At the end of the spring break week (Sunday), I headed out to Boston for the marathon. Here is a pic of me with Jen and Becky. You can tell from our apparel and shiny skin, that the weather was not our friend that day. At the start of the race, the sun was already super hot (it was 10:00 am). The first 5 miles weren't terrible, but I could see the wheels come off for many athletes before the half way point. I realized that my skin was dry at mile 9, which is not really a good sign. Originally I thought I'd just like to run under 4 hours, but after feeling a little dizzy near mile 13, I changed my goal to finish without ending up in the medical tent. I can't believe how much more terrible I felt during this race than my last. Even afterward, I just wanted to sit down (compared to running to the train and airport after the Marine Corps Marathon with very little fatigue). Anyway, here's my finish photo. Not pretty, but I can check that off the list. Oh yeah - that slow time was a 4:26.
That race was on Monday and the following Friday, I left for Oregon, IL with my girl scouts for two nights of "camping" at White Pines Ranch.
This is the first night before the hayride.
The next morning, we got up early to see the horses let into the pasture. It was a pretty amazing site. Just beautiful.
They kept these kids busy with activities all day. They swung on a rope:
Dug for fossils:
Went on a canyon hike:
More hayrides:
And of course....horseback riding:
Another group photo on the last day (missing a few girls):
Here's a glimpse of the bunk room (note the plush mattresses):
And, just before heading out, we took one last hike. This tree is hollow in the middle from a lightening strike, but amazingly it's still living:
That was the trip. The girls are excited to do it again next year.
A couple more notable items for the month. Megan had taken a break from riding her 2-wheeler and decided that it was time to get back on that thing. It was as if no time had passed. She was off!
And, I let my crazy competitive side come out at a school function. My team won a scavenger hunt and I proceeded to rub it in with photos like this:
Monday, July 2, 2012
Even More April
More April
The kids and I tagged along on one of Darin's business trips for spring break this year. We headed to St. Louis, with a stop in Bloomington on the way there. We stayed at a Holidome near Six Flags (unfortunately Six Flags hadn't opened for the season at that point). We went to the City Musuem one day. That place was pretty darn cool. They rode a 3-story slide in the lobby.
They climbed all over various caves and carvings:
We saw the World's Largest Pencil.
And brave Megan climbed through this wire cage about 4 stories above the ground to get into this plane that was suspended up there. I'm not afraid of heights, but this kind of creeped me out.
Jake hung back with me. Smart kid.
We went back to the hotel after all of that climbing to give the kids a rest. They had their own room, connected to ours. They thought it was so cool that they could watch whatever they wanted on TV while in bed. Anyway, we were hoping they'd rest up a bit, but they wanted to go to the pool. Darin played with them while I went out for a hilly run.
The next day, we went to the St. Louis Zoo. That place is really fabulous. It's free, just like Lincoln Park and it's huge. Actually, before we went there, I made Darin drive us over to the Arch to get the iconic photo. (We should have gone the day before because we were right there, but of course, we didn't). So I made it really inconvenient for poor Darin who was trying to get to a meeting. (I got my photo, though):
Now back to zoo stuff:
They got to ride the carousel.
Oh, and I forgot to mention that we brought Flat Stanley with us and snapped photos for Megan's class project.
All in all, the kids had a good time. They made up a song on the way there.....
"We're going to St. Louis. Doo Doo Doo"....over and over. Maybe we'll try to get back there before summer ends.
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
April
Here's a photo of my little fashionista. We went to Nordstrom with Jenny to have the fancy Communion dress fitted and altered before the big day. She had to dress for the shopping occasion. Afterward, we had lunch with Jenny and Grandma Millie at the Nordstrom Cafe. Megan sure loves these fancy outings.
