changing it up

some people might be shocked to hear me say this, but I am leaving the RAC. I will now be working out at the DAHLC (dan abraham healthy living center). the DAN is the big fitness center for mayo clinic. it is a fantastic gym, but it doesn’t have any amenities for families – no family swimming pool, play areas, etc. I worked out there for the first 9-10 months we were here. there is childcare – it’s a bit more picky – but manageable. the main reason for the change is that the RAC is raising their monthly dues and the DAN only costs about $20 per month! it is a huge savings each month so I thought it was worth giving it a shot.

one of the main reasons I am sad about leaving the RAC is that we can’t use the swimming pools or the swimming lessons from Mrs. Larson once we aren’t members. this made the decision the hardest for me, but the reality is I can’t use the pool with all 3 kids alone and the pool is not worth spending over $100 extra dollars on each month. last tuesday charlie had his last swim lesson with mrs. larson. I thought I might cry. he just loves her and I love her. but God is good. she whispered to me at the end of his lesson that she could probably do an occasional lesson at her apartment pool for charlie (she is not supposed to do that). It made my day. I am hoping it works out.

here is charlie warming up for his lesson.

he spends almost all of his play time underwater.

mater (charlie’s lego car from bubba) had to come to watch his lesson.

working with mrs. larson in the deep end on his front crawl and side breathing.

more side breathing.

swimming to the edge alone.

mrs. larson has charlie kick off from the wall and float on his back, then take a deep breath and somersault forward and swim to the wall. with her helping he does a great job.

 

we have loved watching charlie develop into a confident, brave little fish. mrs. larson has been wondeful!

although we will miss the RAC I think it is a good move for me. the DAN will have great classes and different equipment and it will help me start cutting some of the ties to things that I love here in rochester. one of the benefits of the DAN is that they have welness evaluations that they do for free. they test your VO2 Max, strength, flexibility, bod pod (body fat %), ab strength. I had been pregnant when I was there last so I was super excited to check out my skills this time. I went last week and had eveything tested and it was AWESOME! for someone like me who loves to workout and can do cardio until the cows come home it was fun. I also feel like all of my competitive, driven nature has been poured into working out since stopping my career. the VO2 max was the most fun. they put you on a treadmill and start you off at 5.0. the computer then increases your speed by 1 mph every three minutes. you continue to run while you have this tight mask on your face with tubes going up and over your back. you can’t breathe out of your nose, which gets a bit frustrating. since there is not a DR onsite they can’t let you get past a certain point (the computer shuts off) but it gets you pretty close to your VO2 max. I went to 9.5 mph and was about to go to 10 when the machine cooled me down. my VO2 max was 52 ml/kg/min! guess all my running, stairmill, chasing kids has gotten me something.

charlie’s preschool open house

charlie’s preschool had an open house this week and I was so excited to go and have charlie show us around. I emailed bill the week prior and he worked with his secretary to move around his clinic calendar so he could be there. I was so glad when he actually made it home in time to go with us (we even all went to five guys before hand). laura and dotes were also there, which made it easier for us to manage the crew at Bethany.

I have said this before – I LOVE Bethany Nursery School! it is so small, sweet and kind of old school feeling. there is lots of different play spaces and they really embrace what the kids are passionate about. so glad charlie is there this year.

in we go probably smelling a bit like old french fries.

it was as if ellie and claire belonged there. they jumped right in.

we found charlie’s picture on the wall. gotta love his attempt at a smile!

pointing out his friend sam in the picture.

we then moved into the smaller room. ellie and claire wasted no time playing with the toys.

