It was a good first day of the month. I got the kiddos countdown calendars for valentines day and they are pretty excited.

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Got in a few miles with the kids in the double.

The kids have been walking more instead of riding in the stroller to get ready for our big hiking trip in March.

Emmy has been “reading” to us a lot lately, I love that she loves books (and dragons) so much.

We spent our afternoon at the playground.

It was in the 50s today so we were enjoying the mild weather.

Cannon picked this dinosaur book to read at bedtime.

It’s really fun learning about things together that he is really interested in. He is very concerned right now about which dinosaurs would eat him.

https://ultrarunning.com/features/ultrarunning-on-a-budget/

I loved this article about running and how it can be expensive and how maybe it could be cheaper. I find running to still be expensive between shoes, gear, travel, races etc. but I could spend a lot less, and have spent a lot less on running in the last year than I have in the past. It’s also MUCH less than I spent on triathlon, that was an expensive sport.

After seeing this video I think I need to add the Bryce Canyon Ultra to my list! This race looks incredible.

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Training for anything?

Do you feel that running can be an inexpensive sport?

We had the best day yesterday exploring the Paint Mines , the Paint Mines are a natural feature south of Denver.

“The Paint Mines Interpretive Park is one of El Paso County’s most unique open spaces. The Paint Mines are named for their colorful clays that were collected by American Indians to make paint. Brightly colored bands, caused by oxidized iron compounds, are found in varying amounts throughout the many different layers of clay.

The Paint Mines Interpretive Park is located in the northeast section of the County near Calhan with approximately 750 acres. The paint mines have evidence of human life as far back as 9,000 years ago. The park features fantastic geological formations including spires and hoodoos that form through erosive action that creates incised gullies and exposed layers of selenite clay and jasper. The park includes a restroom facility, four miles of trails, interpretive signage, and many natural wonders.” – SOURCE

The hike was easy and there was so much to see and explore.

The are lots of little canyons and caves to explore.

We spent a little over two hours there and could have spent more time but we were getting hungry.

If you are ever in the Colorado Springs/Castle Rock area the Paint Mines are definitely worth a visit.

When we got home Cannon was super excited to help wash the car, I love that he loves to help!

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It’s February 1st so I thought I would set some little goals for the month:

• Run every day of February
• Run at least 100 miles
• PT everyday, must get strong for all of our hiking trips and hopefully races in the summer
• Strength train AT LEAST twice a week. This is a must do!
• Spin Class twice a week (at home on the Peloton App)
• Get outside as much as possible with the kids, at least one hike a week to meet our #52hikekidschallenge and #1000hoursoutside

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Any goals for February?

I am so happy that January is coming to an end, it has felt like a very long month. I feel like there is a lot to look forward to and I am happy to put one of my least favorite months behind me. This all sounds so negative, January definitely had some highlights. Here’s a little reminder (to myself) of the good stuff:

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I went to PT and ran on the Treadmill a lot.

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We hiked and played outside a lot!

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We went to the ice castles and loved it.

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Cannon finished up distance learning and got to return to school in person. Hopefully he gets to finish out the year in person, Covid numbers will dictate that.

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We played in the snow a lot.

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We even got to go to the pool a couple times.

We also bought a new car to tow our camper with and worked on our kitchen remodel. I also took my first Covid test, luckily it was negative, unhappily I am still fighting this cold.

I am so looking forward to February, Valentines day and all the adventures ahead.

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How was your January? I hope it was a good one!

Just a quick check in to say that we spent most of the day cleaning our house that desperately needed it. The Best part was getting to go back to the pool.

Both kids love swimming and have been so excited to get to go once in a while. We have to make reservations and only five families are allowed in the area at a time.

Emmy’s smile was so big the entire time we were there, it’s good to see them have so much fun!

We also spent time booking a trip for Father’s Day with my family. I am SO excited and can’t wait until we can get away and spend some time together.

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What are you up to today?

I grabbed a couple miles on the treadmill and did some PT, nothing exciting. But I am very excited to start building some more miles, hopefully a “long run” this weekend.

Cannon is still so excited to be back at school.

We were also treated to a cotton candy sky (no filter, and as always way better in person)

Since it’s Friday I thought I would share some of my recent favorites:

Old Navy has one of my favorite crops on sale, I love these, fit much like my beloved Lululemons and hey are only $21!!!

I want to get the kids each a set of these shirts from H&M in hopes that we actually make a Disney trip this year.

We are loving these Megformers, they are great for building and I hope to get the kids some more, we have THIS set.

Just started listening to Dylan Bowman’s podcast and really liking it.

THESE sandals are so comfortable and such a good price, I grabbed a couple pairs and can’t wait until it’s warm enough to wear them!

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Any favorites from this week?

I would have liked to kick off our Wednesday Adventure Day habit today but the kiddos had dentist appointments so that will have to wait until next week. Both kids got good reports from the dentist so that is fantastic news.

It was also a winter wonderland with sparkly trees and everything.

After our exciting morning at the dentist I decided to try to get a run done while both kids were awake. I set them up in the play room with a movie, I had high hopes.

My treadmill is right next to their play area so I can keep an eye on them. I offered them each a chair but they opted to share (so cute). I wanted to get one more mile done when Emmy decided she was done and asked me to let her come hang out with me. Can’t complain too much, one day I will wish that my daughter would want to spend time with me.

