New (to us) Swing Set

A few weeks ago we picked up a new swing set, but we didn’t pay a dime for it! A co worker of Kyle’s gave it to us! We are so thankful because we know these aren’t cheap! Kyle just had to go to their house, disassemble it, and bring it to our house and re-assemble!

I forgot to take a picture when he was done, but it also has a big yellow slide and a nice platform. We replaced the rings with a baby swing for Adelyn. It does need some sort of finish or stain on the wood, but hey for free, we can handle that!

While Daddy was busy working on the swing set, us girls went on a wagon ride…even Abby went along! Look closely at Abby…she’s sticking her tongue out!

Adelyn just loves her puppy! The older she gets I think she loves her more! And I think, for the most part, Abby loves Adelyn too! We walked in the house from daycare yesterday and Abby was so excited to see Adelyn she was jumping all over her and Adelyn just giggled!

We only made half way around the block before Abby jumped out of the wagon. Luckily she’s a good dog and stayed close for the rest of our walk!

Wordless Wednesday

Random

Hi everyone! Its 5am and I’ve been wide away for an hour, so I decided to blog! I have a few random pictures over the past few weeks that I thought I’d throw into one post. Enjoy!

A few weeks ago my Mom came over & helped us freeze corn. We did 4 dozen which I thought seemed like SO much, but I have a feeling its not going to make it through the winter!

Abby sure enjoyed the “extras”! She didn’t leave their feet for one minute! (This was the day after Kyle’s triathlon…notice the number written on his leg? Yep, they wrote it in permanent marker, took FOREVER to come off!)

Adelyn LOVES to give kisses! I had to get a picture of this! Her kisses are big, wet, open mouth kisses and we love them! We’re still working on the pucker part!

The other weekend after Adelyn’s nap she walked into the kitchen with these two things in her hands: her swimsuit & a swim diaper. I think it was a hint! Since the majority of the summer has been scorching hot we’ve swam in our back yard pool every weekend. Well lately we’ve had quite the cool down and on this particular day it was barely 70 degree, hardly pool weather! Kyle & I were cracking up that she exactly what to bring us, smart little girl!

Last weekend I made a pasta bake for supper and as you can see Adelyn loved it! Good thing it was bath night!

Cart Ride

I picked up this little cart for Adelyn on clearance at Target a few weeks back. She has loved pushing it around, filling it up, and then dumping it out. A few weeks ago Daddy put her in the cart and now that’s ALL she wants to do with this thing!

I did get a short video, I think you can tell she was enjoying herself!

Twin Lakes Triathlon

Throughout the month of July Kyle had been running and biking almost daily. He had been toying around with the idea of signing up for a local triathlon, but then one day a friend texted him and asked if he wanted to join their team. Perfect!

He teamed up with our friends Brandon & Brittney and together they did the Twin Lakes Half Distance Olympic Triathlon the 1st Saturday in August.

I think the most impressive part is that Brittney had a baby 8 weeks ago. She did the swimming leg of the race, 750 meters! Kyle was already in the transition area waiting for Brittney while Brandon & I waited for her to come across the lake. We thought for sure she was in the last “chunk” of people coming that we had our eyes on and all the sudden Brandon says “there’s Britt” and we raced to the transition area. We almost missed her! She sprinted to the transition area to let Kyle take over the next leg of the race.

Kyle did the biking portion of the race. He biked a 20K, 12.4 miles, which was 2 laps around the lake.

This meant we got to see Kyle mid way through the ride! Brittney, Adelyn, & I went up to road to cheer him on as he went by! Can you see the storm brewing in the background?!?!

Kyle finished the biking portion with a great time!

He headed into the transition area and sent Brandon on his way to finish the triathlon!

Brandon did the running portion of the race, 5K, 3.1 miles. He finished on the opposite side of the lake. So Kyle, Brittney, Adelyn, and I hopped in the car and cheered on Brandon on our way over to the finish line.

Adelyn had some snacks to keep her entertained! She did so well the whole race!

Brandon finished with a great time and together the team finished with a time of 1 hour 20 minutes 38 seconds…good enough for 3rd place!!!!!! I was so proud of Kyle & our friends!!

They served breakfast afterwards, thankfully it was moved inside because it down poured!

Way to go Team B! {the B because both of our last names start with a “B”!}

These guys are so fired up they already signed up for another triathlon in September! Can’t wait to cheer you guys on again!!

Chicago Trip

The last weekend in July Kyle, Adelyn, & I made the drive to Chicago to see Kyle’s sister, Mel,  & her husband, Steve. We also got to see Kyle’s younger sister Laura because she lives with Mel & Steve!

Adelyn was a wonderful traveler! This was the longest car ride she has been on in her life. We have done the less than 3 hour trip to my sister’s house multiple times & for the most part, she does really well. But Chicago is over 5 hours, but she did great! We actually didn’t even have to stop! We packed supper, ate on the road, and she was snoozing in her car seat before 6pm.

It was Thursday evening when we got there. We just spent the evening catching up and planning our weekend ahead. Friday was dedicated to shopping! We went to an outlet mall about 45 minutes from their house. Kyle’s favorite there is the Under Armour outlet!

That night we grilled out and stayed in. It also happened to be opening night for the Olympics so we spent lots of time over the weekend getting our fill on the Olympics!

Saturday was a chill day. We did a little shopping and then had lunch at Chik-fil-a {yum!}!

