Weekend Wrap-Up: The God Bless Lucy Allyn Edition!

Happy Sunday! We have had a super busy and fun weekend. Most importantly, Lucy was baptized today!!! Uncle Joe came out from Connecticut to continue the tradition of baptizing his grand nieces. And I am honored to be Lucy's godmother.

But more on that later.

First up: yesterday. My race. I made it. My time was 2:17:08. And that included a complete wipeout at mile 7 and a stop for medical treatment on my bloody elbow. I have scrapes and bruises today to show for it.

But I felt good about my run overall, and despite the fall it was much less painful than I was expecting. I had some awesome supporters too.

When we got home, Callie must have felt sorry for me. She picked a flower and made me a card.

After lots of Advil and napping, we headed back to Lake Nokomis to hang out with Uncle Joe, Boom, Auntie Yoda, Uncle Craigles, Lucy, and Craig's brother  Brian.

This morning was the Baptism.

We had a lovely lunch at the condo after the service. There was a wonderful group of friends and family who came for the special occasion.

And some good family time!

The girls helped Lucy open some presents.

Mary made Lucy's dress. It was made out of the fabric from the shirt my dad wore for Laura and Craig's wedding. It turned out so beautifully and will be a treasured family heirloom.

All in all, it was a lovely special day.

A Picture Update: Summer Week 7

You guys, back in week 2 I remember thinking how fast week 7 would come, but how it felt so far away at the same time. Now here we are.  I still have 3 more weeks of summer, but it is really starting to feel like the beginning of the end. How uplifting is that?!? Happy Friday!

I'll admit I struggled a little this week. I think the realization of summer ending with the stress of tomorrow's half marathon looming...I wasn't my best self. But, like in all challenging times, I try and bring it all back to gratitude. So here is what I'm grateful for this week.

#1: My family and our home and the different ways we enjoy being together. Like playing on Snapchat, pool time, and scootering.

#2: Having one-on-one time with Maya while Callie had tennis camp.

#3: Helping Callie perk up after major vacation withdrawal by inviting over her best school friend for a play date. Maya had fun too.

#4: Hanging out downtown with Boom and Lucy.

#5: Having the opportunity to watch Lucy at our house all day on Thursday and watching the cousin bonds grow stronger.

#6: Having 3 hours to myself this morning, and spending most of it in the hammock without too much guilt.

#7: Enjoying a beautiful evening at Lake Nokomis with some of my favorite people.

#8: A husband who will go out and get me a McDonald's vanilla shake because it has been my tradition to always have a McDonald's vanilla shake the night before a big race.


So there you have it. My gratitude list.

I'm so much in my head about my race tomorrow. Running has been hard lately, and the past 2 long runs felt awful. But I'm trying to trust my body and convince my mind that I am ready.  I have come a long way.

I started running ten years ago- the summer of 2007.  I had never ever before run farther than whatever we were required to run in PE class in school.  In May 2008 I completed my first half marathon, and tomorrow I will run my ninth (with a full marathon, and a few 15K and 10 milers completed as well the past 9 years).

My last half marathon was in August 2015, and I finished with a time of 2:18:48 (by best half marathon time is 2:05:44 back in 2011).  So I'm setting that as my time to beat. I'm hoping it helps that the half I'm doing is one I have done three times before.

If you are awake from 7am to 9:18ish tomorrow, send good vibes!

Have a great weekend.

Timehop Tuesday

Hola! I have some Timehops for you this morning, many from our up north adventures the past few years.

The girls:

The fam:

Me and Hanna (I have coined the phrase "twin-laws" for us, since as of June 9, 2018, we will both be married to twin brothers!)

The four of us:

Weekend Wrap-Up: The Happy Birthday Maya Edition!!

First of all, today Maya turned 4!!!!

This girl is the biggest, sweetest, sassiest goofball you'll ever meet. She has grown up so much in 4 years, I just can't believe it.

Happy birthday to my little Love Bug!! 

I'll get back to the birthday festivities in a minute, but first the rest of the weekend. We got to see Boom and Lucy on Friday!!

And as you can see, we all wore our tie-dye shirts that we made up north! Lucy looks a little concerned, being surrounded by all that tie-dye.

Yesterday I went on my last long run before my half marathon (which is this Saturday). It was hot and terrible. I hope that means next weekend will go fine. But I cooled off in our kiddie pool when I was done.

We went to the Suurmeyer's for dinner to see all the 2nd generation Suurmeyer/Henderson kids together! Nathan and Meina were in town with their 6-month-old George. He and Lucy met, and the grandma's took turns holding each other's grandbabies.

