Day to Day, 18, and 20

The Northwest has given us some decent weather as of late, which is nice to come home to after being in the perfect climate (IMHO) for two weeks.

I do love the Northwest; I do. It can get to me during those long, gray months (hence the timing of a tropical vacay), but it really is a beautiful place to live. (I'll come back to read this during one of our inevitable never-ending stretches of gray when I'm whining about wanting to move...)

 The Collins Fam has been staying busy -- be it with scheduled activities, spontaneous play dates, or just stepping out into our backyard or neighborhood. Hello, nic(er) weather.

These two. They are connected at the hip. Excuse me while I continue to point that out every other day, but they are and I love it.

Austen the Determined.

 We have a new addition! Out with the Pilot, in with the...mini van!

This has been in the works for a while. In fact, our last car shopping experience - three years ago or so - found me gazing at Odysseys and Siennas, while Jeff wasn't quite ready to take the plunge (he was only 31, after all...). I took pity on him and welcomed the Pilot with open arms. It was a good car, and I'll miss it.

Last month, he decided he was ready. So he did the engineer thing and did a TON of research and calling and meeting and emailing, until he found us a screamin' deal on this beauty (never knew about my freakishly long thumb until these photos):

It's roomy, comfy, convenient, and just makes sense. I love it.

Our hearts broke a little while watching the Pilot drive away this past weekend. This was our first "family car" -- the one we bought because we were going to have two kids and needed more space. But, it was sold to a family who will welcome their second little one any day now, so it felt right at least. Kaitlyn cried when they drove away, but she appears to be over it now. ;)

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K continues to be a very heavy sleeper. After she's asleep, I can go into her room to put away laundry, do some drum practice; whatever I may need.

One-on-one time with this one continues to be a highlight. Even if she insists on these god forsaken car carts.

We hung out in the driveway one evening. Might as well.

"Mom! We found sooooo many worms! Like twenty-four fifty-five!" --K

Kaitlyn has officially learned to pump to keep herself swinging. Oh, and she taught herself how to whistle and snap. Smart kid, this one.

We had a recent play date at Matthew and Katie's house, and the big kids had a blast in this swing. A bit squished, but of course that just made for more laughs:

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I am at 20 miles for my training runs. I'm feeling great, and finally went over that hump of feeling slightly anxious about the upcoming race to "bring it on already." I actually enjoy the long runs (no more "why am I doing this"), and for me personally, there are not many things that top finishing a run like that. But it's like labor -- I don't know exactly what to expect or how it will go, and I'm getting antsy about that. Let's get this show on the road...I'm ready!!

After my first 14 miler, I changed my route from the Centennial Trail to the Burke Gilman. I ran the Burke Gilman religiously in high school and while visiting home from college, so I had been sick of it for a while. I changed it up a bit by starting at Canyon Park and heading toward Redmond. After my first 18, that run was getting too familiar, so I changed again by starting at Sheridan Beach ('ole faithful -- brings back a lot of memories) and heading south. This takes me to the UW, which I've been enjoying. My second 18 was on a beautiful Friday morning and was one of my most enjoyable runs. Seeing the college kids lug their backpacks to early classes brought me back (just replace with Eburg). 

Okay, so there was one setback this past weekend. Around mile 14, I started having pain in my left hip area. It didn't feel like joint pain, but I *think* was more internal. The unsure part was the feeling that it was possibly radiating down my leg a bit. I'm being a bit cryptic and unclear, but I guess the important part is that I didn't stop (but would have if I felt that I was injuring myself) and it went away for the most part for the last few miles. I also haven't felt any pain in that area since, and am not sore. I also did a 4 miler the next day and it was fine. I figure that this is promising.

As convincing as all that was up there, it has still caused me to take a step back in my confidence about where I'm at, but thank goodness I have two more long runs to test it out. Wish me luck next weekend, as I feel like that will be the telling run. I'm obviously hoping that it was a fluke, and that I'll continue feeling strong and good. I've worked so hard and come so far (literally!), and would be quite disappointed for it to end here. I've got two more long runs (20 and either 20 or 22), then tapering for two weekends (10 and 9).

Wish me luck next weekend, and cross fingers that this was a one-time thing.

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