A Movie Worth Owning

Nancy and I were scheduled to see Atonement tonight, but due to constraints with my work where I need to "on call" for a development team in India, we were unable to squeeze that movie in. Since we still wanted to see a movie, Juno was the one movie that would allow me to get home before 9pm.

Thank goodness for odd time crunches! We both ended up loving the movie as did most people in the audience as demonstrated by the fact that they clapped at the end of the movie! What was really interesting was that people of all ages were there - older couples, younger couples, and even a group of teenaged boys. And, they all seemed to enjoy it.

What is the movie about? Well, it is about an unique 16 year old girl who gets pregnant and decides to give the baby up for adoption. Yawn? Yep, that is exactly what I said, too, but I was completely surprised and enjoyed it. The cast is great, the directing is great, and the script is great.

This is definitely a movie that I will be buying!

First Exposures to Pro Football

The boys and I had a fun day filled with Legos, errands, bowling, a new computer game purchase (Sim City 4), and dinner at California Pizza Kitchen. Each of these places that we visited was either playing the Patriots vs. Chargers on the radio or on the tv. By the time we reached California Pizza Kitchen and the game of the Packers vs Giants started up, the boys and I were infected with excitement.

While we were installing Sim City and playing a little bit, we had the football game on the tv (wow! digital is really cool!). Soon, we were all watching the game. The boys decided to cheer for the Packers since several of their friends love the Packers; while I chose to cheer for the Giants just to add some drama and in support of my step-Dad, Gordie.

This was the first time that Ethan and Alexander actually watched a pro-football game. So, I spent some time with them explaining what downs were and how they changed, what the flags meant, and why they were trying to kick the ball through the yellow posts. Yes, I, MEEE, Marcy was explaining football. If you know me - THAT is a laughable statement!

Alexander really enjoyed watching the game and re-enacting some of the plays that harder hits (the farther the people bounced, the better). At one point, we were watching two of the players nearly get into a fit. In good sportsmanship manner (and after several tears at the bowling alley followed by me explaining that it was just a game and that we should just have fun), he comments, "What is up with those guys? Don't they know that it is just a game???!!!!" I giggled and explained that this was their JOB and that they all made a LOT of money playing said game! He didn't quite believe me, but then accepted it and returned to watching the game.

I have always thought that he would enjoy playing football, so it didn't surprise me at all when he blurted out, "Mom, I want to play football!' at least 15+ minutes after the earlier conversation about game vs. job. I said that we could sign him up for football in the fall, but he cut me off with, "No, no! I want to play football now that I know that they make a lot of money!"

First Month of Resolution Kept!

This morning marked the first month of keeping my resolution to run a 5k a month by running the Frigid 5k in the State Fairgrounds! This was my first race since I started up again where they actually kept times with shoe chips. So, I am proud to say that I finished 112th! :)

The race was smaller than the last two races that I have run and I really enjoyed it. It became a race against myself. I would also target people ahead of me to see if I could catch them. Running is such a mind game that it was fun to try to use some strategy. I also increased my pace to see if I could handle it and it worked! I shaved 4 minutes off of my 5k time! I probably could have pumped it up more, but need to progress slowly.

Due to the race and the resolution, I am now the proud owner of a nice Frigid 5 knit cap and a new personal best (since I started running again!).

Here are all of my stats:

Age 38

Bib Number

271

Division

F3539

City

Bloomington MN

Overall Place

112 out of 184

Gender Place

45 out of 94

Division Place

10 out of 20

Finish Time

0:32:30

Mile Pace

10:28/mile

Kilometer Pace

6:30/km

Got Resolutions?

The new year is quickly approaching and with it comes the media upswing to catch us at one of our weaker moment - when we are setting a resolution. Yes, the onslaught of ads for health clubs and weight loss services has begun. It also means that the club is going to be packed for the next 4 - 6 weeks. I know, that is selfish, but I prefer to actually have a treadmill to run on rather than wait 30 minutes for one to free up or to have room to jump and wiggle my hinney during a class!

