A day in the life of June...

You may remember I participated in the March photo a day challenge a few months ago. I had so much fun taking pictures on a daily basis, I figured I'd try it again. I feel as if it's a photo scavenger hunt...and who doesn't like a good old fashioned scavenger hunt?!

 Day 1: Morning. This was day 1 of moving out of our old house. Started the morning out right - with a DC baby.

Day 2: Empty. This was day 2 of moving. Pretty difficult day and pretty sure my throat had a huge lump in it walking through the house, taking these pictures.

Day 3: On your plate. The was the first day the girls returned to our new apartment. We were tired from a long weekend of moving and therefore my dinner was oatmeal and a beer. Don't judge.

Day 4: Up close. Our CrossFit gym equipment. Bar bell. Med ball. Kettle bell. Weight plates.

Day 5: A sign. Our new neighborhood sign and notes/signs left by our contractor to his subcontractors inside our house.

Day 6: Hat. Izzy Lou trying on a fedora at Target.

Day 7: Drink. After a long day of road tripping, we celebrate in Madison with a tall drink. Well deserved.

Day 8: 6 o'clock. Not sure if this was taken exactly at 6pm or not...but it was pretty close. The lions were a'roaring, that's for sure.

Day 9: Your view today. Lake Michigan 6 miler. Beautiful.

 Day 10: Best bit of your weekend. This. Just this. Girlfriends. Running. Dancing. Celebrating.

 Day 11: Door. Our over sized sliding glass door from our Great Room out onto our deck.

 Day 12: From a low angle. The girls loved jumping from stack to stack of our drywall before it was installed. We visit nightly, so they are constantly exploring and finding new ways to entertain themselves.

 Day 13: Art. Caleb and Izzy have been pen pals all summer. Here Caleb drew Iz a castle. So sweet. She keeps this in her craft bag that travels with her everywhere. Young love.

 Day 14: Time. Early wake up calls.

 Day 15: Yellow. My new fave summer drink...the Summer Shandy. Num, num.

 Day 16: In your bag. Rarely do I carry a purse. I can count on both hands the number of times I use a purse in a year. These days it's all about diaper bagging it. Revisions in the last few weeks to what is in my bag: no more fruit snacks (Iz has 7+ cavities, don't ask unless you want me to tell you how horrible I feel about it) and no more diapers (Lane is now in undies almost full time!).

 Day 17: Out and about. Our excursions, besides trips to the new house, mostly involve swimming these days. These girls looove to swim with their daddy.

 Day 18: Something we don't know about you. When I was 9 or 10 I traveled to Houston, Texas to be a part of Bela Karolyi's gymnastics camp. Went with my sister and other teammates of mine. We got to watch the big-time Olympians practice...like Phoebe Mills from the 1988 US Olympic team. Was an amazing experience.

 Day 19: Imperfect. My poor runner's feet have calluses, blisters, and broken toe nails. Don't look too close, that's for sure.

 Day 20: Favorite picture you've taken. I chose from pictures taken on my phone only. Sister love.

 Day 21: Where you slept. In an apartment. On queen mattresses on the floor. No headboard. 5 weeks until we move...but who's counting?

 Day 22: View from above. Bath time with my little mermaids.

 Day 23: Movement. One of my coaches took this of me during a WOD. It made my day. Heck, it made my month. Pretty proud...been working hard.

 Day 24: On your mind. Plantation shutters, dining room tables, paint colors and built-ins. So much to do yet.

 Day 25: Cute. Toddler toes.

 Day 26: Where I shop. This particular night was at the hardware store looking at appliances and paint swatches. Can you tell how thrilled the girls are to be there?

 Day 27: Bathroom. Locker room at work after a team speed workout. This was 8 weeks into our first training session and we had a 1 mile time trial to run...to gauge our improvement over our 1 mile we ran 8 weeks ago. I beat my 8 week prior PR (it was my PR because I had never timed a mile before and therefore had not time to beat!) by 15 seconds: 7:09 baby. Again, I'm proud. Hard work is paying off.

 Day 28: Shelf. Our apartment has a few built-ins and we store the girls' toys in them. 

