::morning buddies::

Kris and I have been trying to train ourselves into runners. It's not that easy. We're training for DisneyWorld's marathon weekend in early Jan. I'm going to do the half marathon and Kris will do the full. We're hoping that next Sept we'll get to do the Berlin Marathon with Kris's Uncle Richard, if all goes well. (I'm still not committing to ever really running a marathon, but I can at least train for it!)

So this entails running (or run/walking in my case) at least three times a week. Most times Kris and I end up switching off days and going out first thing in the morning--about 6:15 is when we have to go in order to get kids to school and people to work on time.

The other morning Max happened to be awake when Kris was getting ready to go. This is so very unusual, most of the time we're dragging him kicking and screaming (figuratively--usually) out of bed at seven or later.

But he was awake, and he begged Kris to let him ride along on his bike. Kris is already a good dad and has been taking Sultan along. Poor Sultan is just dying for exercise and fun and loves to go. It makes things way too complicated for me, but Kris is sweet and takes him along.
So there he was, with a boy on a bike and a dog on a leash, both ready for fun and adventure. And he was supposed to be actually getting a workout in.

It went alright, so I hear. It's happened three times since I think. Today Max had a rough time getting up, but he still did it. And Kris took some documentary style pictures as they trundled along.

(It's cold and dark in the morning!!)

(Fabulous cactus flowers.)

I think they make look a bit speedier than they truly are in this photo. They look like they're just zooming along the trails.

Kris says he's not really getting too good of a work out, but the guys are way too excited and enthused about it and he would feel terrible just sneaking out without them.
Isn't he a sweet dad?
I love that Max is excited to go with him and work hard, and I love that he's seeing how we're working and trying hard to be fit and have fun. Hopefully it'll all rub off well on him and he'll be able to see that anything (well, almost anything) is possible if you work hard enough!

::another day in san diego::

We went to Sea World on friday morning and it was pretty fun. We did have a problem though. They've added a bunch of rides, probably 5 or 6 big ones and some smaller ones. This was all Max could think about. I made the mistake of looking at the website with him before the trip to get him excited, and he spied the rides. That was all he could think about from that moment on--and this did not change when we actually got to the park.
We had "breakfast with Shamu" in which you have a breakfast buffet, eat right next to one of the whale tanks and see a few cool whale tricks up close. That was fun and I'm glad we did it because it was the only whale exposure we got the whole day.
After breakfast I was ready to head to the Shamu show, but Max was dying to go on the big roller coaster, so we went over there. Kris and Max went on that, and Max loved it, so I got in line with him to do it again. But of course the ride broke down, so we were stuck in line for quite a while for no reason--these Sea World guys are not too good at their ride management it turns out.

Anyway, after that we got stuck heading over to another ride, and it got hotter and more crowded. We finally made it to the Sea Lion and Seal show which was fun. Then when we tried to see the actual seals afterwards the area was so crowded it was impossible and we just had to push on. Finally Kris and I got tired of the crowds and after seeing the sharks and a few other things we hauled our boys out and took them back to the condo for some rest.

It was not great management of the Sea World trip, I'd do it differently if I was doing it again. And the Manta Ray area was closed because (of course) they're adding a big ride to it.
I think Sea World should stick with the animal stuff. It's what they do best.

But anyway, we liked this cool Shamu car.


The best part of the day happened after everybody get a little rest. We were able to get together with Kris's old roommate/mission companion Blake and his wife Brooke for dinner. It was just a weird coincidence that we both happened to be out here at the same time. They recommended a delicious Thai restaurant that we really enjoyed (all of us with refined tastes, anyway.)
Kris got fried rice that actually came inside half a pineapple. Pretty fancy, right?


After we ate Blake & Brooke took us down to a beautiful park on the coast to look at tidepools and seals. There were quite a few sea anemones in the little pools, but Max wasn't quite brave enough to stick his finger in them to make the them close.

Baby Evie was though.

Max however, was brave enough to go out to the very tip of the rocks we were out and wish that a wave would carry him out to sea. Weird kid.

It was an amazing view and a lovely sunset. And Max did not get carried away, happily.

It was prettymuch too dark to see the seals by the time we got to them, but the good company and fun conversation made up for it.
It was a really fun night--thanks Blake & Brooke for taking the trouble to meet up with us!
And Blake has a reputation in our family for taking good pictures (he took the photo that ended up being in our wedding invitation) so he took one of all of us on the rocks. I like it.

::careless::

Max has had quite the afternoon. He's done all sorts of things that have driven me nuts.

He found a big long rope of Kris's (much to my chagrin) and dragged it around the yard, knocking things over as he went.

He somehow pulled a big splintered strip up out of one of the deck boards. It was "the rope's fault!"

He pulled over our lame charcoal BBQ and dumped all the charcoal dust out all over our little cement patio.

Then he kicked the dust all around after I told him to stay far far away from it.

He knocked down a set of blinds in a room he had no reason to even be in, much less be in there adjusting the blinds.

He spilled milk all over the living room rug. This is really my fault because I was letting him eat dinner in the living room, and I gave him the milk. I didn't give him much and I told him specifically to be very careful. Hah. Dumb me.

All I wanted to do was yell. And I have to admit that I did. And I banished him outdoors. He was happy to be outside until banished. Then it was cruel and unusual punishment.

I have a feeling this thoughtlessness is just part of being a kid. And maybe especially being a little boy. But what can I do (besides yelling) to get him to open up his eyes and his ears? How can I positively encourage him to take some care? Any ideas from you more experienced parents out there?

::60 degrees::

So what do you do when it's a balmy 60 degrees outside?
Why get in your swimming suit of course, and run through ice cold hose water!

Or that's what you do if you're 100% crazy and your name is Max.
Our poor cars are covered with leaves and pollen and little sticky things. We park under a tree nowadays, which is great for providing shade, and also great for providing schmutz.

This was NOT a warm evening. Luckily he didn't catch hypothermia. But he did have a blast, and sometimes that's all that matters.