In early April, we had a girl scout outing at "May I Have This Dance" a studio that's really close to our house. The girls learned a Bollywood number and a hip hop routine. Their instructor was super cute and energetic. They loved it:
QAS had an Easter Egg Hunt on the Saturday of Easter weekend. Here's Megan with Rita and Sarah:
And Jake with his buddy, Joe:
The hunt was super crazy with a ton of kids. Apparently, Jake had to give Joe some of his eggs because another kid had taken Joe's when he fell and they spilled out of his basket. Jake decided that kid was a "bully". He stood up for his friend and shared his spoils. Proud mom moment.
Later that day, Onna and Tom had their family over and had an unexpected visit from the Easter Bunny. Notice the short sleeves. Yes, spring was pretty awesome this year.
We colored eggs that night and they turned out pretty good.
When Megan was going to bed, she was a little concerned about a bunny hopping around too close to her. She asked me to leave a note for him:
(She's not really a fan of the tooth fairy either. We have to leave her teeth downstairs on the counter).
We spent Easter Sunday at Jenny and Flip's house. The pool was open and it felt like a summer party. The weather was absolutely beautiful.
Here's a quick Jake and Dad photo:
Saturday, June 16, 2012
March
We had a great March this year. The weather was unseasonably warm, so we were able to get out and enjoy some early sunshine! Jake has recently discovered Wii, so he would actually prefer to play video games than go outside, but once out there he's just fine. When he's playing his Lego Star Wars or Lego Batman on Wii, I can feed him almost anything. We sample new fruits and veggies and he just opens his mouth while I feed him. It's hilarious.
We had been working on finishing our workout room in the basement. We took a trip to Sports Authority one Saturday to check out some equipment. Afterward, we took the kids to Pizza Hut and decided to let them eat there. We typically prefer to take it to go, since it takes so long. But, really, they couldn't have been happier.
When I take the kids with me to Target (I try to avoid that as much as possible), Jake insists upon looking at toys and then taking photos of stuff that he likes with my phone, so that I have a running list of stuff to buy for him. Inspired by his Lego Star Wars for Wii, he took a liking to these light sabers.
It's a rare morning when they're both eating breakfast and getting along before school. On this particular day, Megan was reading to Jake while they ate. I had to snap a photo. It doesn't happen very often.
Jake experienced his first Shamrock Shake this year. Since the weather was so warm, I was inspired to buy shakes and he decided that this was pretty darn good.
Occasionally, we'll have movie night. When we do, they insist that I make popcorn, followed by watching the movie while eating and laying on the floor.
As I mentioned before, March was exceptionally warm. On St. Patrick's Day it was in the low 80's. We took out the hose and made a water slide.
It was so nice to be able to go to the park without coats (even in the evening!):
We had the Roeder girls over for a playdate on the 18th. Still warm!
And a few funny stories to wrap this up. I got my hair cut in March on a day when the kids were in school When I picked up Jake, he said "Mom, you look different. Your neck is longer."
I bought the kids some wings from Jewel and they were eating them in the car on the way home. One of them asked about a particular part of the wing and after I explained it, Megan stopped and said, "Wait. You mean a chicken wing is really a chicken's wing?" An enlightening moment for her.
And one of our funnier moments.....Jake came into our room when he woke up early one morning. He stood by the side of my bed and passed gas. He said, "Did you hear that? It's the fart alarm. Time to get up." He started to make a habit of that. One weekend morning, we were already up, but he laughed and said, "Ha ha, there's the fart alarm again. That never gets old".
Oh, and this has nothing to do with kids, but I had a nice lakefront 20 mile run with Brenda Barrera (who was in from Virginia) and Leah Drew (who recently left for London). It was my last long run before the Boston Marathon. Shared with good company.
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Oh Wait....more February!
I snapped this pic of my little fashionista on the way into Nordstrom when we were out shopping for a Communion ensemble with Aunt Jenny. Megan certainly loved the idea of a personal shopper. Oh no!
I had to make sure she knows the value of a hard day's work, so I made her cook dinner for the family the next day:
(not really - she wanted to make it)
And, that's all for February.