 Day 29: Soft. Izzy lines up all of her loveys in a row every. Single. Day. If they get out of place she freaks her freak and goes to town until they are all back in order. Some nights we have to say good night to each and every one of them. Kisses, too. She has a touch of her daddy's OCD, no? I'll miss this one day, I'm sure of it.

 Day 30: A friend. Only the best. Not sure what I'd do without Jaime in my life...but I count my lucky stars she is. Muah!

Work in progress...

The last 2 weeks have shown huge progress at our new house. We had our final walk through before drywall went up to ensure all electrical and plumbing were in the right places. This was a particularly exciting day for us, as our contractor gave us our closing date. The house will be complete on August 2nd, we close on August 7th and we will move in on August 9th. Counting down the days, baby.

We're loving this view out our main family room/kitchen/dining room....trees!!!

Basement

All of our hearty plank siding is up and the brick is mortared. The last step will be the painting of the exterior. Right now it looks drab but all of the trim will be white and our colors are several shades of green. Will look completely different in a few weeks.

Drywall jumping before it went up

Drywall was primed last week and it's starting to look like a home instead of a construction site!

Master bedroom...more trees! This treeline view is particularly thrilling to us because at our last house we overlooked two very unattractive houses and their poorly maintained yards. The privacy and the beauty we'll get to experience makes us very happy.

This week all of the trim will be put up and cabinetry will start to be installed. We visit the house every night and get excited to see what changes have been made each day. Such a fun process!

Big Fish...

A few weeks ago Jaime told me she was in search of a swimming boot camp for the Bigs. She did some great research and decided on Stony Creek Swim Center. And of course I followed suit and signed Izzy up for the Puffer Fish class, where they promised our children would be able to swim 2-3 feet underwater and front and back floats. Just what Iz needed, as we spend nearly every day at the pool in the summer.

 The first class Izzy was a bit timid; she didn't know how to blow bubbles out her nose (heck, she can't even blow her nose!) and was hesitant about putting her face in the water.

 Floating and jumping were easy peasy for her, though.

 By day 2 she was putting her face in the water while swimming. And by day 3 she was diving for rings. I was floored. Her confidence built quickly and her desire to try out her new skills grew each day.

 The last day of her lessons she showed off all of her new skills...

 Swimming with her face submerged

 Diving for rings

 Izzy girl is on her way to becoming a great swimmer one day. In the meantime, we'll keep practicing all her new skills. And as Izzy say (so does Nemo) "Just keep swimming, just keep swimming!"

Daddy Mike

 Pretty happy right now. This was our first weekend without a single plan on the calendar. No packing. No moving. No gymnastics. No long run. No yard work. Not a care in the world (well, except for the fact I can't find anything in the apartment). Was the perfect weekend to focus on family and celebrate our very own Daddy Mike. He doesn't make many appearances on this blog, but he certainly deserves a special post today.

Mike is an amazing father. A great mix of compassion, sensitivity, silly and sweet with the girls. Love that we do (most) everything together as a family. Love that he loves all three of us girls so much. I remember when we found out we were having a girl...we were on a long walk (waddle?) and Mike said, "What am I going to do with a girl? I don't know how to have tea parties." Well I'm pretty sure he's overcome that fear...it's a good thing, because it melts my heart to see him with the girls. 

We spent hours at the apartment pool yesterday doing this:

 The girls love watching him swim laps and flip turn himself back and forth, back and forth. As soon as he stops they yell, "Do it again, Daddy!" He swims so smoothly, almost elegantly. I must admit, I also enjoy watching him swim. His Division 1 swimming career was pre-Kelly and is somewhat mysterious to me. I wasn't a part of that chapter of his life and wish I had been able to see him compete. Hence, I am entranced when he swims. The girls and I just sit on the side giggling. We all love it.

Had dinner at our old neighbors' house (they are gracious enough to continually invite us over to get us out of the apartment) on Saturday night. Sunday morning the girls and I made Mike breakfast in bed and showered him with smooches and gifts. We took a long walk this morning through our new neighborhood, explored the newly dry-walled house and had a nice lunch. Mike has spent the remainder of the day watching the U.S. Open. All day. In fact, all weekend. It's his weekend so I have had to zip my lips. He does so much for us that it's the least I can do.

Daddy Mike on his self-designed new deck

Happy Father's Day to my Mikey and my own Dad. Love you guys to the moon and back.