4th of July 2011

This year we were able to spend the entire holiday weekend with our family in Northern Indiana. Mike's aunt, uncle, grandma and cousins drive in from Wisconsin every year and it's fun to catch up and reconnect.

Izzy "fished" with Bobo using a Tin.ker Stinker pole...they left the pretend / plastic fish at the end of the line and it never failed; each time Izzy reeled in the line, she would say, "I caught one!" So funny.

Grandma Laura and Aunt Deb enjoying a virgin Pina

 Mom & Bug also partaking in the drinks

 We did a lot of swimming. All. Day. Long.

 And we were able to see Laura & Madelyn which was a special treat, given I spent 36 hours in a conversion van with her last month. Learned that our 12 person team really was a 13 person team...so exciting!

 The 3 littles...hard to believe Madelyn is 7 months younger than Laney!

 We ventured out to the Ft. Wayne zoo early in the morning for cool temps and no crowds. It did not disappoint. It's ranked one of the top 10 in the country and we love it!

 Izzy rode a pony, which she loved

 Can you tell?

 Peacocks run free at the zoo...you just never know when they'll pop up and surprise you!

 Mike's personal fave: sea lions

 Waiting in line for the train ride

 Feeding the ducks...another activity Laney loves

 Did some sun bathing in their new shaded chairs

 Izzy & Grandma Great are two peas in a pod. They both enjoy an audience, dance and sing at a drop of a hat, and love to boss each other around. Was special to see how similar they are and the bond they share.

 We spent today at Mike's mom's house

 And enjoyed picnic a picnic lunch on the water and lots more swimming and sunning.

Happy 4th of July to everyone...we're listening to the fireworks as I type. Be safe & have fun!

Funsters, Farmer's Market & some SUN!

 Friday evening we had celebrated summer with our Funster group. Per usual, we laughed the entire evening and simply enjoyed spending time with good friends and good food. We opted for a low-key evening (there usually isn't anything low key about our get togethers) with dinner at Oh Yu.mm in B-Ripp.

Adam, Bria, Clay & Mike. Three of these four yahoos ran the relay a few weeks ago so they were rehashing memories and busting balls like they usually do. Good times.

Molly, Maggie, me & Brandi. Molly & Brandi both have 3-4ish month old little girls at home and Maggie is due with her third in 5 weeks. Lots of talk about little babes, but more talk about sangrias and vino. I grabbed some cupcakes from next door (the Fl.ying Cu.pcake) and we called it an early night.

Saturday morning we packed up and headed downtown Carmel to the F.armer's Market. This was a treat for me to go with the family, as last summer I spent every single Saturday morning on the trails for 2-3 hours running. Marathon training doesn't start for another week, so in the meantime I'm enjoying sleeping in and family time on Saturday mornings. Loathing the fuel belt, headlamp and Friday night planning that will soon be in my weekly routine. Have to keep reminding myself I love running.

Snacking in the shade

View of the P.alladium - the new location for the market

Izzy and Laney did a lot of dancing to the live music offered. It's funny, the more people in the audience, the more Izzy danced. She really engages everyone, too, with eye contact while she is dancing. She is quite the performer.

Saturday afternoon pool time didn't disappoint. It's been raining a lot here lately, so when the sun is out...so are we!

During Saturday naps, Lori and I attended Chelsea's wedding shower on her mother's plantation. Lori and I were trying to keep our jaws off the ground, as her mom's place was stunning. A 110 year old home, acres of tall grass & wild flowers, a 200 year old barn and a hangar kept us in awe. And Chelsea, she was absolutely beautiful! Her sister's planned a Mad Ha.tter's Tea Party and hats were strongly suggested. Lori and I couldn't find any...so we donned bedazzled headbands. Was so much fun and such a beautiful day for a shower.

The details were spot on. Every guest received a potted flower in a tea cup!

Today started off overcast and we stayed inside watching movies and snuggled up together. After naps, the sun was out so we headed out to the tennis courts. Neither Mike nor myself are very good at the sport, but we both very much enjoy it and hadn't played since I was pregnant with Izzy. So we packed up snacks and drinks for the girls and dusted off our rackets. The girls chased our balls and stayed out of trouble while we got some exercise and some good laughs in.

I asked Izzy to take our picture. She snapped a handful and I think she did a pretty good job!

After about an hour the girls got bored so we headed to the pool. Was a delightful ending to a long weekend!

Izzy's 1st Ballet Recital...

Izzy has been enrolled in ballet since the Spring and it started off rocky; some days she wouldn't participate, others she'd just sit down in the middle of class and pout, or she'd constantly ask to have a potty break to get out of class. I was very nervous that she wasn't participating or learning the dances during class, only to come home and she'd show me everything she learned. She slowly got over the social anxiety in the classroom and started to shine each week. Her confidence has skyrocketed in the ballet studio ever since and we have a prima dona ballerina on our hands.

 Full hair (bun) and make-up, which she was excited about for weeks

 Sister got fancied up too

 The ballet studio we attend divided up the recital into 4 parts, the session we attended was all 3-5 year old classes and the opening number was every student on the stage performing the same little baby doll dance.

 Izzy's class was the largest, with 10 performers...and the only class that didn't perform with their baby dolls. So glad they didn't have another distraction to deal with, as they were all pretty excited to be up on stage (and a few staring out looking for their parents). Izzy is the 3rd from the left here:

 Izzy is the 2nd from the right in mid-air

 Right after her bow, a big smile

 All the grandparents came to watch the little princess

 Proud parents

 Happy Father's Day to Mikey!

 We came home and celebrated Izzy with a cookout among family and friends. Izzy was happy she was able to keep her makeup on all day!

 Here is a photo Izzy took of Grandma & Bobo

 My mom flew out from Lake Tahoe to spend 10 days with us...she helped with the girls while we went on our 200 mile running adventure and then during the week when we were at work. Love this pic of Buggy and mom:

 And Sunday morning I looked outside to see that we had been tee-peed. I knew that it was going to rain all day so I quickly woke Mike up, "Hey honey, happy father's day! Let's go outside and pick up toilet paper!" He said he was hoping for something more like breakfast in bed, but when you have crazy fun neighbors like we do...there's no rest for the weary. Mike and I were laughing the entire time we were picking up tp, as neither of us had ever been tee-peed in our lives. Guess you're never too old! Oh, and revenge is ours!!!

Here's the full video of Izzy's recital...it's so stinkin' cute!

Summer Concerts...

We have heard about Carmel's Co.ol Creek Summer concert series but the girls haven't been able to stay up late enough to attend these until this summer. We packed up a few coolers, grabbed some take-out and set up camp an hour before the show started. Glad we got there early because it got packed PLUS there was so much to do before the concert started! We also ran into several friends and even our pediatrician and his family. Think we'll be going to most all of these this summer!

 Since this was located near the nature center, they brought out a few reptiles for the kids to learn about.

 There was an obstacle course that Laney loved.

 Balloon making and face painting by clowns

 A bounce house

 And a band that was fun for both kids and adults!

 The girls danced their little hearts out and ran around for hours. It was an absolute blast.

Already looking forward to the next one. You should join us, too!