The Swarrell Life

If you read  the last post, you know that we were at the beach most of last week. We covered day 1 at the beach. Most people would look at that post and think that it was sufficient to describe our experience. I disagree and therefore will add WAY more photos just to prove my point. Wait, did I have a point? What was it? Help me out here! This was day two at the beach. That's it, just a lot of wind and two kids who did not want to be there. Wait, we did drive to Seaside though. The rain in the morning was really coming down so we drove to Seaside so that the kids could ride the carousel. Here's a picture to prove it. Just kidding, there's actually THREE! Trinity wanted to ride the bunny...so she did! Both kids had a blast! Then it was time for clam chowder, yum! Now that day 2 is over (finally, right?), we can move on to day 3 and Cannon Beach. They have tide pools! And start fish to touch! And plenty of other wildlif...

The parts about the Pacific Coast that I remember from when I was a child are all good. Even the memories involving wet sand are good. Maybe that is because I didn't have to clean up after myself. Boy, that stuff gets everywhere and it seems to reproduce when you aren't looking! But the beach is the main reason to go to the coast, so you take the good and the bad. Besides, it's nothing a hot bath and a vacuum can't fix! Our first day on the coast we took the kids out to the beach, much digging and throwing was done. What's funny is that the previous sentence could describe most of our trip. Ha, why bother with the pictures? Because it's what I do. Shenanigans! What's really funny is that somehow Teagan managed to pull Autumn over into the sand. I guess her foot was bad? Ha ha! More shenanigans! No trip to the beach is complete without a game of "Ring Around the Rosie!" Although it certainly doesn't help ...

As I mentioned in the last post, Autumn and I and the two little monkeys went west this last week. I am typing this from the (relative) safety of my own home. I'll admit to being relieved to finally drop into the Baker Valley. I miss the mountains when I am not here. But this marks the first time that we as a family have taken a vacation that did not involve an obligation of some sort. I guess we ran the half-marathon on Sunday, but after that we had four days of doing only things that we wanted to. It was refreshing for all of us I think, something we need to do regularly. If you have read a few posts on here, we are never short of photos. This trip was no exception, so it will trickle out as I have time and energy to post. There's LOTS of pictures to go through. Meanwhile, I will take you through a few for now... We went to Portland on Thursday night, and then spent Friday knocking around a bit. Saturday I was at a work conference while Autumn went with her folks...

I don't usually talk about my running on here much. Autumn has been a runner for years. I am a new runner. This weekend we did the same run, which really doesn't happen too much. We ran the Rock 'N' Roll Half-Marathon Portland on Sunday morning. We ran with a whole bunch of friends, which made the whole affair a bunch of fun! Our family was in Portland for the weekend and then we continued on to the coast for the rest of the week. Autumn's folks came with us for our first real vacation with the kids. Yes, there will be a very long update regarding that trip. Actually, I am blogging from the Oregon coast right now.  Left to right: Angela, me, Autumn, Teagan, Bo, Ava, Jen, Trinity, Kal and Chelsea. Oh yeah, Chelsea is holding Emerson. Yes, that is a baby under that space blanket! The run went off well and it was great to see old friends. Kal and I ran 13.1 miles for the very first time, with everyone else notching another half-marathon on their belt. Tem...

Sometimes these things write themselves. Sometimes I have to pry words out with the jaws of life. Other times, useless strings of words come out, but I just don't care enough to edit them into anything useful. I am not sure where this post falls, but let follow on down the rabbit hole! I am pretty sure that standing on furniture is not allowed. I am pretty sure that shoes come off in the house. Two observations come to mind. 1) Both rules are being violated, and 2) An unnamed adult is in the room, taking pictures no less. We might need to review the rules with children and  adults! Repeat offender. But darn she's cute! That must be why women who get pulled over rarely get tickets. It's the cuteness! Wait, that sounds almost sexist. Well, I am still not deleting it. Ha! I am not sure that you can tell, but Trinity is airborne, or nearly so. She loves the playground. She tends to be fearless, which makes me proud and scared at the same time. I suppose...

We ended up in Portland a couple weeks ago. Well, in all fairness, it might have been yesterday. It sure seems like I can't keep track of time lately. Either way, we were in Portland. There was some work to be done, there was a wedding to go to, and most importantly there was some fun to behad because it's Portland! The kids came with, so we had to keep them occupied during the day. Here's a little sample: No, that's not Trinity pushing Teagan. It was another little girl that was there. She liked to push Teagan. I think that Teagan might have been in love! Meanwhile, Trinity was learning the ups and downs of the play house. She is getting very brave these days. The only problem is that she ended up getting her little toes stuck and I had to free them. She's getting there! Eating never really makes for good pictures. It does make for funny pictures though! Trinity is very good at sharing, even with her mouth full! If I...