PiYo and Pinterest

I have nothing much of interest to report on.  I didn't take any pictures so I have nothing much to show you either.  Guess this is going to be a really exciting post! 

Yesterday was a beautiful day for a run.  It was only 59 degrees in the morning.  It felt great, even though there was a small bit of humidity.  I just did my regular four mile loop.  Then I came home and did my Define: Upper Body PiYo workout.  It wasn't too bad.  Today I got up and did my Define: Sweat workout and boy was I sweating.  And exhausted.  I thought getting up at 4:30am was exhausting, but getting up an extra 20 minutes early really puts me over the edge.  I've had to have real coffee every day this week, which I NEVER do.  There's real caffeinated coffee in there!!!

Next week my goal is to get to bed earlier!  I can't tell how well the PiYo is working (i.e. am I getting "toned") because I'm never super sore afterwards...but is that because I am being lazy and not working hard enough?  Some of the moves are complicated and I'm probably not doing them exactly right, but I think after doing it a few times I'll start getting better at it.  I hope.

Yesterday I made another Pinterest meal that was pretty decent.  It was called One-Pan Chicken Burrito Bowls. 

Photo Credit: no. 2 pencil

It turned out pretty good and Ivan really liked it.  Total win!!!! The only reason I wasn't a huge fan was because it was made with white rice and I'd prefer to eat brown rice.  I had bought brown rice to make with it but then the cooking times are so different that I was unsure if it was ok to make the switch.  Plus, it was 7pm by the time I started cooking and white rice only has to cook for 20 minutes and brown rice has to cook for 40.  It was still good, especially topped with Greek yogurt and avocado.

Although Wednesdays are work-from-home days when I am supposed to be finished work early and able to get dinner on the table early...I tend to take Evan out to play after picking him up from daycare.  Today we met my friend Anne (from my A&P class) and her daughter at the park.  Anne did an accelerated nursing program and today is her last day!!!  She's doing an RN program (a two-year degree vs. BSN which is a four year degree) and graduates this summer.  Then I start a few weeks later.  Yikes!  I still can't believe it is coming so soon. 

Today I sign my loan papers for $20,000 from Wells Fargo though - so it's about to become super real.  Scary stuff people, scary stuff.  Wells Fargo now owns me.  And my family.  And my future.

Ok - I am about to fall asleep while writing this so I am going to nap for the last hour of this bus ride. 

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What good Pinterest recipes have you made lately?

White rice or brown?

Random Tidbits

I have a lot of random things floating around in my head so thought I would share them all in bullet style.  Everyone loves a post filled with random thoughts right?

1) Yesterday was a beautiful run day.  I was thinking I would just do about 3 miles but it was so nice and I felt good running that I ended up doing my regular four miles.  Rarely do I set out with a lower mileage in mind and then switch to a higher mileage, so I must have really felt good.

2) Ivan and Evan met me at the bus stop yesterday.  I love when they do this.  It is the best feeling in the world when I get off the bus and see Evan and my hubs standing their waiting to walk me home.  And we actually had a family dinner together too.  All three of us, eating at the same time.  It can be so hard to juggle all of our schedules and get dinner ready and all sit down together, but we have done it twice this week.  A miracle!

3) After dinner the boys sat on the sofa and took their shirts off.

Evan was eating a yogurt bar (Yasso Sea Salt Caramel - yum!!!) and Ivan was eating his lunch that I had packed for today.  I thought I was getting ahead of the game by quickly putting the left-over dinner into a container for his lunch.  Nope, he decided he was still hungry and ended up eating all the left overs.  So, then I had to pack him another lunch.

4) Yes, I pack my husband's lunch.  People think this is funny but my mom packed my dad's lunch every day (and mine too) and I know lots of wives who pack their husbands' lunches.  I do it mainly to save money.  If I didn't pack his lunch than he'd just buy lunch and we'd be out all that money each week.  Much easier and cheaper to just put a quick breakfast and lunch together for him to eat.

5) This past weekend I got to babysit my nieces.  I took out the splash table and the babies loved it!!

