Over the River and Through the Woods....

This summer (aside from being our "Summer of Fun") has been the summer of walking. Almost every day the girls and I have ventured out for a nice, long morning walk. We walk around and around our new neighborhood and on the mornings when the passengers in the stroller are content enough, we hit every street in the neighborhood for a 2 1/2 mile walk. Sometimes, if I'm feeling daring enough, I can be seen strolling down the Hoover Estates sidewalks with Sydney in the lead as she drags me and the double stroller along behind her.

Although the girls and I look forward to the walks around our peaceful neighborhood, we spent the other week venturing out to a few new places to get our exercise. Thursday, Annie called and invited the kids and me to meet her up in Akron to visit part of the Cleveland Metro Parks. There was a great indoor area where the kids could look at animals and learn interesting facts about them. I quickly learned that I know very little about animals (I don't like them anyway, so why would I need to know information about them?!?!?) and had to be corrected when I incorrectly identified a goose as a duck. Somewhere an elementary science teacher of mine is crying. Annie commented, several times in fact, that she was shocked that I taught 3rd grade science. What can I say? Animals apparently aren't my thing!

After the girls and I learned about some new animals, we let AJ chose a walking path so that we could enjoy the outdoors. AJ picked the best path he could find and before long, Annie and I found ourselves deep in the woods surrounding Akron. The strollers we were pushing did great on the unpaved path covered in mud and large tree roots...there's nothing easier to maneuver than my huge double stroller in such settings! As we trekked deeper and deeper into the woods, I became a little fearful that we might never make it back to the car. Fortunately, "Tour-Guide Annie" picked us some wild raspberries along the trail, which made me realize that even if we never found the car then at least we wouldn't starve. We finally made our way back to civilization, but not before carrying both kid-filled strollers up a set of stairs at a particularly steep point of the path!

Two days later, we chose to forgo the woods and try a seemingly safer walk in a park. The girls and I joined our neighbors Michelle and Olivia in a two mile race at the Football Hall of Fame. I was very excited about this because it was the first "real" race that I had ever been a part of. We started off the morning with the kid's Fun Run that was for children of all ages. All the kids got numbers to pin to their shirts, just like real racers. It was quite cute.

Shortly after the Fun Run, the two mile race began for the adults. Our goal was to make sure that we finished the race without coming in last place. Michelle (who is an avid runner) literally never broke a sweat. Meanwhile, this out of shape chick was not only huffing and puffing, but was also drenched in sweat. It must have been because I had two kids to push compared to her one! Regardless, we finished the race and despite feeling like I was going to throw up as I crossed the finish line, we did not finish in last place. Don't you love the lofty goals I set for myself?!?!?

Look for pictures and stories from our adventure into the woods of Minnesota to be posted soon!