  

charlie’s class. we instantly scanned the kids and tried to pick out a nice friend for him. we decided Bennet would be a great fit (and we met him that night and he was so sweet!). so we are now always talking about Bennet around our house.

it was the sweetest thing. when we got into this room charlie saw Mrs. Sohkitab and she was chatting with someone else. he continued to kind of whisper awkwardly near her “hi mrs. sohkitab” over and over. eventually, when her conversation was wrapping up I told him to say it again and he was able to introduce Bill to her. he LOVED it. then she helped him work on this puzzle. she is such a kind teacher. it is incredible what love you have for your kid's teachers.  while charlie and mrs. sohkitab were chatting legos came up.  mrs. S told charlie that at school they could bring out the legos and build something fun if he wanted. she asked him what he wanted to build and he said a boat. then she said they could build a boat and bring out the water table to put the boat in. I just love that they want to encourage the kids to do fun things like that.

what were ellie and claire doing? fighting over this toy.

hey! there is that sweet boy – Bennett. I think I need to set up a playdate with him.

then claire found her calling…coloring. with crayons – lots of them! seriously, claire was in her happy place. she would grab handfuls of crayons and just giggle in delight. apparently the one crayon I give her at home is not enough.

working it.

then ellie went over to do her spot as natalie morales on the today show.

the girls LOVED being at preschool. we had to drag them out kicking and screaming!

a big bedtime story.

mr. handsome

charlie ready to go to church. bill dressed him. charlie is wearing bill’s old bomber jacket too. so handsome!

I survived week 2

the girls and I survived another week of gymnastics!  well – we only survived because my friend Chris volunteered to help me be a badger handler and because Laura stayed home with charlie. chris sent me these 2 pictures. I really wish I could snap some shots while I am there, but it is too crazy.

this is a picture of me “helping” (ie: pining the girls down) the girls sit on the yellow mat and wait their turn.

me bouncing down the trampoline with ellie.

I {heart} fall

the weather has turned cooler – much cooler and I am loving it! I was also loving having bill home for a full weekend so we packed up the kids and went to northwoods orchard just north of rochester for some saturday morning fun.

first stop – bunnies. it was pretty cold so the girls were wearing puffer vests underneath their fleeces, which explains their thick middle look.

on to the next thing…

 

this girl (claire) always alerts me to any plane, car, animal noise she hears. she gives you a point and a quick “da!”.

eleanore just hanging out on a pumpkin.

goofinest.

our friends the jaegers were also at the orchard with their little girl lakin and precious newest addition bennett (5-8 days old!). here ellie and lakin are eyeing up the chickens.

in butts claire.

charlie was busy terrorizing the chickens with a stick. he has been REALLY into sticks and hitting/poking things lately.

peeking in.

top ten reasons I love fall – boots!

king of the castle – with a stick.

trying to get up to where charlie is.

you might be wondering what is so scary? ellie is crying…

claire is grabbing bill’s leg…

some crazy goats!

mmmm….cinnamon+sugar fresh donuts.

then charlie found the free kittens. I don’t know what has changed about me, but I am just not that thrilled about cats anymore. I grew up with them, but I think with my allergies getting more sensitive to them (my eyes itch like CRAZY) and the idea of having to deal with a litter box makes me steer very clear of them.

charlie was in heaven! it was hysterical – if bill put the kitten by ellie she would instantly push it away where claire was really interested in the kitten and wanted to hold it. funny how different those two can be sometimes.

then we headed out under the willow tree to wait for the tractor ride. at first ellie decided she wanted to pull the jaegar’s wagon. she couldn’t make it go.

then claire wanted to try.

reason number 4 twins are fun. teamwork! in jumps ellie.

I pray these two are the best of friends and work together all their lives! you will see ellie pushed so hard claire fell over. so the teamwork was done. sweet while it lasted.

on the tractor and ready to rock.

 

kids were getting a little tired, but we powered through.

 

claire – almost asleep.

then back to party time.

 

“da!” she spotted something!

wish the exposure hadn’t gotten messed up – I love claire’s look here.

the tractor stopped by a gourd patch and the kids got to get out and pick one. ellie found hers.

so did prabee.

ready to get home. all were getting tired and cold.

 

a great fall outing. my friend sara took some family pics so I will get those on here whenever I get them.