worry free weekend

I am really enjoying not counting calories. It is helping me to focus on what I am eating and why instead of just trying to get the numbers in the correct range. I was secretly hoping that it would really help with the binges I have been having. I really seem to have no self control and when a binge comes on I barely resist it before I am shoving food quickly into my mouth.

This weekend the hubby was gone on a guy's weekend so little lady and I were left to fend for ourselves. I was excited for our girl time, but nervous about my eating habits. For some reason when I am left alone it seems like a great idea to see how much food I can eat. I found myself even thinking about buying some ice cream to enjoy before hubby even left. I was starting to picture a relaxing weekend of putting little lady to bed and just digging into ice cream. I made a promise to myself to not buy any food that I did not need to eat. I stuck to that but did not end up binge free.

Hubby left Friday morning. Little lady and I had a MOMS club meeting that morning and then came home and went for a run (my first one post half marathon!). She took a nap while I worked on things around the house. After her nap we walked to the park and played for a bit before dinner. Then, we decided to have a living room camp out that night. We made popcorn, watched a movie, and slept in our sleeping bags on the living room floor. It was fun and I think my food was in check for the day.

Saturday started out really good. We got moving pretty quickly and spent the morning with hubby's sister in law at the farmer's market and the zoo. It was a busy morning followed by a nice nap time. (I actually got a lot of spring cleaning done!) We ended the day with a bike ride into town and strolled the shops. I got a cute dress and little lady got a lollipop. It was a wonderful day. She went to sleep and I was feeling great. About an hour later, I felt a bit hungry. I had fruit, but didn't want it and decided to let myself eat a tortilla because we were so active all day. Tortillas have become my downfall. I just love the carby goodness of them. After my first plain one, I decided I needed to eat a wrap. So I made myself a tortilla ham wrap and then things just slowly spiraled down from there.

Sunday I woke up and surprisingly felt okay (usually my stomach is rough the next day). I had wanted to go running and made myself stick to it. I ran 4.5 miles pushing little lady and then came home and worked on the yard until nap time. Hubby came home after nap and we got to spend the evening as a family.

It was a fun and busy weekend. I loved spending all that time with little lady! I know I get to spend all day every day with her, but it was still exciting to have a full weekend with just her. I could plan anything I wanted to do and not have to worry if anyone didn't want to do my plans. I think we both had fun (and I am sure hubby had fun on his weekend away)!

I am still sticking to my intuitive eating. Minus Saturday, my intuition was not telling to eat as much as I could! I actually weighed myself today just to see. I wanted to wait until May 15th but I was nervous that to much damage could be done by then. I was down 0.4lbs since Wednesday. I am okay with that. I am actually okay with just maintaining this month. If I lose weight I will continue to eat intuitive and if I maintain hopefully I will feel refreshed and ready to focus on calorie counting again.

I feel like I should mention that I am basically eating the exact same way as before. I usually eat oatmeal, eggs, or a smoothie for breakfast, leftovers for lunch , and one serving of whatever is for dinner. I am not allowing myself to buy processed snacks so my only real snack options are fruit or raw almonds. Basically I am still trying to eat clean but not worry so much about counting every calorie. I am hoping that by just paying attention to what I am eating and why I am eating that I will become better able to handle my eating urges.

Another year older (and maybe wiser)

So here I am just a little bit older than before. My birthday was on Sunday. I had a really nice weekend and the best part was, I didn't have to wash any dishes! :) My fun started Friday evening. The hubby had to run out to the store and was going to just wait until little lady was sleeping, but somehow things worked out that he took her with him to the store. That meant that I got to sit at home and enjoy a quiet, empty house. That hasn't happened in forever and I loved it. I had a stack of magazines piling up so I starting catching up.

Saturday morning we slowly got ready to go to Frederik Meijer Gardens to see the butterflies. I love just spending time as a family so I had a great time there. Little lady loved looking for all the butterflies and hubby loved showing her off. I feel like we don't go out as a family as much as I would like. I think once it's nicer out, we will have to get out with her more. We are also horrible at taking pictures while we are out so I asked the hubby to get a few pictures of me and little lady. I occasionally remember to snap some pictures of him and her, but I feel like I have very few photos of me with her. One of the pictures turned out pretty cute and the hubby actually printed out a nice copy of it for me for my birthday.

My little lady loves to make silly faces.

