God must be a man...

I'm pretty sure God must be a man. If He is the one controlling Minnesota weather, then most definately He is a man.

Today it is a beautiful 65-70 degrees in Minnesota. And November is right around the corner.

And for the second weekend in a row, I've heard, 'It's going to be the last nice day. It would be a shame if I didn't play golf. And everyone else is doing it.'

I mean, how can I say no? It keeps me in 'best wife ever' status and allows me to take advantage of Scott's wallet after a good night of poker.

So he went to have his fun.

But we're fun people too!

And we enjoyed a most lovely Fall morning at Ammodts Apple Orchard in Stillwater.

And you might think pictures of kids at the orchard/hay maze/cow train could get boring and old. But they don't for this mom. I could just keep snappin' all day long.

The 'car' Jaxon and Kiley chose didn't have a working seatbelt, so I told Jaxon he needed to hang on to Kiley and make sure she didn't fall out. Even though the train went about two miles an hour. He immediately put his arms around her waist and didn't let go until it stopped.

 Such a good big brother. (Until he pushed her down the slide ten minutes later. But that's neither here nor there).

Then we had some fun in the hay maze, which wasn't so much a maze as it was just a bunch of hay bales to climb over and under. Jaxon had fun popping up here...

...and there...

 

 and here...

Kiley was zoning out with her paci...

 'till I asked to see her pretty smile... and she complied, for a nano-second.

Finally, we made our way to pick some apples. But the apples had all been picked. There were hardly any left on the trees. Until Jaxon found this one! He was quite excited...

 And then he made it his mission to find one for Kiley and me. So thoughtful.

Our little Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum.

 

 Thanks God. For the super awesome weather and the super fun day.

my biggest fan

Dear Jaxon and Kiley,

Usually I write about you two. How you're driving me crazy. How you won't go to bed at night. The endless questions, with no answers. The constant chatter. Those sweet little voices telling me, 'I love you' or 'I want to marry you'. I write about the adventures we have together. The stories you tell and the ones I make up because I don't know the answers to your many questions.

Today, I thought I'd share a story with you about your dad.

Just in case (this will never happen, but just in case) I forget to tell you, or show you, just how much he means to us, how important he is in our life and how much we love him.

This is a story about a summer of accomplishment and love. And how your dad helped me through it.

Sometime in the Spring, my friend Monica suggested we do a triathalon (400yd swim, 10m bike, 2m run). Sure, I thought. How hard can this be?

And so, I signed up for the race without even telling your dad. And I didn't even own a bike yet. Nor did I realize I had no clue how to swim. And that I was terrified of the water.

When I told Scott, I could almost hear him saying what was undoubtedly in his head at that time- 'Here we go again.'.

But he didn't say it.

He started researching bikes for me. And asking his friends which kind I should buy. He even returned my first one for me and let me buy a nicer, faster one (which I really love).

And then the training began.

Nearly every Saturday morning in July and August, Monica and I had a standing date at 7am to swim/bike/run (or whatever we could muster on those days).

And nearly every Saturday morning I'd come home to an egg skillet, a farmers' market omelet, or homemade waffles and a glass of water just waiting for me.

And even though he couldn't come watch me race, I knew he was worried about me. He texted me right after I was done to make sure I hadn't drowned. And he let me live on my 'high' for a couple days. What an amazing experience that was.

After the race, or sometime before, I think is when I told Scott about the Duathalon. I wanted to be called an Iron Girl. And so before i knew what i was doing, we had signed up for the Athleta Iron Girl Duathlon (2m run, 22m bike, 2m run).

And when I woke up at 4:45am to meet Monica at the start line, there were no grumbles. Just 'Good luck honey. See you at the finish line. You'll do great'. Your dad even loaned me his cold gear since it was freezing that day.

Finally, this past weekend, I completed my final distance event of the season- the Twin Cities 10 Miler. And at 5:30 in the morning your dad woke himself up and drove me to the start line. Then he got you all bundled up with Grandma and Grandpa and Zoe to get a spot at the finish line. And when I was done he bundled me with his cold gear.

I say all this, not to brag about my accomplishments (well, sort of). But to show you what a truly amazing dad you have. He's definately been my support, my motivator, and my confidante in all of this.

He's so much more than 'the best maker' or 'the greatest buddy'...

After nearly 18 years of being together, he is my best friend. My biggest fan. My one true love.

I couldn't ask for much more (except for maybe some more of those omelets on Saturday mornings?).