Parenting:Best.Day.Ever!

March 19, 2013 / Anna @ Piper's Run / 3 Comments

Well, besides the day I gave birth to both of my daughters, I have now had the BEST. DAY. EVER as a parent! We took our oldest who is just over 2.5 years old downhill skiing.

A little back ground info: I grew up downhill skiing and started at the same age as Lilly. We would go skiing on weekends, holidays, march break and even cut school to go skiing with my Dad’s school. We brought our lunches, got a hot chocolate at the hill, learned how to ski, fall down and get back up again. I made many friends through skiing, kept up with the boys on the moguls and even got my Level 1 Ski Instructors course. I loved skiing and still do but I now have such a great appreciation for what my parents did for us growing up. They introduced us to life long activities but also encouraged us when we go into competitive sports too. Thank you Mom and Dad.

On Sunday (St. Paddy’s Day) we had planned on taking Lilly skiing even if it meant she only got on the ski’s and did 1 or 2 runs. Well, I guess we set our expectations too low as she did 7-8 runs with me and her Dad. A successful introduction to what skiing is, what the hill looks like and how much fun it can be.

All geared up and ready to go!

I was like a kid in a candy store. I think I was more excited than Lilly….or my parents who came to hang out with Hilary and video Lilly skiing for us. It was such a great morning; no tantrums or meltdowns, we ate a healthy snack outside in the sun, Hilary loved being outside and watching everything going on and we made it home without Lilly falling asleep!

One Happy Mama!

As a parent, I had the BEST.DAY.EVER because we were able to ~~teach~~ introduce our daughter to an activity that I love and look forward to doing as a family. I never thought I would feel so excited to introduce my children to these experiences and then be able to do this over and over again as a family. I feel very lucky that my husband and I value healthy living and being active and our girls will grow up knowing this and living it. Again, BEST. DAY. EVER!

Skiing with Daddy

What was your BEST.DAY.EVER. parent moment?

Do you introduce your children to life long activities or sports that you can do as a family?

What’s your favourite “thing” you’ve introduced your children too?

Piper’s Run

First Exercise Postpartum #sweatpink

January 10, 2013 / Anna @ Piper's Run / 1 Comment

Yesterday was THE perfect winter day in Nova Scotia…..sun was shining, snow was everywhere, cool air hitting your face and perfect for taking your 5 week old out for a stroll.

So, that’s what I did 🙂

It was our first walk outside, my first walk/exercise since sometime in November!!!

We bundled up….

Anna and Hilary going for a winter stroll Jan 2013

And planned on walking for 20-25 minutes – a short route around where we live.

Our view walking down our street

I changed my mind and decided to walk my normal running route but backwards as we were already on route.

It ended up being a 40 minute walk.

Clear sidewalk for us to walk on (doesn’t always happen)

I was feeling pretty good except my right achilles was sore (and still is today). No other pain today. As I was walking I felt great. I felt like it was the right time to start moving again. My body felt awake for the first time in a while – such a great feeling.

I am hoping to get the A-Okay from my Doctor next week to start running…oh I can’t wait! For now, I’ll enjoy any walks (outdoor/indoors) I can get.

Happy Walking (for now).

Fall Bucket List: Take a Nature Walk

October 23, 2012 / Anna @ Piper's Run / 3 Comments

Back in September I took on the challenge of completing …. well attempting to complete this Fall Bucket List from Loves of Life Blog. We’re slowly checking things off. This time around was “Take a Nature Walk”. For those who know me or at least have read my “About Me” page know that I’ve worked in the fields of Outdoor Recreation/Education and Environmental Education. So, going for a “nature walk” is like going back a few years, when I used to take groups outside at night: spring, summer, fall and winter. It’s almost as normal as putting on your shoes for me. I love to be outside.

As I started to write this post my husband took our dog, Maclean outside for a pee and said for me to come see the sky. It was as dark as can be, a few bright starts and I believe a 1/2 moon (apparently that was yesterday – had to look it up). Anyway, it was a perfect night to be outside….so I gave us a challenge next week to rake the leaves at night once Lilly is asleep and then we’ll see how bad of a job we did the next day. It get’s us outside at night, being active and together. Blog post to come on that one 🙂

Last weekend we went to a local park in Centreville, Nova Scotia. It’s a small park, 2 soccer fields, baseball fields and a little trail system in the woods. When I went to Acadia University, I managed to help run an environmental education program out of this park and haven’t been back since. There was this amazing little path that had nothing but gorgeous RED leaves – we were a little late this year and the colours had already moved on from that luscious red.

We had a lot of fun walking on the trails, learning how to balance on roots, checking out tree stumps, collecting leaves and taking in the fall colours:

Lilly tracked down the best leaves, walked hand and hand with Daddy and even let her baby sibling join in a picture.

I just love fall colours 🙂

This might become a new fall tradition for us.

Do you have a fall bucket list?

Have you been outside to enjoy any trails/parks etc? Where?

Are the leaves changing colours where you live?

For more amazing photo’s of Fall in Nova Scotia, check out my friend Lyndsay’s blog post here – she’s a professional photographer, has two pretty cute boys that she blogs about at The Testoster Zone. The pictures are taken on another one of my favourite places in Nova Scotia, at the start of the Bluff Trail in Timberlea/Hubley area.

Still to come – Fall Bucket List – Making {vegan} Pies.

Thankful for….

October 8, 2012 / Anna @ Piper's Run / Leave a comment

This year’s Thanksgiving was no different than any other year in our family. We gathered at my parents house, drooled at the smell coming from the kitchen, previewed the desert table, caught up on what’s been happening and invited new people into our home.

Over the last few year’s it’s become a tradition in my house to invite people to Thanksgiving dinner. Sure, we have my parents, siblings, aunts/uncles, close family friends and then we always have 2-5 other people that we’ve recently just met. My parents are both retired teachers, however my mother works full-time selling beds at a mattress store. She see’s people from all over Nova Scotia, Canada and the World to be honest. A few year’s back a family came in to purchase a bed (A Mom and Son – Husband was still to arrive in NS). They made their purchase and came back a few hours to ask my mom “what’s Thanksgiving?” So, she explained …. and invited them to our family dinner. They were from South Africa!!!!

Another year, my brother invited a few of his fellow military colleagues who were from all over Canada.

This year we expected the same … but who would it be?

Again, my mother and her friend/co-worker, Crystal had met these two young girls after they purchased bed’s from their store. These girls had recently drove across Canada (British Columbia to Nova Scotia) over 8 days to go to school. They were invited this year to our Thanksgiving dinner. These super-nice University aged girls joined us and it was just like having extended family around. Lilly had befriended them right away – she even gave them a kiss goodnight. It was a great dinner and time spent with family and friends.

This year I am Thankful for so much….a few to share with you: