Random Shots

Had some good shots on my phone that I wanted to share....

We went to the zoo recently, and saw the kangaroos.  Ellie asked me to take a picture of her, and gave me this sweet pose.

Tommy's new favorite pastime, walking the dogs.  The dogs are thrilled.

Speaking of dogs, it has been awhile.  Here is our eldest, Maddy, and one of Sadie below.

Clowning in sunglasses at Starbucks

Watering flowers with new watering cans

I need all the help I can get.

Ellie's class pic at a recent birthday party.

Two Buddies in the Yard

Got a few cute ones of the kids rolling around in the yard.  I am telling you, these two are bffs.  At least they were here until Tom reached down and bit Ellie hard in the back :)

He loves to crash on top of her

Wrestling around puts this smile on his face

You can see an idea forming

Yup, this is where she gets bit.  Poor girl.

Uncle John Comes to Town

John came in town for Mother's Day, and we had a ball together at the Deanna Rose Petting Zoo, and just hanging out together in general.  The kids get a huge kick out of having John here.  And of course so do I!

The cutest pair of buddies around

Ellie loved feeding the baby goats.

Tommy went around to all the baby goats, patting them lightly while saying "soft touches", which is what his teachers tell him when he smacks other kids around in school.

"Soft touches" and feeing

She finally found a stump to sit on and made the goats come to her.

Pony Ride!

Climbing

Me too, (with some help)

Jumping

Me Too!

Cute Pie

Forced poses with Uncle John

More forced poses

Hi

Tried to sneak in another pic with Uncle John...not well.

More sneaking pics

Time for t-ball

Uncle John trying to help out

Getting some finer points

Three good buddies

Three more good buddies.

Sprinklers Anyone?

The kids have really been enjoying some sprinkler time before the pools open.  They love running through them and splashing around.  Well, Tommy gets stuck in the spray of them sometimes and can't figure out a way out, but otherwise its big time fun.

Note to self, before you let them in the sprinklers - make sure you haven't just mowed the grass.

Wacky fun

Trying to squish the sprinklers with her feet

Nothing like the feeling of fresh cut grass on your belly.

Mom Rocks the Parkway

Its been awhile (too long) since I have updated and we have had a busy spring.  We were incredibly lucky with great weather this spring, and I used that to my advantage and trained for a half marathon.  I haven't run long distances before, but after mentioning wanting to try and do this in the fall to Mikey, his response was to burst out laughing.

Thus I got the push that I needed to cross this off my list.

I tease, but Mikey was a huge part of me being able to do this. There was many nights and weekends where he was on-duty while I was running, plus he had to endure non-stop chatter from me about it: the cold weather, the hot weather, whether my shoes were right, my knees hurt, my feet hurt, my iPod broke, can I make it?  He was a champ!

The race was actually really fun.  So many people came out to cheer the runners.  With all the people cheering, the signs, the water stops - it made the run really exciting, fun and much better than the boring training runs I ran at home.  I finished 15 minutes faster than we thought I would (I guess I was phoning it in while running alone).  All in all a great race, great accomplishment, and I don't miss running 2 hours on a Saturday  :)

Here are some pics of that day.

Here I am coming down Ward Parkway, just past the Meyer Boulevard Fountain

Happy wave to the family - note my dorky kneebraces.  They look lame, but saved me.

Mikey and the kids hanging out waiting for me on the back side of the race.

There was a chance for rain that day.  Tom was prepared.

Ellie posing for the camera

The custest cheering squad around.

Here I am approaching the finish line.

Excited to wave the family before I finished.

Post race stretch - Note who has the medal I won.

At least she lets me close to it

A pic with my biggest supporter.