2013 - Week 29

This week we got back into the swing of real life. But, this weekend brought me some much needed fun with my girlfriends at Lakefront Music Fest!

Well, Monday meant back to reality. It's never fun heading back to real life after vacation. The girls were off to my in-laws, we were off to work. The day went by pretty fast though, so that was a positive start to the week. The evening was pretty standard. I picked the girls up after work so Christian could go deck paint shopping with his dad. We hung out for a bit, had some dinner, the usual. With our lack of cable and DVR, I've taken up some new shows this summer. One of them is "The Bachelorette". I know the series has been on FOREVER, but I've never watched it before. I have to admit, I can see why people get obsessed with it. And, I do kind of like it. But, I find it pretty sad at the same time. It seems like everybody is just completely fake and looking for "fame" any way they can get it. The fact that people can be SO fake about something so important kind of breaks my heart. I don't know...I find the whole concept pretty interesting though.

I put together our side-by-side Duluth trip family photo collage today. Love it!

Christian asked to "retake" this shot we took two years ago, I love it!

I'm sure Rick was super happy that we were home!

Tuesday brought upon a long awaited decision...as of next week, the girls will be going to KinderCare full time. My mother in laws schedule has become too unpredictable, and we just can't count on her anymore. I know they're going to miss the girls, and my mom is really going to miss her day, but I'm honestly super excited for the girls - it's going to be so good for them, I'm very happy with this adjustment (maybe not the bill that comes with it). Now, I have to decide what I'm going to do with my schedule. Right now, I work 9 hour days so I can have every other Friday off. I can either 1) continue that and have that day all to myself...rest, chores, shopping, etc. or 2) I can go back to working 8's and get an extra hour a day at home. Both are tempting and have their pro's and con's...I'm guessing I'll stick with option 1, but we'll see. When I picked the girls up after work, Amelia's old toddler teacher, Miss Judy, was very upset with me for waiting until AFTER she moved up to preschool. I love how much they love the girls! I left work early to do some shopping...Toys R Us for a slip n' slide, Hallmark for Amelia's "3" figurine, Party City to order Party Balloons, and Target to do our weekly shopping and order cupcakes. BUSY! We immediately set up the slip n' slide when we got home and had a blast. The girls could not get enough, it was so fun. We had a quick dinner after...Amelia was not cooperating very well though. I left her sitting at the table and she whined about how she needed help. I finally, jokingly, told Olivia to go help her. And, she did! It was hilarious. I guess I need to do that more often...

Slip N' Slide Fun!

By Wednesday, we were in the midst of a heat wave. I'm not complaining though...bring on the heat after that crappy, never-ending winter! The extended forecast isn't looking so great though...looks like we're in for a cool down. I sure hope that changes though. Today was a pretty low-key, standard day. Work, school, a little more slip n' slide fun, dinner, baths. The usual!

We about have some jalapenos ready to pick! YES!

My Valentines Roses Are Popping Up Like Crazy!

Tomatoes Are Coming In

The Pumpkins are Flowering

The Pumpkin Patch Just Keeps Growing and Growing

I found the girls sitting at the top of the stairs. Secret meeting of the sissy club...I wasn't invited.

Thursday was not so good. Work has been stressing me out BIG time. Today was one of THOSE days....when everything you touch is a problem, everything that can go wrong does, everything is a mess, phone calls and e-mails are rushing in left and right. By quitting time, I had definitely been pushed over the edge. I hate days like this!!! One good thing that came out of the day....I got my short term disability acceptance letter! At my work, when you are first hired, you can sign up for any and all disability, insurance, etc. programs that you want. After that, short term disability is never open for enrollment. You have to apply, and provide evidence of good health, and be approved. I applied a few years back, before getting pregnant with Olivia, and I was denied because of my heart disease. I decided to try applying again, just in case we go for #3, and they had changed the application wording a bit to where I did not need to claim my heart disease in the health history. Sure enough, that did the trick! Got my letter today, and I'm covered. That was pretty exciting news.

Two of the Birds Hatched!

