Weekend Wrap-Up: The 12th Anniversary Edition

Hey all!  Today is Chris' and my 12th anniversary!  Twelve years ago, we looked like this:

But you may be aware that we have a slightly longer history...we go way back to the late '90s.  And the photo evidence is brutal.  But kind of hysterical.  And so I will share it with all of you.  Most of our photos from high school are from school dances.  And my favorite early photo together (top left) was in my childhood backyard on the first day that we got Hugo Percy (the eventually paralyzed weiner dog that our family loved so much).

I mean...bangs.  We both had really unfortunate bangs and/or weird flippy hair things.

Then came college.

Ok, our hair is making a little progress, though mine is all over the place in terms of cut and style.

At this point I'd like to make a big shout out to my mom, Mary, and Mari for putting together scrapbooks for us many years ago. They come in so handy when wanting to walk down memory lane.

And now to shout out to myself, for becoming a scrapbooker right after our wedding and making scrapbooks for our first few years of marriage.

And then my scrapbooking mojo turned into blogging once kids came along, so I looked through 7 years of pictures on my computer to find the few that were just of the two of us.  They were much harder to find, but I was successful.

I'd say we have been very lucky in our many years together.  We have amazing kids, fantastic family and friends, and lots of lovely memories to look back on.

On to the weekend. We spent a lot of yesterday cleaning (I unearthed the lovely pink frame in Callie's room with my face crossed off in 2 pictures). And then we spent some time outside.

Chris and I got out for a date night (thanks G-ma and Pa!) and played mini-golf in the rain.

We also did dinner and a walk, but we were home by 8 to get in our PJs and watch Netflix because we are tired and probably boring.

This morning my mom, Laura and I went to see MA. It continues to be unreal, but seeing it in person made it a little more real.

Later this afternoon I got out my wedding dress for fun, and the girls tried it on.

Tonight we had most of our family over for BBQ and hanging out (and looking at wedding scrapbooks!). I didn't get too many pictures, but here are a few.

Here's another video of some random videos we took this weekend. I say "we" because Callie took the first few videos. So there's potty talk and sass. Just a heads' up.

Untitled from Baby Goose on Vimeo.

Thanks for all the love today! It has been fun thinking about our big day 12 years ago. It was SO MUCH FUN.

A Picture Update: Summer Week 8

Another week of summer has passed by. This was another hard one. You probably heard on the news that on Wednesday there was a gas leak and explosion at my high school. There were injuries and fatalities and part of the building is just gone. My sisters and I went to MA starting in Kindergarten and all the way through graduation. Chris and his siblings went there for high school. It is where we met. Mary and Cat both worked there for years. In college I worked for MA as a day camp counselor. There are a lot of MA memories in our family.

MA Graduation- June 2000

My thoughts and prayers have been constantly with the MA community. And the weirdest part was I drove the girls around my old neighborhood, including MA, on Tuesday- less than 24 hours before it happened. I didn't take a picture there, but I took one a few blocks south at "the wall" that I grew up playing on.

On Monday, as I mentioned in my Tuesday post, it was Auntie Cat's birthday.  So we went over to hang out with her! We also went to the park and hung out with Boom and Lucy for a bit.

On Monday night we walked to the library.  It was pretty beautiful.



We met Casey and her kids at Wabun on Tuesday morning for a little splashing and playing at the park.

Callie had a sleepover with Boom on Tuesday night!




Maya and I headed downtown on Wednesday and we all went to meet Auntie Yoda for lunch and visit her at her office.

Laura's view looks out at the IDS Center, where our dad's office was
when we were growing up- on the 47th floor.

On Thursday we headed downtown again to take care of Lucy!

There are two big children in that crib, in case you couldn't tell.

Today was one of the few days this summer we didn't have anything planned- no camps, no plans with friends or family, nothing.  So the girls and I headed to the zoo and had a lovely morning together.

We saw "Humpback Whales" in 3D!

I'll leave you with some random videos from this week- some tennis lessons, poor Lucy being harassed by her cousins, and hanging out with goats.

Untitled from Baby Goose on Vimeo.

And if you liked the vintage Kati and Chris picture, come back on Sunday for our anniversary post.  I went through all my scrapbooks and found some oldies.  You may be able to track the trajectory of Chris' hair from needing lots of product to hold the shape to...bald. No product necessary.

Have a great weekend!

Timehop Tuesday: Happy (Belated) Birthday Auntie Cat!

It was Auntie Cat's birthday yesterday!! I missed blogging it because I was over at her house until after 9:30pm. :)

So my first Timehop is Auntie Cat opening birthday presents with little ones.

And this week I got a few different sister Timehops. My favorite!

And then we have Cal, super excited about family vacations up north.

And Mighty Maya!

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: