Wicked

Our family had an amazing night together, eating dinner downtown and then seeing the show Wicked. Lauryn & I had already seen it, but when we heard it was coming to town again, we encouraged the boys to see it too! Jim said it was the best play he has ever seen??? The boys both loved it too, despite the fact that they probably don't even realize how it ties in with the Wizard of Oz. If you haven't seen it... Highly recommended!!!

The kids: Sean, Zach, & Lauryn

14th Anniversary

14 years ago today, I married the man of dreams. I am so lucky that still today he is the man of my dreams & my very best friend! It's amazing all that we have experienced together in 14 years. I look forward to all the years we still have ahead of us...

Jim & I had a fun day today together, celebrating our Anniversary. First we went to the gym & worked out. Then I got to plan something fun for the day & Jim got to plan something fun for the day. So for my plans... I lined up a couples massage. It was wonderful! For those of you that like DEEP tissue (there's no falling asleep during this type of massage)... You have to go to Massage Retreat in Plymouth & see either Nacole or Tracy. There were moments I wanted to jump off the table, but once it was done, my muscles felt wonderful! It was well needed with all the running & strain I put on my legs.

After our massages, we went to lunch at Toby Keith's I Love This Bar & Grill in St. Louis Park. Another great recommendation! We had a good time. The bar is really cool!

So then after lunch it was Jim's turn to plan something & he took me to the shooting range. Today I shot a gun for the first time. I shot a .38 special & a glock. I was so nervous! I have to say that although I am super glad I tried it, I don't think it's all for me. Jim thinks I just need to get more comfortable with it, but that only sounds like he plans to take me out to shoot more??? We'll see?

After our massages, lunch, & shooting..., we came home to swim, eat dinner, & head out to Sean's soccer game. It was a wonderful Anniversary!

(Our annual Anniversary picture)

CABIN!

Our last 2 weeks have been all about family. First Jim's family came to visit for a week & then last week we just spent at Grand Lake (in Cold Spring) with my family at the cabin. Every year after school gets out, the kids start asking how many days until we go to the cabin. I really think they enjoy the time with their cousins most. But who can complain when spending it at the cabin, on the lake? While driving home, we recapped all that we did while away... Lauryn & I read FOUR books each... All us girls finished 4 puzzles together.... I got my runs in every single day... (that's running "runs") I brought along some scrapbooking & got organized... We jet skied... Tubed... Boated... Fished... Soaked up the sun... Kids enjoyed a pinata... Made home made ice cream... Enjoyed vodka slushes... Ate WAY too much... Stayed up until 2:00 AM almost every night... Slept until 9:00/10:00 every day... It was all wonderful! Here are a few pictures of us enjoying our time away...

Our family

All the cousins:

Zach, Cade, Sean, Logan, Evan

Lauryn, Sydney, Olivia, Nora, & Mara

The boys helping Grandpa drive the boat

Lauryn & Grandma

Zach & Jim love the jet ski! (tipping it over, that is)

Sean's expression is priceless

Jim can always be found with the pretty girls!


Enjoying our time out on the lake (with my sister & her kids)

Collins cousins visit

Jim's sister from CO & her family came to visit a few weeks ago. Zach & Jake loved playing all out football. Here they are in their gear. Jake is actually 2 months older than Lauryn - 2 years older than Zach. You would never guess that by their size!
Here are the boys... Zach, Sean, & Jake...

Jim's sister from WI & little Edward came to visit too. We just love eating up that little boy!

4th of July

I keep getting further & further behind with my posts. Summer is just flying by. We have sure been enjoying every minute of it though!

We had a wonderful 4th of July weekend. We started by going to the Twin's game on Friday night. We were losing until we went up to get ice cream. Came back to our seats with 2 runs and now winning. Maybe we are bad luck for the Twin's (I don't know that they have won a game we have been to)? But after the game, we got to enjoy the fireworks show. And thankfully the kids said this could count as their fireworks display for the 4th! I just dread dealing with the crowds and bugs and traffic...

Then over the rest of the weekend, we invited family one day & friends another day to BBQ & hang out in the pool. We are so blessed to have so many great people in our lives. We had such a good time! We had way too much good food, lots of sun, a fire in the fire pit (which always means s'mores), our own firework show... What more could we ask for?

So much to tell...

Wow, it has been so long since I have updated my blog. I feel like I have so much to share...

First of all, Jim and I had the honor of being our new little nephew's Godparents. We enjoyed a weekend in Milwaukee, meeting Edward and celebrating in his Baptism! He sure is one cute baby!









