Orientation

Lucian and Uncle Jesse accompanied Spencer to a 2-day orientation at UW-Madison last week. He got his ID card, registered for classes, scoped out his dorm and I think got a better feel for what the experience will be like. Things are feeling pretty real.

Spen and Jesse at the historic library. Jesse is a Madison alumnus.

His room come Aug. 28th. Spen is in a lakeshore dorm which has a view of Lake Mendota. Pretty sweet.

Mimi Day

Annual Claire & Mimi day took place last Friday. The two shared an event filled day and night roasting marshmallows, swimming at the pool and going out for ice cream, of course.

Kyle got to spend some quality time with Nana Barb and Papa Joe.

Saturday morning Mimi and I ran in a 5K at Miller Park, the Brewer's stadium. Here we are pre-race with the Chorizo Racing Sausage.

And Sunday morning we headed to the zoo.

Claire was eager to show Kyle how to feed the goats.


And last night Claire wanted to practice riding her big girl bike. This girl is doing amazing.

Weekend Highlights

We headed to the library on Friday for some new books, which Claire was super excited about. Kyle always keeps busy with the trains, but cries when I make him put them down to leave.

Friday evening we went to a birthday dinner for Aunt Sarah. There was a band that Kyle was mezmorized by. Here's a quick vid of the kids dancing.



I tried out Barre on Saturday morning, helping Lucian's Aunt Meg with a demonstration downtown. It was fun and challenging. A good mix up to my running.

The kids have become fond of the microphones for our PS3. Claire puts on little shows on the hearth.

Saturday night, Lucian took her to her first movie; Monsters University. They had a great time.

We had a pool party on Sunday to beat the heat. We had a few friends join us. While the kids splashed around, the moms enjoyed a drink in the shade. We'll definitely do that again.

We've been trying to get Kyle to use plates and bowls and such. Here is what an 18-month old looks like after dumping a bowl of rice on his head. Proud, I'd say.

Love you!

Kyle is saying new words every day. I was just putting him to bed, kissing his face as I lowered him into the crib. I said love you and he took his thumb out of his mouth, looked me in the eye and said "love you" back. It was the best thing he's ever said.

Happy 4th!

We had a fun-filled weekend enjoying the local festivities and a few extra days off from work. I thought Claire would enjoy riding in the kids parade, so we decorated her bike and rode up to the start.

She was a little overwhelmed by all this kids and instead rode the parade route in the trailer refusing to wave at anyone. Fortunately, the day improved after that.

We then rode our bikes to the "candy parade" and Claire warmed up to the festivities.

Kyle loved the horses, trucks and motorcycles, as well as picking up candy the passersby threw.

We enjoyed a cook-out at some friends' and walked to the fireworks. I think we had the best seats I've ever had for a show. We kept Kyle up for them, which I wasn't sure about. He fussed for a long time before they started, but settled in and enjoyed the show. And immediately passed out in the stroller walking to the car.

The rest of the weekend was spent relaxing and running a few errands. We replaced our broken hammock, and set up the pool.

And Claire starting riding a pedal bike! I was covering my mouth in shock the whole time as Lucian just let her go. Her balance bike has been awesome in teaching her to ride. We are so excited.



Claire had such a great weekend, she passed out on the kitchen floor at 6 o'clock. And now, back to the daily grind...

Grad Party

The weekend before last we had a graduation party for Spencer. We rented a picnic site at a park and catered it with delicious Mexican food. My picture taking was pretty lax that day, so here are the two photos I managed, neither of which include Spencer.

The cake

And my boys

Spen is lifeguarding again this summer and gearing up for college in the fall.

I am happy to report that Claire is now enjoying swim lessons. At her third class, I got her to sit on the ledge with the other kids and snuck out when she wasn't paying attention. She hung on the wall and kicked and eventually let her instructor float her around. This past week went swimmingly and she is very proud of herself (we are too).

I've decided to use Kyle's early bird behavior to my advantage and start running in the mornings when he wakes up. This little guy loves to get the day started around 5am (ugh). I pack him in the stroller and get a quick workout in before the rest of the house wakes up.