They splashed for over an hour.  It was so cute!!  My other two nieces were there also, and they had just as much fun.  These two babies steal my heart.  They are exactly three months apart and complete opposites when it comes to their looks and their personalities.  My son is darker skinned, dark haired, and dark eyed and my niece is pale skinned, pale blond, and very light hazel eyes.  My son is quiet and reserved around people he doesn't know and my niece says hi and waves to every person on the street.  They are too cute.

6) Today I started a new workout called PiYo.  

My friend from years ago (like we were both born in Greece and then both lived in Japan and England at the same time) became a Beachbody Coach and I was somehow convinced to buy PiYo and join a challenge group.  PiYo is a combination of yoga and Pilates.  I'm not sure it's going to turn me into the muscle machines that they show on the covers of the DVDs, but we shall see.  I could use more stretching in my life so it can only help.  I felt like the workout I did today, Define:Lower Body, wasn't too hard but now that I am sitting on the bus my legs do feel a bit rubbery.  

Here's my two month schedule.

I taped it to my bathroom wall so that I would be reminded and motivated every night to wake up super early and get my workout in.  Yes, I have to do it before work...so at like 4:15am.  Let's hope I survive!!!

7) This morning when I pulled out Ivan's coke this is what I saw.

I felt like I should put it back so that we could share it, since we are soulmates obviously, but decided it was stupid and I wasn't giving into the Coke's advertising gimmick.  But, he better not decided to share with anyone at work!!

Ok, those are all my tangents.  Hope you have a great day.  I am a bit tired so need my bus nap!

Tell me two random thoughts about your day!!!

My last work trip and a PR

I've been gone for a while and I have so much to tell you.  I still haven't even posted about my last day in Vermont, which I still want to do.  Maybe you aren't that interested but I want the memory written down.  However, today I am going to give you a quick recap of my trip to Los Angeles, which is where I was for the past week-ish.

But first, my exciting PR news.

Yesterday I ran a neighborhood 5k.  I'd been doing some speed work and signed up for this race specifically to see whether I could improve my speed.  My previous PR had been 23:49 back when I was 21 years old and I was hoping to beat that.  And I did!!!  Not by much, but my new PR is 23:46 - a whole 3 seconds faster.  However, I am definitely NOT 21 anymore so I was excited that I actually got a new PR.  I came in 19th place overall (out of 376 people) and 3rd place for my age group.  Excitement people!

And now, a quick recap of my trip to LA.

Every year I organize HIV testing for a big national conference.  This year the conference was in Los Angeles so my co-worker and I headed out there.  With Evan (because he hasn't missed a work trip yet) and my Aunt Pam (who was nice enough to come hang out with Evan while I was working).
 

This conference is huge and stressful and I am pretty much stressed from May until I get back into the office and have paid all of the bills and our boxes are returned.  The thing about this event is something, or many things, always goes wrong.  It's a huge exercise in problem solving.  This year was no different.  All kinds of crazy things went wrong, but luckily it was a huge success on the outside.  No one but us knew the internal drama and disasters that were going on behind the scenes.

I'm not going to describe them all because I am sure my work is not the most interesting thing to read about, but I will describe one.  Like how we brought in a mobile testing unit this year and the unit ran on a diesel generator and we couldn't run it inside the convention center.  That meant that our entire testing unit had to be run on the battery...the lights, the refrigerator that held the tests, etc.,  and there was no air conditioner so the temperature kept rising and the tests become unstable in temps higher than 86 degrees.  Nice.  So we ended up having to run to an auto parts store, buy a 12-volt battery, and plug it into the wall.  This actually didn't solve the problem because it still wasn't enough power and although the fridge was working, we could only turn the lights on in one testing room.  Ahhh!!  These are some of the problems I dealt with.  Fun stuff.  It made for a very long trip with anxiety as to what disaster we were gong to be faced with each day.

However, we did squeeze in a bit of fun.  My aunt and I made it out to the Santa Monica beach!

As you can see - I made another tragic weather assumption.  I thought Los Angeles was going to be HOT so I brought a bunch of shorts and t-shirts for Evan and me.  Nope.  It was chilly.  Evan had to wear my sweater when we went to the beach because it was so chilly.  Next time we go anywhere I'm just going to bring a bunch of sweaters and pants no matter what the temperature is supposed to be because I sure can't seem to figure it out!

