Daddy's Mountain Bike Race

On Sunday we got to go to a mountain bike race that Greg participated in. It was really nice to be outside and enjoy the day with our Auntie Bean! Greg did great. He has recently started racing in the sport class (a step down from what he is used to) and riding a single speed bike. He did really well on Sunday. He felt good and commented that he enjoys not being nervous and not having any stress about racing. Greg has completely re-vamped his life and focus since Brooks joined our family. He focuses more on triathlons now, because that way we can take turns competing (I enjoy tris as well) and taking care of Brooks. Greg still loves mountain biking, but has also become an awesome triathlete. It was fun for Greg to get out on Sunday because he's only been on his mountain bike twice this entire summer!

Brooks had fun with the cowbell and did a great job cheering for his daddy. Notice the ball in his left hand? My child is obsessed.

We rarely get pictures of me and Brooks so I was excited when Auntie Bean took this one of us. It isn't the best picture of us but we'll take what we can get!

It is fun to see Greg smiling while he is racing. I really admire Greg's athletic ability and attitude towards life. He never gets bent out of shape and always seems (and is, hopefully) happy.

Auntie Bean spent some quality time reading to Brooks while we waited for daddy to come through.

Whipper Snapper Races

Brooks participated in his first race this weekend. On Friday, he got to run the 100 yard dash as part of the Grandma's Marathon festivities. Brooks wins the award for the cutest kid in my mind (of course)! Brooks took last place, but we were still really proud of him. He cried about 50 yards into the race, but finished! That's all that counts. I helped by holding a balloon (ball) out in front of him. This kept him going!

Thanks to Auntie Bean for the sweet headband and sweat bands.

Daddy ran with Brooks after running down to the race! It was so hot.

Go Brooks!

Notice the face? Brooks was so sad after the race. He needed something to drink and a nap! It was a great event. Each participant got a ribbon (Brooks is holding his above), a number and an awesome goody bag. What a fun day! It was so nice of Daddy to take a half a day off at work so that he could be with us.

Busy Little Man!

Last night before heading out to the playground Greg and I needed to get changed into warmer clothing. It was really windy in Duluth last night and not very summer-like. Since we both needed to change, we put Brooks into his play zone to play for a few minutes. As I came out of the bedroom I heard Brooks talking to himself. I snuck up on him and it turns out he wasn't talking to himself, he was reading a book! He had made himself comfortable by leaning up against the play zone and was chilling out reading himself a book. It was super cute.

Brooks had lots of fun at the playground. His favorite activity was throwing rocks in the air and clapping for himself. He also enjoyed putting rocks on the bottom of the slide. He got to go down the slide a couple of times and was all smiles. It was lots of fun. When we got home Brooks got a bath and went right to sleep. The fresh air was so good for him.

Today (Tuesday) is mommy's day off so we headed to the pool at the golf course. It was a beautiful day--around 75 degrees and sunny! Finally! Brooks did a great job "swimming". He loves the water but still doesn't understand he can't just go under the water and expect to breathe. He keeps his mommy running, that's for sure! Brooks loves apples (which he can say now!) and enjoyed an apple once we were all done swimming. He couldn't of been happier--swimming, warm weather and an apple.

Brooks loves his Auntie S'ers.

Father's Day Recap

Today we celebrate our dads. We started the day with french toast (Brooks slept in until almost 10:00 am, so it was just me and Greg). It was an extra yummy breakfast because we used Great Harvest cinnamon chip bread to make the meal. Yum. We skipped church today because of Brooks sleeping unusually late. We got to take a trip to Eddie Bauer as a family to return a couple of things I got Greg that didn't fit him. It was fun to have a leisurely Sunday morning. We love church but sometimes things get pretty crazy on Sunday mornings.

After church we hosted a meal at our house for our dads. Greg's dad couldn't make it because he was out of town, so we just did a lot of thinking about him today! The meal was a "because we love you" meal. Each item we served was chosen in honor of the dads in our lives and was a reflection of their favorite foods.

