Oh the Places We Will Go

My little bambino and I have been busy!  We've been running (sometimes literally) around all over the place and we have had some wonderful adventures together.  If you read the previous post, you know we spent a few days at my parents' house while Jason was out of town last week.  Well, our travels did not stop there.  Jason got back into town late Thursday night, and Friday afternoon we left for Kentucky.  Our first stop was Louisville where Jason would run the Kentucky Derby Marathon.

Eloise's first race expo

This is what Eloise did while Jason was running

Jason is the tiny figure in red running around the corner across the street

The fam

 Jason did so well, finishing in 2:44:07 placing 9th over all and 2nd in his age group.  Eloise and I were proud of our fella as we collected him from the finisher's area.  We walked back to our hotel and Jason grabbed a shower before we checked out and headed to his parents' place, stopping by Cracker Barrel on the way.

We spent Saturday night at Jason's parents', went to church with them on Sunday and then headed home. Our baby girl was SUCH a trooper for this whole trip.  We didn't take the bassinet so she slept with us and while that was not the most restful, it worked out okay.  We were all three super tired by Sunday night, though, and I don't know about Eloise, but Jason and I were VERY glad we were all back in our own beds.

I will admit, when we arrived at the expo on Friday, I was a little disappointed not to be a part of the action on race day, but I knew it was the right decision for me.  We have a fun little racing streak ahead of us this summer and I get to be a part of all of it.  I know my marathoning day will come, and when it arrives I will be ready.

So after our travels to Tennessee and Kentucky, it was really nice to get back into our groove again.  Jason went back to work and Eloise and I got back on our schedule.  We resumed our jogging stroller runs and I continued the process of getting acclimated to the warmer temps and the mid-morning runs. 

On Wednesday we joined my sister, my niece and nephew, along with their homeschooling co-op at a local farm to pick strawberries.  This was SO FUN and Eloise was hilarious.  As always, she was curious about everything, wanting to be smack in the middle of it all.  And she was!

Ready to pick strawberries!

"Hmmm, what is this?"

Picking strawberries with my little strawberry.

The strawberry picking bunch!

Picking strawberries with Caleb.

EJ with her cousin Caleb.  She does love him!

Eloise gives it a try.

 

And she tries to give it a taste.  She stuck the whole thing in her mouth!

And my favorite picture, taken by my sister's mom-in-law.  My precious baby strawberry who is 9 months old!

As you can see, we had a wonderful time.  Eloise was a joy to have along, as always.  I absolutely love sharing all these new experiences with her.  She is so curious, so inquisitive, so interested in everything and I love watching her grow and learn.

I was going to take that day off of running, but the afternoon opened up before us and Eloise needed a nap.  I tried to rock her to sleep but she wasn't having it so we hopped in the stroller and rode to visit my friend Katie who had some puzzles for Eloise.  We ran 2 miles there, visited for a bit and then headed back.  Eloise fell asleep on the way home so I added in another mile and got in a total of 5 for the afternoon.  When we got home Eloise was still asleep so I sat on the porch and enjoyed the quiet, the breeze, and the sunshine on my feet and flowers while she slept.

A sleeping baby toting puzzles in her stroller.

I'm proud of my little garden this year.  I love all the colors!

My knockout roses make me smile every time I pass by.

It has been a great week being back home and back into our groove.  Eloise turned 9 months old on May 1st and I simply cannot believe how fast she has grown.  I love this simple little life with her and Jason, and I love our little trips and adventures together.  Blessed.  That is the word for the week, the month, this year... this life.