DAY 311
Thursday was T Junior’s 2nd birthday. I took the day off of work so we could hang out together, I could make him a Thomas the Tank Engine cake and so I could get ready for a very small gathering of family and friends.
Before he got up, I went to the gym and rode the recumbent bike for 40 minutes. I biked 11.37 miles, then added a 5-minute/1-mile cooldown. I stretched, drove home and then did 75 jumping jacks, 75 jump ropes, 75 crunches and 30 pushups (girly ones). Here’s how the rest of the day went with pictures:
The birthday boy with a special birthday breakfast: pancakes with mini chocolate chips. Yum!
I took T Junior to lunch at the Rainforest Café, a restaurant that has been converted into a rainforest inside complete with mechanical elephant, gorillas, snakes, birds and even rain. It also has big fish tanks with lots of tropical fish. T Junior had pizza, and then ice cream! His favorite part of the lunch, though, was watching the mechanical elephants. He wasn’t even scared of them, and he whined when they stopped. I explained to him that they had to rest. But he said, “Needs batteries.” Can’t fool this 2-year-old.
That evening, I finished up his Thomas cake and made his favorites for dinner: macaroni and cheese in the crockpot, broccoli and hot dogs.
I also had to wrap all the presents from us and the ones my family sent from Amazon. On Wednesday, there was a pile of boxes about 5-feet tall in our living room. “A birthday box,” said T Junior.
He got to open his big present from Mom and Dad before guests arrived. And, of course, he had to test it out. Here’s one more because I can’t get enough of him in that bike helmet.
Everyone arrived, and after dinner, T Junior opened all his lovely gifts.
It was so nice to have family and friends over, but even with a small gathering, I was exhausted!
DAY 312
I debated working out early Friday morning, and I decided against it. I was tired from birthday festivities, and I had packing to do for a 3-day vacation at a friend’s house on Lake Chelan. Even though, I knew I’d have more energy from exercising initially, I also knew that getting up super early meant I would be ready for bed at, oh, about 7 p.m.
I was glad I skipped my workout because I needed every ounce of energy I could get for packing. I’m sure I burned some calories running up and down the stairs in my house. I had to get us ready and the dogs because they were going with us.
Then we had a very long drive. The trip is normally 3 hours, but everyone and their 3 dogs (haha!) were going that way for the holiday weekend, so it took 6+ hours. We arrived at 9:30 and we were all very tired, especially T Junior, who talked the entire time the last two hours of the drive (plus he normally goes to bed by 7:30).
It was all worth it, though, because our friend’s house is lovely, and roomy enough for her family of 3, our family of 3, and another family of four, plus one more guest, and five dogs. And it’s right on the water. Here’s the view from the house:
Saturday morning, I took Lucy for a mile walk. Right across the street is a winery, and tons of land with rows and rows of vines.
Next, I returned for Bennie. The walk with him was not quite as relaxing as he can’t hold a straight line, instead, insisting on swerving left then right, then circling around my ankles and trying to trip me. And, he wouldn’t hold still for a picture.
Poor Annie didn’t get a walk because everyone was up by then and ready to start the day, which included lounging at the beach below the house. It was in the 70’s and sunny for most of the day. Shorts weather! (I found out that it poured all weekend at home, so that made the trip even more great.)
5/29/10 Walk – 1.66 Miles – 28:42
Pace: 17:15
Mile 1: 16:13
.66: 12:29 (18:48 pace)
DAY 314
I made breakfast (biscuits an
d sausage gravy) for the group in my running clothes on Sunday morning.
Then, Stacey and I left for a run on a loop she had estimated to be 3 miles. It was hilly, though, so we took it easy (my shins and calves; her knees). Like my $7 running sunglasses? Mr. T doesn’t. He thinks I look like I’m trying to be a police officer.
Stacey and I ran and walked. Look at the amazing view!
At the end, Stacey wanted to crank up the speed for the final (flat) stretch back to the house. “Go ahead,” I told her. Wow, she is fast. I couldn’t have kept up if I tried (I did sort of try at first, but soon gave up). She was a sprinter in high school and I saw why! I kept glancing at my watch and seeing times in the 7’s or low 8’s and she was waaaay in front of me!
This wasn’t the first time we’ve run together. Before Stacey got married, and we lived 5 minutes away from each other, we’d sometimes run before work. The plan was to hold each other accountable. We kept it up for a while, but I wasn’t very motivated, and then she got married, and me and Mr. T moved 45 minutes away. On our run Sunday, we talked about upcoming races and tris. So maybe we’ll run together again soon!
5/30/10 Run – 2.78 Miles – 34:09
Average Pace: 12:16
Mile 1: 11:49
Mile 2: 11:23
.78: 10:56 (13:58 pace)
DAY 315
I had high hopes for running Monday morning with Stacey again, but we needed to leave pretty early. We did not want to get stuck in traffic like we did on the way to Chelan. So there were a lot of things to do. I’m so grateful to Stacey and her family for inviting us for a great weekend getaway. We got one last picture:
T Junior got some energy out racing back and forth on this deck before we got in the car. “I’m running!” he’d yell. Then, he’d shout: “Ready, set, goooo!” and zoom from one end to the other. I can’t wait to enter him in his first race!
And, oh man, I cannot end this post without this next picture. It was just so random. Check out this awesome truck we saw while driving home (only four hours!):
Yes. That is Chuck Norris. Yes. It is awesome.
COMING UP:
Hey, guess what? I have a half marathon this weekend! My full downgraded to half is Sunday. It’s supposed to rain, but that’s normal in Port Angeles (home of Twilight). I’m super excited to meet a bloggy friend for the first time, and she’s even picking up my packet for me Saturday. Thanks Alma! Running/blogging buddies are the best!
9 comments
Looks like you had a great birthday, long weekend away. T Junior in that bike helmet is worth a few extra pictures… so CUTE! Good luck on your half this weekend, hopefully the weather stays nice for you.
Happy Birthday to T Junior! Love all the pictures – the view is gorgeous. Good luck on your half!
You sure have been busy! Fun pics. The view of the lake is incredible!!
Great photos! Thanks for sharing them. Happy birthday T Junior!
Love the pics of T Junior! What a cutie!
LOL I love that he said it needed batteries and I'm sooooo jealous you were not in the Puget Sound Area this weekend! Lucky you.Sounds like you had a great weekend and a great birthday for T Junior (he is adorable)
Love love LOVE the pics of T Junior on his new trike!! He's so adorable!And man, you totally lucked on a great weekend with your friends. It was so awful here. :(& Lucy is gorgeous, as usual…and Bennie is a cutie too. And HECK YES! CHUCK NORRIS! Hahahaha! Enjoy your half mary this weekend! Just run for the fun of it. 🙂
Ohhhh man where to start.1. T Junior looks just like you and man his birthday festivities looked like so much fun. That's crazy he knew the elephants were mechanical – I guess I don't give 2 years olds enough credit.2. That scenery looks AMAZING… I love places like that… not tropical but not like dark and wintery either. Georgous.3. Great job on the run! I'm glad your body parts are behaving ;)4. Good luck on your race this weekend, you're going to do amazing I just know it :DYou've been through so much lately and you're handling everything so well. Such an inspiration!
Every single one of these pictures is fabulous! Your adorable little boy, that dog 🙂 and the Chuck Norris truck…perfect!