My mom is.....by Camdyn Lake

My mom is nice, helping me clean my room
My mom is a flower lover, smelling flowers all day
My mom is a pet hater, not letting me have a pet
My mom is a TV hater, not liking to have the TV on
My mom is a cook, making meals every day
My mom is very silly, makng me laugh so hard I could cry
Mom mom is a bookworm, reading books all night
My mom is a neat freak, cleaning the house every day
My mom is a cheerleader, screaming me on at my soccer games
My mom is a dentist, putting retainers on and braces on my teeth

By Camdyn Lake


I laughed out loud on that one. She's got me pegged on pets and TV for sure....and no, I don't tell my kids I'm a dentist. It's funny what our children percieve us to be.....I'll say this was pretty right on :>

While getting ready for the church the kids came down and presented all of their creative cards to me. They have been given a great example from thier father on how to treat mom on mother's day. Todd was working, so Griffin helped rally the girls in keeping the house clean and harmony in the home all day. Todd gave me this flower stand for the backyard that I love!
After Brody's nap we did what I love to do on a beautiful cool day, so we hiked up to the top of Multnomah Falls. That trail is steep! I was so proud of the kids for not making ONE complaint! Brody about killed my back. I can tell this is going to be a hard year for hikes, and next year won't be much easier!

Looking down from the top of the Falls.

Ahhh, a lovely spot to enjoy the trail mix awaiting kids who didn't complain (there's always a catch:>)

Harmony Talent Show

Last Friday the girls performed a Double Dutch Jump Rope routine for thier school talent show. In 5th grade I was on our school's Double Dutch Team and remembered it being much easier to learn! The girls practiced only when Todd was home (and willing to come out and turn the ropes) so their actual prep time was limited! They had so much fun learning and did 2 performances at the school and one later that night at the Middle School.

The routine went along good with a song I found called Double Dutch Bus from a Disney Movie called College Road Trip.

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Morning on the Willamette

While Todd was away in D.C. and New York for 8 days the kids and I took a sunny morning and spent a few hours walking downtown. Initially we were coming just for breakfast but I grabbed my camera at the last minute to take a few practice shots. It's too bad I didn't go to extra lengths to dress the kids up like the picture perfect poster children we see in professional shots, because some of these would have turned out really good. But, for us.....this is the life we live!
This is where Todd proposed to me 15 years ago. We fed the ducks.......

walked along the waterfront.......

down this alley way behind Saturday Market......

dipped our toes in Salmon Street Fountain

watched the Hawthorn bridge raise for the Spirit of Portland.....

played hide n seek.......

and found these flowers washed ashore on the banks of the Willamette River.

Rowing out on the Dragon Boats only mean one thing.......Rose Festival is near!

Diary of the Marathon

When I was a little girl my father would say, "Stace, come run with me." Sometimes that would mean biking alongside him. Other times it was going to the track and riding laps while he ran. As I grew older I began to go on my own accord, asking him to meet me downtown on the quiet streets of Portland at 5:30 a.m. for a predawn run. After my first baby came an urge to set a lofty goal, thus was born the desire for the Marathon.

Now after 11 years 4,000 miles of running (counting only marathon training runs), 34 pair of running shoes, 9 Marathons and a few foot injuries I have reached the Holy Grail of Running, something I thought impossible when I set my goal back in 1998. The Boston Marathon.
Twice I had qualified only to be set back by a foot injury or the choice of having another baby. What kept leading me back was the will to drive myself, push beyond my limits and most of all....have alone time to clear my head! Focusing my thoughts and releasing energy has helped me to be a better mother and wife, giving time to myself on the most glorious mornings.

I am inspired by what the human body and better yet, the human mind can accomplish. I am inspired by what those who without much natural athletic ability can accomplish when they've placed a goal in their path. It is to these athletes that I applaud. To the first woman, who against the odds had the courage to run in a Marthon led only by males trying to shove her off the route, but kept her course.
It was at the starting line of this, my 10th Marathon that I felt the thrill of all of the miles I had run come together for one glorious day of celebration.

