yet another check!

So the summer festivities are winding down. Left on the calendar we have two more weddings, (one of which will also be a road trip to NY.), a baby shower for my sister, a country music festival, a Saco River Canoe trip, a few more birthday parties, and a trip to Isle Au Haut!!!

Sprinkled in there are 3 more races, a 10k and two more 5ks which will finish up the road race series and my goal! I am more than halfway there now that I completed the run this morning and the heat is getting to me a little bit but I am just putting one foot in front of the other and getting them down. It helped to see my favorite cheerleaders cheering me on with a mile left and also setting a goal of beating some of the people I was surrounded by. Yes pink shirt lady, sunglasses guy, and obnoxious lady talkers were all behind me when I crossed the finish line. D was a little upset to see my final sprint to clock in as fast as I could but I think deep down he knew thats what the end would look like. He is running the next one with me to keep me in check and also to keep me company for the longer mileage. So in just about three weeks it will be race #7!

Oh and yes I forgot to add the big ultra sound is coming up as well so its another thing to look forward to!

Check that one off the list!

It was the battle of nerves vs. determination Tuesday morning in our house. I was determined to hike Mt. Chocorua so that Sprout can have a claim to a hike along with Ella. However, I was nervous as all get out. I did not want to be halfway up or all the way up or anywhere on the mountain for that matter and get stung again. I have my epi pen now (2 actually) and I know that it would buy me some time, but only 40 mins. I have yet to know what the extent of my allergy is. What exactly I am allergic too, bees, hornets, wasps? And if getting stung once would provoke the same emergency reaction as getting stung seven times did. (By the way I do have a call in to my PCP to get in for a referral to an allergist so we can determine the answers for future knowledge).

So Tuesday morning dawned, cool gray and rainy a perfect day to set out, the heat wave was GONE! Derrick took the day off and I took a deep breath and loaded my stuff into the car. I still wasn't sure if it was the smartest idea in the world (in fact most would argue probably not) but here is where I am flawed. Smart or not I am determined once I set my mind on something. Ummmm yeah hello I still have 4 more races to do and I will do them too just because I told myself I would, no matter how uncomfortable it gets for me! (yes unfortunately I don't want to admit it but it is starting to get uncomfortable to run).

Determination won. We dropped Ella off early in the morning and set off. Arriving at the trail head just after 9 am. I gave myself 4 hours to get to the top and only used 3 (30 minutes of which were an accumulation of a snack and water breaks). We hiked along side each other taking in the quiet of the woods at times or chatting about what ever popped into our heads. Usually, we were both thinking the same things and there were a lot of "I was actually just thinking that comments" given before adding our own opinion to the topic.

We broke tree level and were welcomed by an amazing view (which would be our only view of the day) while we stopped for water and a snack. Then off to the summit it was. Pure determination kicked in. I was tired and sweaty but the peak broke through the clouds once and that was all I needed to continue. The last half of mile was rock climbing and skirting and it was then I realized that I actually do have a bit of a belly and it was in the way of climbing at times.

Lunch was on the top in the clouds. There was no view, in fact the clouds were so thick you couldn't see the edge of the rocks and could have easily stepped off a cliff. But the view didn't matter. I did it, I climbed yet another mountain so my baby could say it was theirs and I had a wonderful day with my husband.

Six tenths of a mile down I twisted a knee (same exact injury I acquired on Katahdin with Ella. Stupid relaxin already has my joints super sensitive and easily over extended). Because I had to baby the knee it didn't take long before my other knee also gave out and I was hobbling the last 3 miles down the mountain in pain and leaning on Derrick for the steepest down slopes. The only thing that kept me from throwing myself a pity party and crying was the knowledge that D and I would be stopping for pizza at a local on the way home.

Tired, dirty, sweaty and sore as ever I made it to the car. Hugged D in pure pride of myself and quickly got in car to set out for the promised pizza. Which never tasted so good :0)

Live Laugh HIKE!

Let the good times roll!

So the summer of constant events is in full force and the fun just keeps rolling in. We just got back from BFCO 2011 and it was such a great weekend!

We arrived Thursday in the middle of a heat wave that New England never usually sees. And we arrived in an unconventional way as well. You see instead of Derrick, Ella and I heading up together, plans were made so that we could get up there before Derrick got out of work. Which means I, the person who doesn't do any of the driving if I don't have too, was the driver. Not that big of a deal except I had never ever driven with the pop-up being towed behind. We borrowed my Dad's Hummer (the Versa just wasn't big enough get all our gear and camper to the campground) loaded it up with all our gear AND my sister-in-law and the twins and set off. I was super nervous but knew that I needed to do what needed to be done. After all there wasn't any highway driving (or so I had thought!) I managed to even maneuver through a drive through before hitting the road! Everything was going fine and dandy and then the nice GPS lady told us to merge onto I89 and then I93....ummmmm what!?! Not only was merging something I had not planned on doing but it was also taking us by the site of our Mother's Day crash and I just wasn't prepared for that!

I made it through getting off at a LEFT! exit and was at the campground not even 10 minutes later. I checked in, drove around so I didn't have to back up and then headed to our site. Or well I thought it was our site, turns out I went down the wrong road which required me to now have to back the trailer up AND turn around somehow! Being the stubborn girl that I am I refused to give in and go for help and figured out how to back that thing up for myself!

Finally arriving at the site we unloaded and I set up camp by myself (after my father-in-law and Derrick's uncle so kindly unhooked the camper and popped it up for me). Derrick arrived to a site all done and the fun began.