We walked along the promenade (I think that is what they called it).  The houses right on the beach were beautiful. I was wishing I could go for a run along the promenade, but obviously that was not going to happen!  Plus it was downright cold so I would have wanted long pants and a long sleeved shirt, which of course I didn't bring.

And the pier was fun too.  A bit crowded for me, but it was fun people-watching for a while. 

We walked around long enough to see the sunset, which was beautiful.

I think this was the first time I'd seen the sunset over the beach.  On the east coast we usually have to get up really early to watch the sunrise, but never the sunset.  It was beautiful.  Actually, I changed my mind.  I think I've seen the sunset on the Pacific coast when I was in Acapulco like ten years ago.  But usually I think of sunrises on the beach and not sunsets.  Both are equally stunning and beautiful.  And really, can you see those people in the water??!!  It was freezing out!! 

That night we ate at Seasons 52.  I had never heard of it, although I guess there is one in northern Virginia (and I just looked at the website and one is opening near me soon).  The name means something like 4 seasons (they have a different menu each season) and 52 weeks in a year.  And everything on the menu is less than 475 calories - however, that doesn't mean you can't order an appetizer for 475 calories and then a meal for 475 calories, and then a dessert for 475 calories.  I got the Summer Vegetarian Tasting which was sooooo good.  It had a quinoa-citrus salad, soft taco, seasonal vegetables, and cedar-roasted tofu with a tropical salsa.  It was delicious.  Evan got the kiddie flat bread pizza and LOVED it.  He loves pizza these days.  I try to make it at home with whole wheat pita so that it is a bit healthier than Papa Johns.

The rest of the trip was pretty much taken up with work, work, work, and dinner.  We ate at the Yard House twice (both times I got the 5oz burger - for some reason I was really craving burgers), George's Greek Grill, The Farm of Beverly Hills,(for breakfast and dinner), and The Original Pantry Cafe (a historic cafe that's been open since 1924 - and actually opened since that day, it's never closed because it's 24/7 and they say they've been opened and had a least one customer since then).  I'm not sure why I think you're interested in where we ate every day, but I guess since all I did was eat and work, I figured I'd share.  If you are ever in downtown LA, these were all good restuarants.

We stayed at the JW Marriott LA Live, which was right next to the Staples Center.  Lady Gaga played there the last night we were there.  It was VERY interesting to see what people were wearing (or not wearing...lots of skin showing) to the concert. 

The hotel was beautiful and Evan loved hanging out by the window looking at the pool.

Luckily my aunt was nice enough to take him to the pool a few times.  He LOVES the pool and literally spent hours looking at it from our room and saying "agua" over and over again.  It was adorable, until the 900th time.

At the conference I got the pleasure of meeting Dora and her new friends, Kate and Pablo.

I wrote a little sign for my niece that said, "Good luck in kindergarten Peyton, Love Dora" and I was SOOOO excited to show her the photo.  She starts kindergarten this year and I thought that she'd be really excited to get this little picture from Dora.  I posted it on Facebook and my sister said she was really excited.

The only other experience was the 5 hour non-stop flight with Evan, by myself.  Evan's come on all my work trips so I am used to traveling with him alone.  However, before this trip, the longest we'd been cramped on a plane was 4 hours.  Not that an hour is that much more, but in toddler hours - it is FOREVER.  Plus, the plane was completely full so there was no space.  Evan and I were jammed into one seat by the window.  Surprisingly, he was an angel both there and back.

That's not a very flattering photo of either of us, but it was hard to get one.  He was so good on the way there that TWO people complimented me on how well-behaved he was.  Now, I did come prepared with books, toys, one or two iPad apps (he is not allowed on the iPad anymore due to a few breakdowns when I took the iPad away from him...it was great for the plane and for the trip, but definitely not ready for an iPad-addicted toddler), and lots of patience.  I really think the key was staying calm myself and pretending we were at home and not on a small, confined plane with a large audience.  The way back he slept for 2/3 of the flight (amazing) and so that was a small blessing.  I still nurse him on take-off and landing (even when we are jammed super close to our seatmates and it's a bit uncomfortable), so that works like a charm.  And it calms him down when he starts getting antsy, which is nice.