Then there was obviously some Lucy time, and a little celebration for Maya too!

The birthday song and everything. 

Untitled from Baby Goose on Vimeo.

She was a little demure during it, but better than her sister at 4. I believe Callie had to be out of sight under a table to even consider letting us do the birthday song.

This morning Maya woke up to some streamers and balloons on her bedroom door, and of course, presents!

We met the Helds at Chutes and Ladders park for the morning and had so much fun playing, climbing, and running through the misters.

After a long quiet time at home, we headed out to one of our favorite spots- Centennial Lakes! G-ma, Pa, Aunie Cat, Boom and Hanna met us there for fishing, paddle boat rides, dinner and opening presents.

I'll leave you with a quick story and a couple pictures.  When we were shopping for Maya's birthday treats today I walked past the Coke display at Lund's.  I don't know what made me take a second look at it, but when I did, I saw this Diet Coke.  And I had to buy it.



I'll end this post with a picture of my dad- Bops- holding his second granddaughter Maya, 4 years ago today.

I hope you all had a lovely weekend, and thanks for all of the birthday love for our little girl.

A Picture Update: Summer Week 6, the Larsmont Edition

Happy Friday!!!

We spent this week 6 of summer up on the north shore enjoying a fabulous vacation with the Gosselibsons.  In other words, G-ma, Pa, Auntie Cat, Uncle Dan, Hanna, and Boom.  Oh my goodness did we have a wonderful time.

We left after lunch on Sunday and headed north.  Callie rode with G-ma, Pa and Cat, while Boom rode with me, Chris and Maya.  Dan and Hanna met us up there a little later.  Maya was a very bossy seat mate, so I spent a lot of time trying to keep her busy.  We also enjoyed some sights of Duluth on our way up.

When we got to our cottage at Larsmont, we immediately set up the hammock and checked out the water.  We relaxed, snacked, and played.  And we threw our first rocks into the lake, which was a daily activity.

On the first evening, G-ma, Pa, Hanna and I went out to star gaze.  I caught the beautiful tree line before it got pitch dark.

Each morning I woke up for the sunrise, and each morning it looked a little different.  Here was the first morning, definitely my favorite.

While the boys went golfing, the girls enjoyed the morning at a "rock beach."  The water was cold, but we were brave.

Hanna and I took the girls swimming after lunch!  We loved the outdoor hot tub. And then the girls had a blast in the whirl pool tub in our cottage.

Auntie Cat built us an awesome campfire in the late afternoon.  We sat and enjoyed the beauty (while the girls played with some new Legos.  And Uncle Dan joined in a little too).

Tuesday morning's sunrise was had some pretty cool colors and clouds.

Around 9:00am we packed up lunches and headed further north to Pebble Beach.  We rock climbed, enjoyed the different views of Superior, and threw some more rocks.

We found a great spot for a picnic lunch, and G-ma got a lovely picture of Split Rock Lighthouse.



After lunch we headed to Gooseberry Falls. It was chilly and rainy, but we still made the short trek up to see see the waterfall.

I got a series of pictures on that day of our awesome family helping the girls out.  It takes a village, especially when walking in nature and around waterfalls.



After our excursions, we sent the girls home with the boys so the adult girls could stop for coffee and treats.

Our late evening plans included swimming, Callie losing a tooth, and Maya helping Uncle Dan with our evening wine.

Wednesday morning's sunrise was cloudy, but the colors were like a watercolor painting.

At 10am we headed a little south towards Duluth.  We checked out the waterfalls along Seven Bridges Road.

The girls found these huge dandelion things to blow.

And then we went to Spirit Mountain for lunch and to do their Alpine Slide.

When we got back we did some more swimming (but no pictures).  And after that, it was time for AGE GROUP with Hanna!  (Age group is something we have done at the past 2 family camps in the past, so we recreated it a bit with TIE DYE).

And then there was more fun in the hammock, and another wonderful fire by Auntie Cat, this time used for making our dinner. And dessert.






The last sunrise was a little cloudy again, but I just love the light shades of pink and blue.



Throughout the week we played lots of games around the resort and in our cottage.

And just had so much other miscellaneous fun.

Our girls had THE BEST time.

Callie cried last night because our vacation was over.  And today Maya came up to me and said, "Mom, wasn't that a fun vacation trip?"



I'm so grateful to have such wonderfully supportive, fun and amazing travel companions.  And what an added bonus that we get to call them family.

Thanks to everyone for a lovely trip!  I hope you enjoyed all of our pictures.  We are already excited thinking about next summer's family adventure.