August Tidbits

August has zoomed by, just like July.  Where has summer gone?!?!  We start off with some events that happened a few weeks ago.  The hospital hosted their annual family picnic, we played games, ate yummy food, and became Ninja Turtles with our buddy Asher.  The paint job was awesome, the removal of it was not.

The next day, Cooper and I ran the Pure Water Days race.  It was only a 200 meter dash, short and sweet.  I finished in about 5th place, Cooper was around 10th.  If you look closely, Cooper's Ninja paint is still circling his eyes.  He looks like he has been crying, ha!

Cooper's best friend Dawson also ran the race!

 Ready, set, GO!

We were off

 Race champs with another medal for our collection

After the race, we headed to Lambeau Field for Packer Family Fun Night.  Only our parents have been to Lambeau, so this was a first for us!

A little tailgating with some lemonade

 We were amazed by the stadium and ALL the people!!!

 We loved the marching band.  They had fun performances for us to watch.

Stopped for some photo op's around the stadium.  Daddy was in his glory, Mom was putting her game face on.  Can you tell by her clothing that she is NOT a Packer fan (SKOL Vikings).  We harassed her all day about this.

Inside the stadium, we ate delicious stadium food, hung out with many friends as our daycare center purchased 200 tickets, so we had many buddies/families there, and at the end, there was an awesome firework show.

We spent the night in a hotel and then worked our way back home the next day.  We had an unforgettable time at the stadium and look forward to next year already.

All summer long, Mommy knew it would be her last season of long hair.  She wanted a fresh new cut for her job at the college and she was excited to donate her hair to Locks of Love.  Her mind was made up, so she went for it.

 Chop Chop!

 And here is our brand new Mommy

Our parents celebrated their 15th (WOW) wedding anniversary!  They said they just can't believe it... not the part that they made it this long, but that time went so fast.  At dinner (no, we didn't get to go along), they decided that the top 3 events in the 15 years included: #1 Creating and raising this little family of ours, #2 Vacations/traveling...creating special memories, #3 Careers and reaching for their dreams.  They look forward to many, many more years together.

We haven't been on Papa and Grandma's pontoon this summer because of crazy schedules or weather.  We finally made it down to Stillwater and enjoyed a day on the St. Croix.  We love stopping at the caves and creating all sorts of scenarios for what could be inside.  We swam, had lunch in town, and loved spending time together that day.

We;re afraid our little Cooper might be growing up as he gets ready for Kindergarten.  Typically, Cooper brings his lovey to daycare.  He doesn't walk around with it, it just sits in his cubby as a little comfort friend. As we got ready to leave, he told us he didn't need Lovey at daycare, so he put him back on his bed.  Mommy almost lost it, but we decided this is just part of growing up...sigh.

Our parents hosted their annual Loopy's float and decided to honor the upcoming birthday boy.  Daddy is turning 40 on September 3rd.  The day wouldn't have been complete without humiliating the old fart with a sign (it was taped to his tube).

 The girls enjoyed the lounger once the float was over and everyone stayed for dinner and drinks.  The guys didn't humor the group photo idea, so the girls had some fun with it instead.

Thankfully, he didn't re-live his 21st birthday, but then again, Daddy's brother, Ben, was sure he had a traditional birthday shot.

The 40 year old club (not many yet), both are named Chris and they decided to be dorky with a heart hand photo....so sweet.

While the parents floated and celebrated, the littles went to Grammy's to go tubing, swimming and just spend some fun cousin time together.  When they received this text they were totally grossed out by the green look to the water.  The next day, the water looked MUCH better, but yes, the water does get green on the lakes.

 The parents joined us the next day for some waterskiing....

 We are loving riding "double" behind the boat.  Cooper and Bennett are skiing above,

 Bennett and I were just landing from our double run here.

 In final news, Mommy just wanted you to know that she survived her first 3 days at UWEC.  She is enjoying the challenge. She said she hasn't had to problem solve so many issues all at once... but she is getting the hang of things and knows it will just take time before this becomes natural.  Students don't start for another week, so this has been perfect to get started now and take care of some things before it gets really interesting :)  She even joined a staff meeting at a school in the area to network and promote placements for students.  Although she was very nervous for her first run at this, it was a success and it resulted in many partnerships for the college.