I also had a long run scheduled for Saturday. During little lady's nap time, I prepared for an 8 mile run! I decided that I needed to start fueling during longer runs. My 7 mile run had been rough and I thought maybe mid-run fuel would have helped. I decided to bring 2 Clif shot blocks with me and a can of coconut water. (I didn't have a good way to carry water with me on my run and I wanted something that at least once I drank it, I didn't have to carry it back.) I also ate a kids Clif bar before my run since I hadn't eaten since my oatmeal breakfast.

I hit the trail and felt pretty good. I was focusing on not letting the mentality of "8 miles!!!" get to me. I knew that I had run 7, so why not 8? At just past 2 miles, I felt a horrible cramping on my right side. It was like runner's cramp, but much worse than I have felt. I slowed down and was trying to figure out what to do. The cold can of coconut water pressed into my ribs offered a bit of relief. I contemplated turning around, but I have read other runner's that had felt an odd pain and it would go away just as quickly as it came on. I decided that I would continue until 3 miles and then turn and head back if the pain was still there. I took 2 walking breaks and would stretch out my side as I walked. I kept my pace slow while I ran and by the time mile 3 rolled around, the pain was gone. I was relieved!

My next issue came with trying to figure out a mid-run fuel point. I purposely brought things with me that I would not have to bring back, but I also wasn't sure if I would find a garbage can along the trail. I kept my eyes out while I ran. At mile 3.5 I passed along a nice park/parking lot to access the trail that I was on. There were a few garbage cans at the park's entrance to the trail. Perfect! I didn't feel like fueling yet so I ran to mile 4, turned around and got back to the garbage around 4.5 miles. I stopped (and of course paused the Garmin) for about 2 minutes since I am not coordinated enough to eat, drink, and run. I got back to running and thankfully continued to feel great. Just before mile 6 I felt like running became easier. It's odd because when I checked my Garmin stats later on I noticed my heart rate was around 165 for most of the run and then around mile 6 it dropped to 158. I felt good!

I think fueling helped because my run didn't feel tough until mile 7.25. I felt sore in my hips, but otherwise just fine. I was so proud when my watch beeped for 8 miles! I finished in 1:32:16 That is an average of 11:30 minutes/mile! I was so happy with that. It included my walking breaks during the odd rib pain, but not the fueling stop. I think finishing my half marathon in under 2.5 hours is doable. I felt so proud of my run. I think it was the first run that I felt like a runner.

The only downside of my run was when I went to see how many calories I burned. I have always heard it's about 100 calories/mile. Usually I burn just a bit more than that, but close to 100/mile. I thought I would have burned about 850 calories, but according to my Garmin only 630 calories. I didn't let that get me down for long though! :)

Sunday was my actual birthday and it was wonderful. My hubby made me coffee and my baby knocked on my door yelling "happy birthday mommy!" The hubby had flowers for me along with some nice wine (for later) and some 10 pound weights. I was realizing my weights were getting much to easy for me. (I tried the 10 pounds out on Sunday and it was killer- in a good way). We went out to lunch and had friends over for dinner and cake/ice cream. It was a wonderful weekend.

Although I guess the celebrating didn't end there. I had to go to the dentist today. I decided to bring little lady with me for the first time just to start to get her used to it. She did a good job there! I was a proud momma! Although my dentist discovered signs that I am starting to grind my teeth. I have never been a teeth grinder so I don't know what to think about this. I am supposed to go back to get fitted for a bite guard. After settling things with the office lady, little lady and I walked out to the lobby. I was trying to wrestle put little lady back into her coat and the receptionist said something like, "oh, and one more thing..." and I looked up and they had a cupcake with a candle for me and said they wanted to celebrate me on another year younger. It was so sweet of them! They are so friendly there and go out of there way to make everyone feel special,. hey seriously send out birthday cards and texts as well as Christmas cards.

cupcake from my dentist's office

Friday Figures (one day late)

This past week was rough. I hate feeling like I am not in control of my moods. I feel like I should be strong enough to remind myself that I don't want to eat an entire box of crackers, but sometimes the mind wins. I guess it's just a reminder that even though I am feeling in control today, tomorrow is a new day and I need to be prepared. I am still learning ways to handle binge urges. I have a book to read and a crochet project in the works so hopefully that will keep my hands busy and refraining from shoving snacks in my mouth.

