Winner- Cutest Shed Award!

Our tiny one car garage was protesting (and we were in agreement).  Though the garage never became packed to the gills it really was just cumbersome to use.  The effort to get out the bikes was often more than our desire to ride them; therefore our bikes were rarely used.  An easy solution?  Build a shed!

In reality, building a shed was far from an easy solution.  You have to check out permits, remove trees, pick out a shed, set up deliver dates, level the ground, and finally build the dang thing.  Luckily, we had a skilled woodworker (who built a shed once) at our disposal.  My dad!  What we thought might be a 2-3 day project turned out to be 6 days building (dad, Christopher, and me), 3 days painting (me), 1 day building a ramp (Christopher), and miscellaneous hours (probably adding up to days) doing the finishing touches (me and Christopher).  It was a lot of hard work by all, but there is no way we could have done it without my dad.  I won't bore you with all the details of wrong parts and lumber being delivered, or building plans that were so poor that the shed was basically built by looking at pictures Christopher took of the model at the lumber store.  Let me just say that despite all the obstacles put in our (mainly dad's) way, we have an adorable (custom made) shed.  I couldn't be happier with the outcome!














Check out more pictures here: SHED

Rainbow Cone

Grandma and Grandpa Howard came to Chicago for a visit this month.  Most of the time was spent building a shed, which will receive it's own post once it's finished.  When I say most of the time, I really mean all the time was spent on the shed except eating meals, a daily trip to Rainbow Cone,

and one quick trip to the park.






(one guess why this is one of Nathaniel's favorite shirts)

Nathaniel didn't notice the lack of activities because he was busy playing with Grandma (and Grandpa during breaks).  He still is talking about their visit.  In fact, when we left to walk to Rainbow Cone this evening he asked about Grandma and Grandpa.

dada's shoes

Nathaniel was walking around the house in Christopher's shoes (notice how one is facing the wrong direction), and I had to get some pictures.

Annual Trip to the Lake - July 2010

So, we've actually been back from the Lake in Minnesota for over a month now, and I still haven't posted a blog with pictures from that trip, yet.  Sorry!  But in my defense, we've been really busy since we've gotten back...but that is for another blog post.

So, here's a quick posting with some photos and a link to lots more.

This year at the Lake, Nathaniel was much more mobile and verbal, and it was a joy to watch him experience the place where his family has gone each summer for generations.  I wish I could say we got lots of photos of all the fun(ny) things Nathaniel did on this trip, but we didn't.  For example, we didn't have the camera when we took Nathaniel out on the pontoon boat to go fishing.  He thought that was great fun and was very excited to see us catch some fish.  He even kissed a couple of crappies...sadly a missed photo-op.

However, we did get lots of photos of Nathaniel in the water.  He's not really big on going out into the deep water.  Rather, he enjoys wading in to his knees to throw rocks.



Sometimes he just likes to do little experiments with water, rocks and gravity.



He drove the boat.  As you can see, he took his job very seriously.  In fact, he refused to touch his beer until we were safely on shore. ;-)



As always, he loved playing with the dogs.



He also liked hanging out with his cousins, Michael (aka MJ) and Kenlyn...



and the rest of his family (except when group photos were taken).



Yes, Nathaniel had a great time at the Lake.  He played hard in the sun and water, and when he was done he left it all down in the Lake.



Christopher

Run Around Le Homme Dieu, Part Deux

Sorry for taking so long to get a new blog up.  Don't get too excited, yet.  This one isn't about Nathaniel.

Two years ago, I was training for my first marathon and ran 10 miles for the first time by running around the Lake in Minnesota (my favorite place in the world).  It was a really great experience, and I even blogged about it then.

This year, I ran 11 miles around the Lake.  I felt really strong, and it set the tone for the rest of the trip.  During the entire trip, I was setting personal bests.  The cooler weather probably didn't hurt.  I even did 12 miles in Brookings, SD when I went home for my 20 year reunion (Gasp!  Already?!).   Here are the maps of my two runs.

Actually, I'm really excited to say that my running has been going really well this go around.  Last week, I absolutely blew away my best 8 mile and 13 mile times.  I ran both under a 9:30 min/mile pace, when I used to struggle (and usually failed)  to stay on a 10 min/mile pace.  I'm hoping to report continued improvement in the future.  Stay tuned.

I promise the next blog will feature photos and anecdotes of Nathaniel. :-)

Vacation Part 2- Tennessee

After our visit with Grandma Cynthia, we continued our vacation in Tennessee. All this travel meant lots of hours in the car.  We were expecting the worse, but Nathaniel did quite well considering those car seats make it practically impossible to move anything other than hands and feet.  That means when Nathaniel drops something (both accidentally and intentionally) guess who gets to pick it up?  Mommy!  To be fair, Nathaniel didn't test that game too often.  We made use of rest areas, the toys at Cracker Barrel (we would sometimes stop there just to play and use the bathroom), and even ants in a Church parking lot.  We hit the jackpot on the edge of North Carolina/Tennessee when we came across this beautiful mountain river running through this uber-tiny town.



We stayed with my Aunt Sheri and Uncle Brian, and my sister (Laura) came up from Texas. Nathaniel loved all the attention, and we really enjoyed watching him interact with all the people we love. On this trip, Nathaniel started calling people by their name (or his version of their name). He can even say his name- Neeno.

Aunt Laura and Neeno




Great Aunt Sheri and Neeno




Great Uncle Brian and Neeno




We also got to visit my Grandma and Grandpa Babbitt. After our visit, Grandpa Babbitt took us all out to lunch where we meet my Aunt Carol and her two boys.



We took a lot more pictures of our trip. Check them out here: Tennessee

Burp! (or how to ruin a magical family moment)

On one of our duck trips I was taking lovely pictures of Christopher and Nathaniel.  Nathaniel was laughing and had this amazing smile.



I thought, I should be getting a video of this magical moment. The magical moment took a bizarre turn when Nathaniel decided to practice burping. Check out the video.