In defiance of the tradition of resolutions, I typically do not set one. Okay, that sounds like grandstanding, but I know myself and I don't tend to keep the ones that I make on Jan. 1st, so I try to make smaller ones throughout the year. They don't always work either, but for some reason I feel less defeated than when I am unable to keep them at the beginning of the year. Any psych majors out there who want to comment on that? ;)

This year might be different, though. I went scrapbooking at Scrapbooks Too on Friday night and all day and night Saturday. I ended up sitting with some of my scrapbooking friends, Susan, who I haven't seen in a while. We got talking about running and how I did the Reindeer Run while she opted to stay in her cozy, warm bed. Yes, I should have stayed in mine that day, but now I get bragging rights for doing a race in sleet and sub-zero temps! She then went on to say that missing the December race made her not meet her resolution for the year because her resolution last year was to run in a 5k race each month. What a GREAT idea!!

So, it sounds as though I do "Got Resolutions" and I will officially state it:
"My resolution is to run a 5k each month of the year"

So, here is the plan so far:

• Sunday, January 13th
• Frigid 5 around the State Fairgrounds
• REGISTERED!
  
• Saturday, February 16th
• Marathon Sports Valentine's Day 5k around Lake Harriet (hopefully, it will be warmer than during the Reindeer Run!!)
• Sunday, March 16th
• St. Patrick's Day Human Race
• Saturday, April 26th
• Get in Gear at Minnehaha Park (MINDA - are you joining us???)

Those are the ones that I want to do for sure (along with the Turkey Day 5k and the Reindeer run again). The rest of the year is up in the air; well, except for November and December.

There are a lot in May (obviously, it becomes a little more pleasant run at that time of year). Has anyone run any of these? Any feedback?

• Saturday, May 3rd
• Arise and Run for the Prize at Elm Creek
• This one has a kids run that might be fun to let the boys try
• Sunday, May 4th
• Sholom Community Alliance Oy Vey 5k
• How can I pass up a t-shirt that says "Oy Vey 5k" on it???
• Sunday, May 4th
• Arboretum 5k Bud Break
• Saturday, May 10th
  
• Eden Prairie Spring Run for Fun
• This one is on Purgatory Creek and around Staring Lake - that would be a nice run
• Benefits the "Girls on the Run"

What about you? Got Resolutions?

2,056 Legos and 31,000 Lights

2,056 Legos for ages 16+ assembled by Mr. Ethan (9 years old) in 2 days! Here is the proud boy with his amazing creation! This Lego set is really cool. It is part of their new "modular" line, so each floor is an independent entity and can be separated without disconnecting Legos.


31,000 lights cover this oak tree. The backside of this house overlooks the river valley and the tree can be seen in Burnsville and Eagan. We confirmed it by crossing the river and viewing it from other side. The picture just doesn't do it justice!

Poor shutter speed choice, but I love the smiles on the boys!

Merry Christmas!

I hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas with family and friends. We had a fun day opening presents, obsessing, sledding, skating, and eating. the boys really loved their presents. Ethan's big gift was a big Lego set of Cafe Corner and one of his other favorites was Mario Party for his DS. Alexander's big gifts were a punching bag and a big Ferris Wheel Lego set. The surprise of the gifts is that Alexander LOVES his Webkinz. We spent the day attempting to get on the website and were successful most of the time, but there was a message posted about the fact that they were experiencing larger than expected volumes and were having difficulty keeping up.

Here are some pictures from Christmas Eve and Christmas.

Feeding the reindeer on Christmas Eve:
Ready to open presents!

Reading Santa's reply to Alexander's list of questions:

Sheer joy when Ethan received the Lego kit he really wanted!

Alexander thrilled with this new punching bag and gloves!
The fruits of my obsessive labors - assembling Alexander's Lego Ferris Wheel. The set was for 8-12 year olds. It took me most of the day to get 2/3 of it finished, I took a break for sledding, skating, and dinner. We finished it up a couple of hours later! Whew! The cool thing is that it has a motor so that the ferris wheel really goes around!

New Favorite Pizza

Just needed to share that my new favorite pizza is California Pizza Kitchen's Thai Chicken minus the cilantro. YUMMY! YUMMY! YUMMY! I had it Saturday night when Alexander and I had a date for dinner and Alvin and the Chipmunks. Needless to say, I liked the pizza more than the movie! ;)

Here is the description:

This is the original! Pieces of chicken breast marinated in a spicy peanut-ginger and sesame sauce, Mozzarella cheese, green onions, bean sprouts, julienne carrots, cilantro and roasted peanuts.