That afternoon we decided to get in a workout! Kyle ran, Mel roller bladed, & Steve and I biked. They have a great trail very close to their house, perfect spot to burn some calories! Laura stayed home with Adelyn.

Afterwards everyone fell asleep…except me! Check out their big couch…family nap time!

Before supper we got in some play time in the back yard. Uncle Steve was a pro at airplane rides!

Aunt Mel had a great idea to get the hose out for Adelyn to play with!

Daddy let her take over…

Can you see the pride in her face? Such a big girl!

This just cracks me up!

Silly girl!

Daddy thought it would be funny to try and spray Mommy! I love Adelyn’s expression here!

My favorite picture from the weekend!

Aunt Mel showing her how to run through the water! As I’m sure you can guess, her diaper was HEAVY by the end of her playing in the water!

Once we got her all cleaned up & a lighter diaper we all piled in the car and went out for supper.

We moved Adelyn’s car seat to their vehicle for the weekend. They have middle bucket seats and then the 3rd row bench seat, it actually worked out really well.

We decided on Sweet Baby Rays for supper! Can’t go wrong with BBQ!

Adelyn wasn’t too excited about sitting in the high chair, so thankfully Aunt Mel helped keep her entertained! Adelyn even brought me back a flower!

With full tummies we headed back to their house to get our little one in bed, catch some olympics, and then head out again to….MENCHIES!!! This is, by far, my FAVORITE self serve fro yo place! We first went while we were in Florida a few years ago.

The Chicago location recently opened so Mel & Steve hadn’t been yet.

As expected, they were fans of Menchies! They even been back multiple times and Mel got it for her birthday treats at work!

Funny boys!

Sunday we packed up and headed home to make it back at a good time. We always enjoy our trips to Chicago! Kyle will be headed back this fall to cheer on the Hawkeyes when they’re in town!

Omaha Weekend

Adelyn, Kyle, & I headed to Omaha Friday night afternoon after work. Hayden & Wendi weren’t far behind us! We hadn’t been to Stef & Geoff’s yet during the summer to enjoy the lake, so we marked the weekend on our calendar & made it happen!

Adelyn did so well on the trip there {its about 3 hours}. It was past bedtime when we got to Stef & Geoff’s, so Adelyn hit the hay and I hit the pavement for a run around the lake! Stef got called to sub on a league volleyball team last minute, so she wasn’t home when we got there.

Kyle woke up bright & early Saturday morning and ran around the airport (11+ miles)! When he got back us girls left the kiddos with the boys and we hit up a garage sale in a really nice part of town. I got a lot of nice things for Adelyn, $2 Nike shocks, $2 GAP skinny jeans (new w/tags!), etc! Love me a good garage sale!

Our friends Mark & Jenna, from KC, drove up to hang out with us for the day. It was a nice meeting point where we could hang out & didn’t have to drive 4 1/2+ hrs! It was a gorgeous sunny afternoon, so we hit the lake!

Hayden was ready to go swimming! He actually did really well, I’m excited for Adelyn to be big enough next year to use those kind of arm floaties. She does NOT like being restricted in a floatie she has to sit in.

Love this sweet girl…and that belly!

Trying to get a cousins pic in the water! Like I said Adelyn insisted on being in the water without a floatie, she was just content to float and let me hold her around the chest, made me more on edge though!

Lily, on the other hand, LOVES her floatie! Its so cute to watch her kick those legs and she just bounces in the water! Looks like Hayden is up to no good!

After some swimming we went to Stef’s neighbors’ and borrowed their paddle boards. Hayden even had a spot to sit! So fun!

While Stef, Hayden, & Wendi were out on the paddle boards, Jenna & I had some good girl talk and got some rays! So thankful her & Mark came by for the afternoon!

I decided to give paddle boarding a try!

It was SO fun and a good workout! Can’t wait to do this again when we go back to Stef & Geoff’s!

After paddle boarding we broke out the sprinklers!

Aunt Stef had to show Hayden what to do, but then he quickly got the hang of it!

After our fun afternoon in the sun & water the kiddos took a nap and us girls did some shopping!

Mark & Jenna headed out to spend some time with some of their family who also lives in Omaha. And we had an amazing supper! Stef & Geoff made some amazing ribs & we had some delicious IA sweet corn!

The next morning Geoff noticed some little toy army guys on the front steps. So we all had to go outside & check it out! There were small American flags in their landscaping, confetti & army guys along the side walk, this message on the driveway, and a random wooden bird in the tree.

They never did figure it out while we were there. We all were wondering if someone got the wrong house! Come to find out, it was some of their friends…but I’m still not sure what it all means!

The kiddos took advantage of our early morning outside and went for a wagon ride! Love sweet Lily, she is growing too fast!!

Two of my most favorite little girls! I know they are going to be best buds!

Hayden & Wendi were asleep when we first came outside, but when they woke up to an empty house they came out as well. Hayden decided he wanted to take the girls on a ride!

This just cracks me up…Lily didn’t want to share her wagon! Something else I have to say, its crazy that these 3 cousins are from 3 of us sisters, who all look alike, and our kids look nothing like us, they all look like their Daddies! We’re hoping #2 will have more Grettenberg {maiden name} genes!

Hayden says, “Yiyi, what’s wrong?”

As always, we had a great time in Omaha! Hope to make another visit before the summer comes to a close!