All About Kirby...(a long post)

My parents took Emerson for several days this week (for a little one-on-one bonding time and spoiling!), so it was just the three of us at home. I thought it would be the perfect time to catch you all up on the "baby"....(who's almost 4...can you believe!?)...

Kirby had a great Spring semester of Mother's Day Out and made several new friends over the course of the school year. She also had a wonderful semester at the The Little Gym. Here's a shot on the balance beam at her "show" and another of Kirby and her best friend with their medals. Kirby and "S" are so cute together and we enjoyed eating lunch with them after class each week. "S" will be going to a different preschool this Fall, but we will still see her at church and in gymnastics again!

Kirby's also been taking swim lessons at our club. We've done a combination of group and private lessons and will be continuing with private lessons throughout the Fall with both girls. She's proven to be pretty fearless in the water, has a mean Cannonball jump and likes to take off without much warning! You gotta keep an eye on this one!

She's also a whiz on her tricycle. She even rode it all the way to and from Emerson's school one morning. She'll be on Emerson's old bike in no time.

We even tried our hand at PeeWee Tennis this summer. Isn't her little purple Prince tennis raquet the cutest thing you've ever seen? Ms. Diane is a saint to take on these little ones...they were pretty cute to watch. Kirby enjoyed it, but I think we're going to hold off a few more months and try again.

We've had alot of fun with her this week. It's been nice to be able to focus on her and give her our undivided attention. On Sunday afternoon, we took her to the Houston Galleria (not a special trip down there, we were just in the area and went on a whim) - we watched the ice skaters and were able to see the Zamboni, walked around and checked out some fun stores. Later that evening we went out to dinner - Kirby picked - Mexican!

On Tuesday, we picked up Scott early from the office and headed to the Children's Museum. If you haven't been there since last summer, you really should go...it's been completely changed and in my opinion is AWESOME! There's really alot to do and see for kids of all ages!

The outside Water Works area is a blast....and sure to get you wet!

One of her favorite parts was the new Kidtropolis area. It's set up as a little town with a bank, city hall, police station, diner, vet, etc. Lots of imaginative play for sure! Here she is driving the police car...

After a couple of fun-filled hours there, we headed over to Goode Co. Taqueria for dinner. If you know anything about Goode Co., you know how fabulous their pecan pie is...in fact, it's pretty legendary...so we did what any good customer would do...had a piece for an appetizer!! It's seriously the best pecan pie EVER! So good, I had to take a picture of it...

To top off our special time together, I took Kirby to get her nails done today. I know, I know....I should be waiting until she's older, but I really wanted to get mine done and thought she'd love it. I was right. She was really well behaved - talked to the other ladies and sat so proud in the chair. It was really pretty cute. I'm so happy we have girls!! :-)

Here's our little goof-ball showing off her PURPLE nails and toes. She even got little daisies painted on her thumbs and big toes! Big Sister will be jealous for sure!

While I certainly miss my Big Girl and am looking forward to having her home, I truly enjoyed being able to spend this time with Kirby. She got some good Mommy and Daddy time, and we got yet another reminder of what a true blessing she is! I just couldn't love her any more.

The Ride of My Life (So Far...)

As I was thinking back over the Spring, trying to decide where to start "catching-up", the one thing that kept coming back to me was the MS150 Bike Ride. Let's face it, I was pretty obsessed about it! And really, weren't alot of you just about tired of listening to my constant bike related chatter? TOO BAD! It was really a bid deal to me, and an amazing thing to attempt and accomplish - even if I got off "easy" by only having to bike 1 day (though let me remind you that it was still 80 miles, with lots of big hills and in to a wicked head-wind!) thanks to the rain.

Over the course of late winter and early Spring, I went to Spin class every Monday and Wednesday night and Scott and I did several training rides in preparation. One training ride was a 25 miler in 38 degree weather on the hills outside beautiful Round Top, Texas. Another took us 40 miles from a start in Baytown, OVER the Fred Hartman Bridge, past the San Jacinto Monument with a little break as we hopped on the ferry (fun!). We enjoyed the sights of our great city on the 70 mile Tour de Houston (where I had my first crash!), and endured an awfully boring 70 miler through Katy and the surrounding area...made even worse by a horrible head wind.

Through it all, Scott was amazing! His encouragement and support kept me hanging in there and we actually had alot of fun out there on those rides. I couldn't have done it without him, and wouldn't have wanted to either! I love you, honey!!

Here's a picture of me at the re-organized start in La Grange

Look at all these riders! It's pretty amazing that an estimated 80% of the 13,000 riders were able to change plans and make it to the new starting point. It's a real testament to the dedication of the riders and the importance of the event.

And here we are having just crossed the finish line in Austin! We were so surprised that Scott's Dad was at the finish line. It was wonderful that he was able to catch this picture for us. As we rounded the UT campus, on our way to ride up Congress Avenue, I had a huge lump in my throat and was fighting back tears....I almost couldn't breath! It was the best feeling in the world!

Just in case you're wondering, I'm ABSOLUTELY on board for next year's ride!

And another big THANK YOU to my parents, Scott's parents, and to everyone who made it possible for us to train and ride...it wouldn't have been possible without you!

Long Time....No Blog!

I TOLD YOU SO! I knew I didn't need another thing to do, another thing to keep up with. But noooo....I caved to the pressure and just HAD to go ahead a start a blog last summer. Sure it went well for a while...you enjoyed it, right? Then the snow happened, and the holidays were upon us, and school started back up again, and, and ,and...!

So, while I'm sure my last post about the snow (*sigh*) is looking pretty refreshing about now, I'll try to recommitt myself to the blog and get a little caught up.

Here's to second chances!