Michigan Mountain Mayhem 2012

This week was a low key week, followed by a huge weekend.  We spent the first half of the week in KY, and then left Thursday to head to Canton, MI, and then spent Friday driving up to Boyne City for the Michigan Mountain Mayhem ride.

Monday was a busy rainy day.  We went to Lowes in the morning to pick up our sink to make sure it was OK before we picked out our granite slab in the afternoon.  Ryan met us there, and we made a color change from St Cecilia to New Venetian Gold.  They are very similar in color, but the grain is different.  We liked the character of the New Venetian Gold slab that was on display.  I had entertained the idea of riding that afternoon with the ladies, but it was just raining too hard.

Tuesday was another full day.  We went to the gym in the morning, and then we went to the storytime at the mall.  It has been harder to make these over the summer than I thought. 

After the mall, we played outside for a bit on our playground, and then headed over to the aquatic center to inquire about swimming lessons.  I was able to get the kids all signed up for two weeks each for the middle of July.  Hopefully that goes well and we have good weather for their lessons.  They enjoyed playing on the playground after we were done.  They built up some serious static with the slides!

On Wednesday, I decided to switch things up a bit and instead of running before going to the gym, we ran after, and went to a park again.  The kids have such a great time going to playgrounds, even though we have our own swingset.  I feel like this part of summer is what we had been missing.  We had fun playing in St Matthews near Seneca Park.

Thursday was the start of our trip. We spent the morning at home so that I could make sure everything was all packed and ready to go, while we waited for Ryan to get home from his half day at work.  We got everything loaded up and had an uneventful drive up to MI.  We got in right around the kids bedtime.

Friday was another day of driving.  Keira and Soren headed out early to go to Bryn's kindergarten graduation, and we headed out to do a few quick errands before meeting up at the Blankenship's house. 

We had two vans going up, the boy van and the girl van.  I rode up with Valerie, and Ryan rode up with Dave, Kent, and Austin.  We made it up to Boyne City right around the time of packet pick up.  We picked up our packets  and ran into my friend Kristel, who was also riding.  Next stop was the hotel in Petosky, and then to the City Grill for dinner.  We had an early night to prepare for the big ride the next day.  I woke up a couple times due to rain and storms, so that made me a bit unexcited.

We woke up early on Saturday to eat and get to the start.  It was still very wet.  Thankfully, but the start, it wasn't raining anymore, but just wet.  Ryan and his friends from the Wolverin Sports Club started off first, since they were doing the 200K route.  I started shortly after with a smaller group of Wolverines.  I had made arrangemts to ride the 160K route with a new friend, Stephanie, and her husband.  There was a small group of us planning to do that route, and Valerie was starting a bit after us, with the group that was doing the 100K ride.  I had a blast doing this route.  It was very challenging, and I enjoyed the opportunity to push myself.   Ryan had a good time with his friends as well.  It is the most challenging ride that either of us has ever completed.  I was glad that we all had good days.

Valerie and Kent decided to stay the night in Petosky, so our group split up.  We got cleaned up and the on the road back to SE Michigan, in Dave's van with him and Austin.  It was late when we got in.

Sunday was a much needed relaxing morning.  We celebrated Keira's birthday early with Kris and Linda in MI.  We had a great breakfast and hung out until it was time for them to go to church.  Then it was time for us to get on the road and head back to KY!

Oldham County Arts Center Spring Dance Recital 2012

This week was pretty fun.  We had a low key week with some cooler temps and wet weather, but we had a great weekend with Keira's first dance recital!

On Tuesday, we had an unplanned rest day.  I woke up and it was storming.  It was dark and grey out, and the kids didn't get up until after 9!  Keira came out of her room first, and I got her breakfast, and then went up to check on Soren.  He was laying in bed, eyes open, with his hands on his ears!  I felt bad that I didn't check on him sooner, because he was afraid of the thunderstorm.  I don't think he had been awake too long, because he wasn't really eager to get up.  He felt warm, and had a low fever, but it went away as the morning went on.  We pretty much hung out at home for the day, just doing an afternoon errand.

Wednesday was a more normal day.  We started the morning at the gym, and then in the afternoon, we went to the La Grange Library for the kick off of the summer reading program.  The kids had fun, and we met up with Molly and her children, Kaleb and Ava, and we also ran into some of Keira's friends from school and church.  It was really fun.

On Thursday, we had a busy day.  We went to the gym and then got some lunch at Chick Fil A so that we could do errands while we were out. 

On Friday, I went on a long ride in the morning and Tatie came over to watch the kids.  It was a cold, windy morning, but I was able to get out and do the loop portion of the IMKY course for a total of 44 miles.  We had one last errand to do, and the kids did not want to leave the waiting area! 

Then it was time to get Keira ready for her dress rehearsal.  We were allowed to take pictures today, but not tomorrow, so I tried to take as many as I could during her routines.  She was so excited!

On Saturday, it was a big day!  Ryan got up early and rode "the pancake ride" to Eminence, KY, and back, with a stop for a pancake in Eminence.  While he was out, I took the kids for a run on Old La Grange Road.  At one point, when we still hadn't seen a train, Keira asked me to go an extra mile.  I was still feeling a bit tired from yesterday's ride, and was very happy that one came by shortly after she said that.  We also saw all the fire engines out of their stations when we got back to the car, and they started to put them back as we packed up to head home.

We had a quick lunch, and then it was time to get ready for the recital!  Keira did a great job, and it was fun to watch the company dancers.  I liked the arrangement of the performances, with the younger children mixed in nicely with the older and company routines, and it flowed very smoothly.  Soren was also well behaved, and enjoyed watching the dancers.  On Keira's tap routine, she didn't see us in the audience, but on her ballet routine, she noticed us, and looked so excited and gave us a little wave!  She was adorable!

After the recital, we came home quickly, but then headed back out to attend a birthday party for Jacob.  He is the younger brother of Keira's school and dance classmate, Kaylee, and will be in his preschool class next year.  The kids had a good time, and were very tired by the end of the day.

Sunday was a relaxing day.  We went to church, and then I took a long nap aftewards.  The kids played a lot in the playroom, and then cleaned it back up today for a brownie!