MEA Break

It was MEA break this past week.  Since Steve and I are both educators, we got Thursday and Friday off to play hooky from the actual educational conferences to spend time with family. Growing up, this long weekend signified a trip to my grandparents' farm in Iowa in time to join in the harvest fun.  This year, we took our family of four to one of our favorite vacation spots, Wisconsin Dells, now only two hours away.  We spent some time at the indoor water parks, as usual, but also added some new activities to our schedule.

Riding in a car at Hooligans arcade.

Jumping at Hooligans.

Giving her brand new puppy, Token, an air bath at Build-a-Bear.

Bundled up for Timbavati's zoo.

Feeding the animals.

This white tiger was so cool!  (And so close!) The tiger cubs were especially adorable. But I do always feel badly for the animals, when not in their natural habitat.

Camel!

On the train at Timbavati.

Tuckered out and now front-facing in the car.

We came back to Rochester early Saturday afternoon and spent some time at the Children's Museum.

  

Face painting.  She requested a puppy.

My quick attempt at a puppy face.

Reading puppy.

Lots of things to touch and see!

Ha ha!  I can walk!

Counting money at the fruit and vegetable stand.

 

We finished our weekend of fun at Tweite's Pumpkin Patch after church on Sunday.

So tall!

Roping some steers.

She looks like a natural.

Off to the next area.  This place was HUGE!

Cutest jailbird.

Bode's facing the wrong way!

The monster is eating Maggie in the Enchanted Forest.

Skipping into the corn maze.  We soon discovered this enormous maze was not designed for a family with young children and traced our way back to the entrance.  We'll revisit this in about 10 years.

Obligatory pumpkin photos for 2012.

First time at a pumpkin patch.

The full weekend is catching up to her.

Okay, one pumpkin photo.

My method of catching our escape-artist-cat has clearly influenced Maggie.

Happy Birthday, Bode!

Bode Christian is one year old today!  It's hard to believe that it's been a year since my precious 8 lb 7 oz baby boy was born into the world, nine days past my due date.  He is such a sweet and loving little babe, who loves puppies, kitties, playing peek-a-boo, making animal noises, and laughing with his sister.  We are blessed.

Birthday pancakes, courtesy of my mom. We visited for a couple days.

Maggie felt left out so she got some belated birthday pancakes, too.

We made it back to Stewartville to celebrate at Pizza Ranch (Maggie's idea).

He loves to pound on his new toy.

Smiley guy.

Leftover birthday cake from the weekend party.

Getting more confident with walking all the time.

Playing in the sand a couple days ago.

Walking in leaves at Grammy's.

Grammy's helper.

Pretending to be a puppy in the pile of leaves.

Here is a simple video slideshow that I made for Maggie and Bode's party this past weekend.

Birthday Bash

It wasn't really a bash, but we did have a lot of fun at our family birthday party for Maggie and Bode!

I didn't get as many pictures as I would have liked, but here are a few from the evening:

And this one is from this afternoon.  What a gorgeous afternoon!  Perfect weather to eat sand.

A Personal Goal, Completed!

Today a year ago, October 8th, 2011 was my due date with Bode.  And as I think back on this past year, I realize so much has happened in our family.  We adjusted to our life with a new baby, and then spring and summer came with Steve accepting a new job, Asia whelping puppies, moving our family to Stewartville, me accepting a full-time job, and a lot of hard work training that culminated in my first-ever marathon yesterday.  It was something I had been inspired to do since Steve completed his marathon four years ago in Fargo, but with babies, it was something that I had put on hold until I decided in June to just go for it!  So I signed up for the Twin Cities Marathon and got to training.  There were some hot runs in the summer, some early runs in the fall, and some more rest and frustration in this past month leading up to the race due to busy schedules and overuse injuries.  But most importantly, I had a lot of support from Steve.  This was especially true on my long Saturday runs when he, Maggie, and Bode would drive around and bring me water and Performance to keep my hydrated.

And I did it!  I finished (which Steve kept reminding me should have been my only goal for my first marathon) and wasn't too far off my personal time goal despite a hacking cough, a three or four minute break around mile three due to Porta Potty lines (too much water pre-race), and starting near the back of the huge pack.

Race day was a chilly one, but once we got moving, it actually was quite nice.  I didn't have to worry about starting out too fast because I spent about the first 9 or 10 miles just halting, starting, and trying to get around walls of runners to find my own stride and pace.  With all this lateral movement, my personal GPS device recorded 27.4 miles by the time I finished the 26.2 mile course.  So my actual pace was quicker than the official race time, right???  :)  The teen miles started to get challenging as hills became more prevalent, but I prayed, recited some positive mantras, and reminded myself that just like labor, the marathon wouldn't last forever.  By the time I got to mile 20, it was pure grit with the end in sight.  I got to see Steve four times during my race and my parents, sister, and children when I finished.  What a feeling to be done!

And maybe, just maaaaybe, I'll do another one someday.  Okay, probably.

Expo.

Checking my chip! It worked.

Early morning, ready to run!

Early on in the race, still in my long-sleeve layer.

Ok, Steve, you can have it.

Had to take a photo on my phone during the race.  This is around mile 10, I think.

Right around mile 21, I think...tired but thumbs up for Steve.

Post-race Caribou.  Yum.

Screen capture from my personal GPS after the run.

Maggie loved seeing her cousin, Grey, at lunch.



My official "unofficial" results from the Twin Cities Marathon website.