Friday was DEFINITELY a finally Friday this week. It was another long day of meetings, issues and an overflowing inbox. BUT, the day flew by. My mom dropped the girls off to me at work because she was coming into the city. So, we made our way home. I immediately started getting ready for the night....it was finally time for Lakefront Music Fest with my girls! I got myself ready, my friends Gini and Michelle swung by to pick me up, and we were on our way to Rock Night. Tonight's line up was Firehouse (we missed most of their set), Warrant and BRET MICHAELS!!! I cannot tell you how excited I was to see him. They all did a great job, and Bret definitely rocked it. The end of the night was pretty exciting. You can't park onsite...they have a couple of park & walk lots, and a couple park & shuttle lots. The walking lots appeared to be quite a walk on mapquest, so we decided to try the shuttles. It was fine getting to the show, but, imagine thousands and THOUSANDS of people leaving at one time, heading for the shuttles...that were not marked or well organized whatsoever. It was pure chaos. Luckily, everybody was in a pretty fun, festive mood, but it was crazy. Meanwhile, Christian was home with the girls. He and his friend Lorenzo have spent a few nights this week sanding the deck. I cannot wait until the deck is DONE! Mariano stopped over with the girls' BFF, Bella, for a bit, so they kept themselves better.

Mema, taking care of her babies while I get ready.

Ready to Rock Out! Firehouse, Warrant and Bret Micheals [Band]

Saturday was another busy, fun-filled day. First up, swim class. Olivia was super excited to be back in the pool after a couple weeks off. The girls and I picked up some breakfast on our way home. Christian and Lorenzo spent the day doing some more sanding, and power-washing the house. The girls and I played for a bit, had some lunch and they went down for naps. I took to the yard and FINALLY got the patio tables and chairs, outdoor toys, etc. sprayed down and cleaned. Time to finally accept that it's summer and get the yard cleaned up. Then, it was time to get ready...Country Night at Lakefront Music Festival. I got ready and tonight, Gini and our friend Skaar picked me up and we were off. Last night we HAD to be in the mix to get up close and personal with Bret. Tonight, we took it easy and sat back on the hill...relaxing night on the hill, and it was perfect. We did lots of chatting and catching up (both nights), which was much needed. This weekend provided some long overdue time with my girls.

The girls were pretty annoyed that I was going out AGAIN. We snapped a pic together before I headed off.

Hanging on the Hill. County Night - Kristen Kelly, Casey James and Montgomery Gentry

Sunday was back to home life. I spent the day doing my usual chores, on speed. While the house needed some picking up...more important, it's time to get ready for Amelia's birthday party next weekend! Christian dropped the girls off with his parents for a couple of hours. He took to the garage and got it cleaned out an picked up. I tackled the inside. Laundry, kitchen, dining room, bedrooms, entry and master bathroom. ALL CLEAN! Man, there is nothing like a clean house. Now, I'll just need to get the basement picked up and do some shopping and we're ready. I have to admit, I'm a little disappointed in regards to Amelia's birthday party this year. I sent the invitations out a month ago and NOBODY other than our parents, one of my cousins and a coworker even bothered to RSVP. I finally broke down and messaged the remaining invitees this weekend an one "no" RSVP after another came rolling in. I'm super, SUPER sensitive when it comes to parties. It (sadly) breaks my heart a little with each "no" I receive. I end up getting so upset over it, and I know I shouldn't. I guess it just leaves me feeling like we don't mean enough to people...people don't care enough...and that we put more weight on our friendships and relationships than other people do. And, I HATE that feeling. I keep a calender...I have birthdays on said calendar, especially those of the people we care most about, and would typically attend a birthday party for. I guess I just think it's strange that other people wouldn't do the same. And, to know that we do EVERYTHING possible to make it to ever event, party, get-together, etc., no matter what we have going on, how busy we are, how packed it makes our day - we still find a way...and, it sucks that nobody else will do the same for us. In the end, we invited about 45 people (including us, our parents and all of the kids). It looks like we'll have about 19 people at the part (again, including us). Far less than half. Ugh  - that seriously breaks my heart.

Anyway, that's our week! I can't believe my baby turns 3 in the coming week. SO CRAZY!

Until next week!

2013 - Week 28

So, I fell behind on blogging. I can't remember all of this week (seriously great memory), so I'm just going to post some pictures for the days I don't remember.

The big highlight of his week was our annual trip "up north", to Duluth. It's always such an amazing, relaxing weekend. Never easy to come back home, that's for sure.

Monday is a loss. Tuesday is pretty much a loss. I do know that the girls and I started showing signs of a summer cold coming on. NOT COOL! Just in time for vacation, of course. And I swear, summer colds are 10 times worse than winter, for some reason. I checked on the robin's nest tonight, and there are 4 eggs, now. SO pretty! And, our pumpkin patch is getting CRAZY.

On Wednesday, the colds really started getting us down. Amelia could not fall asleep at all, she kept crying out for me and was just miserable. I asked her if she wanted to sleep with me...typically, she would NEVER sleep anywhere but her own bed, so when she said "yes please", I knew she wasn't feeling well. So, she an I cuddled in for the night. Poor thing...she did finally get some sleep though, so, she just needed mama!