Since the previous Friday, I only stayed on tracked 3 days. For 4 days (Sunday - Tuesday and again Thursday) I was completely out of control. I would eat lunch and then find a few other lunch options to snack on. It was disgusting and I felt awful. I hate knowing that what I am doing is hurting me and not being able to stop. I thought I was back in control Wednesday, but at the same time I still felt "off." I managed to track and stay in the correct caloric range, even with going out for dinner and drinks but unfortunately I lost it again on Thursday.

I really thought about not weighing in on Friday morning because when I binge I can easily gain 5-10 pounds. I thought about giving myself a few days and then weighing in, but I think I knew that I needed to face the number to actually see the damage I had done. (Plus, it can snap me out of it when I see how much I have gained.) I stepped on and was completely devastated to see 170.3 lbs. I wasn't going to post it here, but I felt like I needed to be able to look back on it and remember how much damage I can do in such little time.

I stayed on track all day Friday and finally felt out of my funk. I did my cross training and ate properly. Out of curiosity I stepped on the scale this morning(after only one day) and am already back to 165.5 lbs. I am going to use the 165 on my "Weigh in" page since I feel like that number more accurately reflects on the weight that I actually gained. The 170 was probably a lot of water/bloat.

I am actually proud of even posting the gain at all. I have a horrible habit of not really acknowledging my gains. I avoid the scale when I know that I am gaining and then when I do step on, I don't track it anywhere. I usually refuse to post or track (on sparkpeople) a new weight unless it is less than the previous weight. This is foolish on so many levels. It happened and I think it will help me to just own up to it and move on. Plus, next week's loss will feel even better!

Onto happier news: As mentioned all last summer, hubby and I love camping. We would camp every weekend if we could. Little lady has been camping since she was 5 months old. We always brought her a pack-n-play to sleep in, but this year we think she is ready for a sleeping bag (She will be 2 in April). On Friday, she spotted a princess sleeping bag while I casually walked up through a camping supply aisle. She loved it and just had to have it. :) The hubby thought it was a good idea so we brought it home and talked up camping. We decided to have a family camp out in the living room last night. It was awesome! Little lady has never really been a cuddler. She has always slept in her own bed. Occasionally we have thought it would be so cute to sleep next to her and we try to get her to sleep in our bed, but she gets so excited to be near us that no one sleeps until she goes up to her bed. I am happy to say that she fell asleep rather quickly in her sleeping bag between mommy and daddy. I loved waking up and seeing her cute face. I am extra excited for camping now! Our first trip is already planned for Memorial Day weekend! (P.s. It will be another biking trip!)

This morning, after a nice night on the floor, I had a scheduled 6 mile run. After the mood I was in all week, I tried convincing myself that no matter what I would run outside. I woke up to see 4 fresh inches of snow and a steady snow falling. Plus, my fleece was dirty. I reluctantly set up the treadmill and let daddy and little lady have some fun. I did it and it wasn't as bad as every run I did this week. My mind was in such a bad place that even running at all was a huge chore. Usually running for me is always challenging, but in a good way. I almost always feel amazing when I am done, but this week I still felt shitty even after my runs. I was glad that although 6 miles on the treadmill felt torturous, it was also amazing to know that I did it! I feel in control again and I couldn't be happier!

Halloween fun

I am seriously stuck in some rut. I get so frustrated with myself and my own lack of self control. I did great all day yesterday. Then, the hubby and I had an opportunity to stop by a new local brewery. I figured I could enjoy one beer. I am still trying to focus on keeping my calories in check, but not let it get in the way of enjoying life. I ordered one beer and that was the plan. The hubby got a beer and a side of homemade chips. I wish I could say I was strong enough to refuse the chips, but I did mention they were homemade, right? I wish I could say I only had a taste of the chips, but who can eat just one chip? Gross, I totally shared the chips with the hubby. I guess that is better than wolfing down the whole plate of them.

I also wish I could say I stopped at the chips. We got home and I was feeling the buzz from my one beer. Then I felt the regret of eating chips. Somehow the only way for me to cope with eating more than I had planned was to continue to eat until I went to sleep. I am not planning a great weigh in for Friday this week, but I will weigh in. I need to be able to own up to the damages that I cause.

I am happy to say that today was a much better day health wise than yesterday. I ate reasonably AND went for a 2 mile run with a friend. My last run before my 10k! I also went for a 2 hour long walk with another friend. It was in the 70s here today, which is unheard of for Michigan in November so I really wanted to get the most out of it. I also stayed on track with my eating.

