Along the River and Through the Woods...

6:13 am - "Mama! Mama! Mama!"
6:15 am - "Sam, it's really early. Let's get into our bed and cuddle for a bit."
6:17 am - "Mama, is it time to get up yet?"
6:18 am, 6:19 am, 6:22 am - "Daddy, it's time to get up! Are you getting up?"
6:30 am - "Wow! There are so many presents!"
7:00 am - "Is that it? Are those all the presents?"

Yes, Merry Christmas indeed! ;)

We had a lovely morning playing with new toys and hanging out, punctuated only every so often with "When are we going to Morgan's?"

Sam playing with her new "castle", as she calls it

Luckily, John came over to run with Ryan and then to eat pancakes with us, so we had a very good distraction! Sam loves John, and John very nicely oohed and aahed at every little piece of Sam's dollhouse. What a good soul!

After pancakes, the temperature had risen to a balmy 14 degrees so I suited up and headed out for my run. I ran down to the river like yesterday, but took the powerlines to the road and then ran the road up to the Heath. From there, I ran along the river for a longer stretch than yesterday, enjoying the crisp air, the sparkling ice-covered trees, the roaring river and the blue skies above. It really was lovely. Got in 6.5 miles in less time than yesterday, probably from a combination of less postholing, a bit more road and the fact that Ryan actually superglued all my new screws into my shoes this morning. Those babies were not coming out! Much better traction, for sure!

Ice-covered birch buds

The Cathance

Shimmering light

Icy Heath

When I got back, I found Sam decked out in Hello Kitty gear, including the shimmering sequined Hello Kitty shoes she received for Christmas. My little goofball!

Goofy girl

We rounded out the day with a nice Christmas afternoon and dinner at Kristen's with my parents, my aunt Susie and cousin Lillie. Sam fell asleep on the way home and was out like a light the second we put her into bed. I'd call this a good Christmas indeed :-)