Five years old...how did that happen?

Happy 5th birthday, Spencer! Wow...time flies. In some ways it seems like yesterday that Spencer was a newborn and now he's an amazing kid that loves his little sister, his friends, and burning energy in typical five year old boy ways - riding his bicycle (without training wheels!), playing golf, swimming.

It's been a really fun summer for us. The kids fell in love with Missy Franklin (see below) and spent lots of time at the pool (and sporting their goggles/swim caps around town). Shoshi is now 2-1/2 and has a great spirit, a large vocabulary (with lots of ways to boss Jon and I around), a new love of ballet (pic also below), and a big admiration of her brother. We have had lots of fun watching our two kids hang out together.

In many ways this has been one of our most relaxing summers. We started our summer visiting Jon's family in South Dakota and we are headed to New York in a few weeks to see my family, but we had little travel during the main summer months which gave us lots of pool time. For us that is like a vacation every weekend (think cocktail in hand while hanging poolside). We spent a few weekends here and there in the mountains which was also great family time.

We are all finally in great health after some random summer illness. Poor Shoshi was speckled with hives for a copule of weeks. I spent several weeks (and a still lingering cough) with bronchitis (which finally came to a head during a 1/2 marathon I ran at 8,500 feet...MISERABLE!!!) and then after having stomach issues and no appetite for almost two months I found out I have acid reflux (which thankfully is very treatable and instantly goes away with medication). It made for a tough time trying to marathon train but somehow I kept it up and I now I feel like a million bucks. I'm still on target for my November marathon in Santa Barbara and with my appetite back in check running has been really fun.

Jon and I celebrated our eight year anniversary a few weeks ago which also makes us wonder where time goes. We had a great date day last Thursday...we took the day off and golfed all day with a friend of ours and then went to the botanic gardens concert at night to see Bruce Hornsby. Fun times together!

Happy July 4th!

Wow...it's been awhile! No profound excuses, I just got out of the blogging groove. Here's what's new in our world today.

Today we took the kids to our annual 4th of July parade in the park by our house. We have gone every year with our good friends whose daughter, Kaia is Spencer's buddy. It's so much fun watching Spencer and Kaia grow up together and these annual events show just how much they have grown.

Spencer (who turns 5 in September) now rides his bike without training wheels. This year Shoshi joined Spencer on her tricycle in the parade. Spencer then took his bike with our other neighbor and their kids all around the park (about a 2 mile loop)...his farthest venture yet.

Here is a picture of the three kiddos.

Here's Spency and Kaia in 2008. It's crazy how time flies!

To finish off our July 4th celebration, we went after naptime to our pool. The kids swam, Jon and I sat poolside with a cocktail and then we hit the pool's July 4th celebration complete with petting zoo, jumpy castle, face painting, food, band, etc. This year most fireworks around town are cancelled due to the hot, dry weather and awful fires. Both kids absolutely love swimming. Shoshi sleeps with her swimsuit. Spencer swims by himeself. It's our favorite summer activity.

Shoshi is almost 2-1/2 and has an amazing vocabulary and a strong sense of independence (not sure where she got those from...ha!). She is in the oldest toddler class at school and has started swim lessons and gymnastics during the day. We are so excited that she also starts her first round of dance lessons. We bought her a tutu that I just can't wait to give her (shhh....it's a surprise!). Shoshi loves her big brother and does every little thing that Spencer does. He jumps, she jumps...he says something, she repeats...etc.

We just got back from a very fun few days in  Pierre, SD visiting Jon's family. The kids went boating, swimming and hung around with their grandparents and Jon's brothers Chris & Charlie and Chris' wife Cathy and their aunt Ruth Ann. Charlie took Spencer fishing which he loved. Jon and I had a rare few outings together sans kiddos - we went golfing with Charlie and Jon's stepdad Don which was super fun. Jon and I went on a six mile run around Pierre together. Jon's mom took the ladies out for a lunch on the town and Jon and I went out one night with Chris and Cathy for some good midwestern steak - awesome company and a beautiful view of the Missouri River. It was fun for us to hang with the kids on the long car ride there and back, although our return trip took almost 11 hours...yikes!

Charlie, Chris, Jon and Spencer.

Here's Spency fishing with his Uncle Charlie

 

We've had a really fun spring/summer so far. We had a few weekends in the mountains - I ran the Steamboat half marathon (an annual tradition) and Jon competed in the Tough Mudder - an awesomely difficult 12 mile race up and down a mountain where every mile or so there are obstacles like jumping over walls, swimming in ice baths, jumping in mud, getting zapped by dangling electirc wires, etc. He participated as a team with some fellow crossfit buddies and they did great. His race was in Beaver Creek which was fun for us to have an excuse to head out there. During Jon's race I got a babysitter and hit the spa...not a bad afternoon all around! We met up with Jon and our buddies at the finish and it was really fun for me to support Jon in his race since he's always so supportive of my running. I posted a few pictures below but more are on facebook...feel free to friend either of us if you haven't done so. There are just way too many places to take and post pics therese days.

