Memorial Day Parade

High School Reunion

Meg and her kids were visiting Maine from Nashville, so Tammy hosted a mini-reunion. We hadn't seen Meg or Kim since 1987! Robin and James drove up; Michael and Patrick stayed behind for Maya's birthday party.

Visiting Gigi and GrandBob

First Fire

Flat Stanley Visits Moxie's

The Dome is Complete!

Boys in a Bath

Flat Stanley Visits Indian Ladder Farms

Flat Stanley Visits Albany

For a class project, Charlie sent Flat Stanley to visit Patrick for a few days. Patrick was happy to show him around the New York State Museum and the Empire State Plaza.

12 Month Check-up

Weight: 18 lbs. 3 oz. (2%)
Length: 28 inches (4%)

At one year (9 months adjusted), James is a delight. He's scooting all over the place, eager to explore. He loves his older brother and will laugh and laugh when Patrick gets him going.

Dr. Sheridan gave him the go-ahead today to drink milk and eat anything he wants, but so far James really prefers baby food. He loves munching on Cheerios but otherwise likes to be fed, unlike his brother at this age.

James is finally sleeping a lot better, and is much happier as a result. He's slept through the night (6:30 to 5:45) several times, but still gets up once or twice most nights. He's finally napping well, sleeping for an hour and a half or so twice a day.

When not chasing after power cords, he enjoys dance parties in Patrick's room or hanging around on Robin's back. We got him a pop-up pool for his birthday, and it's currently filled with all of his toys. He'll sit and play contentedly until he decides it's time to push the side down and race across the room...

Dome is Almost Done

The Ragnar Relay

Back in January, I learned that some of my Yoga Mama friends were planning to run the Ragnar Relay. I'd been wanting to start running again, and figured the only way to stick with it would be knowing that others were counting on me. I was intimidated by the distance, but decided to give it a try. I stuck to a 19-week training schedule with long group runs on the weekends, and by race day I knew I was as ready as I'd ever be.

It was an amazing experience! Each of the 200+ teams had two vans with six runners and a driver apiece, taking turns supporting runners 185 miles from Woodstock to Dobbs Ferry. Our team ran non-stop from 7:00 Friday morning to around 3:00 Saturday afternoon. When our van was "on," we'd stop every couple of miles to cheer on our runner, then race to the exchange to prepare for the handoff. While the other van was running, we had a few hours at a hotel to shower, eat, and nap.

My training paid off -- I felt great running and can't wait to do it again!

4:08 pm Friday - Leg 11 in High Falls
4 miles in 33 minutes (8:19 pace)
The easiest leg on paper turned out to be the most difficult due to the heat and humidity. The forecast had predicted thunderstorms, but the rain held off and the air was very thick. I started off way too fast and had a hard time the last two miles.

3:10 am Saturday - Leg 23 in Garrison
3.5 miles in 32 minutes (9:02 pace)
For months I had been dreading this leg, but it turned out to be my favorite. It had a monster 1.5 mile hill to start, and I was completely alone with the hill and the stars -- I didn't see any vans or other runners until I got to the top. But I made it, and felt great the rest of the way.

1:22 pm Saturday - Leg 35 in Tarrytown
6 miles in 56 minutes (9:19 pace)
This was originally supposed to be a 3-mile run. When they changed the course and added a hilly 3-mile trail run to the start, I was terrified at first, but actually grew excited about it. The day was prefect running weather -- sunny but cool. I loved running through the woods, and knew once I hit the church at mile 3 that it was downhill the rest of the way. And best of all, I knew I had my family waiting to cheer me on at mile 5!