Michigan Week and Happy Birthday Mom

This week was busy, as usual. We spent the majority of it in Michigan, and then traveled to Ohio to celebrate my mom's 60th birthday. I am really thankful for all the help I received from my friends and family to be able to train as much as I did this week since Ryan went back to Kentucky.

It really felt like things were back to normal for the kids being in MI this week. it makes me excited to get into a "permanent" place in KY so that things become consistent there. Keira went to school on Monday and had a great day. While Keira was at school, Soren went to the gym and seemed a bit hesistant, but then perked right up. It was nice to be in a normal sized pool again. I also took Soren to the mall to get a pretzel and play while Keira was at school. Once we got back, they both enjoyed playing with the many flower petals that had fallen from the trees.







That evening, the kids went over to Valerie B's house to play so I could ride with Kristel. This ride ended early due to a flat, but we got in a nice run afterwards so it was a good mini brick workout.

On Tuesday, I took both Keira and Soren to the gym in the morning, and we met up with Valerie, Katie, and Luke at McDonalds for lunch. Keira and Soren had a blast playing with their friends and it was great to catch up with Val.


On Wednesday, Keira went to school again and Soren and I went to the gym. We were also able to go to Storytime at the library. Ms Kathryn snuck us in, since it filled up today! This is the last week of the regular storytimes of the school year. Keira and Soren also got haircuts from Sally after school. Soren really needed one badly.





That evening, Kent watched Keira and Soren so that Valerie and I could do a Wolvering Sports Club ride. We got rained on, but still finished 32.2 miles and were filthy. It was fun to draft, and it made it a lot easier than doing all the work. I did "pull" on the way back for 13 staight miles. Ryan came back into town while Kent had the kids and hung out with them until we got back.

On Thursday, I did a really tough run workout. I was so tired from the night before. We were hoping to do lunch with more friends today, but had to postpone. I worked on getting things organized a bit and a few unplanned errands. I learned today that Cristina would be riding her long ride tomorrow, instead of Sat, so I made arrangements to be able to ride with her. Ryan was able to get in a club ride tonight too.



On Friday, Keira went to school and Soren and I got ready for my ride. We went to REI and then got the car packed. I took Keira and Soren to McDonalds closer to Linda so that she could watch them. This was a huge help. I met up with Cristina and rode 58.6 miles with her (well, trying to stay with her). I am thankful she put up with my slowness. We saw several people we knew out there too, which made it fun. I was glad to do a long ride here. I picked up the kids and took them to Noodles while Ryan got his haircut too.


Saturday was a big day. Ryan went to do his ride with Kent and the Wolverines. I went to REI to check out their sale and pick up a few things. While I was there, I got a call from Ryan. That is never good. Kent had contacted Ryan's rear wheel with his front wheel, and went down. He ended up with a dislocated pinky finger, 3 broken ribs, and a collapsed lung. He is doing OK all things considered, but will be in the hospital for several days. It could have been a lot worse, and we are thankful that his injuries are not more severe. We felt really bad that we needed to go out of town right away and could not be more helpful. We got on the road later that afternoon. We made it to Ohio without any issues, just in time for my mom's 60th birthday party to begin. We had a good time celebrating with her and my Dad, as well as seeing David and Sarah. Kris and Linda also came down for the event.




The next day, we had a relaxing morning and took Keira and Soren to a new park not far from my parents' house. Sarah and David came too, and it was fun to play with them. One of the highlights of this park was an interactive game that was a bunch of large buttons on posts in a circle. The buttons would make noise and light up, and you had to push them while lit to get points. Soren loved this game. It was like pushing the elevator button on steroids. He cried so hard when he had to give some other people a turn. The teeter totter was also very fun.





We got some ice cream with my parents before heading back to KY.

Finding more things to do in KY and weekend in MI

This week was pretty fun. We really got out and about this week since the weather was sunny and HOT. We had temps that got to the 90s!

On Monday, we took some fun pictures of Soren in the tub. He really needs a haircut!



I was really excited that the weather was supposed to hold up for me to ride with the group. It was a beautiful day, and so I was able to take the kids outside for some fun on the grounds of the complex.


Also, Soren found a mustang to check out. He can pick them out everywhere!

That evening I did my first real group bike ride with some ladies from the VO2 multisport store. There were 5 of us, and it was a nice relaxed pace. I really didn't get a good feel for where we were on parts, but hope to learn this route soon. We did 20 miles, and then I ran 2 miles afterwards.

