Visit with Gran-Gran

Weekend in North Carolina

Lauran and I ran another 1/2 marathon this weekend- Thunder Road in Charlotte. Kristi ran, too, but she didn't stay with us so no pre-race pictures. The temp was MISERABLE-- 32F at the start line and 36F by the time we finished, at least it wasn't raining! We wore double layers top and bottom- I had on cuddl duds under my tights and a turtle neck with a fleece over that. La wore pretty much the same type of thing. We had gloves and ear muffs, too. I didn't shed a single layer the whole time! For the first several miles I could see my breath, but either it stopped, or I just quit noticing. Needless to say, it was cold. I guess I'm paying for it now b/c I have laryngitis. It was worth it, though, b/c I ran a PR. YIPEE! It only took me 2 years to get back to my old self after Ella Kate was born (2y 9m if you could the pregnancy time!).
After the race we drove up to visit my Grandmother, my Dad's mom, who the great grands call Gran-Gran. That night at the hotel I was trying to coax Ella Kate to bed with bribery of having Papa read her bed time story. It was a great family moment and thankfully Chris had the presence of mind to get it on camera. I love this picture!

Catharine 98, Kathryn 32, and Elizabeth Kathryn 2yrs. Gran-Gran will be 98 in February, and they call her young, b/c there are people well over 100 (one that's even 109!) at her resort-I mean retirement home!

Ella Kate sat in a booster seat for the first time on this trip. She did really well and didn't try to wiggle out of it. We called it her "big girl" seat. This was at lunch in the 50's style diner at the retirement home (one of 3 restaurants/dining rooms). There was an old Mickey Mouse hidden in a mural on the wall- man, she picked it out way before any of us noticed it. I'm afraid a trip to Disney may be in our future.

I think she looks great for almost 98! I'm so lucky and proud to have her in my life!

Chris tried some different features on his camera and took some picts in black & white - they look pretty cool!

We had to try a new route home thanks to the big rock slide at the TN/NC line. This one took us up through VA, but somehow it was actually shorter than our normal route-only took 3.5 hrs instead of the usual 4+hrs! After 2 hrs of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, she finally fell asleep; cuddling "pink lovey" as usual.

We got home with enough time to spare to work on our Christmas decorations. It's looking pretty good thanks to our little helper.

Ella Kate even did the honors of putting the angel on top of the tree. She was so into putting the ornaments on the tree- oh, to be 2 again!