Tijuana Estuary

Today I ran 5 miles on the Silver Strand in Coronado with Becky and Lisa. It was a bit chilly, but we had a beautiful view.
We decided that we were going to do a family hike at least once per month. Since today was almost the last day of January, we had to get it in. The kids have been wanting to hike to the "Rock House" at the top of Mount Miguel, but we decided to wait on that.
We have never been to the Tijuana Estuary (nature preserve), so we decided to check it out. The kids explored the visitor's center and then we walked on a few of the trails for about 3 miles. The kids weren't too excited about the trails, but I thought the view was nice.

After our hike, we stopped in Imperial Beach for lunch at the Tin Fish. We've eaten at the Tin Fish downtown San Diego before, but weren't aware there was another location. This location was all the way at the end of the pier, out in the ocean.

Blue and Gold Celebration

Tonight Zachary had a special Cub Scout meeting to celebrate the birthday of Boy Scouts. We had a potluck dinner and the boys had surprise entertainment provided by Mad Science.

Cookie Season is Here

Today is the first day of cookie sales. Kailani is all set to sell. Her goal is 250 boxes.

 Zachary is getting excited for baseball to start. He got a bat and ball for Christmas and he was excited to test it out at the park.

Koa loves the new furniture:)

1 Down 2 To Go

This morning I ran the Carlsbad 1/2 Marathon (13.1 miles). The course was beautiful; right along the ocean. I typically run on my own rather than try to stay with someone; however, today I ran with one of the Fit Miss girls. Although we stopped for a few bathroom breaks and a few photos, I think we did great (2:36:31 finish). This race is the first in the triple crown series. I have two more to complete this year within the time limit (3 hours).

At the start line.

 Beautiful scenery.

 On the course (about mile 7). We ran into another friend.

With Geraldine, our cheerleader!

After the race, I headed back to Legoland to spend a few more hours in the park.

Legoland Kids Marathon Mile

Today we participated in the kids marathon mile. I can't believe we've done this every year since Kailani was 18 months old. Zachary ran the entire mile and waited for us at the end. Kailani and I ran about half of the mile. We all received medals at the end, which look a little different that they usually do (they're nice).

 Official PACE car for the Carlsbad 1/2 marathon tomorrow.

 At the start line.

After the race, we headed to the expo for the Carlsbad 1/2 marathon to pick up my shirt and bib. I'll be getting up bright and early to run tomorrow.
We walked around the Carlsbad outlets a little and then grabbed some lunch at the Legoland Hotel before heading into Legoland for a little while.
We finally checked into our hotel room at 4pm. We are staying in a kingdom-themed room. The kids have their own room with bunk beds. They love it! There was a treasure chest with Lego gifts for the kids. They had to do a treasure hunt to figure out the combination to unlock the chest.

 We ate dinner at the Bricks Restaurant. They had a nice buffet.

After dinner we walked around on each floor to see what the other themes (adventure and pirate) look like. The "disco" elevators play music and flash lights on the way up/down. We are heading to bed early because tomorrow will be a long day.

Popcorn Prizes

Tonight Zachary had a Cub Scout meeting. He's still working on the requirements for the Bobcat badge. Hopefully he'll be able to earn that soon because he isn't able to work on anything else until he earns that.
He received his rewards for selling popcorn tonight. He sold $575 of popcorn. The Lego he chose was not available so they replaced it. Jason thinks the new one is much better. Zachary also received his participation pin and the patch for meeting the goal for military sales.

Baking at the Ronald McDonald House

This afternoon our Girl Scout troop baked brownies and cookies for the families at the Ronald McDonald House at Rady Children's Hospital. The girls are too young to cook and serve a full meal, like I did a few months ago, but the baking was perfect. They made 10+ dozen treats and left them for the families to have for dessert after their meal tonight.

Resolution

Today I ran in my first race of the new year; the Resolution Run. It was only a 5K. I didn't want to overdo it with the half marathon coming up next weekend. I was aiming for under 30 minutes, which I thought I had done (according to the pace on my Fit Bit), but I can in at 31:09.

This afternoon Kailani's Girl Scout troop participated in the service unit's cookie kick off. Cookie sales officially begin on January 24. We're gearing up for another successful cookie season.

Kailani and Kaia tasting the cookies.

 

El Nino

We are being hit with a winter storm as a result of El Nino. Although we need the rain badly, it is unfortunate that it supposed to rain every single day this week (our last week of winter break). During a break in the rain today we took the dogs for a walk. Here is some of the aftermath of last night's storm. Supposedly today is going to be worse.

The kitties are regulars on the first floor now, particularly the two young ones. They don't seem to be bothered by the dogs at all.

I braved the rain tonight to go to a friend's house for another freezer meal prep event. She made the menu and did the shopping for all 12 of us. We ended up getting 6 meals for $48! These will come in handy next week when we all go back to school.