Adventure 5K

ADVENTURE 5K!!!!



So, while I was pregnant I promised Dave I'd do a 5K with him after Ellie was born. I love getting a good work out in but running isn't exactly my favorite! I'd much rather pull my boxing gloves on or work up a sweat in a conditioning class. Anyway, it was a promise and a great way to get back in shape. So, I signed up with some friends, along with Dave, to participate in the NH CrossFit sponsored Adventure 5K. It was held at McIntyre Ski area. Our trusty captain Lisa made us great t-shirts with our Mud Trackers team logo that her niece's friend came up with. She also help organized getting a bus to drive us up and back, since it was about a 2 hour drive. Perfect! 

The bus was loaded with food and drinks and so comfortable. Ellie had a great time bouncing from person to person and slept half the trip each way. Once there, we signed in and had a little bit of time to kill back on the bus.

Once it was time, we filed up to the starting line to get ready for our 1100 start. With a rowdy group of 15, we definitely made our presence known! Lots of hooting and hollering (with a few dance moves) going on to get everyone all fired up! So our race starts and it's all up hill, literally. We were at a ski resort but, seriously, these hills sucked! Not only that, but we started immediately in mud. Up hill, down hill, up again, down again, up once more, over walls, under tunnels, monkey bars, log carrying, black-out tunnels, mud crawls, tires, pulling yourself up a cannon soaking hill with a rope, hay bales...you get the idea! We finished as a group with a belly-flop, head first dive down a wet and muddy tarp to the finish line. It was so much fun!  Not nearly as muddy as I thought it was going to be...but that was ok.  It was an amazing experience and I'm so glad my first race was this one...with so many great friends!

Up next....a "regular" 5K with Ellie Reese!

Little fish

We've been having some terrific weather lately.  Last week we had temps reaching 80 degrees....I'll take that!  It was perfect especially having a long weekend off with Patriot's Day (a local Boston holiday).  So of course we took full advantage and spent a lot of time outside for our last yard sale, sitting outside, and going to the beach.

Kristin and Dylan hanging out with Ellie

Baby kisses

All covered at the beach.  It was hot so I didn't dare chancing her in the sun with bare skin

She loves her Puffs

This weekend was pretty low-key.  We got together with some friends, had some delicious sushi, watched a lot of Bruins hockey, and went swimming!  We were supposed to have Ellie's 6 month pictures taken but our photographer's new studio wasn't quite ready and the weather threatened rain so we decided to postpone until next weekend.

Waiting to go swimming

We did however take Ellie to the pool for the first time.  I gotta say, it was one of the cutest things ever!   Little baby rolls and teeny-tiny bathing suits....melt my heart!  I was the photographer and daddy Dave plunged right in to hang out with the little one.  It was in a saline pool so we were able to avoid the harsh chlorine for her first time.  Ellie absolutely loved it!  I took a few pictures and video of her splashing around.  She also starting kicking her feet and moving her body like a little mermaid :)  I can't wait until we head down to NJ because there is a nice, big pool for kids near our house.  She's proven to be a little water baby already.

Here's a quick clip of her swimming skills:

Hope everyone is enjoying the rest of the weekend.  Have a great week!!!

I'm a big girl with pieced ears: 6 months! XOXO, Ellie

 Does that say 6 months?!  Why, yes, it does.  I'm 1/2 year now....it's what you call a big girl!  I keep growing like a weed, according to my parents.  I'm wearing some 6 month clothes and am starting to move into 9 month things as well.  A couple of weeks ago when I was sick the pediatrician weighed me and I was just under 16 pounds.  I'm pretty sure I'm about 16.5 -17 pounds at this point.  My dark hair is getting longer in some areas, especially around my ears, but it's still thin in other areas. 

 On my 6 month birthday the Easter Bunny came and brought me all kinds of fun stuff!  That was also the day I sat on my own for the first time.  It wasn't for very long but I did it!  I still would rather roll around like (what my dad calls) a ninja!  I roll so much that I went cruisin' for a bruisin' and knocked my head pretty good.  I think my parents were more scared than I was.....I'm a tough cookie.  

 Wanna hear about the best thing I've done since i turned 6 months old?  I got my ears pierced with my BFF Bella!  Her pediatrician does piercing at the office so our moms signed our permission slips and off we went to get it done.  Now we having matching gold earrings :)

 Here's a pic of us waiting for the big moment

 Our dads surprised us and came by to see our pretty ears at the end of the appt.

 I was shopping in momma's purse, killing some time during the wait.

Coming up, I start swim lessons and get to go to NH with my parents and a bunch of friends.  They are doing the Adventure 5K so I'm going to cheer them on.  Can't wait for this crazy race!  I also get to take my 6 month pictures up north.  Lots of fun stuff going on in mi casa!

Hope everyone had a great Easter, is enjoying their Spring, and has a great rest of the week.  Love you guys...MUAH!

XOXO,

Ellie Reese

Happy Easter.

Happy Easter from Cape Cod!  The Easter Bunny was real good to our Elle-bug for her first Easter.  Grandpa Vic send a stuffed bunny, jammies, and this Easter dress for Ellie.  And of course an Easter basket full of pint sized goodies and some sweet treats for mom and dad.  She also got a walker and loves it!  She cruises in it, crashing into walls, the cabinets, or anything else in her way.....watch out world, Ellie is mobile now!

 Oops, eyes closed.  

 Checking out her Easter goodies

 Getting in some play time in her Easter outfit before brunch at the Casino Wharf restaurant in Falmouth.

Enjoying her new walker after brunch

Family photo down at the beach

Philly and family

What a trip! We spent a quick weekend driving to Philadelphia and Ft. Dix, New Jersey. We really didn't know how Ellie would do in the car for 6.5 hours, but luckily she did great! We left early in the morning ( like 5am ) and got through the Connecticut traffic before she woke up. We pulled over for a diaper change and breakfast just before NYC and then plowed through the city then into Philadelphia.




Ellie got new sunglasses before the trip...you'll see we clearly had way too much fun with these!

 Once we got there we went straight to visit Bubby and Grandpa Edelson. They are buried in Philadelphia along with Ellie's great-grandparents from both sides. We make the trip every few years and it never gets easy. It was an emotional couple of hours but we had our goofy and bubbly Elle-bug to make us smile and grateful for everything we have and have been blessed with.

We decided to book at the Embassy Suites since you get a living rooms and bedroom, and I'm so glad we did! We were able to hang out in the living room while Ellie snoozed in a crib in the bedroom or vice versa. Plus, you get a free hot breakfast spread and happy hour...I definitely recommend it if traveling with kiddos.

lounging during happy hour at the hotel

And of course Philly would not be complete without THE Philly cheesesteak! This place is two blocks from David's grandparents house in Roxborough. It is AMAZING! So good in fact we went back the next day :( ......no more cheesesteaks for a while!

We also took a quick drive to Ft.Dix, NJ where we will move to this summer. We got a chance to see where Dave's new unit is and also get a peek at the housing we will be living in. I was pleasantly surprised at how big and nice it was. It's been a long time since I've spent time on a big base like this so hopefully the transition is smooth.

Now we are home and unwinding from way too much time spent in the car. There's truly o place like home! Hope everyone has a great week!

Nikki