In typical Memorial Day tradition, we spent the past weekend at the Farm, although it was a smaller crowd than usual! Josh and Lauren just added their fourth child to their family (a girl, Hazel, born May 18th), so Lauren stayed home and settled in with her newborn. Chad and Melissa and their kids were getting over a stomach bug and decided not to risk spreading anything around. Mom, Dad, Jeremiah and Rachel trickled in on Sunday from a wedding. It was pretty quiet. 

There was no shortage of 4-wheel vehicles, both large and small, however, and at any given moment, the kids were begging a grown-up to give them a proper trail ride. Fortunately, Aunt Rachel was game for hauling the kids around...a lot. Thanks, Rache!

Josh is still dealing with incredible back pain with some ruptured disks, so we all helped with Sawyer, Gage and Ruby. 

Gage and Ruby, above, hung out by the campfire before the mosquitos drove us indoors.

Ruby and Wyeth. Ruby is 5 months older than Wyeth, and the two of them actually hung out together a little.  Wyeth, we discovered, loves ALL THINGS FARM. He was fearless and game for anything.

He loved driving the little 4-wheelers, although I don't think he ever connected his pressing a pedal down with the movement of the vehicle...it seemed to him a happy accident if he moved.

He loved the dogs, the puddles, the grass, the balls, the wild outdoorness of it all. 

He was one filthy little blond baby by the end of each day. And he could not have been happier. 

There's something utterly beautiful about a fire in a field on a summer evening. 

Kyle and I were determined to stick as much as possible to our training schedule, so we headed out in the woods Sunday morning for a trail run. Singer joined us for the run, and we had a few 4-wheelers leading us around for part of the time.  We ended up running a little over 3 miles through the trails, and it was one of the most beautiful, relaxing runs I've ever had.

I'm training right now using heartrate zones, and I was supposed to run staying in Zone 1, which is basically a really really low heart-rate (between 120-128) and it is, for me right now, incredibly hard to run and stay in that Zone. I kept checking my Garmin and having to slow down further and further. I've never really run trails before, and I found the experience of running amid the trees and varying terrain, jumping fallen logs, skirting poison ivy very calming. I did have a Pandora station playing that matched the mood perfectly, and I felt like I could have run all day. There's one area of the trail that we call the Enchanted Forest (the picture above). The path is thick with pine needles, the trees tower above you and everything is hushed. You would not be surprised at all if a fairy (or Big Foot) appeared before you. It's my favorite place in the woods, and after listening to the constant noise generated by all the kids, the serenity it afforded was like a balm to my soul.