So, that was my trip.  I got back on Tuesday night but I took the rest of the week off because my sister was out of town and so we didn't have any daycare.  And plus, we needed all that time to readjust to East Coast time!  We just hung around, met up with friends, and played.

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Sunsets or sunrises at the beach?

Your saving grace for long plane rides?

Favorite restaurant??

Wet Shoes

My run yesterday was the hottest run I've experienced yet.  It was SO HUMID I thought my clothes were going to melt on my body.  It really felt like I was running in a wool sweater and pants.  Completely gross.  I was so sweaty when I got back that I was talking with a co-worker and drops of sweat were falling off my chin.  Nice, huh.  Don't worry, I didn't snap a photo so you are safe from seeing that disgustingness.  My usual mantra while I'm running is "Slow and steady wins the race" and "I can do hard things".  The slow and steady one has been a real winner this week because twice I've had to "battle" it out with a guy who wants to run faster than me.  I'll pass him going my normal speed, then he'll speed up to pass me but then slow back down, so then I pass him again, then he speeds up, etc.  It really aggravates me because I feel so awkward the entire time.  However, both times now as I've slowly trudged along at my normal pace, I have eventually passed guys (on separate occasions) as they take a walking break and then never see them again.  And each time I think - see, slow and steady DOES win the race! 

That was a long tangent - my point was that yesterday it was so hot I couldn't even manage to get my mantra out.  The entire run I kept repeating to myself, "It is SO HOT" over and over.  That was the only thought I could muster.  Surprisingly, it was still a good run and although I was hot, I felt strong.  I'm not sure why - must be that special Monday feeling after running with the BOB all weekend.
Then when I went to wait for the bus after work it started pouring (like torrential down pour, wind, lightening, and thunder) and by the time I got to the bus stop I was completely soaked.  Completely.  I had to wring my shirt out.  I figure someone wanted me to have a shower so decided that the best time was on the way to the bus.  And if I had had some soap - I totally would have been able to shower.  Then I had to sit on the bus for 1.5 hours in my wet clothes.  And when I put my shoes on this morning, they were still wet.  It was a crazy day!
When I got home, this lovely package was waiting for me.

My first nursing school book!  I got it early so I could start studying.  We have an exam the third week of school and if we don't get 100% we have to take it again.  And you only have three tries to get 100% or you fail the class.  Yikes!  I decided I should start studying as soon as possible so that I get 100% on the first test and don't have to worry about it.  That's my hope anyway.

And for dinner I had some of that lasagna I made yesterday.

It really doesn't look that appetizing, but it's actually quite tasty.  I love the basil taste and the squash is really excellent!  It was a lot of work so I probably won't make a vegan lasagna again, but I'd definitely make a spaghetti squash pesto lasagna again - with real cheese!

And that was pretty much my day.  I leave for LA on Thursday for my last work trip and I can't wait for it to be over.  This is my big event of the year and it takes so long to organize and I'm so stressed that things won't go well or I will have forgotten to do something.  I will be so happy when the entire experience is over and I can just relax.  And I will barely have time to see LA because the work days are so long.  Boo.  I have never been to LA before so I'm excited to go.

I am less excited about taking Evan on a 5 hour plane ride by myself.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the plane isn't full and we have at least one seat open next to us - otherwise it's SUPER crowded.

And my aunt is coming to watch Evan and I'm super excited to see her again.  I haven't seen her since she came to Birmingham, AL to watch Evan last April!

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Any fun ideas to keep toddlers occupied for five hours straight?

Do you prefer running in hot or cold weather (or do you just prefer to not run!)?

A Weekend of Food and Running and Food, of course

Every weekend I think maybe I'll blog so that Monday isn't just a recap of my weekend.  But then I can't find time to do anything on the weekends, so it never happens.  So then I am left recapping the last three days on Monday.  Oh well.  I'll get back to my Vermont recap soon.  Maybe tomorrow.  I did remember to take a few pictures this weekend, so at least you don't have to just read a bunch of text.