I have been a bit busy these past few days. I was planning on having little lady wear her Halloween costume from last year. It was a little big on her then and she is still a tiny little girl. I tried it on her about a month ago and it fit her for the most part. Since then though I have noticed some of her pants are awkwardly short on her. This weekend I was realizing that last year's costume may not work for her anymore and I was thinking about picking up a clearance costume for her.

On Sunday night I was looking at Pinterest before bed and saw the cutest peacock tutu ever. I thought it looked easy enough to make, but wasn't sure I would like it enough for her costume. I figured it would at least be cute for dress up if it didn't work as her costume. Monday morning we made a quick trip to the craft store and bought out supplies. I think I spent about $15 so not a bad price for a costume. I made her the tutu and it came out super cute! I also grabbed a pair of orange Halloween socks and made them into leg warmers to give her some nice bird legs. I bought a barrette and some peacock feathers as well for her to wear in her hair. She has a ruffly romper outfit that she wore for her one year photos and is perfect underneath. I just need to get her a long sleeve shirt to match under everything.

peacock tutu, hair clip and orange bird leg warmers

Cooking and running, one day they will balance out

So with all the fun in the kitchen, there has been a downside. I struggled with my eating yesterday. I am proud to say that I ate well on Monday and Tuesday, but something snapped on Wednesday and I derailed. It happens and I started over today. I did manage to stop myself mid binge with a cracker heading to my mouth and stopped the craziness. Before the crackers though there was that frozen yogurt (only about 1.5 servings left though so I managed to spread out the joy for a few days), frozen taquitos, biscotti, and A LOT of crackers. It wouldn't have been so bad if I could have had one servings of each, but I didn't. I did however not let that binge take over the rest of the day. Usually, if I have an afternoon binge I let myself binge for the rest of the day. I got back on track and had a light dinner and unfortunately a serving of homemade pierogies. A serving is 8, right? sure.But more importantly, I said "homemade pierogies!"

We rarely (as in once before with my grandma) make pierogies and have been wanting to for awhile. It is near impossible to pass up fresh pierogies so I cut myself some slack and have been good all day today. Back to the pierogies though. My grandma makes the absolute best pierogies ever! She is obviously Polish and if the family could get her to make them more often we would all be in heaven. She has no recipe for them and everyone always asks her for it. I actually convinced her to let me make them with her twice now. The first time though she had already made the dough and filling so I can't really count it. I did get to work with her once from beginning to end and took notes (this has been about 2 years ago now). Although looking at them last night they were very quick notes and not quite complete. Between me and the husband though we got it mostly figured out.

no one ever said making pierogies wouldn't be a mess.

We rolled out the dough and cut out circles. These are my perfect circles.

Here I am filling my pierogies. So glamorous.

Our beautiful products.

Hubby dropping the pierogies into the boiling water.

We actually made pierogies that tasted pretty good. We were proud! They are definitely not as good as my grandmas, but I will get there. Ours were a bit to doughy, but all around not bad. We ate our generous servings last night and quickly froze the rest. My mom and grandma are actually coming to visit us this weekend and we want to surprise them with our homemade pierogies. I don't know if anyone has ever made my grandma's pierogies for her. I am guessing not since she doesn't share the recipe so I am excited to surprise her. I will have to get a picture of the batch all cooked up then. Our kitchen was such a disaster by the time we were enjoying ours that I didn't even attempt it.
 

Our little helper who kept checking on us in the kitchen.

Today I did manage to get my 2.5 mile run done too! It felt good. It was one of the longest runs I had to push little lady on. I have to get used to it though since my weekly runs are 2-3 miles. It went surprisingly well. I always start out rough and promise myself to at least run 15 minutes before taking a break. Usually once I hit 15 I trick myself with a few more minutes here and there. Today I did 26 minutes and then stopped to walk for about 30 seconds and then ran the rest. I finished my 2.5 miles in 29:46. I am definitely not a speed racer, but I am fine with that.

Today we actually managed to have a lazy, relaxing Sunday. I guess yesterdays relaxing really wore us out. The day started early because as everyone knows, if you keep your baby up late she will wake up early. She was ready for the day at 6am. yay. We lounged around most of the morning. I was tired since I am usually in bed by ten and actually stayed up until midnight last night. I have learned throughout my weight loss adventures that I can not control my eating when I am tired. I wish I had realized this sooner, but I am glad I put that piece of the puzzle in this past year. I woke up starving. I usually wait until 9am to eat breakfast because otherwise I want lunch by 10am and probably dinner at 3. I held off on my breakfast until 8:15 when my stomach was starting to scream at me. I ate a banana and a Greek yogurt. It was good but I was still starving. I had one zucchini cup left over from dinner a few nights ago so I ate that. I still felt hungry, but knew that I would survive and that I could nap when little lady took a nap and cure some of the hunger.

