MELTING!!!

When life is busy it is hard to find time to relax and blog. Seems everyday holds a blog-worthy story, at least that is the perspective of a parent enjoying the daily adventures of her 2 little munchkins. Teia is in that wonderful 6-12 month stage where babies actually DO stuff! And do stuff she is...crawling, laughing, waving, climbing....I really could blog about her everyday. But it seems time to sit and blog is hard to find these days so I thought I'd post a few photos of what we've been up to and assure our worried friends that we are still alive. I know the heat wave and our lack of air conditioning might have some wondering...

The heat in NE right now is unbelievable. I don't recall temps like this in the last 10 years or so. We escaped to our favorite ocean beach the other day and the temp reading in our mini-van read ONE HUNDRED and FOUR degrees. The sand was so hot it couldn't be walked upon. Thank goodness for low tide which left lots of damp, hard sand available for everyone to enjoy the beach. Kai couldn't get enough of the water and Teia enjoyed crawling around in the tide pools and digging in the muddy sand. Unfortunately the camera stayed at home that day and many great photo ops were missed. Water relief is hard to come by everyday seeing as I am outnumbered and that, my friends, is not a good thing around water. But on the days when Greg can come with us, we are finding some reprieve. Other days we are trying to find air conditioned places when we can and trying not to think about the heat too much.

The other evening we joined some good friends for a delicious BBQ dinner. Nope that is not Kai in the photo below. It's Charlie. He's a friend of Kai's who has been featured on our blog before. Charlie really liked Teia. Except for running around outside with Kai, he was by Teia's side the whole evening, giving her hugs and kisses.

Kai and Charlie are starting young in terms of competing for the ladies. All I had to shout was "who wants to touch Teia's leg?" to see 2 little boys turn on a dime and sprint over to Teia. Kai was definitely the territorial big brother. We're hoping he'll hone his skills in this regard over the next few years :-). As for Teia, she was loving being the center of attention.

The following day one of Kai's little friends held her 3rd birthday party at our local splash park. The theme was mini-mouse and there were mickey mouse ears for the boys to wear. Kai surprised us by deciding that he would actually enjoy wearing his mouse ears! Usually Kai is not a fan of wearing anything on his head, particularly anything silly, but he must have been getting caught up in the party spirit.

I love this photo. You can spot the little man, ears and all, patiently waiting for his cupcake. Hurry up and sing happy birthday already!

Baby Daze

Life has been biiiizzzzy. I've had lots of blog posts I've intended to write but haven't had the time. Heck, we haven't even posted a pic of Mr. Mommy, the kiddos' first real, live pet. Thought I'd write a quick blog about our little lady. I missed posting on her 8 month birthday so here is a quick update.

I posted a few months ago about how quickly Teia's baby days were flying by and they haven't slowed down. I really, really want them to. Aside from the sleep deprivation (which, unfortunately continues), I am really, truly enjoying her baby stage. Its not that I didn't enjoy it with Kai, but I experienced all those first time mommy stresses and worries and struggled to adjust from a life of freedom that revolved around ME, to a life where I felt a bit bummed when I watched my friends throw their surfboards into their truck and head to the beach while I tried to get the little man to take a nap (or at least be interested in some adult conversation).

This time around, freedom to come and go as a I please is nothing but a distant memory, and Teia and Kai keep my focus in the here and now. Teia continues to be our family's littlest charmer. She is full of energy, smiles, giggles, determination and pure joy. She LOVES her brother and lately he seems to really enjoy her too. The whole house reverberates with laughter and squeals when the two of them play together. Kai even kissed her little head last night at bedtime. She's been working hard on locomotion and has come up with a variety of interesting ways to get around, including getting up on her knees and launching herself forwards. Just this week she finally perfected the forward crawl and can move with surprising speed when highly motivated.

Teia can't wait to talk. In fact, I think she thinks she can. She says mama all the time and lately has been doing a very persistent "bub bub bub" which just might be a stand in for "Buds" or "Bubs" or "Brother." Poor Dada is feeling a bit left out. When she's hungry she makes little kissing sounds which really do make me smile at 3 am when I'm plucking her out of her crib for her nighttime feed. Speaking of feeds, she loves to eat and has the chubbies to show it. She so loves food that we can no longer eat in front of her unless we're prepared to share it. She has entered the stage of finger foods with gusto and is a definite carbs lover.

