I Wish I Brought the Camera

The blog hiatus was a result of writing my Nordic Family columns for Cross Country Skier magazine. The columns are done and the first one of the season is now online at: http://viewer.zmags.com/publication/cdf4ba7d#/cdf4ba7d/9

Back to Fit Family. This fall has seemed especially busy as Ava is now in school all day as a first grader. We still manage to get some walks in during the late afternoon. We've been frequenting the local farmer's market where we've gotten great apples and bread. We walk back home through town or along a path in the woods. The girls like changing our routes.

On the weekends, we've done many short hikes. All of them have been local and some of them have been new territory for us. Every time I say, "Oh, I wish I brought the camera." This was the case when the girls were eating their apples on a bench by the reservoir with all the foliage in bloom. It was beautiful, almost peaceful, except that our dog kept barking for me to throw the tiny piece of tennis ball that she'd found in the grass.

I finally remembered the camera when we went on a short hike with a friend in a nearby state park. We walked all through the campground and the girls pretended the cabins were their houses. It was a great way for them to get in a lot of walking without thinking about it. The cabins looked good to me since I've never liked pitching a tent.

The photo below is of a cabin for kids to play in -- complete with washer and dryer.

The girls decided to wash rocks. I'll make sure they stay away from my new drier in case they think that rocks are going in there, too.

Back to the Wheels

With fall in the air, at last, the girls have gotten back into riding bikes and scooters. Tom tried taking Julia's training wheels off last night as she is uncomfortable when the wheels tip, but she was apprehensive. She's a daredevil on the diving board or flipping off the jungle gym, yet she is very cautious on her bike. Today, I may try taking her to a street that is flat and quiet for some practice. We'll go when her older sister is in school to cut down on distractions. I'm hopeful that if Julia can make some headway, she'll be able to bike while I run. Pretty soon, Ava is going to be too fast to be my partner.

Still Swimming

School has begun here and yet we're still swimming. It's the first fair weather summer we've had in New England in years and the hot weather is sticking around.

Today the girls and I headed to the brook with our dog to cool off. Our summer goal has been to stay cool so we've been in the water rather than out on the hiking trail. Even our bike rides have been connected to in-town transportation rather than long, scenic outings.

I usually like to mix up our exercise routines, but this summer has been the summer for swimming. Our neighbor's pool closed on Tuesday (the day before school started here) and we went for our last hoorah. Ava jumped in and swam the length of the pool using her crawl stroke (stopping once for a breath), and Julia swam underwater.

I'm already looking forward to the day that the girls pass their deep water test, which may be next year.

Summer Vacation

I can't say that our family vacation to the NH seacoast was relaxing, but it was filled with a lot of new experiences for the girls. We stayed at a hotel in downtown Portsmouth and got to walk to dinner and around the city streets.

We hit the beach with friends in York, Maine and Rye, New Hampshire and I even let the girls indulge in a big, sweet slurpy from the beach snack bar. Boy, were they surprised and happy.

The walk back from the snack bar across the hot, dry sand was torturous.

Though I prefer the lake over the beach, I appreciate the vastness of the ocean and the beach and how much you walk to explore without even realizing it. Tom and Ava walked way out to a crop of rocks that jutted out into the ocean and joined a family in a cliff jumping adventure. Ava came back with her teeth chattering. The "cliff jumping" was the highlight of Ava's trip.

I think Julia was happy just playing in the sand and filling her pail with water time and time again.

As much as I felt guilty about not getting much running in, the rest was needed. I returned home to run my usual 10-mile hilly loop with friends and seem to have aggravated a case of tendonitis in my foot. If only I could keep that relaxed vacation mindset at home....

Peaks Island Road Race

Last weekend, we went to Peaks Island, Maine to visit my sister, to run a road race, and to have a mini-vacation. We accomplished all three things. Though the 5-mile race was prefaced by a kids' 1K race, my husband and I opted to have the race event to ourselves while my sister and her husband watched our kids. That was a good choice. The kids' run was only 15 minutes before our race and with 600 runners warming-up and lining up in small, island downtown, it was quite a scene. I was very happy to focus on my own warm-up rather than my children's finish.

Every once in a while my husband and I run a road race together. That is, we both run in the same race. In this particular event, I was at the mile 3 marker when my husband was heading to the finish line. Though we didn't race together, Tom and I ran to the race together, waited together in the long registration line, and ran home together. It's kind of like going to movies together. You don't talk during the movie, but you both experience it then share opinions afterwards.

The race headed out along the perimeter of the island and offered ocean views. I took them in. Tom did not. This is something we talked about afterwards. We also agreed that we were both happy with our pace and overall time. That afternoon the girls had a chance to dip in the salt water, get buried in sand, and play at the water's edge. The whole family go to do something they wanted to.

When we left the next morning, my husband and I wore our green race shirts and khaki shorts. We looked like tourists on the ferry, but it was a good feeling. It meant that we were on vacation, even if it was just a quick one.

Tag-Along Treks

We have been using a tag-along bike as our means of getting around town with our four-year-old lately. We take it to concerts in the park, to the dentist, and to the pool.

We recently acquired the Burley Piccolo model. On the weekend before swim lessons began, we got motivated to get it hooked up and get Julia accustomed to riding it. The town pool is too far for walking and a bit close for driving when we could bike. Given the time constrictions of making to a lesson on time, I didn't want to worry about Julia creeping down the hills on her training wheels with me alongside on foot. The tag-along was the perfect solution. Plus, big sister, Ava, didn't have to wait for her sister on what turned out to be 10 round trips to swim lessons.

Swim Lesson Season

The girls just started week two of swim lessons and their rapid progress amazes me. We come home from swim lessons, eat lunch, and then head to our neighbor's pool. Being in the water so much lends itself to big improvements in swim skills.

At the beginning of the summer, Ava could swim underwater a bit and that was it. Now, she demonstrates a good front crawl, back crawl and can tread water and float. She jumps off the diving board and swims to the ladder.

Julia has learned how to go underwater this season. She is so in awe of this concept that she dunks under just about every other minute. She has very curly hair and her new wet-head straight doo keeps me staring at her, looking for the girl I'm used to seeing.

It is often said that the second child learns skills quickly trying to keep up with child #1. Well Julia is already going off the diving board like her sister. Now, she can't swim so we have to be there when she bobs up. Sometimes she goes in with a lifejacket on so she can "swim" back to the ladder.

We have a neighbor who can do hand-stand flips off the diving board and I saw Julia putting her hands up and stepping as if she were getting ready for that flip. I think we have a dare devil on our hands.