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Category Archives: Tom

Our first successful Roar Run!

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The Roar Run is a PTA-Sponsored fundraising event in its sixth year. We are hoping it’s on a weekend next year—it’s a bit difficult getting there to enjoy the other events when the kids don’t get home until 4.

Katie is becoming a master hula hooper!


Stretching before the race!

We were watching the relay races and Katie wanted to try the wheelbarrow.

Neighbors!

Nine minutes until race time!

The group of neighbor kids running together! (Tom was taking the pic down at the fun run starting line.)

Katie came in a minute or so behind Sophia—but we had seen her on daddy’s shoulders for a bit!!

And the same pic close up as she crossed the finish line!

More neighbors!

Love a family photo!

Stacey and Lorenzo, Sophia and Enzo

And I had to try a selfie. It’s a bit more difficult with six people!

We had the results as they were happening and these were the finals (Katie missed a medal by one place—Sophia came in #3):

Happy 45th Tom!

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Tom got a half day off work so we celebrated his birthday in style at our first local Diners, Drive-ins and Dives restaurant: The Shanty. I started with Pineapple Sangria…

Then we tried one of the dishes they showcased on the show: Whiskey Shrimp. It was delish.

 

And another dish they profiled in DD&D: Blackened Conch Filet. Super yummy.

 
  

And a free birthday dessert!

 

Then we went to check out the Costco in Wisconsin—just a few miles away! 

Blue Man Group in Chicago!

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I’ve always wanted to see Blue Man Group and when I mentioned it to Grannie she said they’d like to go, too…so it was off to Chicago!

Photos weren’t allowed during the show so this is all I got beforehand.

The kids absolutely loved it and they immediately asked if they could see it again. 🙂

Edited to add some googled pics of what we saw: 

   
           

A chilly family day

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Tom’s new office had a Family Day today at a park on base by Lake Michigan and of course it was the coldest day we’ve had since being here—we were all in long pants and jackets and I was still freezing. It would have been an amazing day if it would have been in the 80s. Needless to say that made the event less than stellar for us but the kids had fun playing some lawn games, watching people get pies in the face, and getting dunked in the dunk tank. I only took one picture the entire time and it was as we were starting our walk to the beach: 

No more training wheels!

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He’s been going out biking a lot with the neighbor kid and he said he was finally ready to take the training wheels off. Tom had moved them so they were still on but up high enough where he couldn’t really rely on them. So we made him ride down the street and I followed him to see if the wheels ever touched. They didn’t, so Tom took the wheels off! Then it was time for the first real ride!

And of course sister was with us, too, because she is a bike riding fiend.

 

  
  

And getting his reward for learning to ride—his new (adult!) bike!!

  

And this is why we can’t seem to make progress.

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Apparently they never put anything heavier than Kleenex on the hall closet shelves. All I’m putting on them is regular hall closet stuff like shampoos, lotions, cleaning products, wipes, towels, etc. 😣 THIS IS WHY WE CAN’T GET ANYTHING DONE. We have to keep stopping to fix shit. (And in this case I have to have Tom fix it and he’s obviously working and has a huge list of other stuff to get to that’s more important…) So now it looks worse then it did in the last photo because I had to take everything off two whole shelves. 

Sigh. 

 

Len Christmas in July, Year 4

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Nick and Gracie making Christmas M&Ms (the rest went into Lisa’s monster cookies).

Just a few brats to cook…

All the kids like to fish but they say Aubrey is the one who loves it the most and is the best at it. She apparently gives lessons to other kids at their house!

Katie caught a fish!

Someone took an unplanned jump into the river (learning you can’t walk on lily pads):

Drying off…

I think this picture is a tradition.

And the mandatory annual family Christmas photo! Every year they give us grief about taking it… And this year with the craziness of the move I didn’t post it immediately and they were all asking about it!! So there. :p

And the annual kid comparison—Katie is getting closer to Aubrey but Aubrey is still ahead (which should be the case, as she’s almost 9). And as usual, Owen is definitely taller than Gracie…

But I think he beats Nick this year!!


Last year:

More fishing!

After a campfire and s’mores it was time for bed. The kids decided to all sleep in the living room… Poor Timmy. 🙂

 

Owen’s first time shooting!

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Owen was so excited to go shooting! He’s doing pretty well with remembering the three rules (generally speaking he knows them but had trouble repeating them) so we’ll keep working on that. (If he can remember 632 things about Pokémon, he can remember the three rules about gun safety.)

      

His shots were all in the black!

 

AuSable River Festival Kids Day

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We specifically came up to Grayling Monday night we we could take the kids to the kids fest day since they had so much fun last year! Unfortunately, this year they didn’t have the canoeing with the pro, which is what we had really hoped to do again. 🙁 So this was as close as we got—and Owen refused to stick his head in so I did instead.

Family photo booth!

 

Our first family bike ride!

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Tom and I got new bikes today and Owen is practicing to earn his new bike (also bought today)!

It’s challenging to take a picture while riding! The whole time I was trying I kept saying “Don’t drop the phone. Don’t drop the phone.” 🙂

A pic of my new beauty:

It was more than I wanted to spend but after sitting on a bunch and testing them, it was the clear winner. It’s a Specialized Roll Sport Low Entry.