After lunch and a little nap for Emmy we decided to hit up the sledding hill.

Emmy got a few runs in with Cannon before bailing for the playground.

She is getting better about keeping her hat and gloves on.

Cannon was stoked to sled and eat snow.

One of my favorite Instagram accounts @trekkingwithtotos is amazing especially if you live in Colorado.

Alicia mentioned that they are doing the 52 hike kids challenge:

I LOVE this idea and challenges have been a fun distraction this year, focusing on the fun things we can do instead of the things we can’t. We love to hike and will be looking for more local trails to explore and share. As well as more fun playgrounds because we are basically experts on playgrounds.

So now we are doing the 1000 hours outside and the 52 hikes….luckily they build on each other =)

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Are you spending more time outside than you have in the past?

We woke up to dusting of snow that piled up all day.

We haven’t had much snow so this was a welcome change. Emmy and I drove to drop off Cannon at school since we decided it was too cold to walk.

We tried to keep ourselves entertained but it’s definitely not as fun without Cannon. We picked Cannon up from school and the snow just kept falling.

When Cory got off of work I went to the basement gym to do my PT exercises and run a few miles on the treadmill. I really really love running out in the snow so I was a little sad to skip it but until my knee is a little stronger I will be grateful for any miles I get even if they are all indoors.

We made dinner (Quinoa Caprese with chicken) it calls for lemon and the kids thought it would be fun to eat the lemon straight. We thought they would hate it.

But these two little cuties loved it. We had squeezed them over dinner before giving them the slices but you would think it would be too sour.

Today was apparently National Plan a Vacation Day.

Planning most anything makes me happy but planning a vacation is a special kind of joy. Sure I could use a travel agent or book a tour but planning the details of our own trip and traveling at our own speed is what we like best. We planned our own trip through Germany, Switzerland and Austria and that trip was amazing and worked for our then one and three year olds.

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So even though we can’t go anywhere for the foreseeable future it’s fun to dream and plan. I put together a start of a plan to RV through France. We loved having an RV in Germany, it really worked for our family to just take our home with us and would love to do it again!

This would be a 2-3 week trip depending on how long we would want to spend in each place. There are a few more stops along the way as well but Google Maps only allows me to have 10 stops total.

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There are so many amazing things to see, I can’t wait to experience it with my family.

I did a little research and got a ball park budget so we have a goal amount to save for. Just like with running it’s always more fun when you have a goal to work towards.

BONUS if I got to run the Paris marathon as well =)

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Where in the world do you want to go next?

Anyone been to France? What am I missing?

Today was Cannon’s first day back to school and the morning went much better than I expected. I thought after months of slow mornings that getting up to an alarm, staying on task and getting out the door to walk to school at 7:30 would be a struggle. But this morning went really well and I can only hope that we just keep rolling as if we never took 2.5 month off.

Cannon literally skipped his way to school.

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Cannon was very excited to return to class, Emmy was not so happy! Cannon and all the kids went running in to see their teachers they all seemed so happy to be back.

Luckily Cannon is only at school for three hours in the morning so Emmy and I had fun playing her with her favorite toys, it was nice giving her all my attention.

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I listened to an amazing podcast today about Matt Fitzgerald’s new book The Comeback Quotient

A good comeback makes a great story. In The Comeback Quotient, sports journalist Matt Fitzgerald shares the stories of top athletic comebacks, to give you inspiration and tools for your own comeback in sport or life.

It sounds like such a good read and I would love if they came out with an audio version.

They suggested watching this youtube video as well:

Such a good message!

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Listened to any good podcasts lately?

What is your favorite running book? By far my favorite is Born to Run I have it on Audible and listen to it again while running every few years.

We had a wonderful low key weekend with some of our favorite things.

We spent lots of time outside.

Cannon got a haircut, only his second since the pandemic started, I love it when I can see his face better.

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Cannon and Emerald built projects from Home Depot with Cory. They both loved it and did so well! They got these kits because we bought chairs and a new kitchen table from Home Deport (who knew you could buy furniture from them?!) but the chairs were recalled and it was taking forever to get it all sorted. I can’t wait to have out new table and chairs set up, our current set is miss-matched and it bothers me.

We tried this Kodiak Cakes syrup and it is amazing!

We went on a hike with my parents and brother, it was SO nice to see them.

We visited our new car! We are upgrading our tow vehicle to a Chevy Tahoe, we love it for its size and tow capacity. We don’t actually pick it up until Feb. 1st but we can’t wait to get it and take the camper out for some winter camping!

We visited one of our favorite playgrounds.

All this time outdoors is so good for us. Without Covid we would be more likely to do indoor activities in the winter so that it one small benefit from this terrible situation.

We took the kids “out to lunch” in our camper. It’s a little bit of fun and something different to do. We haven’t been inside a restaurant in over a year. Lots of take out but this was fun to spend some time in the camper. We purchased Kermit (named for the frog that is the mascot for R-pod) in October, slept in it for one night then put it in storage.

We are itching to take it out for some adventures.

Not pictured was a couple treadmill runs, lots of yummy foods and cuddles while watching movies.

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How was your weekend?

What are your favorite activities now that our options are limited?

We are feeling pretty cool over here.

after over two months of distance learning, Cannon is headed back to school and we are pretty excited. It will feel good to be back to more of a normal schedule. Just wish us luck for tomorrow morning.

Will catch up tomorrow!