March Madness

"We write to taste life twice..." Anais Nin
and this past month was too delicious not to indulge in leftovers. Frankly, we've been so busy living there hasn't been much time for writing. I think that perhaps a photo essay might be best. So much for writing, eh? A picture is worth a thousand words anyway.
We can't believe how blessed we are to live in this gorgeous part of the world. To live here is to believe in God. We had several rainy days but we also had many clear days and we tried to make the most of them. We took a walk one Sunday out at Point Lobos. Mike took our wagon on the most wild ride of its long life. Ellyn happily walked the parts where we had to carry said wagon over rough terrain. As a side note, Jane is wearing a sweatshirt that I bought in England when I was 15. I love that thing and it has been so good to me.

My cute cousin Jess called at the beginning of March and asked if they could possibly spend their Spring Break with us. YES!!!! We partied all week long, all of us living on almost no sleep.
We planned something for every day. This was our hike up 2200 feet and back down. At sea level you hike through these enormous Redwoods. Mike and I are imitating Edward and Bella in New Moon. Why must every conversation they have be so intense?
Jess and Tony- tree huggers
Here we are taking a little rest about 3/4 of the way up.

Different day- exploring a litte cave at Point Lobos.
Okay, you can't see it, but this was a spaghetti dinner out on our front porch. I didn't have any pictures of Sadie and Ellyn and they are both so cute in these that I had to put them on. This was our Tuesday night dinner.



After dinner we hurried out the door to hit the Farmer's Market. It was already closing up (an hour early) so we walked down to Fisherman's Wharf. Where...

We sampled clam chowder and chose which restaurant we would be visiting later in the week. Fisherman's Grotto won and it was delicious.

We are holding our aching bellies. Sooo good.

Of course our trip included trips to the beach, nap times were disrupted. Sawyer attempts to catch up on some zzzzz's.
It was an amazing trip, we did the Aquarium and the Cheese Shop and downtown Carmel. Almost every night we stayed up playing board games (and much later struggled with children that don't know how to sleep well-Ind and El- that's you two). I am so glad they came, I hope it becomes a tradition. That's the plan anyway.

So... the morning Jess and Tony left we had big plans-

Mike and I joined three of our friends in a crazy, 5 mile "Mud Run," which included jumping over barriers, 5 foot walls, four pits filled with mud and water, push ups, and soldiers yelling at you all along the way. We had such a great time. I was cleaning mud out of my ears for 3 days.

The Mud Turkeys (turkeys made from all of our kids hand prints, that's why Mike and I have so many more) ready to run. Junior, Beth, Mike, me, and Jason- we are all in the lottery for the St. George Marathon as well!
Beth and I climbing the wall- Mike laughing at me.
We loved our medals, but you can't see them very well. Our teeth look amazingly white and I actually look like I have a tan!

That's March in a nutshell. BLOG OUT