My plan this year is to run the Santa Barbara Marathon in November. I'm going with the girls that I run with - there's about six of us so far. Our official training kicked off a few weeks ago although I haven't really increased my miles too much yet. I decided to add a few more strength sessions to my workout week and drop one run to hopefully prevent getting injured - while still improving my marathon time a bit. I would love to break the four hour mark so we'll see how this plan works out!

Here's me at the finish line of the Steamboat 1/2 marathon. The race goes through beautiful country but the last mile and a half or so is on the highway back into town and it's always pretty hot. I'm smiling but at this point I don't really mean it!

I ran with my friend Rachel while Jon hung out with Rachel's husband David and their twin girls and two boys. The kids all had fun hanging out together.

Here are a few more random pics from the last few months. The first few are from Spencer's class. I hung out with them one morning when they released butterflies that they raised. The last two are from preschool graduation. We are holding Spencer back from kindergarten - he's right on the cutoff and we  love his preschool teachers and think he'll benefit from another year with them. The last picture is one we call Shoshi's "oh no mr. bill" face...she tends to make it shen she's excited!

I am amazingly impressed if you are still faithfully checking my blog for updates and actually made it to the end of this post. If you got here, feel free to drop me a note...I would love to know who's still out there.

Happy spring!

Here's a few pictures from this weekend - a celebration of Passover, Easter, warm weather and just hanging out with our favorite two kiddos and Barkley. Saturday we finally returned to the dog park we took Barkley to long before we had Spencer and Shoshi. The kids had a blast chasing Barkley and watching him swim.

We've had a fun winter/spring. The big news here is that Jon left his job a couple of weeks ago and started his own business. The company designs and manufactures steel roof trusses for non-residential buildings (i.e. schools, commercial centers, etc). So exciting for Jon!

In other news, Shoshi is talking up a storm, Spencer just rode his bike without training wheels, both kids are having fun at school and hanging with their buddies. We're excited for summer and swim season! I'm sure there's a lot more to catch up on since it looks like I haven't posted since January, but this will have to hold you for a little while.

Here we are at brunch today

 



  

Spency and one of his best buddies Laurel

At the dog park. Notice the two new front teeth (they're fakies!)

Diva!

Happy 2nd birthday!

Happy second birthday to our sweet girl.

Here's how she celebrated -

1. A new elmo hoodie from her Uncle Stu, Aunt Lindsay and counsins Kay and Simon.

2. Elmo cupcakes for her class that me and Spency made together. They looked part alien, part Elmo, but the toddlers somehow deciphered Elmo.

3. Elmo cupcake cake for her party this past friday night. More on the party, below.

4. Elmo jammies from her grandpa Lewie and grandma Linda.

5. Other super cool gifts from my parents, Uncle Arthur (Shoshi's birthday buddy) and Aunt Jan and a few friends. We're still excited to skype and have Shoshi open her gift while Jon's mom and dad in S. Dakota are watching!

6. Elmo plates, party hats, etc.

Note the theme...the girl loves elmo. And cupcakes. And we love her...and can't believe she's two. Where does the time go? From adorable snuggly baby to awesome little toddler that bosses us all around!

The weekend started with a friday trip to the doctor for her two year visit. Other than Shoshi screaming bloody murder from the moment they called her name (she was fine for the hour me, Spencer and Shoshi waited in the waiting room) she was great. She's a little peanut, at about 15th percentile. But she's perfect.

Friday night we had a bowling party. Less for Shoshi than for Jon and I and our friends and Spency and his buds...but Shoshi still had a blast. We bowled at the same club the kids go to daycare which made my party planning super easy. They provided the bartender (happy hour...couldn't do without a glass of wine or two) and pizza which was especially awesome for me since Jon and I are on a ridiculous 30-day "paleo diet" with no breads, grains, etc....in other words...we eat like our paleo ancestors...protein, fruit, veggies, nuts. Not wonderful choices if you're the carb queen like me...but it did make that piece of pizza taste wonderful.

Here's a few pics...

Take a look at Spency's smile. Next week at this time he'll have new front teeth!

Yup....there's Elmo.

Daddy's little girl!

Look...cute (ha!) bowling shoes.

Me and the girls. That's Shelly, Consuelo, me and Jeannene.

Shoshi's first boyfriend, Matteo!

Teo trying to hold Shoshi's hand!