On Thursday, Christian and I marked 12 years together. 12 years ago this day, we went on our very first date...to the Mall of America. We didn't arrive until they were just starting to close, so we ended up walking around a pretty much empty mall. Very romantic! But, it all worked out for the best. There were many, many more dates that followed, and it's been so amazing growing up with him. From Senior Prom, to our wedding, to buying a house and having kids. I can't imagine going on this journey with anybody else. In present day...my cold was getting much worse. On top of it, I think I have some allergies going on. I don't have regular allergies - they are just random, and come out of nowhere. I think they're related to the sun - and I'm pretty sure Amelia as the same issue. I took some cold medicine, but they didn't even touch my sinuses, so I took some sudafed. Ugh. Christian appears to be coming down with a cold now too, so we're pretty much going to be a mess for our vacation. Good Lord!

Friday was the big day....VACATION DAY! It did not start out well at all though. Christian was all blocked up and miserable. The girls were doing better, so that's the one plus. I, was a COMPLETE mess. My head was pounding, I was completely stuffed up, and I literally could not open my eyes without water gushing out from my allergies. I was thisclose to canceling our trip, but I didn't want to miss out, and lose all of that money. So, I finally got up, got us all packed up, fed the girls and we got ready to go. I stopped at the pharmacy and got some allergy meds and took some right away. We dropped the dog off at my dad's, and I pretty much slept the entire 3 hour drive up north. I felt bad leaving Christian to entertain himself, but it was the only hope I had of actually surviving the night. Olivia slept most of the ride as well, but Amelia was wide eyed and bushy tailed the whole way up. We turned her carseat forward facing for the ride...and it will stay that way. I'm sad - it makes me sad. I'm not ready for my baby to be forward facing. I think I'll hold off until after her birthday to turn her chair in my car (which is where she travels the most)...then I'll REALLY be sad! By the time we arrived, I was feeling much better. I could finally open my eyes (with sunglasses), and we were doing much better all around. We were able to check in right away, so we unloaded the truck and got settled in. We were off to dinner at a Mexican restaurant downtown, and stopped at our usual Ice Cream parlor - SO YUMMY! We took a little stroll down the lakewalk to the water...it was pretty warm out, but the water of course was pretty cold. It didn't stop the girls though, especially Olivia who fell right in and was soaking wet. Oops! We ran back to the room quick to get the girls changed, and made our way back down to feed the birds and visit the lighthouse. We took a quick dip in the hotel pool - OMG, the girls had the time of their life. We were all pretty exhausted by the time we got back to the room and everybody slept pretty soundly. Great first day!

Saturday started off MUCH better, and was a fantastic day. We were all feeling much better. We started the day off with breakfast, a little play time in the room and got ready for the day. Our first stop of the day was Enger Tower - a new stop for us. We climbed the stairs to the top and took in the amazing views. The girls loved it. The looked over the edge like it was nothing - it's crazy. We spent some time walking around the park area, taking everything in before taking off. We grabbed lunch on our way back, and stopped in the room to rest for a while. Amelia took a little nap with Christian while Olivia and I watched some TV. Next up, we were off for a family bike ride...they rent out all kinds of different bikes, we rented a 2 adult/2 child bike. It was a much more difficult ride than we anticipated, but it was a fun little adventure. We took a walk through town, and made our way over for the next item on our agenda...our boat tour around the city. Last year we took a train ride, so this year we thought we'd try the boats out...and it was the girls' first time on a boat, so they were pretty excited. It was such a relaxing ride...so relaxing, Amelia passed out! We grabbed some dinner after and headed back to the hotel for some more swimming fun. These girls seriously love the water, it's unbelievable. Again, we were all more than ready to pass out once we settled back into the room.

Sunday was the dreaded day we say goodbye, and head back home. But, not before a little more fun. Again, we had a little breakfast...the girls played while we packed up and got ready to go. We checked out, loaded up the truck and made our way back down to the lake before hitting the road. We skipped some rocks and relaxed for a while. We fed the birds again and said goodbye to the lake. We stopped at a rose garden on our way out of town to check out the flowers and hang out for a little while. That marked the end of our vacation. We picked up the dog and got home around 3:30. The girls slept pretty much the entire drive home. I started unpacking, did a little cleaning and got some laundry done. Christian and the girls were off to his parents house for dinner, so I had the house to myself to get everything done. It's hard to believe the weekend, and our vacation, is over already. Always goes way too fast!

With that, another week came to an end. I already can't wait for next year! We've been having such amazing weather - but we're set to hit a really hot, humid patch in the coming week, so we'll see what happens!

Until next week!