sledding in july

I'm back! We have had a very eventful four days, which is why I haven't been online. On Friday afternoon we headed up to the North Shore (during rush hour traffic- yikes!) to stay at an inn/motel for the night. This was Celia's first time staying in any kind of hotel. She did so well! She did great in the car, even though it was a long ride. We checked into our room and got settled, and then took Pita out for ice cream before bed. She loves anything new, so the whole experience was great fun for her. I was a little worried about how she would do sleeping in such a new place, but she slept all night without waking up once! Here she is enjoying her morning bottle in the hotel room, like some sort of traveling professional.

The reason we went up to the North Shore was for me to run a seven mile road race on Saturday morning! I don't have any of the pictures from the race, but maybe I'll post them when I do. The race went really well. My goal was to finish between 1:03 and 1:10, and I finished in 1:04:16. A decent time, considering that it was a ninety degree day and that the course was very hilly. I actually liked the hills, as they're my strength and give me a chance to pass lots of other runners. It's definitely a race I'd run again. Pita played on the beach while I was racing:

After the race we had lunch and traveled further north to my parents' house in NH. We had a great weekend playing outside with Celia, and Chris and I got to go out for a couple of hours by ourselves on Sunday afternoon. I also got plenty of time to read. I finished reading Sarah's Key, by Tatiana de Rosnay. It was really, really good. Then I started Jodi Picoult's My Sister's Keeper, and am already halfway through it. My parents have a beautiful yard with lots of flowers and a vegetable garden. It was so nice to be able to let Celia run around in the yard without constantly watching her and having to worry about her falling down a steep embankment or running into the road like at our place. It made us want a house even more. Celia had such a good time with her Nana and Grandpa that she hardly gave me the time of day. She is so attached to them.

Celia even slept through the night both Saturday and Sunday nights. On one hand this is very nice, but on the other hand I kind of miss having one or two middle-of-the-night snuggles with her every night. I can't complain though. It would be nice at some point to know that when I go to bed, I don't have to worry about when I'll be woken during the night.

This morning I had a nice seven mile run. I took my time and even stopped to take some pictures. Also had my first mid-run roadside pee stop, which was pretty exciting. It was such a nice morning. The air in the town where I grew up smells so much nicer, and cleaner, than where we live. These are the kinds of things I see on my runs there:

So, you can see why I wasn't in any rush today. This week is a step-up week mileage-wise, and my weekday runs will be either 7 miles or 4 miles. My long run will be 14 miles. Things are really picking up!

This afternoon we packed up and drove home. Celia was cranky on and off once we got home. I think she was completely exhausted from such a busy weekend, and probably wasn't thrilled to be without her Nana and Grandpa. She even asked for an extra nap and lay in her crib for a little while. Then, we went sledding.

Chris was cleaning out the garage and hanging up the sleds when he and Celia decided to use one. She thought this was pretty great.

It was a great long weekend! I am happy to now be unpacked, ready for the rest of the week, and most of all to sleep in my own bed tonight.