The rest of our weekend was fast and fun. I ran 8 miles in absolutley frigid temperatures that I was slightly unprepared for...then ran to my favorite store for 70% off!...then Jon and I brought the kids to crossfit and did a ridiculous workout with like a million burpees which made my head spin after insufficient carbs and my freezing cold run. We all napped and then went to the aquarium after dinner. Today we took the kids to the zoo and then I ran off for a much needed pedi. The kids are finally asleep and I'm about to put our paleo groceries (ughhh...still 3 more weeks left of this crazy eating) and then off to bed for an early monday run and then work!

Have a great week.

Thanks to Amy...

I just got off the phone with Amy (remember...one of my favorite people in the whole world who came to visit (FINALLY) and I blogged about it here) -

http://www.robynandjon.blogspot.com/2011/11/what-weekend.html

Amy is a fellow blogger (and a much more creative person in general so it's easy to be inspired) and we talked about blogging which led to this post...so Amy...this ramblingness is for you! Check out Amy's awsesome blog here...

http://www.amysscraps.blogspot.com/

...and while you're at it...feel free to order some cookies from her. She's AMAZING!!! (You can see some of her cookies on her blog...keep scrolling down...or you can stalk her and become her facebook friend!).

Okay...now back to our marginally entertaining life.

Today was a big favorite for Denverites...the stock show. Lots of cowboy hats and big animals I can't identify. The best part is we can break out Spencer's cowboy hat that we bought two years ago (which as we reminded ourselves today was the day before I delivered Shoshi).

Today we added to the stock show excitement by buying Shoshi a pink cowboy hat. Here's a picture of the kids in their hats...clearly not totally thrilled about the whole experience (for the record...this was on the tractor ride back to our car which was about 2 hours past Shosh's naptime).

Me and my little urban cowgirl

Our little city slicker!

This was really fun...Spencer and Shoshi went on the train together at the stock show.
The little girl here is the daughter of the very awesome lady that cleans our house who we randomly saw today.

It wasn't all smiles...it took Shosh a few minutes to warm up to the train.

The best part of the stockshow...Shoshi conked out the minute we got into the car.
I added the hat for a more humorous picture!


It's hard to believe it's Sunday night...although thankfully I have tomorrow off. Yesterday I started the day with a run and then we did a crossfit workout (nothing like 120 squats, 90 pull ups and push ups and some other torture I'm conveniently forgetting as a kick off to the weekend). Last night we hung out with our friends next door to watch the Broncos get pummeled by the Patriots. Fun times despite the loss.

In other news, Shoshi turns two on Jan 26. Crazy. Here she is with her favorite new Elmo sweatshirt (thanks to Brooke and Link...their youngest (as of now) is freaked out by Elmo whereas Shoshi is obsessed. She wouldn't take the fleece off all day at school.

Big news for Spencer...he's getting new teeth. If your recall, he knocked them out about two years ago. He sitll has several more years until getting his front two adult teeth. He seemed to really want teeth and he was super calm when they took his impressions last week. Stay tuned for pics!

Happy holidays!

Happy hanukkah and merry xmas!

I am finally taking a week or so off to hang with the kids and Jon is off for the long weekend...a much needed block of time catching up with Spencer and Shoshi. December has turned into a whirlwind month.

This year December started with a marathon for me. Another 26.2 (#4) and a really fun week with Jon and I and this time no munchkins. I ran the California International Marathon in Sacramento, along with our friends Shelly and Brian. I finished in 4:14, almost 20 minutes faster than last year. I was really happy and very sore and then very relaxed as we headed to Sonoma for a few days. We stayed at a very amazing hotel (the Hotel Healdsburg, for anyone looking for a recommendation), drank wine, slept late, ate well and (I) hobbled around the wineries.

Below is a race recap and some marathon pics (consider that a warning...you can skip to the more entertaining family stuff after I ramble about my running adventure).

My summary of the marathon experience: it is by far one of the hardest physical and mental challenges...ever, but quite a feeling of accomplishment (by comparison, raising two amazing kids is by far more gratifying, but this is a completely different ballgame). During periods of training and the race I question the sanity of distance running. But it all seems worth it and each marathon seems to get better and more rewarding for me and each one seems to get me past limits I never thought possible.

The day started with a really early morning bus ride to the start (at folsom prison...made famous by the johnny cash song) and the ride seemed to go on forever (which is a little disheartening when you know you have to run all the way back). Shelly, Brian and I met in the lobby and we ran into my neighbor who was running her first marathon. The weather was great (a little cool, which is nice) and the course was good (CIM is the smallest marathon I've ever run and I like that cozier feel). The leaves were still changing colors which was something pretty to look at (for the first bunch of miles...I seem to not notice much scenary about halfway through!).

