All Hands On Deck   Adventures on land and at sea

Clearly I’m having a tough time sticking to my writing plan. Sticking to any plan is difficult nowadays. I’ve been able to check off all my half marathon training runs so far. I keep a toddler from diving off of furniture and eating cardboard every day. We all eat, sleep, and recreate (the necessities of life in this household). That’s about it.

Gunnar and I went on a lovely trip to visit my mom in Seattle. Lets just say that flying with a 14-month-old is significantly harder than flying with Gunnar has been at any other age. It’s a good thing he’s cute!

Gunnar and salmon at the locks.

Seattle was GORGEOUS and it is always wonderful to spend time with my mom. We went to the locks, a museum, and the playground. There was lots of walking and playing in the yard (which has me wishing we had a yard of our own). Gunnar may or may not have said “Kitty” out of love for Jack and Pepper the cats.

I often have a hard time adjusting back to reality after visiting my mom. It feels like being thrown back into adult life after cozying up with a friend who does the dishes and likes to talk about food/books/tv shows/family drama with me. This time around I had an excellent distraction the weekend after I got home! I spent all day Saturday and Sunday at a Wilderness First Aid class at the Berkeley Sports Basement.

The course was really worthwhile. Not only did I learn some valuable, potentially lifesaving skills but I got to spend 8 hours a day as an individual – no baby, no husband, no puttering around the house! I don’t there there’s anything wrong with saying that it was an incredible feeling. I need to take breaks like that more often. Lee claims that as long as I’m taking classes that feed into our outdoor activities he will be on Gunnar duty whenever I want. Of course that means I’m planning to sign up for the Wilderness First Responder class in the spring!

Taking a class with a bunch of people that love the outdoors also has me thinking about a first family backpacking trip. We’ve been camping enough to know the ins and outs of that procedure with an infant/toddler. I think we’re ready to hit the trail! I miss the mountains. I miss the physical challenge and the isolation.