Blogging Miz Daisy

First Half of October

2026-10-20T09:29:15.670-05:00

House update at the start of October, getting the second level framed.

Starting to look like fall on my runs, temps dropped, turned on my gas logs for the first time this season and even let Oakley go to the dog park on one of our runs.

October 2nd house update, and homecoming parade. Emma stayed after school, we went and explored our block which was having a huge homecoming block party getting ready for the parade. Seems like it's going to be a great neighborhood. I had to work the concession stand during the game so I didn't stay to see the parade, but Emma had a friend she stayed with.

Saturday we're back at Kauffman field for Thomas's last regular season football game. I went to fly my drone and look at the house during his warm ups.

Another player's mom captured some great photos during the game:

The wind was crazy when I first tried to fly my drone so after the game Thomas and I drove over to get a better look from above

Late night visit to Sebastian Joes for ice cream :-)

Sunday morning marathon, this is a big joy of our neighborhood, we have a national recognized race that runs right by our house. So many people. This is about mile 3.5 so still lots of energy and packs of people. And it only takes about an hour for them to all make it by us.

Mary went on my mile run with me to prepare for her mile at school the next day.

We spent the weekend cleaning, kid even helped. Did the majority of the windows inside and out so you can imagine my frustration when I came home Monday morning and the mortar guys were FINALLY getting to our front steps. Make sense but didn't realize it was going to create THIS big of a dust mess. Shows how our front door isn't sealed great, the dust even got inside.

Kyle had power washed a lot of the front and sides of the house, the last little bit was in the back, so I tackled that.

Also stumbled upon this DEAD bird. I looked up the meaning and thought it was interesting:

Endings and New Beginnings;

Closure: the end of a specific life phase, relationship, job, or long standing problem

Transition: clearing away old patterns or borders to make space for fresh growth, renewal, and new opportunities.

I thought that fit perfectly with our current situation.

Nothing like last minute, had to get Isaac's drum picked up from school for his Tuesday night marching band thing. He's not in marching band as a 9th grader but they had a special concert night where the 9th graders got to practice with the marching band on the football field after the p[arents are forced to sit through an hour lecture on how great band is.... So I came to pick up his drum where he asks me to CARRY it to the van, haha. The things we do for our kids.

Wednesday night Isaac had a football game, I was excited to finally make it to one, but disappointed he didn't play more. He's on special teams so went out for every kickoff, he was suppose to play in the B game afterwards but it didn't end up happening.

And Thursday was MOVING DAY! Packers came to get the rest of the house packed up and big blue boxes were delivered.

While they packed, I cleaned. Oakley was trying out his first day of doggie daycare and I think he loved it. HAHA I even caught him yawning on the ride home.

I was so tired from the full day of work, but I still needed to get my run in. So when I went to pick up Thomas from football I did a quick mile around his practice field. And it was one of my faster miles :-)

Friday was load day, they got one loaded and was able to get it hauled away that day, leaving just one crate on the street for the weekend to get picked up on Monday. The first crate basically fit everything from the house, the second crate was the workout room and the garage.

We spend the weekend cleaning, DEEP cleaning get this house ready to list. Thomas had his last football game Saturday (Oct 10th) we all went to, Mary had her last volleyball game on Sunday then Sunday evening we loaded up and went to a hotel for the week so I could get the house real clean for listing photos, empty for the painter to paint the primary bedroom, and hopefully any showings that wanted to see the house when we first list.

Another evening run because the days are LOOONNNGGG.

Rest of September

2026-10-19T17:42:50.920-05:00

Arrived home hitting the ground running, right back into the crazy. And back to lake runs.

Thankful for the beautiful sky to ease me back into life. The struggle is real for reentry after a marvelous vacation.

Mary had her FS2 (freestyle 2) test on Saturday, she PASSED.

Emma had soccer, the boys both had football.

Scenes from my daily runs.