I then remembered that I had bought hair dye and wanted to dye my hair some time this week. I have dark hair and the greys are slowing taking over! I decided that I needed to distract myself by something other than lying on the couch watching little lady and staring at the kitchen. Hubby said he was fine with watching her while I did my thing. That took about an hour and I felt much better afterwards. I played with little lady until lunch time. I ate a sandwich and wanted to eat ten more, but knew that I was going to take a nap soon and I could eat after my nap. Little lady fell right asleep and so did I.

I only took about a half hour nap and felt sooo much better after waking up. I thought I was still hungry and was actually making a snack when I decided to drink some more water and then decide. I drank 2 glasses of water and some coffee and felt content for the first time all day. And yes, I had drank a lot of water in the morning too. I just starve when I am tired.

I finally got my bootay in gear after that. My training schedule called for stretching and strengthening today. As embarrassing as this is to admit I checked out one of those idiot's guide to...weight lifting book from the library. I haven't found anything super helpful for weight lifting, but I do like the stretches in there. They have about ten stretches and it takes me about ten minutes to work through them so I did that and then I did a strengthening routine. I am sort of lost on strengthening so I trying different routines online until I find one that I like.

I prepped dinner while little lady and hubby continued their napping. Surprisingly I still wasn't hungry. I am glad I had the time to take that nap and that I actually fell asleep. It saved me from the day long grazing that would have happened in my previous life.

After everyone was awake and dinner was in the oven the hubby started talking about maybe going out for some ice cream. I love me some ice cream but really wanted to stay on track for a full weekend. That has not happened much this summer with all of our crazy plans. Although I have done so much better with my 'eating while traveling' than ever before. Back to the ice cream though, at some point while waiting for dinner to get out of the oven the hubby decided he would rather just go to the grocery store and get things to make milkshakes. I tried to get him to go alone, but he lured me in with a trip to Goodwill since it's across the street from his store. I can't resist a deal so we all headed out with some missions.

We went to Goodwill first since it closed at 6pm and his store is open 24/7. I actually had a shirt that I wanted to return. (I know, who returns clothes to Goodwill?!? Seriously! Well, this girl does.) We actually have a super nice Goodwill and they have a section with brand new department store clothes. The last time I was there I bought a New York and Company skirt that will be perfect for the fall and two New York and Company shirts. They were all brand new and I am guessing out of season. I also bought a used pair of Calvin Klein jeans in a size 12. They do not fit me yet, but they will. Oh yeah, my returned purchase from Goodwill. As anyone with a child knows, you no longer have much of an option for trying on clothes with your baby in tow. I have gotten really good at buying things so I can try them on at home and then having to return them. One of the shirts I bought was a button down shirt with some cute ruffles. The ruffles made me look ridiculous. Normally I don't return clothes to the Goodwill, but since it was brand new I didn't feel as bad. It was also $8 and I am cheap. While there I looked around a bit. I have been trying to only purchase brands that are quality and I wouldn't spend the money to buy it brand new if I was at the actual store (hence the Calvin Klein jeans). I almost didn't find anything, but then I saw this gem.

Yes, those are workout pants. I used to think it was gross to even consider buying used workout clothes. I also used to think all workout clothes were created equal. I also didn't workout much. Now that I enjoy running, I have found out that there are a reason some workout clothes are a bit more money and that moisture wicking fabric is amazing. I keep hoping to score some Under Armour at the thrift store, but that has not happened yet. In case you can't see my new pants...

I know The North Face is overly trendy right now, but I do like their stuff. I have a sweatshirt and a winter coat from The North Face and they are so much warmer than anything else I have ever owned so I think it's worth it. The pants seem like new and were only $3.99 so I didn't think I could go wrong. They are also a size medium. I figured they would fit some day and since the only actual workout pants I have are my first pair, in sweaty cotton and size XL. In my mind, those pants would just fall right off and I think I will need a new pair once I retire my capris for the season. These pants, size M actually fit me (only because they are quite stretchy). They were a bit tight in the thighs, I have huge thighs, but they fit and didn't look super ridiculous. I might actually get to wear them out to run this fall! I have always worn L or XL workout gear. This could be huge!

