Running 4 Miles with the Kids

It was another morning where I wanted to stay in bed. And I did. At least until 7:00am, at which point I decided that I would still run in the morning, although now I would have to push the kids in the double stroller.

The kids had both had a late night last night (I'd gone out to the movies by myself and Braman had put the kids to bed and things had not gone so smoothly since Nora is used to nursing to sleep) and they were both still very tired. Nora was already awake but I had to wake Larsson up (not generally a good idea) since he had a violin lesson in Ithaca later in the morning and we needed to hurry. You can see how excited they look:


I didn't get to listen to my audiobook but Larsson provided decent entertainment for the run.

As I struggled to push them up the mile-long hill:
"Brrr, I'm cold."
"Maybe we'll see something interesting like a REAL mouse."

As we traversed a horse-poop strewn road in front of a farm:
"Eeeeew! Did you walk in any of that, Mom?"

As we ran by a field of corn:
"I'm thinking about what I would like for Christmas."
ME: What would that be?
"I would like some corn seeds."
ME: Do you want to grow corn next year?
"Yes. I think Santa would give me corn seeds."

Serving as interpreter for fussy Nora:
ME: Give Nora a Cheerio, please.
He offers but she turns away.
"She doesn't want one"
She points at the bag.
"Nora says she wants one now."
Nora dangles her cup over the side of the stroller and makes some noises.
"Mom, Nora wants you to take her cup."

As we passed another farm:
"Oh, I do hate farms!"
ME: Why?
"Because there is poop EVERYWHERE and they STINK!"

Out of the blue:
"I see a hole and it isn't drainage and it isn't a ditch and it isn't just a hole. It's a DEN. A very small den for animals."

"Maybe the sun is made up of hot lava."


Nora started to cry between miles 3 and 4 and Larsson was telling her to stop it. But they were a lot happier once we got home since they knew Daddy had made pancakes for our breakfast.

Larsson stretched with me on the porch:


while Nora happily ate Cheerios in the stroller:


We finished our 4-mile run in 44 minutes and 51 seconds. It is a lot easier (though surprisingly not all that much faster) to run by myself.