12/24/06 The Doudnas on wheels

A late morning, our usual big bang-up Sunday morning breakfast, and a slightly cloudy day made for an easygoing day. After breakfast (really more brunch), Dave took a nap with Katrina, and I spent a surprisingly fun hour with the boys, trying to get in a little exercise.

First I tested out a new yoga DVD, which Julian did along with me. Gabriel wanted to know about the mountains in the background (I'd guess it was shot in the Canyonlands in Utah). Feeling time pressure thinking that Katrina was going to wake up any second, I switched to a more intense Pilates tape. Gabriel noted there were no mountains, but as with the yoga video, he pointed out which color leotard on the demonstrators he liked best.

When Katrina and Dave woke up (really, when Katrina woke Dave up), I had a plan: a family-wide wheeled excursion!

The boys got on their bicycle and tricycle, and I tried Katrina in the jogging stroller so that I could rollerblade.

(Note that the stroller is really for my sake, as I'm still a very unsteady skater.) The jogging stroller doesn't recline, so it's not designed for young babies, but other than scrunching down a little, she did fine in it. Not a peep out of her in fact, and she even fell asleep.

We went down Linnet Lane to the dead end, then past a small park to what used to be a basketball court, a perfect place for me to practice. Except that there were two little boys scurrying around.

Gabriel and Julian had a grand time racing around together, and I had fun chasing them and playing with them since I was on wheels too.


This is the last time Julian will go out on a tricycle, since he has a big birthday present coming up!

Tonight we went to Godfrey and Felipe's for a Christmas Eve potluck. This was very, very nice and pleasant. It was risky, since it wasn't a kids thing at all, but we got away with it. It was hard to concentrate on adult conversation, but what we were able to have was great. Still, there was one other kid there (a sweet, well-behaved girl Gabriel's age), whose Dad told us they're expecting again. Congratulations to the Wilcox family! (apologies to Anne, I don't know her last name!). Katrina arrived tired and cried the whole way there in the car, but once we were around all those people to look at, she was surprisingly calm and didn't make a sound.

Other than being in Day 2 of a nasty headache, it was a very nice way to spend the day.

12/24/06