I also managed to not have a milkshake tonight. Victory for me all around tonight! When we were at the store I had to check out the ice cream selection and was going to just buy one of those small containers with one serving of ice cream to make my milkshake with but could not find one. They did have the Greek frozen yogurt on sale though and I have been wanting to try it.  It was still expensive, but I thought it would be healthier and then I could stop drooling over it every time I passed it. Hubby made a milkshake for him and little lady to share and then I was to lazy to wash the blender, make a milkshake and then wash it again. I rinsed the blender, put it in the dishwasher and just had a small taste of my frozen Greek yogurt. I almost got the blueberry vanilla graham, but i love peanut butter and banana so I had to try it. It was really good and some how I managed to have three bites and just stop there. Usually if a container of ice cream is open I can't sleep until all the ice cream is safely in my stomach. Tonight I feel good knowing my frozen yogurt is safe in the freezer while I enjoy tea. I hope I can control my portions throughout the frozen yogurts stay at our house.

Camping in Pennsylvania

So we have obviously survived our back to back camping adventures. Our first of the two camping adventures to end to the summer was a five day camping trip in Pennsylvania with my brother and his family. It was a lot of fun and I am always impressed with how beautiful Pennsylvania is.

We left our house Wednesday morning as soon as little lady woke us up. It was an eight hour drive and we wanted to get on the move as soon as possible. I think we left around 8 AM. We actually had a really nice drive. Sometimes our drives can be a bit chaotic and we bicker (A LOT). However, this one was very calm and we had a few really nice chats. I think it helped that we were leaving in the morning with an already loaded car instead of leaving after work and rushing to load the car. We took our time driving there and got to our campsite around 5pm.

My brother had wanted to rent a cabin. We are all about tent camping, but we caved for him. The cabin was actually really nice and worked out perfectly with little lady. There was a screened in porch area which came in handy when it rained one evening. There was a little sitting room which fit the pack and play perfectly and then there was a bunk room that slept five people.

We spent our 3 full days (2 days of driving and 3 full days of camping = 5 day camping trip to Penn) hiking, talking and drinking. There were so many amazing trails to explore that we didn't get to explore them all. We were at Laurel Hill State Park and I highly recommend going there if you ever get the chance. (If anyone from Laurel Hill State Park is reading this, we totally weren't drinking.)

The hiking was definitely the best part. Our cabin was close to a trail that lead to the Ridge trail. It was supposed to be an easy trail, but there were some challenging parts to it. It was a little damp and had a bit of an incline. 

 

 

Here we are hiking the Ridge trail. Even little lady got to try our her hiking legs. This was not the challenging part.

 

 

 

The hubby was very excited to hike the Pump House trail. He promised us an amazing waterfall and he did not disappoint. It was an easy hike and the waterfall was beautiful.

Here is the whole crew. Hubby is on the left, then me holding little lady, my sister in law, brother and nephew.

We also got to go on a run (my brother and I). I was really excited to run with my brother. It was something I never thought I would be able to do. It was much harder than I expected though. I didn't even want to try to run the ridge trail since I normally run on a flat paved surface, but I was willing to try out this grassy path. I tried to keep pace with my brother, but thought I would die just getting to the trail. I quickly fell behind, but kept on running. It was intense and much more of an incline than I realized. My brother also reminded me that we were at a much higher elevation than I am used to. (I don't know if he just said that to make me feel better, but it did.)  I had to keep stopping for walking breaks and felt like a wuss. We also got turned around, thanks to my directions, and turned our quick 20 minute run into an intense 35 minute run. It was worth it though and I felt great afterwards. I never run on trails and it was a fun experience.

This was the start of the trail. Grassy with a slight incline.

We ran this trail straight down until it hit the Ridge trail. It was such a beautiful view. I took little lady with me to take some pictures after the run. I don't like to carry anything when I run.

Here is little lady enjoying her favorite part of the campground. She kept asking to swing, She is holding a flower that she picked and would not put down.

My absolute favorite trail was the Hemlock trail. It was gorgeous! We almost didn't even get to check it out. We were supposed to check it out Saturday, but little lady took a longer nap than we expected and by the time she woke up we had started to fire to make dinner and we didn't want to put out the fire and then struggle to light a wet log for our evening fire. Hubby and I decided that on Sunday morning once we were all loaded up, we would stop at the trail and hike for a bit before our drive. On Sunday morning we almost decided not to hike it and just get on the road, but something made us do it. We were so glad we managed to see this trail. We had to hike for about a half hour before getting to the Hemlock area and we actually almost turned around right before seeing this sign. 

