A Friend Comes to Visit

We went to visit a special "friend" this weekend - Thomas the Tank Engine!  Lincoln and I got to ride on an actual Thomas Train (or a least, a train that was pulled by Thomas).  And after the train ride there was lots of fun stuff to do - there was a petting zoo, an inflatable "bouncer" (I have no idea what they're really called), bubbles and, of course, lots of Thomas stuff to play with - and buy.

As for Guy, he is growing bigger every day.  He loves to roll on the floor (and he can go pretty far!) and I'm sure it will only be a matter of time before he's sitting all by himself.  For now, though, he enjoys sitting in his Bumbo seat.  Scott took this really cute picture of him.  He doesn't have any hair (or teeth) yet, but I think he's adorable!

We know what we did this weekend

For Memorial Day weekend, Scott and I decided to have a quiet and relaxing 3-day weekend at home.  As you'll see, you can really pack a lot of activities into a 3-day weekend!

First off, Scott and Lincoln actually got some work done by painting some boards to put into the kitchen.  Here you can see the two different painting "outfits" that Lincoln wore (although the second doesn't really count as an "outfit"...)

On Saturday we went to Jiggle Jam, which is a kid's music festival held at Crown Center.  Lincoln loved taking a ride on the little "train" - he just smiled and waved to us the whole time.  Later, we stopped at the Wonderscope tent for...more painting!  Lincoln got his own ice-cream and then practiced drawing on, and cleaning, a window.

Guy was a champ the whole time and hung out while Lincoln tried out all of the fun activities.

On Sunday we did some grilling with Mary, Randy, and Everett for lunch and then visited Tracy and Joni for dinner and More Grilling (it was Memorial Day weekend, after all)!

It was a fun weekend, but I think we need another weekend to recover from our weekend!

Everyone loves a parade

A couple of weeks ago (I know, we're behind), we went to the Mission Days Parade. This was Lincoln's 2nd parade, and Guy's first. Lincoln enjoyed it, but realized that everything in a parade is very loud - fire trucks run their sirens, cars honk their horns, and bands play loud music. You'll noticed Lincoln's hands over his ears in the first picture.

Guy, on the other hand, didn't mind the parade noise. Probably because he lives in a house with a two-year-old that doesn't know the meaning of quite.

After a busy weekend, we were all ready for a good nap...

Lincoln and the Dragon

First, a little backstory: When we moved into our house, the previous owner had painted a big dragon in what is now Lincoln's room. When we repainted last year we opted to keep the dragon because it looks really cool. We've told Lincoln that "Petey" will bring him good dreams and scare away bears (Lincoln is afraid of bears).

In the last couple of weeks Lincoln has really started to enjoy drawing and painting. He mostly just scribbles, but recently I was showing him how to draw people - with eyes, a nose, a mouth, etc. I drew pictures of him, Guy, Scott, and myself. Scott filmed him as he started to draw a face of his own:

Now this is runing

I realize that you're probably getting tired of running posts, but that's the mode we're in right now, so please stick with us.

I was talking to a coworker about - wait for it - running, and he mentioned that his son is an ultramarathoner (i.e. runs 50+ mile races).  He's preparing for the Badwater Ultramarathon in Death Valley, CA, which is a 135 mile race in 135 degree heat in July.

He's keeping a blog as he prepares.  I think it's amazing that people can do this, so I wanted to share it with you.  Enjoy.

On the Run - Part 2

As Linda mentioned in the previous post, it's running season for our family.  Round two of our annual races is the Lincoln Marathon.  This is my 4th year running the 1/2 marathon, and this year Tracy and our cousin Aaron joined me.  It was a perfect day, and we had the whole family there to cheer us on (excluding Guy who stayed with Linda's parents).

Despite the perfect conditions and a lot of training, I ran 1 minute slower than last year.  I was still happy with my time, and I felt good the whole run (and the next day).

This is me rounding the final turn and waving to my adoring fans. It feels great to see the finish line.

Here are Tracy, Aaron, Lincoln, and I post race. As you can see, Tracy and Lincoln were the only ones not cool enough to wear the free Lincoln Marathon visors. You'll also notice that Lincoln is eating my Power Bar. We're not sure it's good for two-year-olds to eat Power Bars, but he needed the energy.

On The Run - Part 1

It's springtime again in Kansas City, which means it's the start of running and biking season.  Last week we kicked off the season with the Trolley Run, a 4-mile run that follows the route of a (you guessed it!) old trolley track path.  The Trolley Run is a lot of fun because not only does it have a 4-mile run for Scott and me, it also has a kid's run that Lincoln has participated in for the last two years.   I ran a personal best of 40 minutes - although in the interest of disclosure, all of the previous years I've run I've either been pregnant or pushing a stroller.

For Lincoln's run, he got his very own number and got to "race" about ten yards.  

Just like the "big" race, there was also a lot of free food and drinks for the participants.  Lincoln cooled off with a glass of juice and filled up on a chocolate-chip muffin.  They also had face painting and balloon animals.

At the end of the race Lincoln received a blue ribbon, which is now proudly displayed on our fridge.  Next year we're looking forward to Guy running.