We got back over the weekend from such a lovely holiday. We were in Vermont for a few days for the Covered Bridges Half Marathon, staying with Roman’s Grandma, then we headed down to Florida for a few days. Our Florida trip was actually the first time just the three of us went away together without staying with family or friends. Here are a few scenes from a vacation! 🙂
The day after the race in Vermont, we took Roman to a farm in Fran’s hometown, to check out all the animals. He was fascinated. He particularly liked the chickens. 🙂
Then we flew down south. We rented a house down in Florida, which worked out so well. It was about the same price as a hotel would have been, but we had our own pool and a full kitchen, which meant we could save some money by eating in most of the time AND – this is key – we weren’t trapped in a hotel room during nap time.
Having the pool in the back yard was fantastic. We were barely dry the whole time we were away.
The place we stayed was on a little canal leading to the ocean and we had access to a dock. The only time we really used it is when the neighbors called out to us by the pool to come and check out the ALLIGATOR swimming down there. It was the first time they’d ever seen one in the canal.
We were about a 20 minute drive to the beach and we tried to go twice a day. Despite us wondering if Roman would be freaked out by the ocean, he took to it immediately. He loved the waves and even when he’d get a face-full of water he still came up giggling.
I took it pretty easy in terms of workouts. As well as a shake-out run and the half marathon in Vermont, I also did a mile repeat workout (which coincided happily with National Running Day! 🙂 ) and an easy run down by the beach. I don’t think I’d ever get used to the humidity down there for running – it was a killer!
Much ice-cream was consumed over the course of our getaway (luckily we had a washer-dryer in both places!!)
And don’t worry, there were treats for us grown-ups, too! 😉
Coming home was bittersweet (isn’t it always?). It’s always good to be back in your own bed again and Roman was excited to see the cats again. As we were getting off the plane at JFK, he announced to all the flight attendants, the pilot and the ground staff, “I’m going home to see my kitty-cats TooToo and Cassie now.” When we were in the cab driving home, he pointed to a road sign and asked, “Mama, does that sign say, ‘This way to the kitty-cats?'” When he saw them, it was a chasing and patting frenzy, with him declaring, “I missed you guys! I love you so much!” (Seriously, I think the cats get more ‘I love you’s’ than we do!)
And just to take advantage of his beach scruff hair, I got the clippers out yesterday and this happened:
What’s your favorite place to vacation?
Do you work out while you’re away? Can you deal with humidity?
Rowan is the cutest! OMG- the cat story is so sweet! 🙂
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He really does love them so much. It was ridiculously sweet!
What a wonderful trip! Looks like you had such a great time 🙂 Yeah, humidity makes things very difficult, I am actually about to have one of those runs this morning, but I like to say it is a “poor mans altitude” so it makes you feel so much better when it goes away 🙂
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Oh, I love that! Poor man’s altitude. I have to say, I did some speed work this week and felt awesome – I wonder if running in humidity the week before had a training effect!
Oh my gosh! Roman with the cats is just too cute! 🙂
Your vacation looks amazing! I can’t believe you saw an alligator. I would have flipped! Did you put Roman in swimming lessons? It is something we are thinking about doing.
My favorite place to vacation…I love the Sydney beaches but my best vacation was Hawaii for our honeymoon!
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Yes to swimming lessons! We started him at about 11 months, but I’d probably do sooner if I was doing it again. I think it really helped with him feeling so comfortable when we were at the beach and it meant he really wanted to be in the pool all the time, which was fine by us! Definitely look into it – it’s really the only class I ever enrolled him in, because I think it’s so important.
And the alligator was SO creepy! That photo of its head looking up, on the right – as soon as I took that, it just slowly sank below the surface. Within 10 seconds you couldn’t see it at all – you just knew it was there. So freaky.
Looks like you had a great weekend. Sometimes you just have to take time off and relax a bit. Great job on your half. Even though you didn’t make your goal you still had a great time. There are plenty more races that u will get your PR. I tried to comment the other week when you did your post about it, but not sure if it went through.
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Thank you so much, Lacey! Yes, the R&R right after the race was exactly what I needed to lick my wounds a bit. I know I’ll hit that time soon!! 🙂
Love the photos!! Having your own space when traveling with kids is key to maintaining sanity 🙂
I generally don’t work out while on vacation. We tend to walk a lot, but that’s it. We just returned from California where we walked (slowly) a few miles each day on the beach. Went back to the gym today and it felt great!!
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Being by the beach is like its own sneaky workout, right? Lots of walking and wading and swimming. We’ll never do a hotel with little ones – it’s so nice to spread out and not worry about other guests or being cooped up!
So glad y’all had such a great time!!
My favorite place to vacation is Hawaii with Florida a close second!! We pretty much always stay in a condo/cabin with a full kitchen – so much easier all the way around!!!
And, yes, I always work out on vacation!!!
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Hawaii is on my bucket list! We keep threatening to make it our stopover on our way to Australia. That would be some expensive trip, though!!
HI FRIEND!!! So good to be reading what you’re up to again! I knew you were on vacation when I was but I wasn’t sure where. LOVE the pictures (especially the one on the beach of Roman!) and I need to know what happened at your half-marathon. I hope you enjoyed it, no matter the outcome.
And NO, I’m not happy to be home at all. I also think my bed in Portugal was more comfortable then my own, and I want to go back now. *end rant*
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ALLIE!!!! I just finished reading your first recap. I am so freaking proud of you, lady!! I can’t wait for each and every installment. I am sitting here missing the pool and the beach as well.