Grateful for four-day weekends!

Wow, am I grateful for four-day weekends (among other things!). As I wind down with a limited number of overnight (and ONE last weekend) OB calls, I am more than thankful to have family time and time for weekend trips which may not feel so exhausting in the future if the work-week is more manageable :)  I worked Wednesday on call but on Thursday morning, our family (along with something like 1000 people including our friends Kellie/Mark and their kids!) ran the 5K Turkey Trot in downtown Eureka. I wish I'd remembered our turkey hats, as many were in festive gear! 

Official Race results are posted here. The results are a bit inaccurate because of the long lag to start the race (Iver and I were behind a big pack and the timer started once the first racers were off, not by chip time); however but we ran similar times to our August 5K (him finishing in 24:03 and me in 25:14). Kelvin ran with Niall, and they finished in ~29 minutes!

    

The rest of our day included low-key time at home (mostly watching football, some Christmas prep, and NO turkey, opting instead for some spicy KFC wings, home-roasted chicken and Asian noodles, and NO hosting responsibilities), which was perfect for us, although it seems to go against most families' Thanksgiving traditions with large gatherings involving lots of food.

On Friday, we headed up to Brookings on the Oregon Coast with our friends the Spellmeyers, a similar trip to what we did during Thanksgiving weekend in 2022. We stopped at viewpoints along the Scenic Samuel Boardman Corridor.

Arch Rock

(2022, left, and 2025, right)

Natural Bridges

We had some quality sand volleyball and football time (plus rock climbing for kids) at scenic Whaleshead Beach.

The short walk around Cape Ferrelo Viewpoint is a highlight of this stretch of coastline!

Nature's Coast Holiday Festival of lights is displayed at Azalea Park in Brookings which is small, but delightful!  

(future Oregon Duck?)

The kids enjoyed hot tub time and hot chocolate at our AirBnB rental. 

The kids (mostly; Pat did a great job with griddle pancakes) cooked eggs for breakfast the next day.

We then played a bit on the beach at Crissey Field SP, across the highway from our place, and then family football at Harris Beach SP (no photos, unfortunately, although we love this beach!).

It was a lovely relaxing weekend to kick of the Christmas/holiday season, just the kind of pace and with the traditions I hold most dear!  

Celebrating #44

 

I've never been a huge birthday person but did feel celebrated this year!

My birthday fell during the work week and my co-workers decorated my workstation with a banner and balloons on Friday, which was sweet. My MA, Anaiyah, was trying to squeeze "gift ideas" like my favorite coffee/tea out from Kelvin with limited success (clueless husband!), but made me popcorn, a card, and gifted me a nice fall flower bouquet (which I've managed to keep alive through the weekend. Win!).

The kids made handmade cards and I opened some nice heated items including socks and an Ororo vest from K (yay!). Katherine sent me a book Ikigai, Lisa some luxurious Sephora hair goodies I would never have splurged on for myself, and my mom a gift massage. I received other cards and many texts/well wishes on FB and a couple of connecting phone calls with friends (Erin, Amy); thank you all for reaching out and hope my responses weren't too delayed or that I missed any!

Shannon graciously watched our boys and Kelvin and I enjoyed a sushi date night at Tanuki's Den, a tiny (15-seat) place in Arcata which, on Fridays, does two Omikase (chef's choice) seatings. We had an "early bird" seven-course sushi feast featuring local seafood and delightful Asian flavors, along with sesame pie for dessert by the sous chef, which was incredible! 

(Head chef Jacob in the background)

On Saturday, I attended a colleague's baby shower and, in the evening, we saw a kids' production (Annie Jr.) at the Arkley theater.

On Sunday, we visited a local Escape room in Ferndale (after participating in one in Vegas, an Escape room is one of my favorite things to do!). This was kid/family-friendly, and Jenna and Kellie joined us. 

We were pretty stumped but, two clues and fifty-five minutes later, we beat the hour clock to find the six hall passes and win the game :). (Niall mostly just banged bats and equipment on the walls but Iver was super sleuthy and helpful!).

We had dinner at Tuya's (Mexican) down the street on Main street in Ferndale before heading home.  Jenna gifted me a sweet bag of "long run" essentials including body glide, liquid and chewable nutrition, compression socks, and a LED armband.  It was a fun weekend overall!