By popular demand...

One of Ava to keep you all off my back about seeing her:

I did it!

Before....
Something made me decide to participate in a 5K walk/run here on post on the 4th. I had never done such a thing before, but Joel was gone and I am always looking for things to do in his absence so I'll have news to tell him. This was really advertised as "stroller friendly;" in fact, my t-shirt says "Running, Walking, Strolling," which is pretty silly. I pictured old-timey people with parasols strolling along the run route, but sadly didn't see any. Maybe next time.

So anyway, I showed up at 7:00 to register with Ava strapped to my chest and Aidan in a stroller. So, I was carrying an extra 12+ pounds and pushing another 50 or so. There were a few other moms with kids, so I wasn't embarrassed thinking about my awful future performance. At 8:30, they shot the gun- the big highlight for Aidan- and I was off... as the last person to start the race. Through the race, Aidan kept me motivated by angrily yelling "GO, mommy! GO!" whenever I slowed to readjust Ava in her carrier or get a drink of water. Just over an hour later, I showed that it was possible to maintain such a pace by being the very last person to finish the race! At least I'm consistent! I seriously blame the crappy stroller I was using... yeah, that's it...

All in all, I was really glad I did it. It wasn't that hard- walking just over 3 miles (or a mere 18,000 steps!) in really nice weather is hardly torture- and I felt proud of myself for doing it. For the next one in September (yes, I'll do it again!!) I'm going to rent the double jogging stroller here on post and try to jog it. Ans as a final plus, my picture was in the paper, with no mention of being the final participant. Hooray!

...and slightly sweatier after:

Guess who won't be drowning this year?

Answer: my kids! I got these life jackets for our upcoming trip back to Lake Garda. Aidan wears one at the pool, and really likes it. He's able to play in the water without having me hold him or dying, which is good news. I also got one for Ava, because I'm completely crazy with my irrational fear of the kids drowning. So, better safe than sorry, right? And how cute do they look?!?

Local Customs

Here is a picture of my laundry hanging to dry on the balcony. Some Americans laughed at me the other day when I said that I actually hang my stuff out to dry, but it's really not that big of a deal. In the summer, I really look for any way to make the house cooler and avoiding running the dryer is way up on the list. Also, we have a limit on the amount of electricity we can use at one time, so by not using the dryer we can instead use the air conditioner (yay!). But, I think the biggest incentive is how cute the kids' little clothes look when they are pinned up to the rack!