Spring time!

This spring has been a bit of one for the record books as far as the weather is concerned. Minnesota can't seem to make up her mind. 

When it first started to thaw, Lincoln took out his sticks, and some left-handed ones from grandma Jan and started to practice. Just don't tell the city as we're letting him hit on a nearby ball field. Shhh! 

Easter-time rolled around and Sidney saw this giant thing at Target, insisting on bringing it home. She purchased him with her own money (and Lincoln a bunny the same size) and I ended up with Ducky riding shotgun on the drive home. 

Safety first: she even buckled him in! 

Regan started playing for the high school team! We are so amazed and proud at how far she has come in her softball skills. This team practices 5 days/week on top of her already busy schedule. I'm not saying there haven't been tears, but we are sure enjoying this new adventure. 

And then it snowed again. A lot. 

It was heavy and wet and in the middle of April. 

I was so over the white wet-stuff that I ended up going all "Dukes of Hazard" and flew over the piles at the bottom up the driveway and into the garage. I had to stop pretty quickly to avoid busting through the back wall and landing in the pool shed! 

And then it melted again. Ryan and Regan ran the Gopher 5K which ended on the TCF field. Lincoln and I joined in to cheer them on. There was a sea of people but we managed to watch them both cross the finish line and then gathered up for a quick photo op with Goldy himself. 

It's been a spring full of school, work and activities. We're ready for things to calm down a little, though know full well that this season will get worse before better. 

Bring it on :) 

Easter 2019

Just a quick post on Easter 2019, I'll have to add more pictures when I have more time. 

We both laughed out loud when Lincoln's school sent us a picture of him wearing these bunny ears. In the middle of our work days, the photo on the right showed up on our phones. I immediately thought of my favorite Christmas movie "A Christmas Story" with the bunny suit. 

Lincoln looks just about as thrilled with those ears on. 

Easter morning we started with Easter baskets filled to the brim with useful gifts (toys and trinkets that get tossed in a bin are not welcome): soccer gear for Lincoln, make-up for Sidney (because...she's 10!) and a Valleyfair pass for Regan. After an egg hunt, we ventured to church, which ended up being quite an adventure.  

We sat only about 4 rows back, which sent Ryan into a little panic..."why are we sitting so close!?". For many reasons, it's been a while since we've been to church.  

Lincoln sat quietly through the first reading (where the name Peter was mentioned), listening like he would a story from a schoolteacher. She finished and a quick song began. Lincoln immediately pointed to the cross suspended from the ceiling and loudly asked "when are they going to take Peter down?" 

Oh buddy, we have a lot to catch up on!

We enjoyed the rest of Easter back at home with grandparents, a cousin and a pseudo Aunt with service dog. It was a beautiful day to spend basking in the sun and enjoying our company. 

Mama Mia

Back at Christmastime, we gifted the girls and my mom (and myself!) a visit to Chanhassen Dinner Theater to see Mama Mia. My mom and I have seen this show in the main theater district twice already.

And after months of waiting, and Sidney learning the songs and singing along, we finally got to enjoy the show again!

I think our favorite part of the show is when Regan had just announced that she liked Hamilton better than Mama Mia, and then the second half of the show started and an actor came right up next to her and asked "how are you doing?" :)
She may have blushed a little!

Our girls date was so much fun. We sang along, mom and I cried (darn songs pulling our heart-strings!) and we sure did laugh.

Might have to make this an annual gift at Christmas.



Goldy run 2019

Regan's got a thing for these 5K's. She's quite a good runner that teenager of ours. But we don't quite trust her to run alone on those courses so one of us tends to run with her. Since I had just recently done a 7K with my girlfriends, Ryan was the lucky one :)

Lincoln and I tagged along to hang out and cheer them on. He had so much fun racing round on the field while we waited and even more fun when Goldy came around!

Congrats on a great run Regan (and Ryan....although he's not terribly excited about his time but it was a good warm up for his upcoming 5K in May, and at this age, sometimes it's good just to finish!).



Two years

It's been two years since we said good-bye to my dad for the last time. And every year since then, one of my closest friends has checked in with me, sent a reminder and just simply been there.

This year, she sent me this picture.

Mom happened to be driving through the metro after delivering her brother to the airport so she swung by at the hospital, I re-arranged some meetings and we managed to grab a late lunch. It was nice to sit across the table and have an uninterrupted conversation.

And that sunset, like he had a part of it, was simply spectacular.