The menu was:
Lasagna and bread sticks because we love Keven! (Steph's husband)
Salad with Green Goddess dressing because we love Opa! (my dad)
Raw onion for the salad and sugar free sweetener for the coffee because we love Grandpa! (my dad's dad)
Build your own ice cream sundae bar because we love Greg! (our daddy and husband)

We had a lot of fun preparing the meal. After we ate (way too much) we got a round of ladder golf in and the kids braved the swimming pool on the deck. It was a nice time to be together.

Grandpa, my dad and Brooks

Brooks is telling us that he thinks his dad is a champ!

At the mall giving daddy kisses. We love you Greg!

To my Dad!

(See below for Brooks' post to his daddy)
Happy Father's Day, Dad. I love you so much. You have been an example to me from the day I was born. Thank you for taking care of me in so many ways and always being there for me. You have been through a lot with me and always stood by my side. You are the "rock" of our family.

When you fell off the lawn mower and had to go to the hospital last week, I felt really bad for you. I started to cry and later was able to process why I was crying. I was crying because you are the strong one in our family. You are the one who can fix everything. You are the one we turn to in crisis. You are the one who tells us that everything is going to be okay.

When you got hurt my emotions took over because the person who has always taken care of me and assured me things would be okay was hurting. I am glad you recovered and glad nothing was seriously wrong. Through this fiasco I was reminded what a HUGE part you play in my life. I love you, respect you and need you, Dad. Thanks for being such a wonderful dad, father-in-law and Opa.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Stephanie, Laura, Dad and me!

Thank you Lord for Greg

Happy Father's Day to an amazing man. We are so blessed to have a daddy who puts us first. Greg, you are an amazing man of God and you lead our household in the direction we should be going. Greg, you are my soul mate and the man that I always longed for. Thank you for loving me and more importantly thank you for loving our son. Brooks has an amazing daddy. You show us every day how much we mean to you. You are selfless in all you do. We love you.

(The below is from Brooks. I know this is what he wanted to say, he is just to little to put it into words!)

Hi Daddy! Happy Father's Day! I know you love me because you always come running to me when I "bunk" my head. I know you love me because you walk slow with me and hold my hand when we go to the store. You don't care that I take a long time to get places. I know you love me because you put together my toys, re-arrange my swimming pool and put sand and water into my table. I know you love me because you "get me" and make me laugh. I know you love me because you give me long baths and let me play until my fingers are like raisins. I know you love me because you stay home with me two days a week and we have "boys" time together. I know you love me because you play "baa" and "rrrrarrrr" with me. I know you love me because you wake up with me in the middle of the night and never get upset with me when I cry out. I know you love me because you jump out from behind things and "scare" me. I just laugh. I know you love me because you take me on hikes and promise to take me camping when we I grow up. I know you love me because you don't abandon me and mommy on the weekends and always do what is best for our family. I know you love me because you have changed your whole life for me and you never complain. I know you love me most of all because you are raising me to be a little boy who loves the Lord. Thank you daddy for being my buddy and for being mommy's best friend. I love you.

We love you Daddy!

Funny Greg!

We love our bird feeders. We have a bunch of them on our back deck and we love to watch the birds every day. Brooks likes them too. We have a bird book and we have lots of fun looking up the different types of birds that frequent our feeder. We have had more than a dozen different types of birds. It is really fun to watch. At one point, I have counted 13 birds at the feeders at the same time. Greg and I want to try to get a Chick-a-Dee to eat out of our hands.

Here is the funny story about our feeders:

Greg likes to joke. He doesn't talk much but when he does it is usually important or funny. We have an ongoing joke in our house regarding the birds at the feeder. It would not be uncommon for me to come home from work and have Greg announce to me "Honey, we had a Trumpeter Swan at our feeder today! of "Honey, we had a Duck-billed Platypus at our feeder today!" It is really funny and it makes me laugh--hard! Well--I came home from work yesterday and looked out at our feeders to find a mallard duck had made a visit! Greg is so stinking funny. I can just imagine him trying to get this decoy to balance on the feeder in order to make me smile. Greg is honestly the best. I feel so blessed to have him as my husband. We have so much fun.

