Hiking with the little one

We had done a lot of hiking last summer and fall with Stephen in the backpack. Up until 2 weeks ago, we hadn't been back out with it at all. Since we recently booked a vacation up to Acadia where we will be doing a lot of hiking, I decided it was probably a good idea to take Stephen out and re-acquainted with the hiking backpack.

I wasn't sure what to expect - I packed lots of distractions just in case - sippy cup, fishies, his new Woody, and his favorite lovey Monkey. At first he didn't want to get into the backpack, but once I told him we were going to find rocks, he immediately calmed down and let me put him in. (love boys!) I had to adjust the backpack, since my husband had used it last, and each time I did, I kind of had to jump up a little to tighten the straps. "Wheee!!!" was Stephen's giggly response.

The next hour of hiking was one of the best hours that I have ever spent with my son. He was SO excited to be out there. I showed him the trail markers, which were yellow, and he would get very excited each time he spotted another one, then say, "I find more!" He pointed out pine cones, trees, a dog, rocks, big rocks, more rocks (all BOY!), trail markers, and in between spotting these things, he would say, "fun Mommy!" Absolutely melted my heart.

We went again today and it was more of the same. Today we did a different trail along a pond. I still cannot get it through his head the difference between pond, lake, and ocean.....he just calls them all "pools!" Ah well, right idea little man. After 48 minutes, he told me, "All done hiking Mommy." We were almost back to the car, since I knew the 2 of us wouldn't last more than an hour.



Neither time did I need to get out any of my backup distraction items, nor did I need to stop to entertain him. This is just the beauty of nature and being outside. And I am so happy that he loves it....cuz love it or not, he's going hiking with us in Acadia :)

Three Things Thursday - Food edition

Our day in food:

1 - Cooking dinner over the fire in the backyard:

2 - Snacking on some homemade granola

Granola close-up

3 - Roasted chickpeas - delish!!! I found this awesome recipe online - I always am snacking at night, mostly looking for something crunchy (crackers, goldfish, etc). These help to satisfy my craving and aren't that bad for you!

PS - I know you are all jealous of my orange countertops!!!!!!!

30 Followers = 30% off at my Etsy Shop!!

I have had 29 followers for a week or 2 now, but as of today, I now have 30! To celebrate, I am offering 30% off any single purchase at my Etsy shop, HERE, to all of my followers.

Etsy is an online craft store, with all individual shop, specializing in a huge variety of goods. My Etsy shop is a scrapbooking shop, specializing in running scrapbooks, premade pages, and mini-albums to document races and have a place for your race bibs!

All you need to do is send me a message in the section at the bottom of the Etsy check-out page, stating that you are a follower. DO NOT PAY FOR THE ITEM RIGHT AWAY. I will verify that you are a follower of this blog, and then send you a modified invoice that will reflect the 30% savings. This promotion is good for one week - orders must be placed by 11:59PM on Thursday, July 29th. Any new followers of this blog in this coming week will also have the chance to receive the 30% discount.

Enjoy! Laura Elaine

Half Marathon Mama Pages!

Recently completed a HALF MARATHON?

Need a fun place to keep your photos and your race bib?

Check out my latest listing for these 12" x 12" premade scrapbook pages on Etsy, HERE.

Enjoy the weekend!

Laura Elaine

Are you a 5K Girl?

Recently ran your 1st (or 50th!) 5k and need a way to document it?

Need a place to keep that race bib?

Check out my latest listing on Etsy (here)!

Have a great day!

Laura Elaine

Pictures: Where I Run and the Running Skirt

Before I headed out for my 3 miler this morning, I was checking my blogs. One of the ones I love to follow is Racing with Babes (HERE). She always has inspiring words or funny stories about the little ones. This morning she had posted pictures from along her 8 mile run, and invited her followers to post pics of their runs too! So here they are, starting with my view from mile 1:

View from around the end of mile 2 - love the rays of sunshine!


Finishing up - closing in on 3 miles:

Ahhhh and my beautiful view of the hydrangeas as I walk up my driveway!

The after pic with my awesome new pink running skirt!!:

Of course Stephen wanted his picture taken too:

Want to try some of my blueberries?

Why it's always fun to do core work with a toddler around

I'm just going to paint two pictures for you from my core workout this morning.

1 - I'm doing reverse hypers on the physioball and Stephen comes over, climbs on so his feet are by my head, he is facing my feet, lying on his belly, and holding on to my underwear and shorts so he doesn't fall off and says, "wheeeeeeee!!!!"

2- Next up - bridges - he comes over, says "I ride" and climbs on.

Let me tell you, that extra 30 pounds of 22-month-old makes a HUGE difference!!

Have a great day!

Common (Runner) Courtesy

I say hi to everyone that I pass when I'm running. Other runners. Power walkers. Cyclists. Dog-walkers. People mowing their lawn. And for the most part, they all usually say hello back. Until today.

Let me back up a minute. I don't consider myself and overly friendly person. Isn't just common courtesy to acknowledge others and say hello? Maybe it's just my Springfield College roots. From the moment you step foot on campus, you learn a few things about courtesy, how to treat others, and respect:

1- You don't walk on the grass. EVER. You stick to the sidewalks and paths and respect the campus and the people that maintain it.

2- You hold doors open for others. Even if it means waiting *GASP* 10 extra seconds so the person behind you can finish walking up the stairs to the building.

3 - Most importantly, you say hello to EVERYONE that you pass by, whether you know them or not, whether you like them or not. I can honestly say you can feel the friendliness as soon as you step on to the campus.

So back to my story from today. I dropped the car off for an oil change, and was running back to the house. I was approaching a woman on the sidewalk walking toward me. In her hand I thought I saw a take-out coffee cup. Yup she was power walking with her Super Grande Mocha Latte. As she got closer to me, I did my usual: smiled, waved, and said good morning. What did she do back? Nothing. Yup, NOTHING. No wave, no smile, no hello. Just kept on walking. Seriously?

Well, I thank you Super Grande Mocha Latte Lady. I thank you for giving me something to blog about today. I thank you for making my run go by fast, since I was brainstorming said blog post all the way back to the house. And I thank you for making me appreciate common courtesy!

So now I am passing my smile, wave, and "good morning" on to all of you! Hopefully you do the right thing back :)

Have a great day!

Laura

HEAT WAVE!!! And 4th of July Premade Scrapbook Pages

It's HOT. Really HOT. So HOT that when I woke up this morning to run, it was already 80 degrees. So I did what any sane person would do. I went back to bed! Yuck! Hubby and I went out yesterday around 7:30 am and it was gross, and today is grosser. I will get some sort of yoga/pilates/something in later today. With the heat index it's supposed to be 100 here. We're not used to this kind of heat in New England!!!!

Did anyone run a fun 4th of July Road Race? We were in NY at my parents and debating doing a 4-miler in Saratoga, but decided not to. It wasn't until this year that I realized what a big running day the 4th is! We ended up having a great time over the weekend, seeing lots of family and friends, and eating tons of good food!

Today I decided I should make up some 4th of July Scrapbook pages. They came out so cute, that I may just have to keep them for myself if they don't sell on Etsy! I created them so they can be used for just pictures of cookouts, fireworks, etc. OR you can put your RACE BIB in them and use them to document your 4th of July Road Race!! You can check out the listing for them on my Etsy site HERE. This is one of the pages, with one of my old bibs on it as a sample:

Happy Tuesday....hope everyone is staying COOL :)

Laura