On Fridays I work from home most of the time and Evan hangs out with me.  Usually he plays by himself while I get work done until my husband gets home around 10am.  This past Friday I decided rather than just eat our lunch together we would take it outside and have a nice picnic.  So, I packed our lunch into a picnic basket and we put a blanket out in the grass on the side of our apartment building.  It was so fun!

Evan had pizza (his new favorite food) and rice.  He ate his pizza and then my yogurt, but wasn't so into the rice. 

Then he was up and running around.

He's really into throwing sticks these days and was so excited to find a bunch hiding in the grass.

Then he realized that he could wander around and I'd stay sitting on the blanket.  He was thrilled not to have me following him around.

He kept walking around and looking to see if I was coming.  Then he'd come back and eat some yogurt and pizza and then go for another "walk".  I was fine as long as he didn't try to go into the street.  It turned out to be a great lunch.  I think we'll do these little picnics more often - it beats sitting inside all day while I work on the computer.  Plus, it tired him out so he went down for his nap really easily!

I usually try and get a run in Friday evening, but Ivan wanted to go out to eat.  Ivan and I have had a few "talks" about how I veto all his ideas without considering them...like when he suggests we go out to eat.  It's not like I don't like his ideas, it's just that I'm cheap and don't like wasting our money on going out to eat. However, when he suggested we head to his favorite Mexican restaurant for dinner...I agreed instead of saying no right away.  That definitely doesn't make me wife of the year or anything, but I'm trying!  So we called up some friends and met them for dinner.  We hadn't been there in over six months or so.  A long time.  We really don't eat out much anymore (probably because I veto the idea all the time).  It was fun though.

Saturday I was back at golf, after two weeks off.  Summer classes are always a lot smaller and I enjoy them a lot more.  The girls are so adorable.  And sweet.  It does make my weekends go faster though because by the time I get home it's the afternoon already.  I made it to the grocery store though and even made it for a short three mile run with a stop at the playground.

instagram: @mapleandmud

We got home really late (well, late for Evan).  Sometimes I feel like the only mom that has no schedule for their child.  I left for a run around 6:30pm and texted my friend to see if she wanted to meet me at the park and she said they were eating dinner, then it was bath time, and then bed time (for her daughter, obviously, not for herself).  I had a twinge of guilt because here Evan and I were heading out for a run, then a playground trip, and we still hadn't dinner yet.  We got home around 8pm and I gave Evan some of the spaghetti Ivan made.

He loved it.  Ivan makes "Honduran" spaghetti - which means he melts a stick of butter into his sauce.  I tend to not eat it because I don't like a bunch of butter in my spaghetti.  However, Evan loves it...probably because he LOVES butter!  He was shoving spaghetti into his mouth like crazy.  After dinner, he took a shower with Daddy and was in bed by 9pm.  Not too horrible, right?  And we had a fun playground date.

Sunday was a bit hectic, like it usually is.  I woke up and made 5-Ingredient Peanut Butter and Banana muffins.  It was a Pinterest find and I thought they would be good muffins to take to LA this week.  They aren't good muffins to send with Evan to daycare because my niece is severely allergic to peanuts, but it didn't make too many.  They were super easy and quick.  I had them mixed and made before Evan even woke up. 

After he did wake up, we changed and headed out for a five mile stroller run.  It was around 9am and it was already HOT and HUMID.  Ugg.  We did about four miles and then stopped at the playground.  We had brought Evan's new tractor that his Papa had bought him (Evan calls it Tractor-Papa) and I thought it would be fun to play in the sand pit.  Unfortunately, the sandpit was filled with a million bees.  Boo.  So, we just put the tractor down the slide and played with it on the ground.

Evan thought it was fun to just push the tractor around.

And yes, Evan went to the park in his jammies.  No one was at the park anyway.  We stayed for an entire hour and not a single other person showed up.  I think people sleep in on Sundays or go to early Sunday church services or something.  Evan loved having the playground to himself (except for having to share with the bees)!  Then we ran the last mile home.

After we got home it was cooking, cooking, cooking.  I had a lot of things on the menu to make: vegan lasagna, zucchini tots, shrimp-stuffed shells, tres leches cake, shredded chicken, and black bean burgers.  I didn't get all of it made - just some of it.