And bird drama. Andy must have hurt his foot on something... blood was EVERYWHERE! I got it cleaned up the next day and he rehurt his claw again, not as much blood as this but the two seemed to be fighting more than they had ever before. Andy was starting to wither away to nothing it seemed and I couldn't take the stress of trying to move with birds or get someone to watch them. I tried to list them on a bird pet site but ended up just listing their cage on marketplace and then mentioning to the guy interested that the cage came with two birds :-/ oops but they are now no longer my problem. I had reached my limit of what I could take care of, the birds had to go for this next chapter of life.

This ends September but I wanted to share the rest of the birds as to not have to come back to this in future posts. We got rid of them on October 4th.

Exploring Chania and leaving Crete (September 23-24, 2026)

2026-10-19T17:27:09.832-05:00

One final run from the Falassarna house. I had one last route I hadn't run yet to check off the list of all possible ways to run 1 miles from the house, lol. It was another hilly run, ran up, ran down, to run up and back down again.

But no matter how hilly you can't beat these views! Makes running a mile everyday so easy.

Time to pack up and load up. We had said goodbye to about 6 friends early that morning and there were just a handful of us left.

I said goodbye to my balcony view (as the cleaners were getting a head start on cleaning)

Drove back to the super market because I wanted to pick up a beach towel that said Crete. I got the same one my roomie got... however when I got home and opened it up it didn't say Crete :-( so sad, oh well.

I went a little north of Kissamos when I got there because I wanted a drove view of that city. I had seen it a couple days before when we did our inland island driving adventure.

There are a lot of these little churches built on the side of the roads, I had read about them before coming and they signify a death, like how we put crosses and memorials up they build mini-church statues.

Made it to Chania, parking was crazy, driving was jam packed, like New York City. I finally found a spot and thankful I can parallel park.

I walked to meet Emilie who was staying a little longer, they were at a coffee shop but not the one I first went to. I had a bite to eat then walked over to theirs. I was beat, so decided I wanted to head back to my Airbnb which was halfway between the downtown area and the airport.

I did a little more walking and exploring to see the main harbor of Chania then walked back.

Got back to my car and made the 10 minute drive to my Airbnb. Laid down for a bit and felt much better! Long enough it was time to explore again, lol. I would have swam but there was a couple laying out at the pool and I didn't want to.

I went to this place I read was a great look out view of Chania, Venizelos Tombs.

When I walked in past the stone gates there was a flood of cats! It was crazy but super fun! They were wondering all over the graveyard.

But the reviews were right, it was a GREAT view of downtown Chania.

I chatted with Emilie and we were going to meet for dinner. She didn't have a car so I wanted something walkable for her, I could drive close. I search for mousaka which led me to this restaurant.

A storm was blowing in, quite the waves!

Didn't realize Fourogatos was about cats, haha, appropriate theme for my evening. We shared the zucchini bites and then of course I had to order the mousaka.

Great company! Awe I miss these ladies I got to know over the week.

Made it back home and tucked in for the night, I had an early flight the next morning, which Emilie was also on. I had to return the car first, which the rental place opened at 7 so my plan was to get there when it opened.

Good bye Chania, goodbye Crete.

I stopped to get gas in the car, which took longer than planned I arrived about 7:15, there was a group of people that had already arrived (Brooke, her daughter, and niece were in the group - so good to see them again!) We went to get in the van shuttle to the airport and we were one over van capacity... since I was the last to arrive I had to sit out.

I had to wait for him to take them all then come back and get me. I finally made it to the airport and my airline o check in wasn't listed. I went to the desk and she says "Oh you're late" They rushed me in, but my bag was just going to go to Athens where I'd have to retrieve it and check it for my next plane leg. I was a random selection through security and they had to deep check my carry on... sheesh.

Phew I made it. Emilie was waiting for me by the gate and so was Brooke even though she wasn't on this plane. I really wasn't that late as you can see in this photo they were still slowly loading the plane.

After the quick flight we landed in Athens. I retrieved my bag, checked it again, went through security AGAIN.

I did my mile walk through the airport then boarded my Delta flight to Boston, the long one. I settled into my window seat, then a young lad came to sit next to me saying "I'm so sorry to do this but my wife is up there in row 49, would you mind switching spots?" Well sure, however I got to spend the next ten hours next to an old man with really stinky breath, yuck, times like these I wish I had a mask with me.