(I have another great story about Greg and his wonderful ability to be an amazing husband and daddy. I will share that with you in the next post. You know it is Father's Day on Sunday, so this is perfect timing to tell the World how much we love him!)

Amazing to get a mallard at a feeder! Wow!

I love "the Bud" as he is so frequently called by his cousins.

Great Daddy, Great Weekend (so far!)

This picture captures just one more reason that I am married to the best Daddy on this planet. Greg loves Brooks (duh!) so much and is such a great Daddy. I was telling Brooks today that he doesn't even realize how great his Daddy is. I am sure Brooks really understood me. Anyhow, Greg has so much fun with Brooks during the two days a week I am at work. I am glad Greg let me capture this moment.

P.S. on Greg: He did the New Bri Tri this weekend and got a top 10 finish! Way to go babe! You are an amazing athlete. We are so proud of you!

Brooks got a kick out of Daddy's funny eye trick. Check out his jammies! Auntie Bean got him these super sweet "Rock of Love" jammies. I would die if I ever caught Brooks watching that show (it isn't a solid moral show) but since he doesn't really understand yet, we like to refer to them as "Rock of Love" PJ's.

Last night we had the pleasure of attending Kennedy and Maggie's dance recital. They danced to "Who Let the Dogs Out" and did a great job all dressed up as pink dogs. Kennedy is super fun to watch because she has more energy than she knows what to do with. For every one or two turns the other girls would do, Kennedy would do three or four turns. Maggie on the other hand, had a good time looking at the lights and shaking her "booty" every once in a while. It was absolutely adorable. Brooks got to watch Kennedy and Maggie's dance but had to leave right after because he was getting a little bit squirmy. He was fascinated by the show though, and was saying "Kaa-Kaa" (Kennedy) long before Kennedy even hit the stage. He saw so many cute girls, I think he got confused!

Here I am with my two best dancers. They did such a good job! At this point it was almost 10:00 pm and they were still able to give the camera a smile. Way to go Girls! I love you both so much.

Oma and Opa had a blast afterwards with goofy faces and lots of hugs and kisses. Today (Sunday) is our Auntie Lee-Lee's birthday, and we are excited to celebrate such a wonderful part of our lives. We love you too Lee-Lee (pictures to follow I am sure)! It is time to get ready for church and a great family day. Love to all.

100% PURE BOY!

Brooks got a special surprise today when his Oma showed up with a new truck for him. Brooks loves trucks and has learned to push them on the floor make his version of a "Vrrrmmmm" sound. He does this with airplanes too, except he is smart enough to know that airplanes go in the air not on the ground. It's really fun to watch him learn. He is so smart and picks up lots of what we teach him. Anyhow, back to the truck. Brooks became quickly obsessed with the truck and insisted that he be inside the truck. He would climb up into the truck and then look at us like "push me, please...". He got lots of pushes and in return we got lots of smiles. He is so spoiled.

This truck was a great buy because I am sure he'll have it until he's at least ten years old. It will be fun to watch the function of the truck change as he gets older.

Brooks continues to work on his walking. He is doing pretty well and is now able to get into a standing position without holding onto anything. I would say he prefers to walk, but only until he falls. Once he falls he seldom gets back up and tries to walk. He's doing great though and I am relieved that he is able to walk--finally!

P.S. Brooks made the sound of a rabbit today and pointed to the rabbit in the book! We've been making animal sounds for months now and he finally is able to make at least one of them back to us! Yeah, Brooks! (I realize that rabbits don't really make noise, but we made up a noise for a rabbit! It is what we "imagine" a rabbit would sound like if they made sounds!) We have so much fun.