs. We went and visited afterwards to watch a few races . . . . I took pictures of Lachelle with her family and she took pictures of me alone. . . .Actually not a horrible feeling when it's so rare, although I can't wait to take the kids back to the track.