Goodbye Greece

Now to settle in for a very looonnnng day. Trying not to sleep much since when I land it'll be evening and I'll be ready for my own bed.

Made it over the ocean (which when the photo on the right above was taken I hear "is there a doctor on board please see an attendant at the back of the plane" thinking very well we might be turning around, but we didn't)

When I started to see land I looked down to this MASSIVE bridge. We think it's Confederation Bridge on Prince Edward Island.

Getting close to Boston, here's cape cod!

Landed on US soil, retrieve my bag, made it through customs quickly thanks to global entry and had to check my bag AGAIN and go through security AGAIN.

There's Minneapolis!

And home! just above Lake of the Isles.

Final Full Retreat Day (September 22, 2026)

2026-10-19T15:33:02.754-05:00

Last full day at the retreat house. I had a friend join me for my run! Ro came with for my mile, we did the same route I did the day before, it was my favorite. We didn't go all the way down to the lookout cuz we needed to get back for yoga, but we did get to see the sheep.

I watched these paragliders during our yoga time, so peaceful.

Our word for this session was Meraki μερακι

which means doing something with passion and creativity

After yoga I got my laundry going and we had a silent journal time where we were also invited to pick out a paint by number.

After some time a car load and I drove into town to the pharmacy before it closed for their early evening closing time. Passed some chickens!

When we got back we did a little drone yoga for one of our leaders for her PR :-) that was fun. Then we had a real afternoon yoga session.

The focus of this yoga was partner yoga, I got to be with my roomie: Jaime. The word for this session was parea παρεα

which means community or close-knit group of friends

Little photo sesh after yoga as it began to sprinkle.

I finished up my painting while others continued to work on theirs. Then we got dressed for our final night in. We had a blue and white dress theme, a personal chef was hired to come in and cook for us and we had a deeper reflection time where we shared joys we saw in each other the past week.

Beautiful sunset. We started outside, but the forcast was showing rain and we could see a storm coming. (this is the resident cat we named Fred)

Photos with each other :-)

Dinner started outside, the appetizers. The chef warned us to save room but we all wish we would have had more of this because the main dish was kinda bland....

Moved inside before the rain started. Had a dance party while we waited for the main course. Which was a rice dish and boiled chicken. The dessert was amazing though! Loukoumades is what's it's called they are little greek donuts.

Fred wishing he could come inside and hiding from the rain.

This marks the end to a wonderful, amazing, much needed reset of a yoga retreat.

Adventure Day on Crete (September 21, 2026)

2026-10-19T14:54:50.930-05:00

Got up and did my mile, went down toward the water on this run, it was probably my favorite (did it again the next day). Went a little farther than a mile to hit this beautiful look out, then saw sheep on my way back grazing under the olive trees.

There was no morning yoga this day because they wanted to allow us more time if anyone wanted to travel farther. Some gals were doing a wine tour, some just went to a nearby beach, they wanted to leave enough time incase anyone wanted to travel back to Chania to site see. Me and two gals from Wisconsin (Kira and Carrie) decided to do an adventure inland and find some hiking and ruins. This was an AI itinerary and Google Maps said there was a straight over route... however Google Maps also took us through really washed out gravel roads. We ended up turning around before we got stuck and went out of the valley and around to get to the place of ruins.

We went to a town called Polyrrhenia where there were some ancient ruins. We walked this area for a little bit.

Finished at a little shop that had all these things made of olive wood. I got the kids souvenirs. I confirmed with the guy working there that the road to Koukounara was paved, he said "yes good road" so we trusted him and set onward in our adventure.

Lunch at a cute little spot in Koukounara.

Then continued inland to a town called Topolia where there was a cave: Cave of Agia Sofia

Climbing 257 steps to get up to the cave, it was beautiful. And honestly felt so good not having to hear complaining about the trek the whole way. I even mentioned to Keri how nice it was that no one was complaining. I love my kids but if they were to do something like this with me they would whine about being tired or hot or thirty or the air was too fresh or the steps were too rocky, you know the drill with kids.

