Family Visit and a Half Marathon

It has probably been years since Jake and his brother saw each other two weekends in a row.   When we planned our last minute trip up north, Jessee had already booked flights to come down to visit us.  Jake and Jessee decided to run the Carlsbad Half Marathon together so it was awesome to get back to back weekends with family.  Its always great to be together as a whole family when we go up to Paradise, but being able to spend some one on one time is always really special.  Knowing that the NorCal Ernest don't always get the warm SoCal weather we made sure to be outside a lot.  Piper loves hiking so we decided to take them to Torrey Pines for the hike down to the beach.  They couldn't of asked for better weather.  It was like 80 degrees and simply picture perfect.   

After spending a good amount of time down at the beach we headed back to Carlsbad for lunch and ice cream.  We took them to our favorite Mexican restaurant for a delicious meal and the kids wanted Nico to try Sub-Zone ice cream.  Being so chill and just happy to be here in San Diego, Jessee and Piper made the trip so easy and relaxing as they didn't care if we went out to dinner or not.  That night Jake prepare the ideal pre race meal; pasta!

The next morning the guys got up early to head down to the race, while Piper, the kids and I hit up the donut shop before heading down to meet my Aunt who was at about the 2 mile mark.  It was so awesome when the guys ran by.  We were jumping and cheering for them both, not to mention all the other amazing runners.  Jake and Jessee both ran awesome races.  Jessee got a PR, while Jake didn't he still ran an awesome time.  Both of them getting under 2 hours, with Jake at 1:46 and Jessee at 1:54.  The kids did great and down there and seemed to really enjoy cheering on their dads.  Madden hit a bit of a sugar high from the donuts and had a couple grumpy moments, but we survived.

Skylar reaching out to high-five Dad!

After the race Piper wanted to get some more beach time in, so that is where we headed.  The water was freezing, but Madden, Jake, Jessee, and Piper all dived in for a quick dip.  Skylar cruised around the beach collecting shells and Nico dug below the cliffs.

Last time Nico and Jessee were down we took Nico to his first trampoline park, so this time he was asking to go back so after the beach Piper and I took Skylar and him there to jump around.  Nico tried rock climbing for the first time and kicked butt at it and did the really high free fall.  He didn't say he liked it, but I think deep down he was proud of himself for trying it all.  We BBQed some surf and turf at home and enjoyed a corn hole tournament where Uncle Jessee and Madden were the big winners.  

Jessee, Piper, and Nico's trip down was really a fantastic time.  We hope that they will come back down to visit much sooner, rather then later.