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It's a beautiful morning!

Drum roll please...

When someone doesn't like peas...

Reassurance from a Friend

Amber is helping Hazel to learn that there is no reason to be so afraid of the world outside the kennel.

State Meet Day 2 - Freestyle Pursuit

State Meet Day 1 - Classical 5k

All puffed up!

This evening we celebrated my aunt's and my birthdays together. Even if it's not his cake, my nephew loves to blow out candles, so we let him help. I think he had enough air! 

Repurposing

We always eat it up all the pasta that I make, and never have enough to dry so...I'm using my pasta drying rack as a dog bootie drying rack! It's perfect.

No need for a sweatshirt today!

Blue Mountain 30 Mile Sled Dog Race

It was actually 34 miles of difficult trails, but they did well considering poor Peanut had to be put in the bag after injuring her shoulder. (she's recovering well now)

Happy birthday Grammie!!

No remorse...

He's stealing her food, and there isn't a darn thing she can do anything about it! :-D

Worth a shot...

Another college acceptance letter!

They're not speaking to each other this morning...

Before & After

Happy Girl

I made doggie mom points with Amber today. "Go for a run in the rain? Really?!" She smiled the whole time.

2 Teams of 12 Dogs

Whose bright idea was this?! It was a challenging run for dogs and humans alike, but we survived, and they all got their exercise on 13 miles of beautiful trails at Bear Brook Campground.

Day 2 of KVACs - Freestyle Pursuit

He is pleased with his race today. He's had such a good season!

1st day of KVACs - Classical 5k

Snow days are for baking!

Something new to try!

My friend and I both enjoy eating at Norway Brewing Company, but she's not a fan of beer like I am. Well, they are now offering hard ciders and wines. We tried several samples this evening, and found that the Mainiac Gold cider was the best. I mean, with a name like that how could you go wrong?!

Mmmmm...

(Mis) Adventures in Mushing

Yesterday we ran the dogs on the rail trail from Boscawen to Franklin and vice versa. It's a unique trail because it parallels the road, so there are lots of opportunities for pictures and videos. The weather was mild, and there were so many friendly people (on snowmobiles and in cars) who were enjoying watching the dogs! They all got in a solid 10 mile workout, and it was definitely a learning experience for me! 
The first thing I learned is that Asa is a really lucky guy. Both runs that he went on behind Nova were clean and mostly uneventful. Mine was not.
The second thing I learned was not to hook a female dog in season right behind male leaders. It turned every little issue that normally would be simple into a tangle that I had to run up and fix! Poor Mia - she couldn't help it, and I suppose Cenz and Rupp couldn't either, but it meant a lot of stress for me trying to catch that whip sled as I could never get back to it fast enough, and it would end up flying by me! I did catch it though! Except for that one time...good thing I'm a runner!
The third thing I learned was that when being dragged - get a knee on a runner. It hurts, but from there you can pull yourself up. 
The fourth thing is that although she will laugh first, Nova will then do everything she can to drag the team to a pause when you start to roll because although you did get a grip on the sled as it flew by, you didn't get a knee on and lost your balance altogether! 
The fifth thing is to not let the rope between sleds have any slack in it before take off. The force that a team of 10 dogs can throw into those harnesses is awesome. But painful when it jolts your whole body once that slack is gone. Wow though. So awesome to feel it!  (Not gonna do that again.)
These misadventures are what I need in order to learn this sport. I might be a bit crazy, but I loved it. Even if I was silently cursing our support crew for not coming to my rescue!  But, if he had, that would have meant I had failed. I didn't. We didn't.
Nova was exhausted from running 30 dogs, constantly monitoring them, and making all the decisions, so we both were thrilled when Ed drove to our favorite pizza shop. It has never tasted so good.

Sprints and a Birthday

Today the Vikings hosted the annual Oxford Hills 1k Sprints and 3k at Roberts Farm, which is always a very well attended and exciting race. This year was no different and it was so much fun! The format is unusual - bracket racing for skiers. The day starts with a time trial. The top 48 skiers are then split up into heats of 6, with only the top 3 moving on to the next elimination, and so on until we have a winner. If they prefer, skiers can choose to race in a 3k instead. Sprinting isn't really his strength, but he decided to forego the longer race and try anyway. He made it into the first round of eliminations, and did his best. I am so proud of him!

I felt very fortunate that we were able to spend the day together, especially since it is big brother's 19th birthday! He came home from college for the day so that he could help at the races, which was much appreciated. Happy birthday!!

Why do these things always arrive when he's not home?!

I can't wait for him to open this envelope! But I'm going to have to...argh!!

Where are we goin'?