Two Big Firsts

In addition to be Susannah's first Thanksgiving, this weekend also featured Susannah's first 5k race and her first hike. 

On Thanksgiving morning, we headed to Balboa Park to run St. Joe's 5k.   It is dog and stroller friendly.   They even give the dogs bandanas to wear.   

Here we are walking to the start.

We were a little late, as you can see from the throngs of people ahead of us on the bridge. 

Here we are when we finally made it to the start.   We were behind the walkers and were having trouble navigating with the stroller and Meadow, so we ended up cutting off about 1/2 mile at the beginning of the course to make some room for ourselves.   It was a wise decision because the rest of the run was fun.  We did feel a teensy bit guilty when we crossed the finish line though.  

Then on Saturday, after watching UGA beat Georgia Tech (GO DAWGS!), we headed to the base of Stonewall Peak to take Susannah on her first hike.   Here is the peak from the parking lot.

And from the trailhead.  Looks pretty daunting, huh?

Even more so when you put this on your back.   But this was a special moment for Peter and me; a moment we have been looking forward to for over nine years now.    When we were still in college, we traveled to Yellowstone National Park together.   And every time we saw a family with a baby on the trails, we would talk about how one day, we would have our own baby in a backpack.    So we were pretty giddy as we started up the mountain. 

The blue sky was another inspiration as we climbed.

And climbed.

And climbed.

Susannah loved riding with Dada.

As we neared the top, we navigated some boulders.

But the view from the top was worth every step.

It was really windy, so we only stayed long enough to snap these pics.

It was amazing though.

You could see for miles and miles. 

As you can see from this picture, Mommy was a little more impressed than Susannah, but she was a trooper overall and we are already looking forward to our next hike.    Thanks Campoamors for lending us the pack!

  Hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving.  Yep, I'm going to say it again.......Don't forget to go shopping for all the women in your life at www.stelladot.com/whitneymallory.  There are tons of gift ideas under $50 and even under $30.    Please take a moment and check it out.   You can find the perfect gift and feel good about where the money is going.     Or, even better, check out www.compassion.com to find out how you can sponsor a child and change a life forever.

Random Highlights

Hope everybody's week is going well.  Here are some random highlights of the last few weeks.

We went to the zoo and saw the tiger cubs. 

It was right after Halloween and all the habitats had jack-o-lanterns.   

We watched the mom and her two babies for awhile and she was just so beautiful.

We even heard her roar a few times and it was so powerful and intimidating, I thought it was a recording at first.

We also saw the hippo mom and her baby.  

Susannah really liked watching them play in the water. 

They put on a great show, swimming right up to the viewing glass.

In other news, I ran a half marathon last weekend.   This is what I was lucky enough to be greeted with at mile one.   Susannah caught up on her reading while she waited for mommy to run by.

You can tell by our smiles that this is mile 1.....only 12 left.   I have to brag a little though......I set a PR of 1:45!!  I was pretty proud (and tired!).

We also went to our friend Abi's birthday dinner.   Susannah had her first experience at the "kid's table" and did so well.

Daddy and Susannah in their hats waiting for the cake.

Grammy sent us this for Susannah's birthday and she LOVES it!!   

As you can tell by this face.

She loves it when Daddy and Meadow run her around the yard on it.

Thanks Grammy!

It is a nice alternative for walks too.   When Susannah isn't feeling the stroller, we can use this.   On our walk last night, she talked and pointed at things the whole way.  

We also got our present from Grandmama yesterday.   Susannah loves her new camera!

This is Susannah's "I'm not very impressed with all these bows" face.  

She eventually realized how beautiful she looked and the smiles came back. 

Growing up so so fast.

Happy Thanksgiving everybody.   Don't forget to include www.stelladot.com/whitneymallory when you are doing your Black Friday Christmas shopping!

What's been happening chez Mallory this week?

We have been doing some climbing.

And some tickling.

And some balance practice with the wine rack.

And discovering all sorts of new things at my new Baby Einstein discovery center.

And watching some tv.  (just kidding.)

And playing with the favorite toy of the week.....the shape sorter.   Susannah loves this thing, but gets so angry when she can't get the shape to fit.   (Could it be that she inherited her Daddy's patience?)   

And bouncing in my boucer.   (New moms, do yourself a favor and buy this thing!  Susannah still loves this after 4 months.)

And playing with our best friend Leyton, who has a cool new car that she likes to drive backwards, of course.

Leyton's discovery center is cooler than mine.

The girls did some dancing to the exersaucer music.

And they played ball.

And they stuck out their tongues.

All in all, a great playdate!!

Hope everyone else's week is going well!   Please go shopping at www.stelladot.com/whitneymallory.    Yes, I'm going to continue to endlessly promote this until some of you actually go and buy something.   Come on, you get something pretty while also giving to a great cause.  Everybody wins!