Here she is with Grandma Barbie.

I know we're extremely biased when it comes to our kids but we think Teia really is pretty awesome. We'll keep her :-)

P.S. I'm multi-tasking and watching the TdeF prologue. Greg and I have decided we're going to eat a piece of chocolate every time Phil and crew say "Lance Armstrong." I think we're gonna give Teia a run for her money as "chubbiest Fennell" before the prologue is even over!

Race Report

4 am June 27th finally arrived and I dragged myself out of bed, 1.5 hours after feeding Teia, to get ready for the half marathon I've been loosely training for over the past few months. Things had been looking sketchy for the past 2 weeks after an ankle flare up during our trip to the Vineyard. Limited running, ice, Vitamin I, magic tape and a fantastic physiotherapist resulted in me actually being able to line up for the race this morning at 6 am, together with 4000 other lunatics. I say lunatics in particular b/c some of these people actually trained on the course and knew what we were in for. I, on the other hand, was blissfully ignorant. I knew there was one decent hill on the course because words like "summit" and "great views" were used on the website, but the course was described as "rolling." Well, you can draw your own conclusions but below is the profile print out from my Garmin. In the words of my good friend Ryan Where Have All the Flats Gone?

This course was nasty! After training on mostly rail trail in our mostly flat town my poor ol' body was in for a shock. The first 5 miles went pretty much according to plan. I seem to take a VERY long time to warm up these days so I decided to just let my first 1 or 2 miles be what they would be and I was pleasantly surprised when they were both around 9 mins or a little less. Mile 3 and 4 were even better going sub 8:30 and I felt GOOD! No cramps, no tired legs, a little hot b/c of the super muggy weather, but generally good and I managed to maintain a decent pace up the hills, which lined up like soldiers one after another. I let the legs fly on the downhills, taking advantage and managing to briefly hold a pace well under 8 min/mile. I was hoping those fast spurts would make up from slowing down a little on the hills. I did something I've never done in a race before, I walked through the aide stations. At first it was a conscious decision to sacrifice a few seconds here and there in order to ensure that I had good hydration and nutrition. Later in the race it was purely for survival and the time loss was probably more like a minute per aide station.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. As I said the first 5 miles went according to plan. I had my game face on. Then I rounded the bend at mile 5 and looked up, and up, and up. Yikes! This must be the "summit." So I managed to hold a 9:30 pace up a very long and steep hill and I could hear conversations around me saying it was the toughest hill on the course. I crested the summit and immediately saw the leaders climbing up the backside of it. I felt like I had entered purgatory as I was actually going to have to turn around and climb out of it (the course was a bit odd with two out and back sections). By the half way point I knew I was in trouble. I have forgotten to mention that by this point the aide stations had run out of gatorade. I had decided against carrying my own drink and realized that this obviously, had been a bad decision. At the top of the next hill I passed through the mile 8 aide station only to discover not only were they out of gatorade, they were out of CUPS!! Who runs out of CUPS at a distance event that is open to thousands of people?!?!?!!? I was handed a gallon jug of water. I had a moment of pause while I thought about who else might have sucked on this jug, but it was only a moment before I was slurping down what I could and dumping some over my head.

The rest of the race was a death march with small moments where I was able to get my legs to move close to my goal pace. I felt on the edge of cramping most of the time despite sucking down 2 gels and 3 cliff blocks. Cans of ice cold coke taunted me in my imagination. I realized that my goal of being well within a 1 hr 50ish finish time was completely impossible but figured if I could slug out 10 minute miles til the end I'd be in under 2 hours. Then we started up the last big hill, at mile 11. Yes, I did say nasty. Most races have one hill like this, if any, and not in the last two miles. At that point my motivation was "if I run a little bit faster, I'll be finished a little bit sooner and out of my misery!"

When I finally finished in a time of 2:03 my disappointment at completing my slowest ever half marathon eventually gave way to a feeling of accomplishment that I finished such a tough course with a reasonable finish time. I admit it was a struggle not to walk on some of those hills but I managed to keep going, even if I wasn't moving fast at all. After the race when the burning in my legs had subsided, I told Greg I was going to find another half, on a flatter course, to run in a few weeks because I had a feeling I had a much faster race in me, under different conditions. He looked at me like I was looney tunes, which of course I was. Sanity has returned and now I'm thinking, maybe just a 10k.

