Regatta 09 #1 - A Compilation of Favorite Pictures

Note: As soon as I had written the below statement and uploaded half of the pictures, the baby started wailing...as if she hadn't been fed in the last, oh, 2 hours. I had the best intentions to post this last night, but needed to put on my mommy hat. So here it is now!

The night is late, and I'm getting tired. To conserve my energy tonight, I'll make 2 different posts: 1 - a post of Favorite Pictures from this weekend and 2 - what we did this weekend. For post #1, look below. For post #2, you will have to wait in anticipation. Until tomorrow. Or Thursday.

Here are some of My Faves:

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CONGRATS

Scott and Laura, on the birth of your son!

We are SO glad to know that you made it through one of the initial parts of parenting, healthy and well. We love you!

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Sorry to add this in here. It in no way belongs on a post with such happy news as the birth of a new baby. But, as we are currently recovering from Regatta weekend (pictures to come...tomorrow), preparing multiple ribs for my Dad's birthday dinner (tonight) and cooking dinner for Scott and Laura (all while trying NOT to food poison anyone...), AND battling 2 crabby kids...well...I don't have the brain power to make 1 other, separate post, especially on this subject. So here goes.

Katie - the Tomato worms. I hate them. I loathe their existence. I am flabbergasted that God made such evil looking creatures, and am convinced that they converted to the evil side in The Fall. That being said, "I" deal with the nasty nasties by siccing Travis on them. And he does what most boys would do - torture them with fire. And did you know that they bit? and if you slam them into the ground they splurt neon green? This is Travis' warning, honestly, I don't get close enough to have these experiences. Ewwww! (how girly is that?!)

Photoshoot: REAL TIME

Somebody left these arm warmers at our house...anybody?

So we felt it was our obligation to introduce Adalynn to vogue-ing.

A movie would have won us a million, for sure.

Travis was directing.

"Put your hands up, oh yea, put them up"

"That's the way, clap them together now, show off those arms"

"Turn around, girl, turn around"

"Brush your hair back"

Evidently, brushing your hair back from your face is a 2-year-old milestone, one we haven't quite reached yet.

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Keely agrees with the hilariouty. Really, she's laughing inside. And would like to extend her gratefulness to her sister for the additional blanket and bowls. DON'T YOU KNOW IT'S 80 DEGREES OUTSIDE? YA TRYING TO KILL ME WITH THIS HEAT? AND RUB IT IN, WHY DON'T YA, THAT I CAN'T EAT FOOD. THANKS.

Millenium Park

The Place: Millenium Park

The Time: 11am

The Day: Tuesday

Why: Why not?

If I lived closer, guaranteed I'd probably own a season pass to this park. Only for am and pm use, afternoons scare me with the high population of running, screaming children.

Adalynn was thrilled (read: not thrilled at all, my-mother-is-slowly-killing-me-with-each-droplet-of-water-on-my-bod) with the splashpad. It's ok though, she's still alive, and we're going to get over her pool and sprinkling water phobia if it's the last thing we do. And Tiff, no, she is not wearing a shirt, yes, she is wearing underroos over her diaper. It's the new fad.

Keely remained in her usual state of excitement and awe.

After attempting to escape from the splashpad to "the beach", Adalynn refocused on the playground. Where mommy once again tried to maim her by pushing her down the scary, man-eating slide. (in my defense, adalynn was dancing in her "i want to, but i don't" manner. i merely hastened the process. and she had fun. i saw a smile. and maybe a small snicker.)

We love our terrific Tuesdays with Nana.

Our Weekend: A Summary

Well, Saturday. The rest of the weekend we hung around the house, trying to catch up on chores that have been put off due to intense basement beautification.

This was pretty cool though. On Saturday, the a-Round Green Lake Association held the first annual "a-Round Green Lake" run, a 5K with proceeds to benefit the Women's Auxilary (that i'm supposed to be a part of, seeing as i am the wife of a firefighter, but haven't actually taken part in yet, because i'm a slacker. oops.). So, the name of the race is a funny, because the 2 lakes less than a mile from our home, Round Lake and Green Lake, are separated by a one lane road...therefore, a-Round Green Lake is somewhat of a pun, ... , ... Anyway. My dad and Linda decided to travel down to podunk and participate, and Trav, although he offered to run with his gear on to promote the fire dept, worked traffic. Adalynn, Keely and I played cheerleaders for those who were brave enough attempt the run. For their first year they had a decent turnout - about 175 runners.

But the coolest comes now...the race starts. Adalynn, Keely and I are standing at a junction of 2 streets that the runners come by three times. First, everyone is in a clump as the race has just started 1/4 mile prior.

On their return, we noticed something.

Linda was the first woman to come through.

Me, so observant, yells, "Way to go Lin...wait...I think you're the first woman!" (another bystander agrees with me) "YOU'RE THE FIRST! GOOD JOB! KEEP IT GOING!!" Then I open my eyes wider and look behind Linda..."Oh, but you might need to keep it up...there's quite a few right behind you..."

So Adalynn, Keely and I wait for Dad to come through...

...at which point he yells at me to get out of there and go push Linda through the final stretch to the finish. Good one.

So we did. And in the first finish where I actually saw Linda's little legs lengthen (like the alliteration?) in the kick to the line, she finished as the 1st Woman Overall.

Isn't this pretty? The prize for the first place runners. The winners of the age groups got smaller plates. A local woman created them. I think she did a beautiful job. (i may be biased, she admired keely for a while and said she was gorgeous.)

So that was task #1 on Saturday. Task #2 involved picking Kelsey up in Rockford and driving down to Middleville. Yes, Middleville. Not Caledonia. Travis and I (mainly I) decided that with the girls so young it's not the best for Kelsey or the girls to have to juggle twice daily chores that take a minimum of 1/2 hour am and pm. And that is just to cover Kels' simple basics. Not even mentioning riding. So, we contacted Kels' prior owner who was ecstatic to hear that we were selling and readily agreed to buy her back. So Kels is back in Middleville, lovin' it up on some good home-grown grass.

It's the best for right now. Our Life Lesson Learned: Never Buy a Horse when you have attempted to procreate in the last month. GUARANTEED that the moment you buy one, you WILL pee on a stick and it will come up positive. Even if you just peed on one the morning you picked up the horse and it was negative. Doesn't matter. God has a funny sense of humor like that.

So in the future, when we have land of our own, we'll have another horse. Maybe 2. Maybe a bigger garden and some kittens. Some Beefalo and Chiturkeys too. Ayup.