On Tuesday, we got up and went to the storytime at Pottery Barn Kids. It is pretty short, so I don't know that we will do these much longer unless the weather is bad or we are really bored. It was pretty nice today, so we spent a lot of time this afternoon and evening outside. Keira rode her bike for a really short time, and then decided she would rather run. She and Soren looked so cute running.



We also walked over to the pond in our complex. We were excited to see the goslings were there. We had heard about them, but hadn't been able to catch them yet. I was very surprised that the mother goose did not seem very afraid of us or hiss at us. I am wondering if she was expecting food.


On Wednesday, we got library cards and went to the libary storytime in the morning. Keira and Soren had fun listening to the stories and playing with the instruments. Soren was a bit thrown off since the instruments were not last, and wanted to leave after that, but eventually got back into it.


They finished up by making little people with moving arms and legs.




That evening, while Ryan rode, I took Keira and Soren to Seneca Park. It was super hot, the car said it was 90 degrees, and that was after it had been on and moving a bit. I rode by and around this park on Monday, and actually ran to it from the VO2 store and back. It is a large oval with several playing fields inside, as well as a playground. The path around is just over a mile. We ran around it 3 times, and on the third time, stopped at the playground for a bit before running back to the car. I am forseeing us spending some time here over the summer. I wish the path was a bit longer so we didn't have to pass the playground so much. The kids don't like running in circles any more than I do, but the playing fields at least give the kids something interesting to look at.





On Thursday, I did a really long run inside. It was hot again, so I ran inside, but it was still hot. We didn't do much outside today. I spent some time trying to figure out the school systems here, and am not overly excited about them, if not pretty bummed out. School starts here really early, which means we have to get out of the apartment pretty quick to where the schools are better and I need to redo my race schedule for August. This is going to be the big thing to keep us busy and occupied. On a lighter note, Keira and Soren have already learned the words to one of the library books, Monkey and Me, and took turns "reading" it.

We also got a picture of Soren's really crazy hair.


To finish off the night, we got ice cream at Graeters. It is always so good!

On Friday, we got in a quick workout and headed back to MI. It was a really quick drive, with only 1 stop at a rest area. We got in town with just enough time for dinner at Noodles (which they don't have in KY) and we were right on time for the start of the ward Talent Show. I think I had more fun watching Keira and Soren enjoy the acts than anything else. Some of the highlights were when Soren heard twinkle twinkle little star on the recorder. He danced all around. Keira really enjoyed hearing two primary girls singing the song from Tangled. Everyone enjoyed the Northville Ward Band. The kids were having a blast dancing. Keira was so funny, she would dance super hard and get all tired, then rest for a few seconds, and then go right back to dancing with her friends. It was really fun to see them having so much fun.




On Saturday, I got up early to head out to the Live Like Andi Run/Walk. I have done this race every year, and it is great to see if grow. This year, Cristina and I were doing the 10 mile option, which started earliest. It was really fun. We saw a lot of people we knew, including Keira's teacher, Miss Jan. We also did some sampling. While I had PR, it was mostly because I haven't raced this distance in a long time, maybe since 2007? My speed averaged slower than I did for my last half marathon. The difference with this race was that it was more for training. I did not rest up for it at all. In fact, this was rather a huge training week with all the workouts I did. It was also raining at the start and I just don't like running in the rain.


While we were at the race, Ryan didn't not ride due to the weather. He instead went to breakfast with the kids and Linda. She was going to do this for them so that Ryan could ride if the weather allowed. They had a good breakfast and played at McDonalds before some shopping. Soren was so thrilled with his new train shirt that he had to wear it immediately. This was a little suprise to me since he had his "school bus" shirt on in the first place.

Keira was also excited about her new outfit.

Ryan and I had a relaxing afternoon doing MI only errands. We had dinner at Bagger Dave's, another MI only restaurant. Soren experienced his first ever NASCAR race on TV there. It was HYSTERICAL listening to him obsess over the mustangs. When the waiter at the next table over from us would block the TV, he would scream, "I can't see, I can't see". Thankfully, a mustang won and it finished before we needed to leave. We ran into Valerie and Kent at Best Buy while we were doing some browsing. It was great to chat with.

On Sunday, we had Stake Conference that was broadcast from SLC. We sat with Linda, but Kris needed to be at a different building for it this weekend. Keira and Soren were very good, as they usually are when Nana and/or Papa are around, and it was a good conference. It ended early! We had lunch at Kris and Linda's before Ryan had to head back to KY. His review got moved from Monday to Thursday, so I opted to just stay here for these few days instead of driving up and down so much.