This is in the hemlock area. It was so pretty it almost looks fake here. And yes, little lady's outfit looks a bit crazy. I put jeans on under her jumper to keep her warm and some of the dirt off her. 

So all in all it was a great camping trip. It was so good to spend some quality time with my brother and his family. We definitely want to check out more of the Pennsylvania campgrounds. (We sort of have a thing for Pennsylvania. Hubby proposed to me in a Pennsylvania campground, but that is for another post.)

On a side note, even with all the hiking I still managed to gain weight. I was proud of myself for making great eating decisions while on the road. I usually have a weak spot when traveling and feel like I need a candy bar or some type of snack on the road. I picked a healthy salad for lunch and didn't munch at all in the car. However, all the eating and drinking and the campground added up...to ten pounds to be exact! Awful! I am back to focusing on my eating though, so they will not be here long.

Today has been quite the adventure filled day and we have much more adventure coming up. We baked more zucchini bread and muffins (that way you can taste the bread before you share it with people). After the bread had baked, little lady and I headed out for a run. I did 2 miles, but it took me forever. I was not in the right mindset. It is so much harder to run with a jogging stroller than not. Every time I get a break from running with the stroller it seems so much harder to go back to stroller jogging. I could not find my rhythm this morning. I did finish though. (Earlier this week I quit mid run for the first time ever.)

We came back from our run and showered and got dressed for the day. I needed to run a few errands in our downtown area. I decided this was the perfect time to try out my bike with the bike trailer. (We have an amazing camping adventure coming up next weekend too which will involve a lot of bike riding and trailer pulling.) We got all of our stuff together and headed out. There are small hills on the half mile road to the trail. It is nice heading from our house because you can almost coast the whole half mile to the trail. That was enjoyable! It's just over a mile to town from the trail. We made it there quickly and stopped at the bank, city hall, the library and the post office. It was different riding my bike around town. I felt like a child again.
The ride back wasn't as fun. There is a slight incline on the trail and then I hit the hill to our house. Oh wow! I only rode on it once before and I seriously quit half way up it and walked my bike previously. This time I wanted to really try to tackle the hill, but I also told myself there would be no shame in walking a bike with a trailer. Thankfully, I didn't need to walk it. I made it! I was proud of myself to make it up the hill pulling about 30 pounds.

I parked the bike and turned to check on little lady. She was sleeping soundly in the trailer. I decided to quickly load the car up with our recycling and then wake her to finish the errands. (Her nap time wasn't for another hour.) Everything was set and I picked her up. She totally stayed asleep. Of course, if I had wanted her to stay asleep she would have woken when the bike stopped. I started talking to her and she seemed really determined to sleep. I decided we would just go off schedule today and she would nap and we would head out afterwards.She woke up 20 minutes later and had lunch. We then finished our outings for the day and came home to try for a nap. I wasn't sure how it would go, but it went well.

She is officially taking her afternoon nap now and I have managed to make lunch and clean 2 of the 3 bathrooms. I have to finish packing before the hubby gets home. We are heading out to go camping tomorrow (Saturday) until Wednesday. We are meeting up with my brother and his family.
My brother is stationed in Virginia and we don't get to see him very often. He came home for a week this summer and I was bummed that we didn't get to spend much time during that week with him (or his wonderful wife and adorable son). We decided to meet in Pennsylvania, about half way between our houses, and camp. I am excited!

After our five day camping trip, we will come home for a day and then get ready to camp again for Labor day weekend. The reason I really needed to test out my bike with the trailer is that we are going on a bike camping trip. We have been talking about it for years and it will finally happen. My husband built a trailer for the bike to carry our tent and supplies on and we have a trailer for the little lady. Thankfully, the only trailer in stock when I went to buy one was a double stroller so little lady will ride with the sleeping bags. We are so pumped, but I am a bit nervous. The furthest I have pulled little lady is 16 miles (We visited a friend on Mackinac Island this summer and I used her bike to pull little lady about the island twice). I felt great after the 16 mile ride, but this trip will be about 50 miles! I think we can do it. I am in much better shape than I ever have been before, which is probably why it's finally happening.