Training for a race

This week has been very full of wonderful things, including time in the cold, wet outdoors.
The whole family (except Eva) is training for a 5k race in April, so we go jogging several times a week.  So far, I have run 2 miles every other day, which is more than enough for me.  Sometimes, I run with Kai, sometimes with Lukas.  On the last few hundred yards, as I try not to hyperventilate, the boys will breeze by me in an elegant sprint.  Hmpf.  Here they are running, while Eva and I walk.  Pluto, our 13 year old dog, insists on running with them.

The boys joined us on the walk after they got their two miles run done, and we all looked at salmon guts that are splattered all over the beach, lending a rather robust aroma to the scenery.

It's not too hard to run in a place where you get to see beautiful things like this as you speed by.

This is our permanent camp in the woods, where the boys (including Steve) built several debris huts, where they spent nights in the summer and fall, doing macho stuff like covering themselves with leaves instead of sleeping bags.  Since I am mortally afraid of spiders and prefer camping in a safe tent with bug netting AND a sleeping bag, I don't partake in these excursions.

Spring is kind of thinking about showing up on some days, although the snow line here is reaaaalllly low.  I don't care about that, though - I have a wood stove and a greenhouse.  Here are my onions in the greenhouse and my garlic poking out in the garden.

I'm outside a lot, especially since I am forced out into the barn three times a day to put an ice pack on Gracie's leg.  Her injury seems to be getting better!

There is a lot of new learning going on in our house.  Kai taught himself to type in five days.  Steve watched Kai do his typing exercises on the computer and said morosely, "Kai types faster than me now."  He might be right!
And Eva is learning a lot, too, including riding a tricycle, which is a hard thing to do, considering having to coordinate pedaling and steering at once.  But she has her brothers to cheer her on, and to give her a ride on their backs every now and then, to show her how it's done.

And then, of course, there is time spent with good friends, in nature, with lots of laughter, hugs and sharing fruit and nuts by the river.