Busy Week

We have had a busy week this week. We needed to get settled back into home after a long weekend away, had a few play dates and even started swimming lessons. Good thing there were some breaks built in for fun!

Jack & Gabriel Splashing at a Park

Jack & Brevin Loving Being Outside (or as Jack says, "ow-sigh")!

Jack & Mommy Made Dessert...Jack licked the bowl afterwards!

By the way, our son is not usually in a onesie all the time. It is just that he either needed a quick swim suit so his clothes didn't all get soaked, or he was super messy from dinner! :)

Back in the Shoes

Jeremy went for his first quick run since his injury on Tuesday night. He ran 2.5 miles around our neighborhood. He did great. Yea! He was given the approval to slowly start training again and should be set to run in the Twin Cities Marathon in just a few short months!

Marathon Fun!

This past weekend was the Grandma's Marathon in Duluth, MN. As you already know, Jeremy had put in over six hundred miles training for this particular marathon...that is two whole pairs of shoes! Well, due to his injury he could not run. It was very hard for him to watch all those people run and not participate yourself. Imagine something that you LOVE (I am visualizing a Peanut Buster Parfait at DQ). Imagine everyone around you enjoying that thing that you love. Imagine wanting to enjoy that thing but not being able to. Sad huh?

Well, Jeremy was a trooper. He didn't let his injury get in the way of enjoying a beautiful weekend on the North Shore, nor did it stop him from cheering on his sister, Julie, who ran in the marathon.

We headed up on Thursday night after work. Woke up on Friday and had a tour of the William A. Irving (a retired ore ship). Then we picked up the race bibs and had a yummy spaghetti lunch. We headed back to the inn, took some naps and Lindsay and I got ready to run our 5K. We headed back to the Irving, as it was the starting line for the race. Before we knew it Lindsay and I were off! Much to our surprise (and theirs, as you can see by this picture of us closing in on the finish line) we came in a bit earlier than expected! Just over 36 minutes. Not bad for having never run more than a 2 mile distance in my whole life!

Next it was Julie's turn. We got up bright and early on Saturday (4:30am) to catch the marathon train. Jack made himself at home on the train as he explored everything around him. :) We unloaded in Two Harbors (at the starting line) and said our goodbyes to Julie. We boarded again (when Mr. Conductor said, "All Aboard!") and followed the race for a while. We got back to the finish line just in time to see the winner cross! How exciting. In all the fun of the day we never did get to see Julie run at all. She ran right by us as we waited at the finish line and we didn't even see her. At least she knew we were cheering for her in our hearts! Julie did a great job too. She finished 30 minutes faster than her Twin Cities Marathon time.

The Starting Line

Some more spectators - The soon-to-be Belisles!

Our Train

Degree Completion in Progress...

During this past school year I have been working on finishing my very last credit for my Master of Education in Social Studies. I turned in my paper to my advisor on Wednesday of last week. Today I checked my inbox and found this:

FYI, I received your forms, signed off on them, and submitted them to Student Services for processing.
Congratulations.

Benjamin M. Jacobs, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor, Social Studies Education

University of Minnesota

YEA!!!

Finally DONE!

And a special thank you to everyone who helped me along the way: Jeremy, for always being so supportive; Mom's Day Away for watching Jack on Mondays; Kimberly & Jill, for coming to Caribou with me to work; the librarian at the U; my advisers, Mike & Muffet; Caribou - for providing Mango Iced Tea; and to my mother-in-law, Jeannie, for doing my editing!

Congrats KG!

We were rooting for you the whole time!

Happy Father's Day Daddy!

It was an early morning in the kitchen, getting the French Toast just right.

Presentation is key. Lots of love went into this dish!

I love my daddy! And I love that he shared his yummy breakfast with me!

It's Official!

Yes, our great city of St. Paul has its very own Sonic!!! Prior to this week, the closest Sonic to us was in Fort Dodge, Iowa.

My mouth has watered for a whole year as I watched the Sonic commercials on TV. They advertised these delicious burgers and interesting drinks, like the famous "Cherry Limeaide."

In case you have never been to Sonic, it goes something like this: There is NO inside service. It is a "Drive-In" like A&W, a drive-thru, or a walk up. When we arrived to fulfill our long awaited cravings we were quite impressed. The staging area was unbelievable. There were two lanes of cars in a parking lot next door waiting to go through the drive thru. The drive-in slots were also completely full! We decided to park across the street and walk up to order (this was a very quick option). Jeremy ordered a "Super Sonic Burger" which he thought was very good. My sister Kristi ordered a "Sonic Burger" and I ordered "Popcorn Chicken." We all loved our main dishes. I was sooo excited that tater tots were an option instead of fries! We all enjoyed our food and each had a cherry-limeaide too. Good times!

Will we go back? Yes, but maybe after the lines dwindle! This was an experience similar to that of when Minnesota was blessed with our first Krispy Kreme...Lots of hype followed by a lot of fizz. Hopefully Sonic will stay in business here, since they offer a lot more than just donuts.

YUM!

We were at the zoo today with Logan, Sadie & Mrs. Ashley.

I think at this beginning stage of self feeding dipping is fun. Jack loves to dip everything in something. He dips his chicken in peanut sauce, his waffle in syrup, his graham cracker in yogurt, his french fries in ketchup. As we finished up lunch Ashley and I gave each of the boys a graham cracker - allowing us a moment to finish up our own lunches. Well, Logan thought it would be fun to dip his graham cracker in the ketchup. Jack followed suit! Then Jack decided full out eat the ketchup. :)

You can see the look in his eye and just know he is thinking, "Mom, are you really going to let me eat this?"

He LOVED it!

Big Trucks!

Last Saturday we went to the "Big Truck Event" at Stillwater High School. It was fun. Jack got to investigate and explore a school bus, tow truck, semi, dump truck, fire engine, ambulance, garbage truck, bobcat & digger.

Go Pack Go!

...and as we were told on our tour, if you are a Vikings fan, you can just say the cheer backwards!

We headed to Appleton, Wisconsin this weekend to celebrate Jeremy's cousin Liz's graduation from high school. It was a great time to visit with family and friends. We made reservations for the whole weekend, thinking that Jeremy would do his long run in Appleton while we were there. Plans changed! Instead Jeremy had a great idea: Check out Lambeau Field. Well, why not! I mean, we are certainly not Packer fans, but this place is supposed to be rich with history and tradition. We were so close to Green Bay already so to Favre's old stomping grounds we headed!

We found out that not only could you walk around the beautiful atrium of the stadium, but you could get a full tour. We bought tickets, had lunch at Curley's Pub and went on the tour.

It truly is a beautiful stadium. And we had a great day to visit it.

In the atrium you can see the yard lines in the terrazo floor.

They match up exactly with the lines on the field.

Jeremy & Jack did some drills while we waited for our tour.

We tried on a cheese head hat in the pro shop. Jack thought it was pretty funny.

Good thing it didn't fit!

And look at this: A Vikings Helmet! Go Vikes Go!

We toured a luxury box, went to the underground area where only players and staff get to go. Then was the big finale: We got to run through the same tunnel that the Packers run through as they begin a game. Well, no one on our tour ran!

Then there is the guest tunnel - not so grand! But hey, Go Vikes!!

And finally, out by the field itself.

This one's for you Ken!