Edward's Baptism

We've also been really busy with the kids sports! Lauryn played for 2 different softball teams. Her school team was slow pitch & that has finished up now. They ended up taking 3rd place for the season. Now she is still busy playing on the city league's fast pitch team. She is really doing well! Zach made the AAA traveling baseball team. So we are traveling all over for his games during the week and on weekends. They've qualified for State already, taking 3rd place at one of the tournaments. He's also busy playing 3 on 3 basketball one night a week as well. Sean is also playing baseball on the house league for the city. He sure enjoys the time with his friends and wants so badly to do good every time he is up to hit or a ball gets hit his way. It's all about having fun though, isn't it!?!?

Jim & I have also been busy with multiple races. We both ran the Maple Grove half marathon together. Then I just ran the Minneapolis full marathon a few weeks ago. That makes 7 marathons completed for me. It was such an amazing experience, running it with one of my dearest friends. It was her first marathon and so we had a fun time, training together & finishing together as well. Jim just finished his first half Iron Man! He had a blast and plans to do it again next summer! That man never ceases to amaze me. The doctor keeps telling him he NEEDS to be done and give those knees some rest, but Jim keeps pushing on. It's hard to give up the things you love doing, I guess? We both have quite a few more things on our calendar for the summer and fall. So training will keep right on going...










Maple Grove finish & Mpls Marathon



Jen & I at Mpls & some more friends and family at the finish line

Jim's swim... (1.2 miles) The bike.... (56 miles)

The run... (13.1 miles)



The finish! 70.3 miles!

We are also VERY happy that summer is here & school is out. Every year I take a picture of the kids on the first day of school & on the last. It's always fun to see how much they have grown in one school year:

First day.... Last day....

And I have to post this picture because it is our tradition that after taking the pictures that I want to get, I let the kids make their silly faces. This one is priceless... As the boys go all out with the silly face, Lauryn rolls her eyes and asks why we have to do this!

We also have celebrated 3 big birthday's at our house in June. Libby turned 2 years old on the 7th. Howie turned 1 year old on the 8th. We celebrated with some canned food and new toys. But most importantly, Lauryn turned 12 years old on the 13th! We had a surprise birthday party for Lauryn this year with just a few girls. She had a good time, tie-dying softball socks, doing a scavenger hunt, swimming in the pool, and having a sleep over.













Libby & Howie

Lauryn, being surprised & The gang

St. Lucia

We just had the most amazing family vacation! 10 days of tropical weather & family bonding. What more could you ask for?

We started off by flying in to Miami & staying one night there. We spent the day at South Beach & it was absolutely beautiful. It must be a popular spring break destination because it was busy. The boys even spent some time playing football on the beach. At one point, Sean accidentally de-pants Zach while he was going for a "Hail Mary" touchdown. He was pretty embarrassed. But while eating dinner there, we noticed outside 20+ cop cars all surrounding the area. A bunch of people were going out to see what was going on. So of course I asked & it turns out they stopped someone for a traffic violation & he ended up having someone in his trunk that was tied up with duck tape & he was trying to kidnap him. You just don't see things like that!?!?!

The next morning we flew bright & early in to St. Lucia. While there we did a number of excursions. First we went on a whale watching excursion. We didn't see any whales, but saw a ton of dolphins. It was pretty cool because they swim right along the boat (& faster). Another day we took an island tour, where we got to see a fish market, a light house, waterfalls, snorkeling, a black-sand beach, & the inside of a volcano. (Bachelor Fans - we even saw the spot where Vienna wrote "I Love You" on Jake's chest) We were offered to take the mud bath, but we opted out. While in the volcano, it smelt just like sulfa. We laughed at Sean, telling Jim, "Dad, even when you don't shower you smell better than this!"

Another day we enjoyed horseback riding. Part of it was on top of a cliff & the view was amazing. Another part was along the beach. This was Lauryn's favorite thing. But I tell you, after 2 hours on a horse... my bottom was ready to be done!

We all loved the zip lining though. We got to do 11 cable lines, with the longest being 950 ft. & the highest being 450 ft. over the Rain Forest. All the kids had quite a good time experiencing this. At one point Sean said, "This is the bestest thing I have ever done in my whole life!" (you know, the whole 7 years of it!)

Besides excursions, we had a blast just laying out in the sun, playing on the beach, enjoying the water park at the resort (& lazy river), the entertainment, and most of all, the time we spent together!

***The music comes straight from the island. This song was played constantly & the people there love it. Couldn't have our blog posted without it!***