Flew my drone to try and capture the hike up to the cave but it's kinda hard to see.

Back through the one way tunnel, we took the route via Kissamos to get back to our resort house.

We made it back to the house to get cleaned up for our dinner out as a group. We were going out to eat in the town of Kissamos. So many greek cats everywhere, can you spot them in these two photos?

Allison ordered family style for us, so a variety of food came that we all shared. We went down to the garden to get a group photo before the sun went down.

The many cats of Greece.

It was a cool building, I loved this sink trough in the bathroom.

A couple girls wanted gelato, so one car headed back to the house, and two other cars headed to the bakery arriving just minutes before they closed.

Since morning yoga was skipped we had a late night evening yoga under the moon :-) We didn't have a word or intention this night, we'd get two the following day.

Balos Lagoon Trip - Day 2 (September 20)

2026-10-19T14:12:05.252-05:00

Sunday morning (I think - ha you know it's vacation when you have no idea what day of the week it is) Our second full day together, started the morning with my run, went a different route, much better than the cliff behind the house. This was still a little incline but nothing like yesterday. This run was through the olive trees.

Psalm 52:8

But I am like an olive tree, thriving in the house of God. I will always trust in God's unfailing love.

Morning light.

Second morning of yoga. Today's word was Charmolypi Χαρμολυπη

meaning joyful sorrow - holding both emotions at the same time. My journal entry on this day stated:

Feels like I've been here a week, it feels like I've known these ladies for a long time. It feels wonderful. I feel alive. God Thank You for filling me with your breath.

A few of us had massages at the house. There was a flyer for a local massuse who would come to the retreat house.

After the massages me and two other gals went and got some lunch and brought it back to the house. I wanted the grilled octopus that was on their menu but the gal working at the counter was so confused, lol. "Whhhhaattt?!?" maybe she didn't know what I was saying but it was clearly on multiple menus, lol. Settled with a delicious gyro platter.

Down time at the house before we set off at 3:30 for our evening excursion on a catamaran to the lagoon area of Balos. Quick drone flight while we figured out where we needed to go.

The ride got pretty choppy, we started out front, some girls on the nets - they got soaked. It was so funny!

Then I moved up top because even my stomach was starting to churn and we still had quite a ways to go.

Once we turned around this peninsula and in toward the lagoon the waters calmed a bit.

Once we were docked we were able to hop out and swim, explore, and I flew my drone for the amazing views! Thanks to one of the crew man, who saved my drone from almost landing in the water.... I'm not the best drone flyer, lol.

It was an amazing adventure! Here is a video from my GoPro footage:

Retreat day 1 (September 19)

2026-10-19T13:19:54.322-05:00

Ahh, morning in Crete. The sunrise behind us, but the colors were still amazing, This was probably the earliest morning I woke up, my body enjoyed sleeping in from here on out but still wonky with the time change.

So for my 44th birthday I set a goal to run a mile everyday, which meant EVERYday, so yes in Greece I ran a mile everyday. For the first day I made the bad choice of starting up the road behind our house, which went STRAIGHT up HILL! WOWZA, lots of walking happened, but still fun to explore even if it was only a half mile in one direction and back.

Breakfast was set out about 8:15am and first yoga was to start at 9am. I got my run in before hand then settled in for our first morning yoga followed by a half hour of silent journaling time. I was planted next to this super cute olive tree. I loved watching its little leaves blow in the wind. It was so windy there it felt amazing.

Each morning there was a greek word focus or intention for our yoga and our reflection time. This first day's word was siga-siga σιγα-σιγα

Which is a greek way of life: slowing down, taking it slow. Our breath prayer was:

Inhale: Set my heart

Exhale: on the ONE thing that matters

After that time a group of us loaded up in the cars ahead headed to the beach. I drove, but still couldn't figure out the darn reverse gear. We ended up parked nose in on the side of a cliff... so if we wanted to get out of that place I was going to have to figure out reverse... thankfully we did. Emilie looked it up and there was a ring we had to pull UP then it would unlock the over and up on the gear shifter to get it in reverse.

Swam in the salty sea, tried to do a little snorkeling but there wasn't much to see.