Jon met me at mile 20 (he was originally planning on stopping at mile 13 or so but the traffic made that difficult). It was so great to see him but I said a quick hello, got a super cap recap on how Shelly and Brian were doing (thanks to live runner tracking), threw him my fuel belt (at that point I had one more gu left which I kept in my pocket) and went on my way.
This race was a big mental accomplishment for me as well as a physical one. When it starts getting really tough I always want to give up, sit down and cry (which I've never done but those thoughts seem to take over). This time was different for me...once I started feeling that way I said f*** it, not only will I not stop (I don't let myself stop and stretch or walk...nothing good comes of that!) but I will kick it in. The first half I ran a pace between 8:50-9:10 or so per mile, then from miles 14-20 I was about 9:40 pace. Starting mile 20 I was just over 10 min/mile and then between 10 and 10:50 the last few miles. My pace slowed down a bit but I managed to keep a fairly even effort (although the last hour or so it takes so much focus to keep putting one foot in front of the other). The end is really just about toughing it out. Just when you think it should be over and it gets really hard there's still about an hour left. Dig deep!

Jon was waiting at the finish in the crowds which is such a welcome site and Brian was just on the other side of the finish line. The race ended at the capitol building and our hotel was across the street (which seems like another 26.2 miles). I gobbled down a few pancakes, stretched for a few minutes, called my running bud Kathy and then we headed to the hotel. Thankfully there was a startbucks between the finish line and the hotel. I usually can't eat a whole lot the day of my run but a salted caramel mocha became my post-long run drink of choice (chocolate milk is a good recovery drink...I figure this is close) and it never tasted better! We also got some cake thing on a stick which I admired for months but held off until post-marathon. Unfortunately my stomach was a little unsettled so we threw it on the car on our way to Sonoma and found the cake pop thing found several days later on the backseat. So much for indulgence!

I showered and we caught up with Shelly and Brian for lunch. They're great friends of ours and it was really fun to share the experience and the weekend with them (and they both did amazing!).

Admittedly around mile 20 I silently proclaimed my marathon retirement but by the time we hit the airport on Wednesday I was furiously searching the internet to figure out which marathon to run next year. I still have a goal of breaking 4 hours and of course I need to run New York one day. And maybe Kauai. Stay tuned for the 2012 marathon decision...



Here's me at 26.1...only .1 to go!



Hooray!



Me, Shelly and Brian after our post-marathon lunch. My pants hide my hot pink compression socks (and Shelly's boots hide her compression tights)...what an amazing invention!

I love having Jon at the finish line! This is the first marathon my parents weren't there which was a little sad.



 

 



That's me talking to Kathy



After lunch we packed up (Jon packed, I was horizontal on the bed texting my parents and friends) and headed to Sonoma for a really great and relaxing few days (and a very needed massage!). Jon's mom and dad Vonnie and Don had a great time back home with the kiddos so that made our trip all the more enjoyable.

I learned that although I love a glass or two of wine I'm not a big wine taster and prefer to sit outside watching the grapes grow rather than talking about wine. In the picture below we actually tasted every one of those wines. The wine guy was super nice and fun to talk to but there are no chairs in tasting rooms and after running 26.2 miles all I wanted was to sit down! Nonetheless, good wine drinking = good napping and so by the time we headed back home on Wednesday I was well rested and very relaxed!

We returned to Denver on Wednesday and then on Friday headed to the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs for a work event my firm hosts. We stayed with the kids Friday night, came back Saturday to a few holiday parties (one at our crossfit gym and one at our good friends (and running buddy) Becky and Michael's across the street. The next week we had several nights of work events and the kids stayed behind with babysitters so by Friday we were really missing the kids and they really missed us. This past week I planned to take some days off but we I had a work deadline (we're trying to get hired by Denver Airport and we had this never ending proposal to finish up). That's done and now we get some very great family time!

This update wouldn't be complete without a few more festive pics of the kids. They are so much fun and it's amazing watching them play together.

I took the kids sledding yesterday. Shoshi looks happy (and really stinkin' cute) but this was the end of her smilng...about a minute after I took this picture she got off her sled and Spencer barreled over her!

We have made the Turkey Trot an annual tradition...and decided to get festive hats for the run (or the picture before the run!). The race is 4 miles and goes around the park by our house. Spencer ran about 1/16 of a mile this year and we can't wait for him to join us out of the double jogger in years to come!



Me and Shoshi and a birthday party for Spency's friend

We went up to Winter Park the day after Thanksgiving. Spencer and Jon skiied while Shoshi and I snowshoed with Shelly and one of her boys, Kyle.

Not only does Spencer love skiing but he'll be better than me in about a month!

The girls...

...and the boys

We are in the midst of celebrating Hanukkah (we had our neighbors Andrea, Sander and their girls Kaia (Spency's buddy) and Elise (Shoshi's bud) over last night for latkes and homemade french onion soup (I'll spare you the picture!). Tonight we're headed to zoo lights for our annual xmas eve night and then tomorrow I make ebelskivers (stuffed pancake things) for breakfast and the kids open gifts.

We wish everyone a very happy holiday and happy new year and look forward to sharing many more adventures with you in 2012!