It is especially yummy after my butt wiggle group fitness class, aka Soul Cardio. It is a great class, but it really is a lot fo butt wiggling!

For the Love of Snow

I love snow - especially when it falls on the weekend and there is plenty of time for the crews to clear the roads before I need to drive on it. Yes, I was out in the storm on Saturday morning for the Reindeer Run, but I was in Minda's big truck, so I didn't have to stress about driving. In addition to the truck, she used to live in the areas where we ran, so she knew which roads to take that would have less traffic and be more clear.

After arriving home from the race, I didn't leave. I opened all of my blinds and admired the storm. My favorite place to admire it was curled up on the couch watching movies. It was lovely. Sunday was a busier day, but the day still had a wintery theme to it. I went over to the house and helped put up the Christmas tree because I learned that Kyle wasn't going to put it up. I couldn't let the boys be without a tree and I didn't want to haul everything over to my apartment, so we put up the tree in the traditional place in the living room. Side note: I learned today that a friend at work is going to loan a small tree to me. I can't wait! I need to get some lights and a few ornaments. Okay...back to Sunday. After the Christmas tree, I headed home to relax, but how could we let a beautiful, wintery afternoon pass by without sledding?! So, I called up the boys and they agreed to meet me at the sledding hill. It is pretty close to my apartment, so I walked over there fully outfitted and ready to go. Alexander, of course, was right in with the big kids who were building a snow jump. He was one of the several "testers" and "crashers" for the snow jump. Ethan took the more even routes without jumps. Needless to say, I joined Ethan on runs down the hill, but never Alexander! My brain still remembers the pain in my tailbone after going over one of those snow ramps last year! Our festivities on the hill ended when it started to get dark, Ethan was cold, and Alexander did a nose-dive into the snow off of the snow ramp and his nose hurt.

We then headed off to the Galleria to pick up some yummy, Big Bowl. While we waited for our food, I couldn't resist going into Pottery Barn, Restoration Hardware, and Pottery Barn Kids just to see the looks on the clerks' faces when someone dressed like us entered the store. Side note for Mom - the Galleria is the snooty mall by Southdale where most people where fur coats rather than sledding gear!

Today, I didn't really get to enjoy the snow, but I do love the crunchy noise it makes under your feet. What we did do instead of play in the snow is volunteer at Creekside to serve ice cream for after the meal and to sing Christmas carols. This was the resulting service project from our small group's 40 Days of Community study. I have to admit that I was a bit nervous about it, but I ended up having a blast. The boys weren't too sure about it either, but after a while, they really warmed up to the microphones and had fun singing carols on the stage.

Afterwards, I headed to the club for a run. I hope I get used to running on a treadmill or else it is going to be a VERY long winter!!! Maybe it is time to get some running snow shoes and to give that a try! I do want to try cross country skiing. I hear that Hyland lights up their cross country trails - that should be a lot of fun. Maybe we will try it this weekend!

SUCCESS!

Minda and I successfully completed the Reindeer Run this morning! Woohoo!

I finished in 35 minutes even after a super slow start. It was sleeting directly into our faces for the first leg of the races. I reached a point where I couldn't feel my lips and was getting nervous about frostbite. Luckily, the run was around Lake Harriett, so after the first 1/2 mile or so, the wind wasn't too bad.

Minda brought her camera, so I should have some pictures to post later today! WE already have a couple of inches of snow on the ground! I am going to take a long, hot shower and then plan some inside activities for the rest of the day. I might even pull out my scrapbooking stuff again!

Alexander's Christmas List

Original form:
- a pachen beg |favorite
- the huvr kraf
- a dort board
- a big hockey net
- hockey pucks
- tennisboll - prackdis hockey
- a snowe mushene
- a D.S. lite that is white
- a gam qood
- a set uv ney hockey
- sum stuft anmuls
- a book lite
- a hockey tadeul not are hockey
- lageos and pepol
- x box 360
- a x box | 3 favrit
- lots uv siins!!!!!!!!!!!!! | 2 favrit
- a lechrickgotor

Translated:
- a punching bag
- the hover craft (remote control)
- a dart board
- a big hockey net
- hockey pucks
- tennis balls to practice hockey
- a snow machine
- a [Nintendo] D.S. lite in white
- a Game Cube
- a set of knee hockey
- some stuffed animals
- a book light
- a hockey table, not air hockey (like foozball, but with hockey)
- legos and people
- x-box 306 | 3rd favorite
- lots of SCIENCE!!!! |2nd favorite
- an electronic ????? (I will have to check with him!)