Ordered lunch, it was this amazing greek salad thing on a super hard piece of bread: dakos.

Relaxed for a bit then flew my drone.

All the olive trees surrounding the area.

Relaxing in the cabana. The colors of the water match my book (which is a novel set in Crete in the 1940s). Had our first Freddy cappuccino

Time to leave, saw this crazy weird plant, the one on the left is a beach holly.

Back at the resort house for afternoon yoga, inside because the sun was pretty hot on our outdoor spot.

This church was right next to our house. Watched the sunset a little bit then we headed in the cars to go just down the road a tiny bit to where we were having dinner that evening as a group.

Like a glove, LOL. reversed this bad boy back into a parking spot ON A HILL. Getting pretty good at driving it now that I know how to get in all its gears!

Developed a love for mousaka!

I love how their water bottle lids stay attached to reduce pollution.

And end to a wonderful first day!

Going to Greece (September 17-18)

2026-10-15T11:28:14.439-05:00

Last spring it was apparent I was getting burn out, worn out, and needed a solid get away reset which I've never done. We talked about it and I asked around and a Christian yoga friend, Brooke, told me about this gal Alison that leads various retreats. She told me about one in California this summer, I looked up her website and saw Crete in September... yes please that's exactly what I needed. Got signed up and flight booked. Then end of summer happened and moving came into the picture (not planned) and I feared that the timing was going to be really bad, but in reality it was exactly what my mind and body needed to make it through the whole moving out and selling our home process.

Kyle had traveled the week before and that actual week and was out of state when I left. I got the kids to school and arranged for their rides home until Kyle was returning from his work trip later that evening. I headed to the airport about 11am. Had three flights to get to Crete. Minneapolis to Atlanta was first up.

Then the long flight from Atlanta to Athens, overnight - 10.5 hours.

Goal was to get some sleep, didn't get much but a few nap sessions after dinner.

Long Island, leaving flying over land.

Many hours later we were nearing our destination and breakfast was served.

Started to fly over Greece, little islands popping up and gorgeous blue water!

The Gulf of Corinth... like the BIBLE! So cool to be in this area of history.

Made it to Athens, it was the next day - Friday morning. I had the most amazing bagel on the planet! For reals! It was an asiago bagel filled with ham and cheese. Oh so good. I did a walking mile through the airport to hit my mile goal for the day.

Then we loaded this little propeller plane to head to the island of Crete. I was a little worried my bag wasn't on the plane. The attendant on the delta flight listed of destinations and said anyone going to "..., Crete, ..." does not need to retrieve their bag, but everyone else did. However my tracker said it was at a carousel in Athens... but also once I landed in Athens I was taking sky express over to Crete not delta.

This was just an hour or so flight. The windows were SO dirty which made for not so great photos, but I loved looking out and seeing all the islands in the sea. Coffee and cookie, and a little nap.

There's Crete!

Touched down and YAY my bag DID make it, woohoo! I met up with Denise another gal that was going to the yoga retreat I was going to, we connected ahead of time and she was going to hitch a ride with me to our house. Took a shuttle to get the rental car and adventure starts! I was so looking forward to driving a little manual car... didn't quite think about all the hills I'd be on, but it was fun. Took me over a day to figure out all the quirks, especially the darn reverse. I hit a rough spot on the way, thinking I was in first and it kept dying on me realized when I did finally figure out reverse which was lifting up the handle I was actually in 3rd gear when it kept dying on me.

We made it to the retreat house! There were still a handful of gals that hadn't arrived, but it felt SO good to settle in after that loooonnnngggg day of travel.

The house was a seven room house, some room were doubles, some rooms were singles and one room had four bunks. Most of us had our own bathroom to a room. Well each room had a bathroom, so the four gals in the bunk had to share a bathroom. I had a roommate that I met later that night.

My room and welcome surprise.

I hopped in the pool right away, a little small to do laps but felt good to swim. Amazing view!

And of course had to fly my drone for an elevated view.

Our place, you can see me on my room's balcony.

