NYC

Beth and I went to NYC a week ago.  It was awesome, we had a great time!  All I wanted for the few days afterwards was to just be back there.  I love that city.  Here's a quick breakdown of our trip: flew out Friday at 3am, shopped, attended a runner's expo (Beth's thing!), and ate.  Saturday: ran a 5K (which was BEAUTIFUL - started at the U.N., ran through the Rockefeller Center area, finished in Central Park at the same finish as the NYC Marathon, walked through Central Park, shopped, ate at Serendipity, went to the 9/11 Memorial, shopped, ate, went out to some fun bars.  Sunday: shopped, went to Brooklyn to watch the marathon runners (Brooklyn is really pretty and quaint), shopped (basically got kicked out of Chinatown), Times Square, scored a great deal on Rock of Ages tickets, Harbor Lights cruise, dinner and then drinks at a very cool rooftop bar.  Monday: shopped, Rockefeller Center and then home.  All around it was great. Here are a FEW pics.

Halloween Fun

Halloween was a beautiful night this year.  The kids got a lot of use out of their costumes.  We went TNT (trick and treating) at the Sartell strip mall one day, MN School of Business one day, Preschool party, REAL HALLOWEEN, and a daycare party!  We got our money's worth on these costumes.  They made a huge haul on their candy, and I finally threw the remaining pieces in a baggie so we no longer had to listen to Lola whine "pa-kin?, pa-kin?, pa-kin?" (Pumpkin,for those of you who don't understand 2 year old jibberish).  She had a pumpkin that held all of her treats and she learned how to TNT really quickly, problem was she wanted to eat every piece as she received!

Someone is exciiiiiitttteed!

"Cheeese!"

Best "together" picture I could get!

They're having a great time getting some good loot!

This guy actually keeps track of EVERYONE who comes to their house!  =)

"Mmmm, I love those!"

"Soooo much fun!!"

Friday Fun!

It's been a rollercoaster of a week but we're glad it's the weekend.

The kids are keeping us busy (I know, what else is new). Lola continually challenges me. This week she thinks it's ok not to sleep from around 3-6am and refuses to stay dressed from the waist down. It takes both Ryan and I to hold her down (and we're not teeny little people) to dress that 35 pounder and she just gets up after the wrestling match and takes off her pants and socks and very dramatically rips off her diaper. Well after 45 minutes of that on Wednesday I told Ryan and Teague to go to school (usually we ride together) as it didn't make sense for the whole family to be late due to Lola's uncooperative nature. So realizing I would never win w/ her, I left her in her shirt and she willingly put on her rain boots (covered up to her knees) and her rain jacket (covered to below her tush) and put her in the car w/ her pants and socks in a separate bag. She certainly didn't appreciate the seatbelt buckling in between her legs (without any protection). So in to Tina's she waltzed and Tina said as soon as I left Tina asked her if she was ready to get dressed and immediately she said yes and laid down on the floor to get dressed. Go figure. And now she cries huge elephant tears when I come to pick her up saying "no go mommy" as she clings to Tina for dear life (she doesn't want to go home with me).

But now that it's the weekend we are enjoying our special day. We came up to Nana and Papa's and have a lot of kid-friendly Halloween activities planned for the next few days!

It's never too cold for a wild swim in the hot tub!

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The Start of Many More

Teague had his first official school pictures this year and we think he is so adorable.  My sister says he is a "mini Ryan" (like I haven't heard that 5,246 times)!  We love you our little preschooler and we think you are the cutest preschooler EVER!

An Update

We had a bittersweet Ed MN break (yes, I am just being politically correct as MEA is the old, but good term).  We took the kids up to Thumper Ponds Resort in Ottertail, MN to the water park and over night.  We had a great time and the kids loved all of the swimming.  My mom, sister, and my sister's kids also joined in on the fun, so that really made it more fun for my kids as well.  It was quite adorable to put Lola in her little swimming vest, plop her in the lazy river and just watch her bob along!  She didn't sit in a floater, just floated along on her own!  It was cute, but I didn't bring my phone/camera down to the swimming area so there are no great pictures from the outing.  Teague loved the big slides - I am just so amazed at how big (and mature) he is getting.  It feels weird just letting him "loose" knowing he doesn't really need me right there as he can swim just fine now!  Of course I still keep my eye on him, but he was busy keeping up with the big kids anyway!

The bad news....Ryan's dad was diagnosed with stage 3(b) colon cancer.  While we were up at Ottertail he went into the ER with what he thought was another bowel obstruction.  After many tests over the course of about 24 hours, it was discovered he had a mass in his colon that needed to be removed.  This is Ryan's post from Facebook (which sums it up the best): I just wanted to give some of you an update on my Dad. He went into the hospital last week with what he thought was a bowel obstruction. It turns out that it was stage 3 colon cancer. He had the tumor, along with part of his colon, and his spleen removed. He is recovering well in the hospital and is hoping to head home by the end of the week. He will more than likely need several months of chemo as there was some cancerous lymph nodes. However, the doctors seem very confident that he should be back to normal in no time. He of course says that he is not planning on missing any basketball games! Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers!  We are optimistic and feel we will know more about what the next few months bring after his visit with his oncologist in 2-3 weeks.  They sent him home today to recover from the surgery and then he will learn more about his treatment.  


I think my overall feelings about this are anger.  I feel like the people we love most (my dad, Esther and now Dave) have spent their lives working and this is how they are spending their retirements.  It doesn't feel right and I feel a bit jaded, I won't lie.  Again, I fear less about my own relationships with these important people and more about my children's relationships.  My children are much too young to have memories that will last their lifetime if they were to lose a grandparent now.  I am not trying to be morbid, but rather honest about my realistic fears.  This is all too fresh for me as my dad has (hallelujah!) received news that his 18 month PET scan was clear.  This was a big milestone as his cancer typically will re-appear within the first 18 months after surgery.  On the bright side, I know I am blessed because thus far our parents have beat cancer and there are many who haven't.  Continued prayers are appreciated.