Monday, February 18, 2013

winter fun


Spring is coming, right? I'm sure Jaxon told us that the groundhog saw his shadow and we'd have an early spring. Or maybe it was the other way around... either way, this winter seems to be dragging on and we are ready to get outside and PLAY!
 
But we have been keeping ourselves busy the past few weeks (as evidenced by my lack of blog posting! So sorry followers- we are alive and well and enjoying life!!)
 
Here's a bit about how we have spent our days this winter...
 
Twin Cities Marathon... for kids! They had an indoor fieldhouse run for kids as part of the Twin Cities in Motion marathon season kickoff. I signed Jaxon up for the half-mile run and Kiley for the parent-child team. 
 
I couldn't have been more proud. And it was even more fun to see the look on Scott's face, watching his son run around that track. You couldn't have found a happier guy that day. And that was after I got him up at 7 to get to the race on time too!
 
Here's Jaxon at the start line, getting ready to race...
 
 
And here he is, in the middle of lap two, stopping just long enough to flash us the peace sign mid-stride. Grandpa Walker should be proud. I don't know anyone else who still flashes the peace sign. Jaxon was not the tallest or biggest kid out there, but that boy sure does have heart and perseverance. He ran four times around the track and every time it looked like he was going to get tired and stop, he just put his head down and started pumping those arms just a little bit harder and moving those legs a little bit faster. He was convinced he was gonna win!!
And post-race, he was all smiles. And SO Proud.
Kiley was more in it for the free bottle of water and jump rope at the end. She pretty much made me do all the work...
 
Let's see... what else have we been up to?
 
We have played a LOT with Karen and Thomas. Who are Karen and Thomas you ask? They are Kiley's two Baby Alive dolls and they make each day interesting. One day, they might both be named Thomas and then the next one is Karen and the other is Thomas. It's confusing really, but you have to just roll with it. Sometimes they get yucky faces or poop and pee, over and over and over again and you just really have to clean them up. Other times, they cry and you need to pat them and sing them songs, put them in their crib and take care of them. We're learning a lot of good caretaking skills over here. Thanks to Karen and Thomas.

And Jaxon has had a few ice fishing excursions. When Scott first suggested they drive four hours to Red Lake, fish for four-five hours, and then drive four hours back, I thought he was a little bit crazy... but Jaxon loved it so much they did it again a few days later. He is turning into a great little fisherman (though sometimes his curiosity gets in the way- like the time he got one leg into the hole cuz I'm sure he was messin' with something he wasn't supposed to...). He loves his time with his dad though and more and more I see so much of Scott in him...
 
 We also found some time to see our friends at Elmo Live. Unfortunately, Auntie Jenny got sick that day and it was 2 on 1 at the Target Center- and I aint talking basketball. What chaos. You wouldn't think it by this picture, but Kiley was terrified of all the characters. We went to get food at intermission and as Jaxon and I started heading back towards our seats, Kiley started booking it towards the escalators, saying, 'I going home, I not going back in there.'. It was more than comical and I was sweating by the end of the show in the midst of carrying her, losing Jaxon at the top of the escalator, and eating so much cotton candy that they were bouncing off the walls. Gotta love that Elmo...

I'm sure there have been so many other things we've done, but since it's taken me two weeks to get this post done, I'll work on part two for March...