Did it

This is today's accomplishment, I'm calling it a skywalk. Shit is cray. At least 9 feet up directly over the stream. I may or may not have freaked on the first attempt, pulling the rear brake which initiated a skid, sending me over a 2 foot drop. I walked it once, rode it once with a foot trailing the ground, then finally said "'Ef it, breh," and did it. I also completed the lap in my best time yet (~46min) and didn't ever feel like puking or dying. And that time includes that thar pussyfootin' on that skywalk, and getting tossed over the handlebars at another section.

We're supposed to get storms tonight and through the week, so I'm super indebted to C (and the babies) for letting me run off to the trail to ride

Wipes. No "dipes."

"Aldy a fireman"

Yes, this is what she said after her painstaking placement of a handkercheif (or "tissue" as she calls it) on poor Alden, trying to soak up sun at our kitchen door. She is terrorizing all of us.

More of the photo dump

Here is Yellie (get it? Yellow + Ellie) standing at the falls in aptly named Chagrin Falls last weekend

Big Girl Bed - first attempt

In the last week C made this dream a reality. I'm writing this during the first attempt at a nap (mind you it is 2:44pm) and we're just watching Ellie throw stuffed animals out of her new bed and then retrieve them. And now she's yelling.

Always a good time for a "pretty dress"

Zoo, Friends

A zoo trip with friends, and finally someone who will gladly hold Ellie's hand

Trail-er

Yesterday morning I went out on an early solo ride at the nearby trail, Alum Creek "Phase 2." I'm not much of a cyclist; my commute to work is at best .25 miles (and all of 3 minutes if bad traffic holds up my left turn to the main road). I don't go on long rides anywhere really. Last summer my shop-mates turned me on to mountain biking and with only a handful of trail rides before winter I fell in love pretty fast. This trail has easily become a favorite ride of mine and it is chock full of challenges for a "noob" like me. It's funny because for the entire ~6 mile loop, which takes me about 50 minutes to complete, I feel like I'm going to die. But on the drive home I feel like a million bucks. I've managed to do one trail ride every week for the past 3 weeks and I can feel the improvement. There are a bunch of stream crossings like the one above, varying in size and shape, and this is one of narrower ones that I crossed for the first time last week. Unfortunately the poor camera phone pic doesn't show the depth of the scene, but it's pretty awesome and I was also proud for finally having the cojones to cross this one without bailing. In fact, this week I crossed a skinnier "skinny"--consisting of two 2-by-4 planks placed together--for the first time.  I'm still slow and the short climbs through the woods really get me everytime, but if I can try to keep up the frequency of trail riding (approximately once every couple of weeks), I can hopefully get faster, walk less, and start improving my pace. I like these solo rides though because I can take my time, stop for pictures/water/etc and not feel like I need to apologize to my mates for holding them up.

So there it is: my workout plan for 2012.