Return from the Vineyard!

We've just returned from Martha's Vineyard after a week long sojourn in the town of Oak Bluffs. Actually, we just settled down into the couch after about 4 hours of alternating crying/screaming from either/both kids; traveling ain't easy, I tell ya! Sometimes I wonder if vacations aren't more of a reminder of how good things are at home, like routine, nap schedules, and the like! But MV was still quite nice & worth the trip. I swear!

Like any 7d/6n trip, we chose to pack lightly. Here is Louise's definition of light packing:

No worries, the ferries to & from Martha's Vineyard are rated to hold at least 2 Canadian-packed minivans ;-)

We found a pretty sweet condo right across the street from the beach in Oak Bluffs. The 2BR unit was perfect for us; almost a little TOO perfect for Kai, who couldn't get enough of his Queen-sized bed that was right next to a window/curtains overlooking the sunset. I don't think he went to sleep before 10pm on any night (see above re: crying/screaming for final results of this sleeping situation). Otherwise, we were treated to some nice views every morning:

We had plenty of chances to see these sunrises, as Teia burned the other side of the candle by getting up around 5am everyday. It was a good excuse for Daddy/Daughter time to walk down to downtown Oak Bluffs with Teia in the backpack, charm the other early-rising locals with Teia's cuteness, and try to scam some free coffee by promising 2 min of cuddles w/ Teia.

The town of Oak Bluffs is famous for its Gingerbread houses; small, simple houses built upon a Methodist meeting site/campground for familes to attend annual religious meetings. The houses are pretty tiny (we toured one; it actually didn't look bad compared to some we put offers on in Hawaii!) but quite quaint and cute.

Here is the little girl in all her pink glory. Little did I know when I had a daughter that not only do most girl clothes come in pink, they also come in SHADES of pink, which absolutely cannot be combined with each other. Its like if you put on a pair of blue jeans, you MUST have a t-shirt that's the same shade of blue as the jeans. And if those jeans have some varying shade/washed look, well, sucks to be you, my friend - you ain't wearing a shirt until it has a matching washed look!

While we were there, a TV was readily available with the World Cup showing 3 games everyday. It became pretty addicting for all:

On our last full day, we headed Up Island to check out the cliffs of Aquinnah and drive thru the ritzy town of Edgartown. Louise was so desperate to see some celebs, she figured she'd buy some celeb-looking shades to attract them. (I did think I saw David Spade at a discount clothing store while buying some cheapo sandals. At least, it LOOKED like David Spade.)

Teia was unimpressed with Aquinnah's beauty....

Finally, we had to head home. Kai definitely has some seawater running in his veins as he insisted on standing on the bow of the ferry in both directions. The trip over was particularly impressive as it was raining and chilly, but Kai simply leaned harder into the wind.

Stay tuned for pictures/background checks on the latest Fennell family member, Mr. Mommy the Siamese Fighting Fish!!

Teia is amazing!

Our little Peach continues to make us smile with her jolly personality. Yesterday we traveled to Martha's Vineyard, an island off Cape Cod. Teia decided that she didn't want to miss a single part of the trip, except for the 30 minute ferry ride, which is when she took her only nap of the day. So mama missed the ride too, hanging out on the car deck while the little miss slumbered. It wasn't a total bummer b/c mama got to sneak in a much needed snooze too and she'll get to enjoy the ferry from the upper deck on the way back. The boys took in the scenery and Kai showed that he has true nautical saltiness in his veins as he insisted on being out on the cold outer deck with the wind in his face.

Even though little Peach didn't sleep much, she still managed to smile and giggle all day long, especially whenever Kai paid her a little bit of attention. Lucky for us a lack of naps did not = a bad day. Teia has also started clapping! She's been doing it for a little while now but only yesterday could we be really sure when we told her to "clap, clap, clap" and she did! In true Teia fashion, she is a little unconventional; she claps with just one hand and taps the other hand or whatever toy she happens to be holding. She is still an unconventional backwards crawler too. Yesterday, she crawled herself (backwards) right into her bag of toys!