I wanted to make Vegan Spaghetti Squash Pesto Lasagna for my friend Allyson.  She was doing a crazy big two-day bike ride in Colorado (like 130 miles each day, over three mountains) and I thought she'd like something in her fridge when she got back.  In Honduras, when I'd go out of town my neighbors would clean my house the day before I returned.  It was so nice arriving home to a super clean house.  I used to do the same thing for my sister - I'd always scrub the floors and toilets and vacuum, etc. before she came home.  I feel weird cleaning my friend's house though (and it looks pretty clean anyway), so I figured food was the better way to go.  So, I whipped up this crazy complicated lasagna.  I am not vegan and had never made vegan cream sauce.  I've made lasagna with tofu before, but nutritional yeast was not really in my pantry.  All in all, it turned out pretty tasty.  I hope she likes it! 

I also made zucchini tots for Evan - they were delicious and Evan ate three of them after dinner.  I wanted something new to put in his lunches and saw these on Pinterest.  They were super easy to make and turned out to be a winner.  I got the shrimp-stuffed shells made for Ivan - I've made them many times before and he always loves them.  They are a bit time consuming, but I felt like I was making a bunch of other complicated things, so why not add something to it.  I also got the chicken cooked - I just put it in the slow cooker with some water for four hours and then shredded it.  I don't need it until Wednesday to make Easy Chicken Flautas (another Pinterest find), but wanted to have it already done so that the cooking process didn't take as long.

I ran out of time to make the tres leches cake and black bean burgers though.  Maybe I'll have time this week before I head to LA.  Otherwise they'll have to wait until I get back.  I can only make so many things in one day!

I crawled into bed around 12am - yikes!  I seriously need an extra weekend day to get all my stuff done!!

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Did you cook anything fun this weekend?

What types of things do you "pin" the most, if you use Pinterest? 
      - I mostly pin food and clothes (for my Stitch Fix stylists)

A Big Deal, More Vermont, Too Many Photos, and a Very Long Post

I am so glad today is today and not yesterday.  Yesterday was NOT a good day.  I'm not going to go into many details but I can tell you one thing.  At 8pm I was at the Apple Store at the mall because someone's iPhone dropped and needed to be replaced.  Not good.  We have a lot of other things we could have spent $200 on.  Oh well - the guy who helped me kept saying he was so surprised at how great of a mood I was in and how he doesn't normally deal with people who have such a good sense of humer about a broken iPhone.  So, at least there's that.

Today is a big deal for me. 

Today is the first day I'm not pumping at work since I returned to work after baby (December 2012).  I have been pumping for over a year and a half.  When I first returned to work I pumped four times (7:30am, 10:30am, 1:30pm, 4:30pm), then after Evan turned a year I went down to three times, then when he was 15 months I went down to two times, and then when he turned 18 months I went down to once.  Now, it's 0.  I'm still nursing him at night and stuff, but he's just not drinking any milk during the day with my sister so I just send it and she sends it back.  Or he takes the smallest sip and then refuses anymore, so she has to throw it out.  I feel like it's pointless to keep pumping for no reason.  So, today I decided I wouldn't pump anymore at work.  I have some milk in the freezer if need be, but won't be adding anymore.  I'm kind of sad and nervous about the whole thing, but in reality, it will be fine.  It does make me a bit nervous that he doesn't drink any milk all day, but hopefully it's not too big a deal.  And maybe he gets enough at night.
 

And now, back to Vermont (where I wish I could go back to rather than sitting on this bus)!

Although we had a busy weekend with lots of fun activities, we also spent a lot of time just playing.  Especially Evan.  He loved having a big outside area to play and being able to play in the driveway and ride his little tractor (on loan from Cousin Lucas) wherever he wanted.  At home he has to stay on the sidewalk, which to him, is very constrictive.  He wants to ride all over the street, of course.  Here, in Vermont, he can!!

Not sure why he's not smiling, but I promise he was having a great time!  And notice his outfit - his pajama pants and a sweatshirt that was supposed to be for this winter...since I forgot appropriate clothes for the cooler weather. 

Here he is zooming along.  And he'd turn that stirring wheel like there was no tomorrow, although it didn't have any affect on the direction of the tractor.