A Friendly Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving is being labeled the "Friendly Thanksgiving" in my book! I have had the pleasure of having two Thanksgiving meals with friends. It has been fun and relaxing and I haven't had to cook!

My holiday started with the Turkey Run 5k in downtown Minneapolis. It was my first race in over 11 years and it was the first time EVER that I have attended a race alone. I have to admit that one of the motivating factors for me was the cute T-shirt. Could you resist a turkey t-shirt like this:
and the back:
I heard that over 10K people participated in the race. With that many people, it was really surprising that after I picked up my number, I turned around and there was Kris from my church! I ended up hanging out with Kris and her sister in law until the race started. I knew that they would be faster than me, so I wished them a good race and started off with my slow and steady pace. I ended up running a big part of the race with a woman named Sue. She was really disappointed at how slowly she was going, but I was thrilled to have someone to run and pace with. She ended up having to walk the last 3/4 of a mile, so I finished up the race on my own. I jogged the entire race (woohoo!) and finished in about 35 minutes. It was really hard to tell since it takes a while to reach the start and then there was a bottle neck at the end, so that took a while, too. Regardless, it felt GREAT! After picking up a water and a banana, I had a difficult time finding my parking garage and then the stairs to the garage. So, here is a shout out to all of the strangers that helped me that morning, "THANKS!"

After successfully finding my car (with help!), I headed home, enjoyed a long shower, put on my thick, fleece pj's, and lounged around, cut cheese for the upcoming festivities, did laundry and watched my Netflix DVD's. It was soon time to head up to Bernie's in St. Francis. It was supposed to be Bernie, Dawn, Wendy, and me for Thanksgiving dinner. Wendy's family activities went longer than she expected, so she wasn't able to join us. That means that we had 3 people to eat a 20 lb bird, about 5+ lb of potatoes, and TONS more.

Here is a picture of Bernie carving our bird:
Here are Dawn, me, and Bernie getting ready to eat. After we ate, I said that I should take a picture because it didn't look like we had made a dent in ANYTHING!

After cleaning up a bit, Bernie and I head out for a big, long walk (we measured it later and it was 2.5 miles). That felt great. We then attempted to rent National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation to no avail and ended up getting Deck the Halls. That movie was lame - a rip off of the one we wanted, but not nearly as funny. In fact, we all fell asleep during it!

I then loaded up my car for my long drive home only to find that my trunk latch wouldn't work! So, Bernie rigged up a lovely bungee cord, rag, duct tape, one of my workout socks contraption to keep my trunk closed. I was able to get scheduled at the garage on Monday to have it fixed, but there is no using the trunk until that time (lugging stuff for hockey practice this weekend is going to be fun!).

On to Friday....
No early morning shopping for me! I slept late (only 8ish), puttered around my apartment, and then headed to the club. I did a funky new angled elliptical machine that focuses more on the gluts and quads. It was interesting and I will try it again, but I'm not sure how much I liked it. I then did a few laps in the pool since I had a desire to do some swimming. That also felt great.

Then, it was off to Paula's for another feast! Paula, I need some pictures! We had the cutest place settings with lots of fun turkey motifs including turkeys created by Dani made out of candy corn, icing, and cookies. They were adorable! Lots and lots of food was eaten and we had lots of fun conversations.

After helping with the clean-up, I headed back home to get some more things done. I have decided to get back into my scrapbooking, so after unsuccessfully attempting to upload pictures on the Ritz website, I burned a CD and headed in. While they were being printed, I headed to REI's sale to pick up some winter running gear. Whew! Exercise gear is NOT cheap, even on sale. I realize that REI is spendy, but I have been pricing workout gear at a variety of places and I think I found some of the right mix. I found a wicking, long sleeved t-shirt and a jacket that is actually for biking. I like the jacket because it has wind breaking capabilities, but it doesn't have front pockets -only a big pocket in the back (since it is a biking jacket). I actually use the hand pockets quite a bit in my fleece that I have been wearing, so we will have to see if it works for me or not.