 The field experience office includes the administrative assistant (Lori) on Mommy's left and licensing officer (Donna) to her right.  She has a great team to work with along with the many staff and professors in the College of Education.  All in all, she thinks she is going to love her new job.

Celebrate

This will be a loooong post!  Chris and I headed to Washington DC to celebrate his completion of an 18 month fellowship program through the Advisory Board.  They chose 3 people in the hospital system for this honor, so I am very proud of Chris!  Chris traveled to Washington DC every 3 months for the fellowship.  He said the experience was life changing and valuable.  

Chris was selected to present his project, based on most interest from the fellows.

Graduation Dinner

 The 3 HSHS representatives with their facilitator. 

The first 3 days, Chris had class, so I was on my own, eek!  Thankfully, I had my trusty Frommer's guide, Uber App, and some suggestions from friends and family who have visited DC.  My aunt, Vicki, works in Washington, so I was blessed to have a private Capitol tour on my first day.  It was a great way to kick off my exploration.  The Capitol was currently under renovation, which only happens once every 50 years, lucky me.  I was still able to access most areas, but the outside was just not as pretty :)

 The Senate building/chambers.  They were in session, so we did sit and watch for a little bit.

 The teacher in me loved the Library of Congress.... such a beautiful and amazing place!  Only interns and representatives are able to be on the library floor, so I felt fairly important, ha!

That's me in the right corner of the balcony

Without entirely boring you, I will run through some of our favorite stops in the city.... Lincoln Memorial at night, gorgeous and HUGE!

 Reflection Pond with ducks :)  I loved walking the "Mall" area at night.  It was breathtaking.

 Washington Monument

 World War II Memorial

 Vietnam Wall/Memorial

 Washington Monument Day and Night

The White House

 Beautiful Executive Building (Eisenhower)... can you imagine going to work here?!?!

Vicki and I traveled to Mount Vernon, the home of George Washington.  The plantation is huge, so amazing, but also under renovation.  We still were able to see the gardens, his grave, and parts of the home.

 I would love to have his gardens!

One of the most moving experiences we had, was visiting Arlington National Cemetery.  At Arlington, we viewed the Kennedy's grave (above) and saw the tomb of the unknown soldiers.  While there, we witnessed the changing of the guard.... amazing to think the tomb is guarded 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

We extended our stay by 2 1/2 days so Chris could tour the city as well.  We went to the Holocaust Museum which was moving, so difficult (emotionally), but a must-experience.

 Names etched in the window of those who were persecuted...

This was most sad... shoes of those who entered the gas chambers, as they showered and prepared to die. Ugh, just can't imagine.  The shoes actually smelled, can't describe it, and filled an entire long hallway.

Our favorite museum was the Air and Space. I went without Chris on one of his class days but then brought him back.  We went to a D-Day 3D IMAX movie.  It was really neat.

I think what amazed me most were the airplanes and space shuttles.  They were originals, the actual planes piloted by Amelia Earhart, the Wright Brothers, astronauts, armed forces, etc... across the US, oceans, World,... It was so fun, definitely a place we will bring the boys when they are old enough to tour museums :)

And finally, we just loved our amazing dinners out at fabulous restaurants.  Washington DC has such a wide array of flavors, we often met up with Vicki and my cousin Maryann.  It was wonderful to see them and catch up as we don't get together very often.  My godson, Rieder, was ironically back in MN when I visited, so he is not pictured.

 They were crouching so I didn't feel so short :)

 Dinner at Fiola Mare on the Potomac River

We missed the boys like crazy while we were away.... they spent time with my parents, including trips to Como Zoo, the Drive In (first experience and Papa's car battery died, hahaha), swimming at the Pool and Yacht Club, and a trip to the Lake Vermillion cabin.  Here are some pictures they sent us during the week!

 Our little crayfish hunters

 The boys insisted on a crayfish boil and yes, they ate them (eeewwww!)

And we are fairly certain they didn't miss us much!