This morning we took a cool, misty walk on the beach in front of our vacation condo (listening to the waves as I type this...ahhh...) and Teia got her first ever ride on Dada's shoulders. To say she liked it is an understatement if her squeals of delight were any indication. I think her favorite part was unfettered access to Dada's hair for pulling!

Buds has been having a few issues with his little sis lately. Let's just say sharing Mama and Dada is not always easy and it is kind of hard for him to ignore the little one who squeals and grabs for him and/or his toys. So today after a long walk and lunch out we treated him to a ride in the backpack that used to be his. He is still safely within the weight requirement but once we got him in there we realized maybe it needs a length requirement too! Thank goodness for Dada it was a short walk back!

The kiddos have also acquired a pet here on "the vineyard" but that will have to wait for another post. How is that for a blogging cliff hanger?

Some Goin's On

Things continue to be a wee bit too busy in our world. But hey, we are never bored!!! Lots of things are goin' on including Kai's last day of preschool before summer break, a visit from Grandma C, a trip to the "Vineyard" (I feel so brangelina saying that!), work, school, training, ... oh and baby proofing! Can't forget that!

Little Miss Teia is officially crawling. I guess you can call it that: she is up on all fours and covering ground but the only small problem is she tends to go backwards! We have found her just about lodged under the armoir in our living room, her pack and play and her crib! We definitely have to keep an eye on her! She also has her first tooth and number 2 is not far behind. So being 7 months old has kept her very busy! It is astonishing how fast she is growing up! We are glad that Grandma C was able to get out for a visit this past weekend and see Teia while there is still some "baby" left. During her visit we toured MIT and Kai walked absolutely miles. He was a little bit heart broken when the library was closed. (MIT dropped down a few notches in my book of esteemed universities...who closes their library just b/c it is Saturday???) The next day we picked strawberries which invariably included a kiddie size ice cream feast after the hard labour. Here is a photo of the little man double spoonin'!

Here is the little lady looking lovely.

Fluid Training

Nope, I'm not talking about a fluid trainer, although one of those would be nice...particularly if I'm going to do those indoor bike training sessions again next winter. I'm talking about my training "schedule" for the upcoming half marathon I'm planning to do. I have 26 days left and that means 26 more days to fit in some training according to my new "fluid training" mentality. It would probably drive most athletes insane to train this way. But for me, it is the only way to go these days so I'm doing it.

The basic premise of "fluid training" is that you decide which work outs are key, which ones would be nice, and which ones are just not going to happen. Next step: figure out potential times during the next 7 days where the "key" work outs might fit in. For my 1/2 marathon training this means 3 runs a week, one of which is a long run. Pretty simple. I also include a bike ride b/c let's face it, I need to ride my bike for my mental health (and it helps keep the legs moving on those non-running days). The "would be nice" work outs are done if, and only if, some other work out opportunity presents itself after the "key" work outs have been completed. Note: key = bare minimum.

Now here comes the fluid part, I lay out my running gear the night before and head to bed knowing that I might run in the morning. It all depends if the planets and stars align and Teia gets up to feed early enough that I can run and get home in time for Greg to get to school and for the kids and I to get fed and ready in time for whatever our morning schedule holds. If the universe is not working in my favor then Teia might get up too early and then running post-feed would be more like running in the middle of the night. Or she might get up too late. I could set my alarm and go before she wakes but that would require either a) pumping, or b) running with boobs that are rock solid and weigh about 2 lbs each. I think it would feel like running with small boulders on your chest. I say "think" b/c I haven't actually tried it. Pumping is a better option but Teia has this uncanny ability to wake up mid-pump and that makes for a very frustrating situation. Not to mention, if you haven't tried it, pumping isn't much fun. So, if it is a cosmically challenged morning, I do what might fit in and/or wait for the next morning to try again.

Its a little bit of an unorthodox way to train and I'm sure it doesn't bode for a Personal Best race performance but it works for now. But it sure doesn't feel great when I want to get up at 5:00 am, feed Teia and get ready to run by 5:30-6:00, and then she decides instead that 4:30 am would be a better time to wake up. But having that work out done by the time the munchkins are eating breakfast is a good feeling. This whole process might even turn me into a coffee drinker...Nah, I don't think anything could do that!