Wrong side of 35 but still feel like a spring chicken (mostly)

I am now on the wrong side of 35...time is flying,  and I am certainly still having fun. Life is good. We are safe (far away from war or earthquakes - knock on wood), healthy (knock on wood again) and we have a beautiful daughter. Life with a toddler is quite homebound but since we live in such an awesome spot, we don't actually mind that much.

Exploring Salmon at Seymour Hatchery - we had a nice day volunteering in the spring clean-up at the hatchery. It's a short 15 km bike ride up the valley from our house.



Can I bring it home in the Chariot?

Zonkoloid...life is tough.

Life is pretty simple at the moment. We play and we do a bit of work, work that we mostly enjoy. I have done some very interesting waste management work lately and hopefully with more to come.Working 60% is working very well for me since it gives me a great mix and gives me a chance to hang out more with Mylla. I think it is especially important since I want her to speak Swedish and she certainly won't pick it up as quickly if she is not exposed to the language as much.

Our daughter seems to love daycare and she often rushes off without saying good bye when I leave her in the morning. Everything is great, apart from having a toddler saying Mommy (in a very Canadian way). Where is my Swedish little girl, who is supposed to say Mamma? :-) 

It's important to spend lots of time with your child, but it's also important to find some time together (husband and wife..and I don't mean just sleeping). Every second Friday when Charlie has the day off we try and have a baby sitter for a few hours so that we have a chance to go biking or running! 

On one of our Friday rides together..I wasn't allowed to smile to the camera.



Run to the Cedar Tree and onto Kennedy Falls. A little trot from home.

Every day starts at 6 am, whether we like it or not. On the weekends we have usually been up for 3-4 hrs and feel knackered by the time that our friends without kids wake up. In the evening we sometimes attempt to watch movies, but we (read Charlie) usually falls alseep if it is longer than 1 hr. 

Although we had grand plans of skiing this year, we have not managed to get out much due to the lack of snow. It was pathetic this year. It was a sad view when only 3 out of 10 lifts were open during the day we had at Mt Baker in mid-February. Mt Bker is famous for its epic snow and now..the snow was brown and my skis were crying from the lack of pow.

Walking up on the hard crusty snow and bum sliding down was a hit

The weekends have been mostly filled with swimming at the West Vancouver pool (nice and warm and chorine free almost),walks, rock throwing in the puddles, swinging, and tag teaming for biking and running. Speaking of tag teaming, Charlie and I did the Dirty Duo in which I ran 27 km and switched with Charlie who biked 30 km. It was tough but fun.

I have really enjoyed my running and sheepishly I have to admit that I have become quite a Strava geek. It makes me feel good when it gives me lots of medals when I have been out for an hours run with Mylla in the chariot. It certainly makes me run faster!

I did my first enduro bike race on Mother's day a week ago. The enduro format allows you to take it easy on the climbs since it's only the downhill sections that are timed. I enjoyed the training leading up to it: testing new lines, trying drops that I have always avoided, etc. I must admit that I prefer riding with friends and I didn't feel any particular urgency when it was just me against the clock. I want a friend to chase just in front!

I quite like doing some events here and there. I will probably do some 15/20 km trail races and in September Amy and I are signed up for the MOMAR adventure race. I am looking forward to some training with seakayaking, running and biking!


Getting ready for Stage 1 of BC Enduro - North Vancouver - with Kirsty and Jess



Race face

This is more like it- Birthday ride with Megan, Kirsty, Ashley and Jess. 



Exploring traction in Squamish

Charlie has probably been slightly less focused on running and biking than usual. He has kept busy with a photography course and playing with his new camera (hence very few pictures of Charlie himself). 

The tree of life (BTW, don't watch the movie with that title..it really sucked.)

Happy Easter said ISIS

Our Kolibri - an Annis hummingbird, who loves our nectar. This is taken a meter away from our kitchen table. 



One of Charlie's best photo of our little Mona Lisa

Charlie has also spent lots of time fixing up our back yard so that we are ready for the summer. We have big plans but some of them will need to wait til next year; veggie patch for example. 

Planning out our back yard on Mylla's etch a scetch

Around New Year we set some loose family goals for the year. This is my opportunity to report on progress:

- Eat more vegetarian food: We are doing very well and we eat mostly vegetarian during the week.

- buy less stuff or buy used: Pretty good progress - buying most stuff on Craigslist. It's time consuming but feels better than buying new.

- buy less plastic: we're doing OK. Could do better. We have a long way to go to get free of single- use-plastic, but we'll keep on working on it.  

- use the car less - cut our carbon emissions. Now with two electric bikes in the house, there is little need to take the car. How liberating!

- stay in touch with family more frequently: we are trying hard but it's hard to get the time zones, schedules and naps to align. I think we can certainly improve here. We haven't forgotten you bro:s!



Charlie's converted e-machine. I have just got the same system fitted onto my communitng bike. It is amazing. We can leisurely pedal up a steep north shore hill without breaking a sweat at 20 km/hr (towing Mylla in the chariot). People must think I am supernatural! Usually I feel bad about using the car for short trips; however the bike will make me so much more mobile and flexible. I am already loving it and I have only had a few days on it!