All in all, it was a fabulous couple of days and was definitely a "Friendly Thanksgiving"! I am looking forward to the boys being back in town this afternoon for hockey practice, but I had best get moving in order to get the rest of my list completed before they get here!

P.S. Another fantastic thing happened on Thanksgiving Day... Shawn and Deb became parents of Swayer Kay! Check out this adorable little girl on their Baby Blog!!

A Fabulous Fall Day

What an amazingly beautiful day today! I am thrilled to say that I spent most of it outside enjoying the sunshine and the warmth.

The day started out with Sherry arriving at 7am for our trek to St. Francis to Bernie's place. He promised us omelets before our 9am tee time and we were looking forward to trying them. They weren't your typical omelets. They were omelets constructed in ziploc baggies. 2 eggs and then the fixings of your choice all in the bag and then knead well. Write your name on the bag and then throw the bag in a pot of boiling water. Leave them in for 17 minutes and viola you have an omelet. The interesting thing is that the fixings go to the center of the omelet! How? I have no idea and I don't know any food science majors to help me answer that.

We then headed over to The Ponds for nine holes. I had a horrid game, but still had a great time. Sherry's game was on fire. For a girl who only golfs twice a year, she blew us away. Bernie was frustrated during the first half of the round, but then caught his rhythm and did a fantastic job.

The course was really wet, but it was absolutely gorgeous out. The trees were vibrant yellows and rusts. The morning sunlight made the tree colors even more vibrant or was that an optical illusion since we have had rain for the last 17 of 19 days?

After lunch and some chatting in the clubhouse, we headed back south. We only made it to Ramsey before we both realized that we needed some coffee, so we stopped at Caribou and chatted some more.

I crashed a little bit when I got home, but then couldn't let any more time pass without being outside. I headed out the door with my bike and my camera. I decided to head over to Hyland and bike the trails there and then loop back down 84th St down the new bike paths. The trees were gorgeous (surprisingly, they were a little past peak versus what I saw in St. Francis). I also saw lots of things that made me smile. After taking this picture, I took a picture of two new parents with their little baby. The lighting was just perfect and the baby cooperated nicely by giving me a big smile. One thing that surprised me was how thankful the couple was and then another couple stopped me and said how nice it was of me to do that. Taking a picture for someone is such a simple gesture that I didn't even think before offering. Wouldn't most people offer?


The photos just don't capture the splendor of the yellows and the ducks on the lake. Trust me on that one!

This one is on the bike path south of the lake in the first picture. Soon after I took this picture, a snake crossed the path. I was glad that it was in front of me and didn't go under me!
Below is the lake when you are heading towards Richardson Nature Center
On my way out of Richardson, I had a woodpecker just feet from me, but I didn't get my camera out in time before it was too far in the shrubs to see it.

The bike trail then heads down to Normandale Lake. One of my favorite things that always intrigues me is the ski jump. I couldn't resist taking a picture of it. The sun was behind the jump, so this picture was taken with manual settings. It is a little washed out, but I like that you can see the tree colors.

Okay, my long day is coming to an end and I am sleepy!

1st Hockey Practice

The first hockey practice was a success! Alexander did a great job skating and worked really hard. His best friend Keegan was there for practice, too. Having a good friend to hang out with and to skate with makes it even more fun.

Here are the little guys all lined up and ready to hit the ice. Alexander is in the middle in the far back with the light blue jersey and the black helmet. No, he wasn't standing on his tippy toes. That is just how much taller he is than the other kids!



Here is skating (he is in the middle of the pack in the light blue jersey:


And, of course, a good workout requires a lot of rehydration! Here are Keegan and Alexander refueling after practice:

A Hockey Player is Born

Yes! I have given in and I am now officially a hockey mom. The result is that I now have a very excited, happy boy:

Here is all ready to go!

Check out this game face!!

