10K

I did it!

I know a 10K isn't the most brutal race, but I am happy I actually did it (without stopping to die)! I loved running along the coast, the breeze coming off the water was SO nice, and I could taste the salty ocean air (or maybe that was just sweat dripping off my face.. EW!).
I'm just happy it's over! I need to start training for a half marathon, but I'd rather just run some 5Ks and call it good!

My fan club. They were so cute. I could hear the cheers as I ran toward the finish line "Run Rachel Run!", everyone should have their own cheering section! After the race when went to eat at Pasta Pomodoro.
The pasta isn't the greatest ever, but the bread and the pesto dip.. Makes the trip worth while! Gosh it's so good.. Now I'll be thinking about it all day..

After lunch,

The kids wanted to go to the beach.. I wanted to go home and sleep..

No that's not a hobo we found! It's me.. Trying to get some beach sleep!

It was SO VERY COLD! But the kids insisted on wearing their suits and getting in the water!

Yeah for the beach! Oh.. look at the freezing cold kids!

Half Moon

I love living so close to the ocean.. I can't believe it took me over a month to head out there (it has been raining A LOT!). On Saturday Alex and I packed up and finally headed for the coast. I love the drive to Half Moon because we get to go over a huge bridge (bridges are fUN!) and everything is so green!! We got lucky... The beach wasn't crowded which is unusual on such a nice day. The waves were GIGANTIC! I have never seen such BIG waves and it was one right after another! I get paranoid that Alex is going to get swept away, but he was really cautious.

There was also a lot of sea foam.. I'm semi-blond and when I first saw it I thought someone had dumped some dish soap in the ocean (hey it's possible right?). It looked like Alex could have been playing in the snow (which is something he wants to do!). The water was warmer than it normally is.. It was just a great day to go to the beach!

Cake class

A couple weeks ago I enrolled in a cake decorating class.. I know you can read all about how to decorate online, but I am a very hands on person. I like to see how things are done and hear specific instructions... I LOVE my class.. My first assignment was to bring in a frosted cake that we could decorate in class. I struggled with frosting it! The teacher made it look SO easy... After frosting for 45 min I gave up! I tried to cover the bad frosting job as much as possible! It didn't really work, but I'm still proud of my cake!

GOOP

No it's not coconut milk! It's goop! I love love love that Alex does science in Kindergarten! Science is fun! Today our project was to make goop and decide if it was a solid or a liquid... Or BOTH!
Testing it out... First he sticks his fingers in quickly, and they can't get through it!
Then he goes in slowly and... They magically go through the goop (Oh sorry, not magically, scientifically!)
The other kids wanted to get in on the fun (I had my fingers in there too, it's just so darn cool)

Moira was the cutest! She was so amazed she kept saying "Rachel look my fingers are in!"


We had a pretty big mess after, but I think it was worth it! Then I showed the kids an awesome clip from "Time Warp", if you've never seen it, it's definitely worth watching!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5SGiwS5L6I

I LOVE WEEZER

AND I LOVE THIS SONG!

Roller Skating

Yesterday we took the kids roller skating at Cal Skate... So many memories of Classic skating came flooding back! I almost called Kayli on the phone and asked her to come join us (if only she could have!). The kids had a lot of fun, every time they fell I cringed! I HATED watching it! I wanted to run over and catch them every time, but obviously that's impossible (too bad I'm not superwoman..). Luckily they got up and kept going (we avoided any serious injuries!). It's hard to be a parent when your child is in danger of being hurt (not that Alex was in a life threatening situation!), but there is such an instinct to "fix" everything.

It's unrealistic!
Since I couldn't always catch him, I wanted to skate over each time he fell so I could at least help him up. I thought "If I can't catch him then I'll be there when he needs to get up" but that was unrealistic too (OK it may have been more realistic if I had stayed right next to him instead of skating around dodging children). I kept waiting for him to say" This is too hard" or "I'm tired of falling", he never did. He got himself up and kept going... I felt kind of sad that he didn't need me to "fix" it for him.. He's only 6, but becoming more independent everyday. I'm having a harder time letting go than he is! I guess that's why it's so important for us parents to maintain some of our own autonomy (you know, the people we were BEFORE we were parents!). So when our kids are completely (and I use that term loosely, I don't think we're ever completely independent of our parents) dependent we still have a sense of self. That doesn't mean that I won't be there for Alex! I always will be, but I won't feel so guilty (not that I ever did!) when I leave him every morning to go running, I like having some me time!

Mango (delicious) sticky (so yum) rice (yeah!)

So easy to make!

First you must venture to an Asian cookware store (or you could order it online, but if you want a real adventure...) and acquire one of these.. You can make the sweet rice without this.. But if you want to be authentic and do it the right way, you will buy one of these pots!Oh and while you're out you might as well swing by an Asian grocery store and pick up some sweet rice (they may sell it other places, but don't try this with regular rice.. well you can, but you're not going to get the full delicious effect), Thai coconut milk, and a mango.
After you return home from your adventure, you must wash the rice.. Then cover it in a bowl of water overnight (Waiting is the hardest part..)

After your rice has been soaking in it's own goodness all night long, put it in your awesome new basket.

Then fill your awesome new pot with some water (we only want to steam the rice.. Sorry I don't have exact measurements... Just don't fill your pot up all the way to the basket). Boil the water then put the basket of rice in, cover, and cook 30 min.

Meanwhile.. and this is the really delicious part.. You need to cook your coconut milk, add a cup of sugar, and a 1/4 tsp of salt. You want to serve this warm over the rice. Oh and make sure to taste it while it's cooking.. I'm sure it's the most fattening thing in the world, but it's worth every calorie! While you're binging on coconut milk, make time to cut up your mango, this is something I struggle with if you need help watch this video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvLdPjpELyU

I like it because it has fun music and the guy is SUPER boring!!!Grab some rice, make sure it's swimming in coconut milk (am I the only person obsessed with coconut milk?), add the mango and... writing this makes me want to make some right now! My friend Nicole told me it's really good with other fruit too (strawberries!)!! Oh if you want to be really authentic put some chopped up peanuts on top and/or toasted sesame seeds