Winter Meets Summer

Introducing the Sled n' Slide. Mikayla had the idea to play with her sled on the slip n slide yesterday. I love that she thought of this because I've had the same idea in my head over the years, just never acted on it.


Playing with the sled was so much fun that she brought it inside the house today as it was raining all day. She gave Ely rides around the basement.



Speaking of Elyana. She is obsessed with her belly button lately. Today, she was constantly trying to see what would fit in it. At breakfast, I found her putting yogurt in it. At the park, she was carefully putting sand in it. And at dinner, she was trying to put some of the chopped broccoli in it. This is quite the challenge as she has a bit of an outie. Mikayla glances over across the table tonight and says dryly, "She's trying to feed it again."

My First Triathlon!

Rochester had their first annual triathlon. The only eventful thing that happened was Nate accidentally blew up my bike tire the night before the race. He put a little too much air into it. I showed up at the race with my bike, the tire, and some bolts, and a new tube that Nate bought at Walmart at 11:00 PM. The tube had a good 3 inch rip in it from the explosion (I say explosion because even the kids in bed wanted to know what the sound was. It sounded like a firework went off!) I was able to get it all put together, but wasn't sure if it would hold through the race as it didn't fit properly and they couldn't cap the valve. Anyhoo, it was all great practice for my triathlon in WI in 2 weeks.

I had a personal best record:

Time: 1:37

Swim (1/4 mile): 9:41
Bike (10.25 miles): 45:14
Run (3.1 miles): 33:39

Here's a couple of pictures and I hope there are more to come!



This is one of the hardest hills that I had to bike up. For those of you in Rochester, this is a right onto 18th Ave. from 55th Street. The first time I tried to climb it, I gave up, went home, and cried. I didn't give up and a few days later, tried again. I practiced the route a few times a week (since it was so close to our home) until it was doable. I took Mikayla to this hill when I took this picture and shared with her this story of why you shouldn't give up, just keep trying...

Elyana Turns 2!!!

We celebrated Ely's birthday Saturday evening instead of on her birthday since my triathlon was on Sunday. She got some nice presents. I think her favorite was her Elmo baby and her bubble maker lawn mower. She pushed her lawn mower a good 1/2 mile and back that evening. I had no idea a 2 year old could walk that far! Here are some pictures of the momentous occasion!

Weird

Last weekend when we were in WI for the 50th Wedding Anniversary celebration, a relative of Nate's told him that a long time ago, he had purchased a mausoleum here in Rochester. Since he no longer lives in Rochester, he's asked Nate to sell it for him with a 10% commission. Like we know the first thing about mausoleums! I had to look it up to be sure I knew exactly what it even was! We got really silly and were thinking about making flyers to distribute in nursing homes. The flyers would have a picture of one of us laying in it, smiling, and waving. The caption would read, "Picture your happy dead self here! No better place to decay, than this place to stay!" After going to Chucky Cheese last night, we had some left over tokens. My friend, Vicky said we should through free tokens into the deal. "Free Chucky Cheese tokens with the price of this mausoleum if you call today!"

Another odd note, on the 4th of July, Nate is going to an extra in a movie being filmed in OshKosh, WI. Guess, what kind of an extra? A zombie of all things!

Well, at 8:24 this Sunday (29th), the gun goes off for me to start my first Triathlon! Say some prayers for endurance, strength, and safety!

Nate's Parent's 50th Wedding Anniversary

I just got back from the Tomah, WI area from my in-law's 50th Wedding Anniversary party. I did manage to sing "Think of Me" from Phantom of the Opera as a surprise for my mother-in-law (per request of my father-in-law). It wasn't the best I can do because I've had this weird dry scratchy throat for a few weeks now. (Anyone have any home remedies you'd like to recommend I try?) Anyway, if I can figure it out how to transfer it from our camcorder, I'll post a video clip of it.

While they were taking pictures, the girls were goofing off on the pulpit. Notice there aren't any pictures of Mikayla. She got the slightest rug burn/scratch on her knee and was too pouty to want her picture taken. These are some cute ones of Ely though! By the way, Ely's dress was on clearance at Walmart for $2! It was very pretty. More professional pictures are to follow as soon as they come in.




Mikayla was playing with my camera and actually took this cool picture of the stained glass in the church. This is the same church my in-law's were married in and that Nate attended growing up.

Enjoying Summer

We inflated our kiddie pool for the first time this summer today. The girls didn't want to sit all the way in it since the water was still so cold. Here's a picture of them enjoying their summer break!



Elyana's hair is getting very long so I tried piggy tails in her hair today. Mikayla wanted some too even though her hair is shorter now than Elyana's. I couldn't help snapping a few pictures. The new do definitely makes Elyana more like the grown up 2 year old she will become next week. I also think she looks a bit like me in these photos:

Sick Kids

Elyana has had a cold for over a week and then developed a fever. We took her in to the doctor and they couldn't find anything wrong with her so we just waited it out. This Saturday, she seemed much improved so we headed to WI for Nate's family reunion. A few hours after we got there, Mikayla wanted to take a nap. She sleep for a very long time and woke up with a fever and aches. The fever wasn't coming down, so around 7 that night, we drove 2 hours back home. It was a rough night as Elyana has started to not sleep through the night again and is waking every few hours for some ungodly reason!

Nate left this afternoon to go to a baseball game in LaCrosse with his Dad for Father's Day. I was tired of being cooped up in the house all day on such a beautiful day. So, when there was a break in Mikayla's fever, I headed outside. I got the idea to set up Mikayla's princess cot/bed in the shade where a nice breeze was blowing. She loved it and the fresh air and breeze took her fever down much more.



Meanwhile, I was washing the van and Ely got into the kids tools. She first was sweeping the garage. The next time I turned around, she had Mikayla's winter hat on and was pretending to shovel the driveway! She looked so hilarious I took some pictures.