Well, not that sturdy, as it turns out.

 On October 18th, I met my fate.  No, not my children, silly....

I'd been training, the best I've ever trained for a race, for the past 30 weeks.  Friends did interval workouts with me, strength training, and regular and long runs that mimicked the elevation changes of the actual course.  I was fired up for the Dog Lake Marathon.

 Can't you tell?

 Little did I know that I was walking to my doom.

 Here I am hobbling into the half-marathon mark.  The kids, down there in the right corner, are eagerly waiting to high-five their mom.  Instead, I veered off-course to the finish line of the half.  My knee had started talking to me around mile 6.  By mile 9 it was seizing.  That sharp, IT-band pain that makes running impossible.  It was such a major bummer.  Such. A. Major. Bummer. (in today's parlance).  I wasn't tired at all and once I stopped running, the pain was gone.  I was left with this anti-climatic feeling.  It was confusing.

 Now we were left with some unplanned extra hours.  These swings were at the half.  Those cool kind with super long chains so you can swing up to the clouds.  Except Miles.  Who looks stuck.

 We checked out of the hotel and found a lake and a hike.  The kids threw pebbles in the lake for awhile, and then we hit the trail.  I like the lighting of this picture of Clara.  And her expression.  She's about to huck a pebble.

 It was all fun and games until Clara called uncle.  Well, had a tizzy.  So back to the lake.  Took the time to have a photo op with Blue Bear.

 Sydney was "Star of the Week" for her class and had the honored responsibility of showing Blue Bear a good time.

 In the distance is Mt. Ranier.

Pretty cool guys:

 Pretty cool hair-do:

 What!? You don't wear your kids' hair clippies?  They're so handy.  I think my profile is particularly stunning.


Sydney found a balance beam and Miles found a spot to bungee off of:

A passer-by offered to take our picture.  She was wearing a Boston marathon shirt from the bombing year.    That put Dog Lake into perspective.  While it didn't go as planned, it wasn't as bad as all that.  And I feel blessed to, above all, share life -- it's ups and downs -- with these guys:

 Awwww. :)