Busy, Busy

 

My parents were gracious enough to drive us home after our quick trip to St. Louis. The next day, we visited the DuPage County Fair. They thought the animals were great, but Brooke really loved the rides. We go to our fair share of carnivals, don't we?

Brooke has also been taking swimming lessons the last couple of weeks. I'm really proud of her. She's gotten much braver (the goggles help), although floating is still a bit of a struggle. 

We also enjoyed an evening kids' concert at the Arboretum (despite the sweltering heat) with Christy and Kali. 

Some randoms from the downtime that we've had:

He's really into waking her up and giving her "hugs". I love it.

Playing (I'm not sure what, but I'm sure there was an elaborate imagined story for it) with Daddy.

That's it for July. Next up is our annual family vacation to Michigan. We're excited!

Whirlwind Trip

 

The day after the half marathon, I got on a plane with the kids to St. Louis to celebrate Lexi's birthday. It was a few days late, but with everyone's busy summer schedules, it was the only time we could work out to get all the girls together for a surprise party with "all the girl cousins" (Lexi's only request for her birthday). The plane ride went really smoothly and after a quick stop to visit my Grandma and Grandpa, we surprised Lexi at her house. We also took the kids swimming later that day.

There was story reading - princesses, of course.

And lots of dress up.

These handsome fellas were along for the ride.

The night ended with a screening of "Tangled" and not much sleep - especially for the parents.

Our last stop the next day was Monkey Joe's.

I think Miles had more fun on the mechanical rides (without quarters put in them) than the bouncy stuff. Can't say I blame him.

We're so glad we were able to celebrate the big #5 with this special girl. We love you, Lexi!!!

Rock 'n' Roll

A few months ago, Jamie mentioned to me that she was thinking of doing the Chicago Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon. I'd already been running regularly and thought it'd be a good goal to work toward, but as it drew closer, I got more and more nervous. The day before the race, we had to drive all the way into the city to pick up my packet, so we decided to make a family day of it and headed to Navy Pier.

 

We spent far too much money on mediocre rides (Brooke kept asking what was wrong with the ferris wheel because it was going so slowly), although Brooke did deem this lighthouse ride "amazing."

We also had a nice lunch at Harry Caray's. It was a beautiful day.

This half was MUCH larger than my last half marathon. And the weather, while not quite the brutal heat and humidity we'd been having, was not exactly ideal. I finished a few minutes later than my target time, but I felt like I pushed myself and that's all I could ask for. Matt and the kids, his mom, and Will also came down to cheer us on.

Oh, and this lady also ROCKED it. So proud of you, Jamie!

 

It was a lot of fun, I'm glad we did it, and I haven't sworn off doing another, so I don't think there's much more I could ask for!

Sedona

Matt and I were able to get away for an anniversary trip last weekend. We decided on Sedona, AZ, based on some strong recommendations from friends and family. We actually thought to take a few pictures of ourselves this time.

This was the view from the lounge at the resort where we stayed. Breathtaking!

The trip was what I felt to be the perfect balance of lounging and exploring. We went on a couple of hikes, one guided and one not. We definitely liked exploring by ourselves better.

As usually happens on our getaways, Matt got stir-crazy by the pool and decided to venture off on his own mountain biking. I got a text from him about 20 minutes after he left saying, "Not the best idea I've ever had."  Thankfully he returned unharmed.

Our AMAH-ZING anniversary dinner at L'Auberge. Icing on the cake - the table of guys next to us asked if it was our honeymoon!

View from our table:

We also went on a Pink Jeep Tour that we would highly recommend. Matt admittedly had a bit of a man-crush on our guide, Duff.

We adore our children but it was really nice to get away alone for a couple of days. Special thanks to Brian, Debbie and Jamie who took care of the kids - to the point that Brooke wasn't ready to come home - while we were gone. I'll leave you with a couple more Red Rock shots. Did I mention it was beautiful there?

July Goings-On

 

Our summer started at a pretty leisurely pace but has quickly picked up this month. Here are some random shots of what we've been up to between the traveling. Before it got super-hot, we were enjoying visiting parks, both alone and with friends.

We've done our fair share of chalk-drawing (I know, the octopus is amazing. I'm thinking of commissioning some of my work.) and bubble blowing.

Miles has discovered the trampoline, which has caused Brooke to re-discover the trampoline (and the annoyingly loud song it plays repetitively).

Brooke met Curious George.

Matt's been working quite a bit with Brooke on both her wiffle ball and golf swing.

We had a rainy day playdate that included quite the performance.

 

They continue to overall be really cute together. Don't be mislead, though, Miles has already been pushed over his fair share. He's also already learning to fight back. I guess that's a good thing?

 

And here are some of the pics that we got while we were away in Sedona. Like I said, they had a great time!

Summer's only half-over. There's a lot more fun to be had!