So I flew into Chania (pronounced Han-ya the CH just makes an H sound), then it was roughly 1.5 hour drive west to the coast northwest side of the island where our house was in Falasarna. I loved that it was so remote and peaceful. Surrounded by olive trees.

We had a light dinner of charcuterie at the house enjoying the beautiful sunset; then night yoga to kick off the start of the retreat. A couple more gals arrived later that evening.

So lucky to be here. <3

Office remodel

2026-09-17T09:02:06.641-05:00

This is a long time coming, but I was waiting for the bench pad to arrive so I could take a final picture!

This is where we started. This desk picture is actually from when we moved in, we got rid of this desk and built in right away and Kyle's desk sat here for a few years. We got rid of the shelving last spring, a neighbor took them.

And here's the finished today!

But let's go back to the beginning. There was painted over wallpaper on the walls, we did some of the work ourselves.

April 10th

May 1st

May 2nd

May 10th

Getting the last bit off, it actually worked. Here's the solution:

Debated on wallpaper, glad we opted out since we're now selling. But this was such nice wallpaper

Swapped out the door for a barn door to not lose space with the swing.

Before Pics

Work started May 11th - dumpster delivered and demo the floor

The driving factor of this remodel was to fix the slanted floor (which hey is going to be great for resale, it needed to happen)

May 12th-precatuions for lead removal all the trim has lead in the paint

Trim removed

May 13th- subfloor removed to assess the issue

May 14th

May 16th - new sub floor laid down - it's FLAT

May 19th - we got our hallway back to the front door! WOOHOO

We are also getting the door removed from one hallway door and casing in the opening

Plumbing repaired, removed the shut off valves so we can cover these spots up

May 20th - electrical work roughed in

May 27th - more electrical (I think)

May 29th - walls and ceiling patched

June 6th - Walls and ceiling primed

June 8th - Hardwood floor going in

June 9th - Stain on the floor

June 10th - coat of sealant on the floor + two more days of quick sealant and gone for the day

June 15th - Floor covered and protected (will get one final sealant coat when all done) mill work begins

June 18th

Mill work of the hallway door completed

June 22nd

Barn door installed and mill work mostly complete - next up windows and cabinets then mill work will get finished after cabinets are in.

July 9th. Cabinets in, they look GREAT! Trim getting finished out.

Original plan was for all the trim to match the bookcase, but when we decided not to do wallpaper the interior designer recommended sticking with white for the trim... not super happy about the decision in the end.

July 11th, painters started, won't be able to see well from here til they're done

July 13th, view through the plastic door covering

July 15 painting update, almost finished.

July 17th, painting done! We LOVE the cabinets!! The wall is Swiss coffee, not sure if it's the wall making the trim look blue or a bad color for the trim... we're on hold to maybe fix the trim.

July 21st

FINISHED

Well floor finished, electrical all of it is basically done last step is touch ups.

Removed the door in this threshold and they redid the trim to take out the door frame.

In the end only a 2 month project. I unpacked the books to enjoy this space for a few more months. Yes about a month after it finished we decided to move which wasn't in the plan, but God had other plans and our family's needs include a new home in a closer location to school and sports.

September Craziness (first half)

2026-09-15T15:13:50.314-05:00

Kyle left for a short trip on Labor Day to Oregon for work. It was more of a fun trip for him, he got to go chukar hunting. Chukar is a game bird, small like a pheasant. I think he had a fun time. Also learned how to safely fly with a hunting gun.

I was short on time with Thomas pick up and got my mile run in before picking him up early... which meant a run in our future neighborhood. These are two houses on another block by ours by the same builder. Both layouts are similar they just mirror each other. Ours is the light house colored layout (walkout basement) but will be black not light tan.

There's ours going up in the background.

Wednesday's I work and have to walk a half mile to work and body was needing a bit of a break so my mile this day was a speed walk to and from work.

Isaac had a football game Wednesday night, Sept 9. This was the 9A team. He got a lot of playtime, he'd head out for a water break then hear "SIMPSON" then have to run back in - haha the middle photo. He is number 32.

Thursday we said goodbye to our piano, it is not coming with us :-( but is going to a good home instead; we donated it through Pass the Piano.

