Lots of Baseball

Last weekend Zach's baseball team played in a tournament in Milwaukee, WI.  And coincidentally, the Twins were playing the Brewers in Milwaukee the same weekend.  So, we enjoyed a lot of baseball! 

 Jim's sister & family live in Milwaukee, so my boys wanted their cousin to sport their same hair style!

 Zach's baseball team all tailgated before the Twins/Brewers game

 Despite the Twins losing (by A LOT), we had fun at the game!

Cousin Edward came to cheer on Zach while he played too

Marathon #11 - Grandma's!

I finished marathon #11 in Duluth.  Todd & Carol Conrad, James Vettel, & I all ran Grandma's.  James is a Boston Marathon runner, so we see him at the start & finish only.  But Todd, Carol, & I ran it together and got to celebrate with Carol as she PR'd again, shaving another 15 minutes off her best time.  It was an awesome course, the wind was at our backs, we had great weather once the rain stopped, it's a beautiful area...  I loved Grandma's Marathon!  I think it is by far my favorite that I have run.  And of course, it's not only about the marathon in Duluth...  There is plenty of celebrating too!   

 Heading for the train ride that brings us to the start in a down pour of rain!

 Running in to the finish...

Me, Carol, Todd, & James

Happy Golden Birthday, Lauryn!

My baby girl turned 13 on the 13th of June!  Hard to believe I have a teenager in the house.  The years have gone by so incredibly fast.  I have marveled at all the stages of her life & can't believe how amazing she has grown up.  She is quite the little lady!

We had a fun time celebrating her birthday.  We had 13 surprises ready for her when she woke up, starting with decorating her bedroom door while she slept, making her favorite meals, hidden gifts around the house, her birthday cheesecake, & ending with our gift to her; a tennis bracelet (gold!).  I think she had a great day!

Since I've done it for Zach & Sean already, I wanted to post pictures of Lauryn through the years.  It sure was fun to reminisce! 

 1 year

 2 years

 3 years

 4 years

 5 years

 6 years

 7 years

 8 years

 9 years

 10 years

 11 years

 12 years

Actual birthday - 13 years old!  

Sean's Summer Doo

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Yet another Seanism...

So last night we are at Zach's baseball game & it is COLD!  Sean comes dressed in shorts, t-shirt, & flip flops.  I kept pleading with him to put on his sweatshirt & coat, but he kept informing me that he was fine (as he's running around with all the other siblings).  So I say to him, "Fine!  Then I don't want to hear about it when you are sick and all you can do during the summer is lay in bed"...  To which he replies, "That's all I planned to do all summer anyway!" 

Last Day of School

I can not believe we are finished with another year of school.  I honestly feel like the year just started.  Unfortunately I still have many projects unfinished! :/  But we are looking forward to sleeping in, lazy mornings, time with friends, swimming, sports, the SUN!  As always, I am sure the summer will fly by and before I know it, it will be time for Lauryn to head to 8th grade (can you believe it?), Zach to 6th grade, & my baby, Sean, to 3rd grade!  Until then...  party time! 

A Little WI Dells + A Full Marathon = A Fun Long Weekend!

Over Memorial weekend, we pulled the kids out of school a day early & headed to WI Dells with the Conrads.  We had a great time... enjoying the water parks, golfing at the Pirates Cove, taking the Ducks ride, seeing The Tommy Bartlett Show, shopping, & eating great food.  As always, we had a great time!



 The boys could live at the water park!

 The girls had fun too

 A little mini-golf

 The famous Duck ride

But, it wasn't all fun & games!  Todd, Carol, & I had a marathon to run on Sunday.  I accomplished marathon #10 & got to add another state to my list.  We ran the last 8 miles in rain.  But this was just considered a "training run", as we have another marathon coming up in just a week now!  We're running Grandma's here soon... 

Dry & fun still at mile 7 

Mile 13 - my faithful cheerleaders! 

 Our family, at the finish (kids still trying to stay dry)

Carol, Todd, & I

Lauryn's Sanctuary

When we built our house 6 years ago (wow, has it been that long already?), we had Lauryn's room painted lime green.  It sounded cute at the time, when she was only 6 years old!  But I still remember the first day we walked in after the painting was done & I about died!  It was LIME GREEN bright!  So for 6 years, we have been talking about re-doing her room.  Well, we finally got to it!  What a project this has been (a good months worth).  It started by pulling out some furniture she no longer wanted, cleaning closets, throwing 2-3 garbage bags full of junk, giving clothes & toys away, packing up keepsakes, & finally painting.  I have to say I was surprised when Lauryn chose purple as her new color.  She went through a stage where purple & pink were not cool.  But here we are today, with a beautiful bedroom! 

 Here's the start of our process, moving everything away from the walls to paint

 Going through all her stuff & making piles to throw, give away, pack up, keep...

 One wall finished

 Another wall finished

And finally just this week I finished painting the bay window area.  No more lime green!!!  

Another First Communion

 My nephew & Godchild made his First Communion as well last weekend.  Congratulations Logan!

 Me, Logan, & Shaun (Godfather)

Logan & family (my sister's family)