Thankfulness for Friends

The end of this week has been a bit trying for me. It started Friday morning with Minda's husband, Scott, knocking on my door at 7:00 am on his way home from work. I opened the door and was confused to see him. All he said was, "Have you seen your car yet?" My heart sunk immediately. He told me that two of my car windows (on the doors) had been broken. I didn't want to see what was missing on my own, so I asked if he would come downstairs with me.

As we walked to the elevator, I started to make a mental list of the things in my car: my golf clubs, my computer, my roller bag containing my computer, and some shoes that I was going to return.

When we got to the car, the first thing I saw was my golf clubs peaking through the backseat (I had one of the seats down) and I was thrilled that they weren't gone since I had a golf game scheduled for that night! I then popped my trunk to see what else was missing. My computer roller bag and everything in it including my work laptop, my notes, and the worst thing of all....my jump drives with the backup of my computer! Ugh. How stupid to store the jump drives in the same bag as the laptop!

So, as best as I can figure, the thieves noticed that my one back seat was down, so there was easy access to the trunk. They broke the window closest to the backseat that was down (rear passenger side), but then the child safety locks wouldn't let them open the door with the inside handle. So, they then smashed in the driver's window in order to easily pop the trunk and unlock everything. Needless to say, there was glass everywhere in the car. I am still finding pieces of glass.

I have learned a few lessons from this experience:
1) how to lock my backseats so that you can't put them down
2) how to lock my "trunk release" on the driver's door
side thought - these two things my aggravate thieves and make them cause more damage to the car, but I guess I will live with that if it happens
3) never, ever leave your backup copies of your computer in your computer bag
4) never leave your laptop in the car (in fact, I hardly ever do this, but Thursday night, I had worked late and then run some errands, so I had plenty to carry up to my apartment and was way too tired to do any additional work, so I decided to leave it)
5) Friends are wonderful

#5 is my favorite part. It helped me so much to have Scott find the disaster and then to walk me downstairs. After he dropped me off at my apartment to call insurance and the police, his wife and my friend, Minda, came down. Minda and their son Andrew spent the entire morning with me. They helped me call insurance, they helped me clean out my car, and most importantly of all - they were just there. After we got the car cleaned out and I made some phone calls to work, I went to Minda's apartment where she made me a latte and I just sat. It was what I needed to recenter myself. Being near someone who loves you is often the best remedy of all!

Thank you so much Minda, Scott, and Andrew!!!

First Day of School

Today was the first day of school which brings about several emotions for me: I am excited that the boys are growing and gaining experience, but the same thought also makes me sad. It is also a stressful day full of change and new schedules. I am really sad to say that I didn't get many good photos this morning. Now that I have them downloaded, I notice that many of them are out of focus (poor lighting choices) or the boys have fake smiles. I do have two favorites

This is my favorite of the boys because they have real smiles and their personalities are showing through:



This is my absolute favorite. I was locking up the car after taking pictures of the boys by the school sign when I looked up and they were already half way across the parking lot - a definite sign of their independence and confidence:

The Last Day of Summer

Where did the summer go? Did I accomplish the things that I had planned? Nope. Oh well...another summer has gone by and I can still answer that question with "NOPE!" I did accomplish some things such as learning to play golf, starting to teach my boys to golf, starting to run again, etc. All very fun things, but once again, I did not accomplish that academic-side of things that I had hoped with my children. Did they read as much as they were supposed to? No. Did we research topics like I had planned and then do something fun related to the topic? No. Did we practice "bridging" activities? Well, yes, thanks to the GRASP program for Ethan? Whew! I get to answer that one with a YES! Am I upset about not accomplishing these things? Not really - except for the reading part. I love to read! Why do I have such a hard time encouraging my boys to read. I admit that I find it difficult to find the time to sit down with them, but that isn't really a good enough of an excuse. So, to make up for a lackadaisical summer, I had both of the boys read tonight. Ethan read on his own while Alexander sat and read to me while I did dinner dishes. That wasn't exactly the best environment in which to encourage reading, but we made it 25 minutes!

On to a line of questions that won't make me feel guilty...Did we enjoy the last weekend of summer? YES! Was today a fabulous day? YES! Was there time spent this weekend golfing, hiking, biking, and swimming? YES, YES, YES, and YES! Whew! Some affirmative answers.

