Weekend Wrap-Up

This weekend needs to start with Thursday night.  Jenna, Andy, Charlie and Baby Mabel came over!  Callie was SO EXCITED to see "Baby Nabel."  She did a great job holding her.  As you can see below, by "holding" her I mean staying still for 30 seconds so we could lay Mabel across her lap to take a picture.  She "held" Mabel twice and then was all about playing with Charlie.  They got popsicles after dinner and were very happy about it.

Friday night was my dad's b-day party at the condo!

Getting a taste of the frosting!  Yum!

Happy Birthday Bops!

On Saturday morning, Callie and I went to Gerten's with G-ma and G-pa.  I'm TOTALLY spoiled.  While I'm on my vacation, I'm getting a redone bathroom AND a brand new yard.  So we went shopping for the yard stuff on this beautiful morning.

On Saturday night we went to hang out with our college crew at Josh and Alison's house.  Callie and Sydney had a blast playing with our new mister first...and then the sprinkler came out.  As did the swim suits.

Today was a big day.  This morning I ran my 6th half marathon.  Laura ran it as well.  It was a BEAUTIFUL day for a run, and I did okay.  I finished in 2 hours and 6 minutes, which was 15 seconds slower than the half I did in August, but oh well.  I did really well the first 7 miles or so (under 9 minute miles) and then ssssslllloooooowwwed down each mile after that. :)  Here are a few pictures from the run.  And once again, thanks to our fam for being the best fans ever!

Ready to go!

Go Yoda!

Running in the beautiful city

Eating Mommy's post-race food

Post-race Downward Dog

We did it!

 

Mom and her 2 runners

This afternoon we headed back to the castle park, where this happened.  Thankfully, today was much better, though she was clearly leery at first.

Hmm...I seem to remember poopies in the pouring rain.

But then she warmed up and had fun on the monkey bars.

Then, to continue our busy day, Callie and I headed back downtown to go to the Lynx game with Bops, Boom and Yoda.  We were going to take the train, but they weren't in service, so we hopped on a bus instead.

And then had fun, but only stayed for the first half.  Yoda, Cal and I were EXHAUSTED.

Three tired girls

At one point during the game, when Callie heard the whistle being blown, she yelled "FOUL!"  Clearly she has observed her daddy watching many basketball games at home and yelling at the T.V.  Hilarious.

Four more days of work. Seven more days til Mexico.  !!!!!!!!!!!!

Our Little Singer

I can't even begin to describe how fun and amazing it is to listen to Callie talk. The stuff that comes out of her mouth is equally brilliant and hilarious.

Earlier tonight she said to me, "When I grow up, I'm going to have an EGG!"

I have no idea what that means, but I just said, "Oh yeah? AWESOME!"

And now, she is starting to SING!  And she's starting to sing the songs that we all have sang to her her whole life.

So on the way home from Bops' birthday party tonight, I had her sing a few of her favorites for me.

First up: Jesus Loves Me.  She hasn't quite figured out how the song actually ends, so many times she keeps singing it over and over.

Next we have Amazing Grace. This has always been one of her bedtime songs, because I know that it was one of my Grampy's favorite hymns.  I love that she knows it.

Lastly: The Water is Wide. This is a fairly new bedtime song.  It was introduced to us through our latest music class CD.  Callie is still learning it, but doing pretty well.  Please excuse the ending...we had some, er, technical difficulties.

Happy Friday!

Happy Birthday Bops!

We love you!  Have a great day!

Mexico

Chris was traveling tonight so Cal and I had another girls night.

It was great, but my anxiety is starting to seriously pop up.  In 11 days I'll be heading here:

And while I'm SO excited to have 5 days to relax on the beach, I'm starting to feel heart-crushing, shortness-of-breath-inducing anxiety about leaving.

I mean, how can I leave this face?

I know that it will be five hundred times harder on me that on her.  She'll be hanging out with her usual peeps and having a blast.  She probably won't even notice that I'm gone. 

Well, I hope she notices a little, but the thought of her being sad that Mommy is gone is enough to bring tears to my eyes.

While in Mexico, I'm going to try not to obsessively go to the resort's business center to check my email, but I WILL be requiring all those hanging out with my girl to email me pictures. Constantly.

She's growing up before my eyes, I can't imagine how big she is going to look after 5 days.

But...I'm just trying to focus on the fact that after I get back we'll have all summer together.  I'm also trying to remember the fact that, after this crazy busy school year, I deserve this tropical paradise vacation.

So if you see me in the next 11 days and I seem like a basket case, please remind me that it will be okay that I go.  That she'll be okay.  That the summer is right around the corner.

Thanks. :)

Weekend Wrap-Up: The Memorial Day Mega-Post Edition

We had a fantastic weekend and I'm exhausted and overwhelmed by the thought of putting it all on a blog post.

So I'm going to let the pictures (and their captions) tell the story of our weekend.

Friday: Dinner at G-ma and G-pa's house

The fountain is back!

On a walk run

Riding George's bike

 Saturday: The Rainy-Crabby-Pants Day

Stuck inside

 Sunday: Stay-cation!

Depot Hotel!

Water Park!

Arcade!

Prizes from the arcade!

Lynx Game!

Go Lynx!

Cheering!

On the big screen!

Courtside with Boom and Bops for a bit

Monday: More Hotel Fun

Sweet face

Staying in the shallow water

BBQ at Auntie Cat's house/Nokomis Walk

Hat hair!

Big branch

There you have it!  More pictures from the weekend and the rest of May can be found here!  

Happy Memorial Day!

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT

This is a very important PSA.

If you are ever contemplating buying shorts that look like this,

I beg of you to reconsider.

They are CRABBY PANTS.  I repeat: CRABBY PANTS.

They may make you say things totally confusing to your parents.  Like:

"Yes get me out of my high chair! NO I STAY IN!  YES GET ME OUT! NO I STAY IN!!!!!"

Or you may find yourself telling your mom:

"I DON'T LISTEN!"

Or you may find yourself scream crying because, after taking the crabby pants off for nap time, your dimwitted parents wanted to actually put them back ON you in order to go to Petco.

So, I know you are all bummed that the hot pair of purple biking shorts you had your eye on may make you have some sort of toddler mood disorder, but please please please...go for the pink jammy-style ones instead. 

They apparently will make you smile while brushing your teeth AND you'll let your mommy hold you.

29-Months-Old and a Graduation!

First off, I'll let the 29-month-old show you how smart she is (I'm currently having issues with vimeo, so I hope the blogger video app works!).

Secondly, I'm very proud to share with you that after 17 weeks of training, Chris is officially a Bloomington Police Reserve Officer.  It is volunteer position that required extensive training and studying, and he'll begin his once-a-month shifts on Thursday night.

A good crowd came out to support him and I was excited to be able to be the one to pin on his badge, with the Police Chief looking on.

The night ended with a tour of the police station, which was AWESOME.  We got to see the dispatch room, the jail, the evidence rooms and the garage with all the cop cars.  I wanted to take a picture of me in a jail cell, but didn't want to embarrass my newly-graduated husband. :)