6.66

Hey guys!! We are still enjoying vacation!! Vacation is SO much better than work! We've gotten quite a bit of painting and other home projects done, but we've gotten some rest and done fun stuff, too! (Of course Blogger is being a prick, so click on links to see pics!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

After doing some work around the house Sunday we took Pips over to the dog park. It really just wasn't his night. As usual, he was the smallest dog there and they all wanted a piece of him. He was getting pretty frustrated (and so were we!) so we left and went over to just walk the greenway, where we saw a guy on a Segway!! Crazy!! We had a nice time, it was a really nice evening. The temps haven't been TOO bad lately, it's been in the low 90's versus the high 90's, which is really good for us. Don't get me wrong, that's still HOT, but much better than a couple of weeks ago! (More pics from Shelby Park here, including this hilarious one of Pippin!)

Monday was the first day of school here. We have an elementary school across the street from us, so we got up and stretched out on our porch swing and watched the kiddos going to school. It's amazing how many families walk to school in this neighborhood, but it's really not THAT strange since we walk most everywhere now. Pippin loved watching the kids and running up and down in the yard trying to get their attention. He even got some loving from the principal! (I seriously think he should be mascot!!) Once school started we geared up and headed out for a run. We decided to run downtown from our house. Within 1.7 miles we were at Titans Stadium, and then at just over 2 miles we were over the river and in downtown. We ran down 2nd and then back over the Shelby St Pedestrian only bridge. All the bridge crossing has been serious hill training!!! We took our camera with us, so we stopped and enjoyed the views from time to time, and the "window shopping"! =) Our plan was to stop at Bongo Java on our way back for some coffee, and as luck would have it that gave us exactly 5 miles. We got some iced coffee and walked the rest of the way home (half mile). You can see the whole set of photos we took here.

Today we decided to run from our house to downtown and the state capital/Bicentennial Mall. We headed out a little late (after 9 am) and it was clear and warm! For whatever reason my legs just didn't have a lot of juice, so when we arrived at Bicentennial Mall (3 miles from our house) I was MORE than happy to take a break and play in the fountains. We took a few more detours on our way to take advantage of the shade of the tall buildings. We arrived back home at 6.66 miles, freaky!!

We had lunch today at the Red Wagon. It's really close to our house, but only open for lunch during the week and brunch on the weekends (which is PACKED). So, we took advantage of our vacation status and headed over today. It was SO good! Everything was incredibly fresh. We had fruit tea to drink and it was SO good, seriously fresh fruit. I had a "grown up grilled cheese sandwich" which came with a salad and fresh tomato basil soup. The grilled cheese was like a panini and it had a nice slice of real cheddar cheese on there along with some sort of other cheese. YUM! I would definitely go back!!

I guess that's all the news around here. We've done lots and lots of painting but there's really nothing exciting to say about that! Have a great rest of the week everyone!

Rachel