Downtown Riding

I can't get enough of this beautiful weather! This weekend was in the high 70's so my parents asked if we wanted to go bike riding downtown. Of course we said yes so Wesley and I loaded up bikes and met them there. Greta is still using training wheels and there was no way she'd be able to keep up (she also has no interest in bike riding) so she remained at home with Sean.

We had a lovely day of riding. Wesley got to try out his new bike he got for Christmas which he really likes. It has gears so he's able to adjust them when riding up and down hills. He figured that out and was riding like a pro.

My father did some research and discovered the art museum (which is along the bike trail) offered a brunch on Saturday so we went there for a lovely lunch. It was a great day!

My third grader. When did he get to be such a big kid?!

My Stinky New Friend

It seems like this happens each year around this time. I start feeling like a giant, lazy slug that's stuck in my house because of winter and the frigid temperatures outside. The frigid temperatures are slowly becoming bearable temperatures which make me want to become more active. So I dug out my fitbit and my athletic pants from the bottom of my drawer, strapped on my Nikes and outside I went.

I've been trying to log the recommended 10,000 steps daily and that requires either a brisk walk outside or a ride on the treadmill. I nearly always prefer outside. I've been changing things up and going the opposite way I normally do for my walks. This makes me walk past one of the neighbors houses that adopts all the drop off dogs. We get quite a few stray dogs each year and those sweet people take them in, neuter them and get their skinny little bodies back up to weight. Right now they have five dogs that run out to greet me as I walk by. Most are sweet, one is standoffish and there is one that barks aggressively but doesn't harm me. I've decided the best way to deal with the swarm of dogs is to become their friend.

This worked pretty good, although now instead of barking at me and then going back home, one of the five dogs follows me on my 3 mile walk. He's a sweet dog.

He walks with me and keeps me company, occasionally finding a stream to bathe in. He climbs up the bank and makes sure to stand right next to me before shaking the creek water off. He's my stinky new friend.

Each time I go for my walk now he runs from his house and joins me. It's nice to be outside and active again getting fresh air and sunlight. I feel less like a slug each day.

February Happenings

We've been having some lovely mild temperatures this winter and decided to have a picnic on the trampoline.  The wind was a bit chilly but not horrible especially if you dress appropriately (unlike Wesley in shorts). Doesn't he look thrilled? Fun times.

Wesley is enjoying Cub Scouts this year and it's nearly time for the Pinewood Derby race. This is a Cub Scout tradition each year where each kid makes a little car to race against the other boys in the den. Then if his car wins he goes to race against the winners of the other dens. Wesley got to work this weekend on creating his car. He got to use a band saw for the first time. He thought this was pretty cool. I stayed inside and left this task up to his father because it worried me a bit. What can I say? I'm a mom, I worry. But there was nothing to worry about, he did great. Still has all his fingers intact. Next weekend is sanding and painting.

Wesley has always had a fascination with space and space travel. Always asking all sorts of questions. So when we rented the movie The Martian this weekend we decided he might be old enough to watch it (after we watched it first of course). Greta has a pretty short attention span for movies (unless they have carton princesses in them) so we knew she wouldn't watch it. He really enjoyed it, watched the entire 2 hour movie! Greta would wander in for 5 minutes at a time and curl up on the couch like this....because of the suspense. It makes me laugh.

Since this past Sunday was Valentine's Day I thought I'd share the beautiful roses my sweet hubby got me. He's such a good husband.

Recovery

Well I'm not exactly getting off to a good start this year with blogging! It turns out when I'm sick I don't do much of anything, including blogging. Imagine that. I'm on my tenth and last day of steroids in an attempt to get over the never ending cold I caught sometime last month. It's now traveled through the family and we're all hunkered down trying to recuperate. There's been a lot of couch sitting and Playstation playing going on. It's been relaxing and I'm happy to say I think we are all on the mend.....if only I could get rid of the dizziness.

Sophie has mended well from her surgery. The stitches were removed and the scar is hardly noticeable now that the fur is regrowing. She's back to her ornery self keeping all the crumbs licked clean from the table and barking us awake at 6 am. Fun times!

We've had some remarkably nice weather lately with it even hitting 70 degrees last week. I wonder if we'll get any snow this winter at all. I hope we do, at least once. With it being mild out I asked Sean if he'd mind doing a cleaning of the horse pen. We try to get it cleaned up every couple of months but it's all weather permitting. You don't venture in there with the little tractor if it's muddy, there would be no getting it out. I sure appreciate him doing that job.

Sometimes when you've been cooped up in your house for a long period of time it's nice to just get out for an afternoon. That's just what Greta and I did last weekend. She needed new gym shoes (growing like a week that one) and I needed a nice big ice tea from Panera. Greta got a giant heart sugar cookie and we took one home for Wesley. It was a nice Mother/Daughter time, something we don't get to do much these days.