My parents have a really long driveway so Evan had a blast riding his tractor up the hill and then coasting back down.  Mishka (the dog) had a great time just sitting there.  She's 10 years old and is developing some hip problems so doesn't run around like she used to.  We love her to pieces though!

Up the hill my parents have a big field where they are taking care of some friend's cows.  They are Low Line Australian Angus Cattle.  Or something like that.  I'm not a cow expert or anything.

Evan loved going to look at the cows (and the neighbor's horses).  Cows attract a lot of flies though, so that was not fun.  We didn't get too close.  Plus, that is an electric fence, so we sure didn't want to risk getting a nice electric shock.

When we weren't outside playing around, we were inside playing around.  Evan had so much fun with my mom (Mimi) and Dad (Papa).  Mimi was so much more attentive than I am!

Complete and utter attention is the best way to a child's heart!! 

Same with rocking cows.

He was a bit of a daredevil with this rocking cow - he'd rock so far back that I was afraid he'd tip over.  He never did though, thank goodness.  This cow is on loan from the neighbors.

Feeding the doggies treats was fun too.

Look at how well-behaved Mishka is!  My parents have another dog too, Kuma, who is the same breed but bigger.  He's a little more hyper, but still well-behaved.  Mishka is the angel dog though - I've never met a sweeter dog.

Our big activity for Saturday was our bike ride!!  This year we trekked our bikes all the way up to Vermont (I may have looked at the bikes a million times on the ride up because I was terrified that they were going to somehow fall off the car) so I was determined to ride them.  My parents live close to a rail-to-trail path and I was excited to ride our bikes on that (since you already saw the road - no way was I riding bikes on that road I went running on!).  My aunt and uncle just moved to Vermont and their new house is right off the same trail - so we decided to ride to their house.

My mom didn't have a bike, so she drove to my aunt's house, but the rest of us biked there.  It was SO FUN.  I loved it!.  Even if I had a Schwinn Jaguar Cruiser (6 speed bike) and Ivan had a very crappy Target mountain bike...and my Dad had a very nice Cannondale.  He went faster than any of us.  Evan was thrilled because he loves bike rides.  And he fell asleep.

His head bobbed around like a little bobble head because of the big helmet he wore (the helmet fit, it is just kind of heavy when he's sleeping)!  It was adorable.  And that water bottle spilled all over him so he was soaking wet.  He didn't seem to mind though.

The trail was nice and flat (my kind of bike ride) and beautiful.

Parts were shaded in the forest and others went through corn fields. 

The weather was perfect though - not too hot or cold.  And not windy, which is my worst weather condition.  I was in the front for a while - leading the boys along.

But on the way back the boys left me in the dust.

I think it was because my bike was for "cruising" and not for actually riding.  At least that's my excuse.  And bike riding uses different muscles than running does...and the few muscles that are the same were tired from my 6 and 4 mile run that morning and the day before.

When we got to my aunt's we hung out for a while (and Ivan mowed their lawn because that's the kind of thing he does) and got to take a tour.  It was beautiful!  I am so happy they moved to VT and we can now see them every time we go up to visit my parents.  We usually saw them anyway because they used to drive over from NH, but now it's even better.  And my aunt had Pretzal M&Ms - she knows the way to my heart!

After our bike ride we headed to Ivan's favorite Chinese buffet.  It's not really that great but it's all-you-can-eat for $5.25.  So, you can't beat that price - especially when you eat as much as Ivan.  We have to go at least once every time we go - sometimes we go two or three times.  He's addicted.

When we got home, Evan wanted to try out my bike.

He has a few years before he'll be ready!  I'm thinking of maybe getting him a balance bike for his bday?  Anyone ever buy one of those?  Thoughts?  Advice?

Ok - another long, long post!  I'll finish up our last day Vermont recap tomorrow.

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Who else was sad when they stopped pumping?  Anyone?

Chinese buffets - yay or nay??

Vermont Vacation

So, I took the weekend off from blogging and work, and the family and I decided to head up to Vermont for the 4th of July.  I was so excited because normally we only go to Vermont for Christmas and sugar season (March), and although those are fun times - summer is fun too.  So, I was really happy that my husband decided to take a weekend off during the summer (his busy time at work) and head up there.