Thursday night Isaac's team played again, the 9B team. I thought since he played so much Wednesday he wouldn't play much Thursday but he ended up playing a ton again. I'm not sure how A team and B team work cuz it seems like most are playing on both teams. He ran into an 'ol 5th grade buddy, these boys have grown!

We discovered Oakley has ALLERGIES! this time of year, now that we have him on allergy meds he's a happy happy boy.

The snake plant in my bathroom is out of control.

Oakley is so funny, he likes to sleep on our shoes in the mud room.

The birds!! Ugh, they were doing okay at first... then Anchovy seemed to be quite a bully. Potato even had a bloody head one day. I was thinking of getting rid of them all together, but Thomas wanted to keep them. So we got rid of Anchovy, bringing us back to just two which are more in harmony and not quite as messy. Andy sang his old song shortly after we removed Anchovy from the cage, lol. I think he's happy.

My weekly drone capture of the house progress. Coming together quickly!

Better view of the park behind our house. Will be great to have this green space.

I felt led to give one of my yoga teacher friends one of my woven wraps and then I sent her these two photos saying they go from this to this faster than you know :-) Excited for her to welcome her first baby boy.

Kyle and I had a date night Friday to the twins game. Tickets I purchased at the Girls on the Run fundraiser last spring.

Taking advantage of our proximity to downtown, ebike and escooter.

Daily run Saturday morning

Saturday sports stravaganza

Thomas is number 63 - look at his hustle!

Thomas took Thomas to his football game with Isaac while Mary and I took Emma to her soccer game. Cold air is making its way in, first sign of fall.

Sunday Mary had two volleyball matches.

And we had a chipmunk get stuck in the garage! Kids helped get him out.

Sunday was crazy trip to Costco! And a late evening run to get it done!

Monday run before teaching my last class for a little bit (traveling the next week and getting some subs so I can pack and prepare for the movers in early October)

Thomas had an orthodontist check up, right now we are just in a holding phase waiting for his big teeth to come in but his doctor is so proud saying Thomas can be the office mascot with how much space the expander created. You can see with this measurement where his mouth started off.

Tuesday trail run over to cedar lake.

Now I need to go plant these mums! Going to go do it to get a photo before I share this blog.

Happy Fall!

End of August Start of School

2026-09-08T10:30:20.803-05:00

I missed Thomas's first game because I was at a GOTR training, I am on a volunteer team since I'm not able to coach this season with everything going on. But I loved that Jordan running with Mary was one of the photos at the training :-)

Been running everyday, gorgeous sunrise over our lake <3

And stopping by the new house to capture a drone image. Not much had changed since my last photo, but they moved the dirt from the front into the under garage space and started to lay some gravel in the foundation.

Picked up some free moving boxes and getting my run in!

High School get connected day and middle school curriculum night (Elementary open house was that morning as well)

Full moon swim on August 28th. I love that a friend coordinates these every month in the summer. We are just so busy I've only ever made the August swim. It's also not quite as late as the June and July ones. Back and forth in the lake four times. I haven't even swam in this lake this year!!!! Felt wonderful.

GoPro video:

Framing supplies dropped off at the house.

Okay has been itching and licking like crazy, pretty sure he has allergies. He was this way exactly a year ago, but we were getting our roof done and I thought it was anxiety from the noise. Nope turns out he's allergic to ragweed, go figure.

Also trying to get Isaac's shoulder pads cleaned. He got them from school and they smelled like they've never been washed! YUK! I've been able to wash them twice now and they smell a thousand times better. I can stand to pick him up now.

Running running running, one mile everyday.

First day of school for High School and Middle Schoolers!

9th ~ 7th ~ 7th

Thomas had a few days off. We had a sushi date before his meet the teacher appointment.

followed by bubble tea, which made both our bellies hurt. (too much sugar)

Outdoor pool swimming is done for the year, and the indoor pool at the school I typically swim at doesn't open til mid-September. So a group of us met at Cedar Lake for an early morning sunrise swim. It was wonderful!

Framing the basement

Thomas's second game, got to see.