Our day today was split into two main activities biking and swimming/hanging out at the beach. Our biking adventure was a Elm Creek Nature Preserve that is filled with fabulous bike trails. This is a place that we haven't been to for about 4 years and it was as fantastic as we remembered; in fact, it was even better than we remembered because most of their large construction project is now complete. Kyle agreed to go with us since I don't have a bike rack yet and both of us have been wanting to get up there, so we combined our trip. I am really proud of the boys because we ended up doing at least 10 miles today. They were really good troopers until we hit this hill (E and A were not pleased that I was taking a picture of them trudging up the hill):


Here is a lovely picture of a sweaty, tired me at the top of the same hill as taken by Mr. Alexander:


Here are Ethan and Kyle waiting for Alexander to catch a grasshopper:


Here is Alexander and his grasshopper friend:


After the bike ride, we were going to play at the swim pond, but decided that it was a little too shallow and unexciting for the boys; instead, let the boys play for a little while at the big climber at the park:


At that point, it was already well past lunch time, so after 15 minutes or so, we hit the road again.

Kyle dropped us and my bike off at my place and the boys and I changed into swimsuits, grabbed our towels and water and headed off to West Bush Lake beach where the boys enjoyed another afternoon of digging in the sand.

Ending the Summer

How many things can you squeeze in a day? The boys and I had a busy day trying to fit in a bunch of things that we have been talking about doing a some things that I had planned for them. The themes of the weekend have been getting outdoors, working on a puzzle while inside, and watching movies.

We started the morning by missing church and heading out for a hike. We took the woodchip trail that is across the street from my apartment's driveway. The trail leads around the edge of a marsh and ends in a development behind the Hillcrest School that has a great play set. As you may have guessed from previous posts, there was much whining and groaning throughout the walk. The hike home wasn't as whiny because it lead to the promise of food (they were bottomless pits today!). I was pleased that they made it since it was a 30 minute hike each way. It was quite impressive to see them make it!

After lunch and some work on the puzzle we have going, it was a Mommy enforced body rest since everyone seemed really tired. The only issue with that idea was that I gave them a new alarm clock yesterday, so instead of taking a nap, they sat in their beds and watched their clock tick its way to 2pm. Oh well, at least they stayed quietly in their room for 45 min!

This afternoon, Alexander and I managed to pull Ethan away from Star Wars for a trip to the beach. We spent a few hours there digging in the sand, attempting to catch fish, and some general lounging in the sand. This, of course, made the boys really hungry, so I took them to Perkins for dinner after getting cleaned up. They were amazingly good waiting for our food and we really had to wait. There was something done with their printer and so everyone else ended up getting their food before we did. Oh well, it all ended up well and was really yummy. Ethan ate and ate - his food, quite a bit of my food, and some of his brother's food! If you know Ethan, you know this isn't typical!

After dinner, we walked to Lund's and picked out the movie, Happily N'Ever After, to watch after hitting some golf balls at the driving range. The driving range went well. My hits are slowly getting more consistent. The boys decided to practice putting while I hit balls. After reaching home, we watched the movie (quite good for an animated flick) and the boys ate and ate.

Watch out - they are either going to grow or we will have another blowing chunks incident like a few weeks ago! I'll keep you posted on that one!

A Day of Golfing Firsts

Yesterday was the "Day of Golfing Firsts"!

First #1: I took Ethan and Alexander to the Hyland Greens Short Course for their first ever golfing experience on a course

First #2: By Hole 6, I realized that we had left the boys' "Long" range iron (probably a 9 iron) somewhere on the course

First #3: On Hole 8, I made it to the green from my tee shot!! Woohoo!!

First #4: To continue the fun on Hole 8, I parred!! Another Woohoo!!

First #5: Walking down the fareway, I somehow managed to lose the head cover for the boys 4 hybrid club (yes, by this point, I was carrying their clubs most of the time)

First #6: Alexander had an awesome chip shot from 30 yds out and landed on the green!

First #7: Ethan had some great, long shots down the fareway (actually, he had several good chips that were hit so well that they flew right over the green!)

First #8: Yesterday was the first of several golf outings with my boys!

Justin Timberlake / What Goes Around Live