Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Weekend trip to Dwellingup

So I hadn't really said much about this on the blog but during the latter half of the year I began training for another ultra-marathon. This one was off-road, in the middle of the Australian bush, in summer. A big task!

Anyway, training was going well, many had predicted a top 5 finish for me, my coach was pleased with progress and predicted a cracking time.

Along came my biggest week of training, around 90km in total with a 34km long run. Unfortunately during the long run my knee got very painful!

So it was off to the physio as soon as I could. I was diagnosed with patella femoral pain syndrome (hmmm fancy name for a sore knee). Anyway, as it happens because I am still breastfeeding (yes hippy mother here) there is still relaxin in all my joints etc. What this means is my muscles have to work a lot harder to "hold everything together". Over the peak week of training my muscles just had enough and stopped holding the knee in the right place!

Next came the decision about what to do about the race. I could still run regularly (albeit short distances - up to 10km only) and my physio said we could manage the pain and get through the race, however there would be repercussions from racing. But.... after years of training and racing, I made what I think was the best decision for me long term, and I decided not to race this year. I didn't want to be stuck in the middle of the Australian bush in Summer with a bung knee and risk further damage potentially not letting me run in 2013! It was a really hard decision to make and I was upset about it for days afterwards!

But there are other races, and hey I think I achieved something anyway, while being a full time working and breastfeeding mother of an energetic toddler I managed to run up to 90km a week for 17 weeks. Not bad really! I am lucky because I managed to do most my week day running at lunchtime from work, and Jason and Ethan were amazing at letting me get out running in the early mornings on weekends.

Anyway, although I couldn't race we still decided to take the trip to Dwellingup as we couldn't get a refund on our accommodation. Boy am I glad we made that decision.... check out the beautiful setting we were in.
Ethan certainly loved it! The manicured rolling lawns were perfect for truck driving!
We invited our friends Sandy and Nathan to join us... and as you can see, Ethan and Nathan had some serious man time together!
There were heaps of ducks (and other birds) on the lake for Ethan to enjoy. As well as some cute donkeys to feed!
Unusually for a Perth December there has been a lot of rain. Here we are checking out the flooding at one of the many local camping areas!
On the property itself there was a lovely, spring fed lake. We had such a great time at the lake. It was perfect. There was a little sandy area for Ethan to play in, deck chairs for Sandy and I to sunbathe in, a nice shallow section of water that we could partition off with the water craft got Ethan to play in (although he could escape pretty easily), and heaps of fun water craft for us to play with!

Here are Sandy and Nathan on the paddle boat!
Ethan and Daddy enjoyed the "Water Quest"! (So much so that on the last day of our trip away Jason and Ethan had to do numerous trips across the lake in it!).
Ethan and I had a few trips out on the lake as well!
Jason set a couple of challenges for Sandy and Nathan... this one was easy - getting across the lake and back standing the whole way! Ethan was very interested in this one!
Ethan had a ball!
So all in all it was a great weekend with great mates! A great idea to unwind during the silly season and get away from all the busy-ness!

Sunday, December 16, 2012

It's a crafty Christmas...

 This year I decided to get a bit crafty for some of our Christmas pressies.

Anyone up for some reindeer beer?
Or some special Christmas cookie mix... all you have to do is add the wet ingredients and voila you have a big batch of cookies.
 Its fun doing something a little different (and special) for our friends at Christmas time!

Saturday, December 8, 2012

Water park

 I know that I have mentioned it before, but Perth has some amazing parks. A recent awesome park discovery is the water park at Hyde Park (just 5km from our house). Given that Ethan is not 100% convinced about the beach yet this is a perfect alternative for us! Plus its a whole lot closer!

Given its proximity to town, and the relatively small area that it services, it doesn't get too busy which is great.

It sometimes takes Ethan a little while to get brave enough at the water park, but once he's used to it, he just doesn't want to leave!

 Jason and Ethan after frolicking in the water park!
 Even though it was a 30+ degree day after playing in the cool water for over 30 minutes he was nice and cool (with blue lips for a while)...
 To warm up we played in the adjacent part for a bit. Check out this cheeky boy!

This is just another reason why we love living in Perth!

Saturday, December 1, 2012

I love...

Dear Ethan,

Last weekend you turned 18 months old and it got me thinking about all the things I love about being your mum. I am going to read this list out at your 18th Birthday (I hope you aren't embarrassed in front of all your friends!).

This is what I love about being your mum:
  1. I love the feeling of your little arms wrapped around my neck.
  2. I love the feeling of your little hand in mine as we walk along (when you let me hold your hand of course).
  3. I love it how your face lights up when you see me.
  4. I love it when you run towards me as fast as you can and do a running jump into a hug.
  5. I love watching you and your Daddy play.
  6. I love watching your Daddy teach you new things.
  7. I love your belly laugh, the one that comes out when you are most happy - like the time Daddy gave both you and me a horsey ride around the lounge.
  8. I love how you pronounciate your favourite words: zjuuise, scheesze, yawyo, heeyaw, zschooze, and mooooore (juice, cheese, yellow, hello, shoes and more).
  9. I love your fascination with shoes, I love how the three of us have to wear the same type of shoes- whether its running shoes or jandals. I love it how you can change your mind about your shoes 10 times a day.
  10. I love your cheeky grin/look when you know what you are doing is naughty, but you decide to do it anyway.
  11. I love your turned down mouth when we growl you and you try not to cry.
  12. I love the pure joy you have at the smallest things.
  13. I love it how you want to copy everything we do.
  14. I love it how you always want to help, whether its mopping or sweeping the floor or emptying the dishes. I hope that I can still say this when you are 18 years old :-)
  15. I love it how independent and experimental you are.
  16. I love the tiny birthmarks on the back of your neck and on your forearm.
  17. I love the way that you can make my heart feel so full when I look at you.
  18. I love everything about YOU!
Ethan, I love you more than words can say! But most of all, I love it how you love me unconditionally - whether I have my worst clothes on or my best clothes on, whether my hair is done or not, you do your running hugs to me after I have showered and straight after I have been running! That unconditional love means so much to your mum!

Love Mummy xxx