Riding the Rails

Parker is much better today, I am so relieved to say. He still seems a little tired, but he's eating normally again. I purposefully didn't make plans for today because I wasn't sure how Parker would be doing, but then this morning Brandon just begged and begged to go into the city. He wanted to do a whole big trip - swan boats, frog pond, etc, and I just knew that all that would be too much for Parker. So, we compromised. We took the commuter rail in, watched a bunch of Amtrak trains come and go, rode the red line subway for a while, and then grabbed the commuter rail home. It was perfect - we were gone under three hours, and the boys had a blast... but we didn't walk all over the city and completely wear them out.

I'm kind of tired myself today, too, I think because I did this big hills-repeat run this morning. It was a 3.8 mile loop, plus another 3 miles up and down a big hill not too far away from my house. It was a good workout. This week will be full of very challenging workouts because I'm about two weeks off from my next race... so next week will be light to get ready for the race. I can't believe that I only have two races left this season... I'm tempted to add another one in late September, if I can find a good one fairly close by. But, at some point, I have to turn my attention to training for the half marathon in October. So many races, so little time.

Two other thoughts before I sign off - one is that I keep meaning to write and say how much I LOVE summertime and the leisurely mornings we get to have!! It will be nice to have some time to myself when the boys start school in the fall, but I am also dreading having to rush out of the house every morning again! I love getting back from my workouts and just kind of chillin' with the boys for a couple hours before we go anywhere. I'm so much less stressed out not having to nag them to get dressed, brush teeth, and all stuff first thing. I love meeting up with friends at 10am, instead of the 9:15am I might do during the school year. This is also part of why I have been able to read so much this summer - I can usually grab a few minutes to myself in the mornings while the boys play trains or something. Speaking of which, I finished "The Help", and I really enjoyed it. It looks at race relations in 1960's Mississippi, primarily as seen through the eyes of an African-American maid for a Caucasian family... the characters are so well drawn, and I just couldn't put it down. Two thumbs up from Beth.

Anyway, the other thing I've been meaning to write about is the INSANE mosquitos this year!! This is our 4th summer in this house, and I have never before gotten bites in our yard. Until this summer. Now, every time I step outside, I get multiple bites. I'm covered! The kids have them too, although not as bad as me. I can just be putting air in my tires on the driveway or putting sunscreen on the kids on the deck, and I'll get three or four bites and kill another couple mosquitos on me during those few minutes. It's crazy, I feel like we are under attack. This, apparently, is what happens when you have the super wet and cool summer that we have had. They are driving me crazy!