From Hopkinton to Boston the residents and spectators came out to cheer each and every individual who, with their own story had made it on the course that day. The route weaved through the campus of Welsley College and Boston College where the cheers from the students could be heard half a mile away!

Though the miles took a more painful turn for me at the half-way mark, it was this cheering from thousands of supporters that kept me from walking and helped me relish the experience. Local residents came out with orange slices, licorice, popcicles, and newton's. Little children would say "please take my water" as they held out small cups to the runner's. I have never experienced a community come out to support an event in this magnitude.

Without the support of my parents, especially my father....who used to "make me" exercise. I would not have had this experience.

It seems appropriate to me then that they were there for my Start 1998 and were there for my Finish a decade later........

Our Hotel the Marriott Long Wharf.

Boston's Beacon Hill District was so charming.

Although it was cool out, it was sunny AND not raining!

Who wants to rest while on vacation. Certainly I never have, so why start now? We walked for 6 hours on Sunday.

Toured many historical sites, cemetaries and monuments.

This looks like a scene right out of a movie set in England.

The Expo was enormous, and run like a well oiled machine. Got my registration packet and on our way.......
....across the bridge we walked to Cambridge. Ate lunch at a cafe outside Harvard and M.I.T.
Harvard wasn't what I'd expected. I thought it would be more grand and lush and large and really look like an Ivy League School. I didn't even see any ivy!
That night we dined at the Living Room with my cousin Jenni Skeen and her parents and friend from college. Jenni had told me she was running last summer and we both thought it would be fun to come the same year. She's a talented, smart 7th grade math teacher in Washington D.C. who also happens to be a fabulously fast runner. I can't keep up with her in my old age. Maybe she'll catch up to me (or catch back to me rather). Marathon morning I happened to be staying at the same hotel as some friends from Camas and we all walked over to the Common's togther to catch the caravans of buses going to Hopkinton. As we kept driving and driving I commented on the fact that this is going to be a long run back!!!
Comrades from Lacamas.
Jenni Skeen and myself.

We were trying to stay warm inside this tent........
My teeth were chattering all morning that later that night my jaw was sore when I went to eat something.
The sun came out for an hour and although it was only maybe 50 with clouds and 15 mph headwind, I still got sunburned.

I've cried after a few marathons for different reasons. Pride, happiness, accomplishment, and pain. This one was for all of those reasons.
After a soak in the hottub and lite dinner I was good as new (we were pretending this is what I wanted to do).
The next day Trace had to leave on business so that left Annie and I to tour and shop and eat cookies at our own leisure. I do say, Annie may be a bigger cookie moster than me!
We were out walking with a few rides off and on the trolley for 6 more hours that day and 2 hours the next! Annie and I walked from our hotel to the North End Italian district which was so adorable with it's outside cafe's and blooming windowboxes. There was much history to see so we set ourselves on that. The North Church where the 2nd candle was lit to warn that the British are coming!
Mom wanted to add this to her garden.
There was a little bit of rain. I didn't mind in the least. I have come to terms with the fact that I like rain and anything over 70 feels hot to me. How did I grow up in Arizona?!
Now this is a fabulous idea for church. Each family gets their own box! The door closes and the punks can do as they please at your feet and no one will see them eating cheerios.
Truly my dad has made several sacrifices in his line of work so that we can enjoy traveling at his expense. It was known among all my friends who stayed here how much hotels in Boston range during this weekend. $500 a night for the hotel we stayed in right behind me! Needless to say I may not be seeing the beautifully clean city of Boston in the near future.
It has made me want to come home and transform my porch into an better kept garden bed. As all trips must come to an end, so must this lengthy narration.
Remember those things I was thinking during the end of my run mom and dad? I was just kidding :>

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