Spring break

I was excited for Spring Break this year. Last year I was sick with morning sickness and we didn't get to do many fun things. So this year we tried to plan lots of fun outings. And we had beautiful weather so it was great. The kids and I had playdates at the swimming pool, a trampoline place and the park almost every day. I also enjoyed taking Jack on runs with me. He would ride his bike while I ran. We started with 3 miles and worked up to 5 miles. I usually listen to music when I run, but Jack is talkative when he's on his bike. He would talk nonstop the entire run... it was great. 

We met some friends for time at the park and a walk around the lake

We went fishing and the kids brought nets to try to catch frogs. We didn't find any frogs but we did see a beaver in the river

Hanging out with my girls

We had lots of fun playing at home as well

It was a great time and I can't wait for all the fun things we are going to do this summer!

Running through the pain

Luke and I are right at the peak training period for our half marathon. It means that I am running 25-30 miles per week and half of those miles are pushing the double stroller. It's no surprise to me that things started hurting. First it was my toe that turned black

And then my left knee started swelling. 

I kept up running, trying to just run through the pain. But after a month of a painfully swollen knee I decided to go see the doctor. They did and Xray and an MRI but could not find the cause for the swelling. So the doctor decided to drain my knee to reduce the swelling and here is what came out:

Then he also gave me a cortisone shot and drew 5 files of blood from my arm to try and figure out what was going on. My knee felt better and I was almost pain free for 2 days. It was amazing to be able to walk down stairs, lay in bed, bend down, etc with no pain. Then on the 3rd day my knee was swollen and the pain was back. I was limping through my runs and trying my best to keep icing and wrapping my knee. Then we found out all the bloodwork came back normal but the fluid showed some abnormalities. The sports medicine doctor sent me to a rheumatologist but this doctor can't get me an appointment until May. Not much help for me since the race will be over by then. So for now I have found that icing my knee before and after every run really helps reduce pain and at this point I am only focused on finished the race, I can't even think about my pace which is going to be so hard given how competitive Luke and I are. 

St Patty's Day Race and Parade

We did our first 5k as a family of 5 for St. Patty's day. We had to take both strollers, Luke had Jack in our single stroller and I followed with the girls in the double stroller. The run was pretty cold, but thankfully it warmed up in time for the St. Patty's day parade. We even had front row seats for the parade:

The kids loved getting all the candy from the passing floats

Here they are digging through their candy stash

We were able to meet up with some of our friends and their kiddos

Jack and Maddie used to play soccer together when they were 5. Now they got to meet again at the parade

Jack spent most of the afternoon trying to learn how to blow a bubble with gum

It was a great and beautiful day.