We spent the weekend mostly swimming or finding some way to beat the ridiculous heat. Had campfires around candles to keep cool at night and just fully enjoyed some family company. Drinks were had (well I had lots of ice water), food was cooked and laughs rolled in. The Misfits held two meetings and Ella played played and played. She was actually so disappointed to head home today :0) The flag was passed and the plans for BFCO 2012 are already in the making! I really could not ask for any more good times and good memories!

Live Laugh CAMP!

I plan on getting my act together and posting some pics to this post soon!

Epic Voyage

Ok well not really an epic voyage but today was our day to hike Sprout's mountain. When I was 24 weeks preggo with Bean (aka Ella) Derrick and I and about 8 other people took a weekend and backpacked up Mt Katahdin. Katahdin is the highest mountain in ME and is a 5,280 foot climb to the top. It is an absolutely outstanding hike and the views at the top are spectacular. I could never even begin to describe them with words. On that trip D and I decided that for every child we had we would do a pregnancy hike up. However, this summer is so so so stinking busy that we do not have any weekends free until September 24th and well that is too late to do a hike that big. So on to plan B, Sprout is going to get its very own mountain.

After much talk we picked Chocorua which although is not as tall as Katahdin, nor known to be as difficult, it still offers amazing views and is a slight challenge. After all Sprout has also run a 10k with me so things are pretty even.

So after making a quick Ella drop this morning we were off! And we were super excited. It has been awhile since it has been just the two of us and we just got to chat without any interruptions!!!



During the drive up we could see the clouds and fog burning off and knew it was going to be a fantastic day to be at the top. The sneak peaks we got from RT 16 just confirmed we made the right choice. Sprout was going to love this mountain!



We got to the trail head just passed 8am, hit the potty and started the 4.5 mile climb. About 1.5 miles in a stepped off the trail right into a ground hornet nest. The stings at first shocked me, I had no idea what was happening but as soon as I figured it out I ran as fast as I could. I managed to get out with only 7 stings. They HURT the pain intensified with every single step but I was determined to finish. D however would not let me. He insisted that we head down and finish the hike another day. By the time I got to the car I could not bend my left knee.



I was fine for about 20 minutes and then the itching started, I was having trouble swallowing and I was just plain uncomfortable. Tini fortunately comes equipped with a GPS and finding a Rite Aid was pretty easy. By the time I got there however, the hives were getting ridiculous. D took one look at my fact and decided to use Tini to find a hospital as well.



As luck would have it there was one not ever 20 minutes away. When I walked in I told the lady I didn't know if they had to admit me since I could breath still but she took one look at my back (which by the way only my legs were stung) and skipped me passed all the paperwork and bells straight into a treatment room where I was immediately surrounded by nurses and doctors. An epi shot was given ummm OUCH! An IV was started and the meds were pumped in. I started feeling much much much MUCH better and after a few hours of observation I was allowed to go home. Since things looked so much better. I guess I handled treatment well!



So the rest of the day I spent laying on the couch in pain with my legs still stinging and feeling less then with it. The hike is postponed until Thursday (if D can get the time off from work) and I know I now need to carry my epi pen with me on all outdoor adventures! By the way did I mention this happens to be Sprouts SECOND emergency room visit, oh boy am I going to have my hands full. (By the way its another blog topic but I do think Sprout is a boy and this is a sign of how many times I will be bringing him in!)

The day really couldn't have turned out any worse but it really ended up being such a good day. When Ella turned to me at dinner and said "I have the best family! I love you guys" Really that one little comment from my sweet little girl would have gotten me through 100 stings (although I am very very thankful it was only 7!)

Weddings, Train Rides, Coasters and MORE!

Holy moly guacamole!!! We are in full and I mean FULL swing summer activities. Over the last few weeks I have not had time to even begin to contemplate a blog entry let alone sit and actually write one.

Most days we are changing in the car on our way to the second or third event of the day. Add in the fact that I started my little summer job AND I'm growing a new life and well this is one exhausted, breathless and brain dead mama!

Over the last few weeks we have done birthday parties, weddings (one of which had the CUTEST little flower girl if I do say so myself), survived a week of D being on travel, gone to North Conway, spent a long weekend camping, a trip to Storyland that resulted in L's first (well and second and third) EVER roller coaster ride, a quick view of the fireworks, doctors appointments, first day of work for me, helping my sis register for Baby G and other random activities and errands thrown in the mix.

We are now home (I have the day off) and are getting ready to head poolside for the day. Through it all I seem to have developed the start of a small baby bump, successfully photographed one of the weddings, met up with some friends for a day of fun at York's Wild Animal Kingdom (where my shy daughter shocked us all by being brave enough to stand in line and then ride the rides by HERSELF with help buckling in by the ride attendant. That is a HUGE step for us!!!!), managed to keep my house in a somewhat clean state, get a couple runs a week in (yep I can still manage a few miles!!!), and anxiously await the arrival of a friends baby girl (who was born Tuesday night!!! Welcome to the world Stella Rae!).

In the next 2 weeks we will be hiking up Chocorua (Ella got Katahdin which is more of a challenge but since we do not have a whole weekend free the hike needed to be a day trip one. Plus this baby ran a 10k with me so it evens out), attending another wedding, packing and then going to the Brown Family Camp out, more doctor's appointments and work. Oh what I am very excited for a night out for Manis and Pedis with the Misfits!!!!! Oh oops throw another birthday party in there too :0)

Live Laugh GO!