Every time we make the drive to Vermont we leave earlier and earlier.  This time we decided we'd head out at 4am.  My husband wanted to leave at 3am but I convinced him that 4am was much better.  And actually, it turned out to be a great time to leave.  It would have been better if I had gone to sleep before midnight, but three hours of sleep with a nice cup of coffee did the trick.  Why was I up until midnight??  Oh, because we were fixing our bikes at the last minute.  We were determined to bring our bikes to VT since we now have a bike rack and we were finally going in the summer (not much biking in the middle of winter).  Except Ivan's bike was a bit broken.  However, my friend Allyson (she is a cyclo-cross super star and knows everything there is to know about bikes) came over and helped him fix it - it just took over two hours.  And she didn't get a chance to come over until 9pm.  So, although we got the bikes fixed - we were a little late getting to bed.

An early start is always good though.  Because a lot of this happens.

Evan is getting a bit older though, and he doesn't sleep the entire way anymore.  He slept until around 7:30am and was content for a few more hours.  We probably stopped around 9am for breakfast and to stretch our legs.  We are all about stopping on road trips.  I know plenty of people pack a lot of snacks and just go and go until they get to their destination - but no, we stop and stop until we get to our destination.  We actually used to stop a lot more but now we don't like to stop unless Evan is awake so it usually ends up only being twice.  And notice how close I am to him?  Yup - after he woke up the first time I sat in the back and played and read with him until he fell asleep again.  Now that we don't have the doggie (sad face), there is more space in the back.  Not a ton, but a bit more.

The scenery to Vermont is so much prettier in the summer (it's pretty in the fall too).

The winter is usually just brown unless there has been some snow and then it's pretty.  This past Christmas it was snowing like crazy and the roads were a mess so we couldn't concentrate on the scenery - we took pictures of the snow freezing to our windshield instead.

We arrived in Vermont around 3:15pm.  Not too bad!  It's so much better arriving earlier because it felt like we still had so much of the day left.  We used to arrive around 7pm or 8pm and then we'd turn around and go to bed and the entire day would have been spent in the car.  I am definitely a fan of the early morning departure time.

As you can tell, the weather wasn't amazing.  It was nice and hot the day we arrived but then the next day (4th of July) was cold.  Actually it was freezing.  I wasn't very prepared and only brought shorts and short sleeves for Evan (and one pair of pants for me) - so we were a bit cold that first day (it warmed up after that).  Luckily we didn't have much planned - just a family BBQ (with my awesome aunt who now lives just 8 miles from my parents!!).

That morning I headed out and did a six mile run.  It was nothing short of a miracle because I pretty much always slack on running when I'm on vacation.  I was motivated by the cooler weather though, so I headed out.  The scenery is amazing, but the running isn't.  This is the road my parents live off of (kind off, they live off a dirt road off a road that is off this road) - beautiful right.  And this road isn't too bad - not a lot of cars.

However, after you turn off this road, the next road is a small highway (although it sounds far, this road is only 1 mile from my parents' house).  And the speed limit is 40mph.

And cars FLY by you.  And do you see a shoulder?  Any space to jump when a car is coming at you???  Just down the hill into the ditch.  Let me give you a closer look.  The road.  Someone's property.  Not much else.

But every once in a while I wasn't dodging cars and could look and see beautiful things like this.

And barns like this.  I mean, how pretty is that!

And you could see the road forever.  This is where I ran - all the way down this road.  Notice that the speed limit changes to 50 on that road, but there was a tiny, tiny shoulder that you can kind of see.

And lots of cows.

So, it was worth risking my life.  I guess.  I sure wouldn't take Evan in his jogging stroller though.  I guess if I lived there I would have to drive to a better place to run if I had to take him.  Or I'd run with him on the smaller road and just keep going back and forth.

Ok - that is all I'll leave you with for now.  I'll recap the rest of the trip next time.  The bus was delayed this morning by an entire hour because a restaurant caught on fire on the side of the highway and the road had to be shut down - but it didn't give me enough time to write about the entire trip so I'll save that for later.

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How was your 4th?

When you go for a run - do you just go out your front door or do you drive somewhere?