Color Run 5K

The Color Run came to Terre Haute. I think I signed up as soon as sign-ups opened...so a long time ago!  I had originally planned on running it, but after injuring my foot and recruiting my mom to sign-up so the girls could go to, I walked it. As my mom could tell you, I was not very patient. We were walking SO slow!  We took one umbrella stroller, so we were switching on and off carrying the girls, pushing the girls, or walking at their pace (SLOW...haha)! When we did walk at my pace, my mom said the girls had to run to keep up. We didn't finish last and it's not like it is a timed run, it's just for fun, but I do not walk super slow so this was difficult for me to just enjoy it like I should have, but I did have FUN! The girls loved walking through the color and of course we got a TON of 'Aww, look how cute!" The girls stole the show so much that my mom barely even had color on her at the end of the race because the volunteers at the color stations were more concentrated on the girls...haha. 

I'm grateful my mom decided to do the race and hope that I can take a step back and just enjoy it through the girls' eyes as my mom did next time we do a color race. Natalie did the Color Me Rad run last year with my mom, but this was Aubrey's first time.   

We were all exhausted afterwards and all took naps, well Natalie refused but at least relaxed on the couch watching Sophia the First. However, she did fall asleep at 6:30p last night and slept through the whole night. She must be fighting off a bug though because she had a fever today that I didn't discover until later this afternoon. :( I hope it's a quick one and just ends up being a fever. 

Before and After Photos:

 During Photos:

Aubrey kept wanting to hold Natalie's hand, which of course was sweet to watch.

My poor sickie wanted cheese, but fell asleep with it in her hand :/

Feeling a bit more normal, but still a fever after a good nap.

TWO WEEK NOTICE

So...after 3 years of being at our current daycare, we decided it was time to leave. We are happy for the experience for both girls as they have learned so much, especially Natalie.

When Natalie started at 6 months old, all of the kids, babies or older kids were in the same house. Once Aubrey started, the 'baby house' developed after they remodeled the garage. So, for 2 years now, I have been dropping both girls off in different houses. I figured that when Aubrey turned 2 (end of May), she would advance into the older child house. However, this was not the case. Aubrey had to wait until the end of summer to go into the main house where there are obviously more developmentally appropriate activities and space. And, did I mention that there are children younger than 2 already in the main house?!

So, for a month now, the girls have been in the same house together. We occasionally have good reports, but more recently, we've had nothing but negative. Both Aubrey and Natalie were not behaving well: "Natalie is reverting to behavior from a year ago" "Aubrey spent a lot of time in time out today" "Natalie wasn't a good listener" "Aubrey refused to sit in her chair at lunchtime" "Aubrey ripped up 3 'About Me Posters'" etc, etc, etc.  So, for a month now I am made to feel like my children are uncontrollable, horrible kids because they don't follow directions 100% of the time...again, we are talking about a 2 and 3 year old that both have high energy, but are lovable, friendly children.

Aubrey just recently started sleeping on a mat vs. the crib at school, which she has done quite well in my opinion from what is reported to me. Also, when Aubrey is reported to be beyond her point of listening, she is sent out to the 'baby house' (after trying timeouts) as if that is a punishment. She/We LOVE Sara who is out with the babies, but feel like putting Aubrey back out with the babies will only reinforce her infant-like behaviors in the main house.

So, after all of this negativity in the last month, I was given a note...not talked to directly at pick-up, that Aubrey will be going back out the baby house next week. This is unacceptable, considering I have clearly stated that Bobby and I both feel that Aubrey needs to be in the main house with children more age appropriate where it is more developmentally stimulating.

As of right now, we don't have a daycare lined up, but hope that we will have something good in the next week or so.  So, please pray that we are led in the right direction and make a good decision that is best for our family.

Jampacked Saturday

I don't think we could have crammed in another thing on Saturday and today (Sunday) we were all still recovering from our day.

6am - Wake up and get ready to head out to Bobby's Tri
6:50 - Leave Amanda and Matt's house
8am - Tri starts
10:30 - Leave Tri and head back to Amanda and Matt's house to clean-up
12 - Lunch
1-4:30 - Indy Zoo
4:50-9:30 - Indiana State Fair
10:30 - Drive back to Terre Haute

Whew! We had lots of fun, but it sure was tiring. The girls were troopers overall with all of the activities we had planned for the day and they both really only got about a 5-10 minute nap twice. 

It was a lot of fun to watch the sprint tri and I was really proud of Bobby for doing as well as he did, even with not having a road bike (which I'm sure is in the near future, know of any good deals around?).   

SWIM 11:13.5 (161) TRANSITION 03:03.2 (359) 

BIKE  0:40:49.0 (14.7 mph/358) TRANSITION  01:42.1 (184) 

RUN   0:24:29.0 (08:09.7/141)          

OVERALL TIME 1:21:16.7

All this with barely any training...it would take me a year to train for something  like this. 

Good job to Dave and Emily, too, who also did the race and finished as well. 

They thought it was exciting to watch too :)

Next up...the Zoo. We met up with Bobby's friend, Derek and his family, as well as lots of their friends too, as they all made the trip from South Bend to spend the weekend in Indy.  The last time Bobby was there was Father's Day in 2013. It was nice   for him to be along for a zoo trip this time, although it was a little longer with such a  long group, but the girls had fun and we did too. We saw the lions active this time, which was quite educational since they began mating in front of us.

It all went down with the female roaring to get the male's attention, then they circled around each other, then went at it, followed by the female quickly snapping at the   male, then it was over. Normally the lions are just sleeping when we go.   

While at the zoo, Natalie says her favorite animal is the zebra, but now that we are   home, it's back to a giraffe. Aubrey seems to call everything a monkey, so I'm          guessing that maybe her favorite animal is a monkey :)

She asked me to take her picture :) 

It rained on and off during the race and the zoo, but luckily not enough to damper    our plans.

Lastly, the State Fair which we have never attended. It was EXPENSIVE between  admission, parking, food, and rides. We easily dropped $100 in a couple hours. The girls had a blast on the rides and next year, they should both be able to ride together  in the 36'' rides. This year, Natalie is right at 36'' and Aubrey is at 33''. I can see how you can spend a day at the State Fair because it is HUGE and we didn't even see    any animals or a lot of the free stuff. We enjoyed it and I would like to go back next year for sure, but it is HUGE with a ton of walking and after the day we had, we    were just done by 9/9:30. 

Natalie LOVED waving to Aubrey as she went by...it was the cutest thing :)

Rebekah and I played knockout...we both lost, but it was fun.

cheese sculpture

Natalie really loved this miniature farm display.