As I mentioned Oakley has been licking and itching, tried a different kind of collar than the cone... but it didn't work, he could still lick his foot so I returned this one. But doesn't it look so funny!

Thomas's first day was Wednesday Sept 2nd ~ 4th grade.

So noticed Potato's head! Birds have not been nice to each other :-(

Met with the house designer to start narrowing down the specs for the new house. Here is an AI rendering of what's selected. (everything was already picked but we got to change anything we wanted. Mostly going with what was decided, seeing it like this helps a ton and we're super excited)

Isaac's first 9th grade game last Thursday evening it was SO HOT! We were in straight sun in the metal bleachers, sweat dripping down my leg the whole time. Boys were even hotter on the turf and with all their gear on. But it was a great game, Isaac got a lot of playing time, super fun. Hopefully the video's come through below.

Great tackle!

And great block!

This one he helped cause a QB sack

Got rid of our couch and donating our piano as we prepare for the move.

Another stop by to fly the drone, once the house is framed out, drone photos won't really show anything new, so trying to get the micro progress while I can :-)

This shows the park behind our house better.

Walkout basement walls and Isaac's room on the right.

Kyle has been doing a few mile loops with me, but still running his normal more miles.

We stopped and watched five of these birds glide by, diving in the water. At first thought loons but their heads were smaller and necks longer. Says they're Phalacrocorax.

Then a PR run, LaborDay morning, phew!

More August and a New House

2026-08-25T11:57:53.230-05:00

Getting that run in everyday even on swim days. Outdoor swimming is coming to a close but a few more left. It's so dark in the morning when we hop in at 6am.

Football cutie!

More runs.

Because of the stupid bats, Oakley had to get a rabies booster. We saw his photo in the lobby calendar:

Girls had connect day at school, school pictures done. Isaac had a meet the team for 9th grade High School Football.

Starting to realize old homes are just not for us anymore. Their layouts don't fit our need, we are tired of fixing things up or having things go wrong... and for the price it's just not worth it. So we started to explore the idea of the numerous new builds in the neighborhood. Edina has a culture for tear downs. It is such a highly sought after area given the great schools and close proximity to the city without being IN the city that when an old small house comes available there is a number of builders that will buy it, buy a 'spec home' they call it and sell it. The layouts in these new homes are exactly what we need, more so than they were 4 years ago when we looked. Wanting 5 bedrooms but also two offices and a room for working out. It HAS all that, and two living spaces, a generous mud room, 3 car garage and the amazing thing about THIS house is it backs up to a park so no one will be living directly behind us. SOLD! Actually we are, spoiler alert this is our house! We move in March 1st. We just didn't know that for a few more days from when I took this photo.

Thursday swim

Friday run with Jana

I think I mentioned our Ragnar relay was cancelled due to poor new ownership that has been owing money to venues the past probably 2 years. So instead three of us from that group decided to relay an international triathlon. That's a mile swim, 23 mile bike, and a 10K run. The day finally arrived.

I have done the spring Maple Grove Tri numerous times, but never the full swim. Last year I was a swim angel and ended up swimming all three lengths and knew I could handle the one mile. It was SO much fun!

While I swam: Chelsie and Alicia hung out, then Alicia went out on the bike and for that 1.5 hours Chelsie and I hung out.

Then Chelsie went out on her hour run and Alicia and I got to spend time together and cheer her on.

So fun and we did amazing! We all beat our times we had planned on getting.

As we declutter before we begin to pack in a few months, it's so funny how the kids love playing with stuff we're getting rid of that hasn't been touched since we moved here from Wichita 4 years ago.

Sunday we go to see a house that is almost finished built that has the same layout as the walkout one in the photo above. We loved it, submitted our purchase agreement Sunday night and Monday in one of my 4 drives to Edina I flew my drone over to capture it better:

Mom's Birthday Weekend

2026-08-25T11:38:52.050-05:00

Saturday night Kyle and I went to see Ed Sheeran play at US Bank Stadium

Openers were Lukas Graham and Myles Smith

Ed came out in the center stage, which was directly behind a pole for our view, but the bridge was super cool that gave him a walkway back to the main stage and he wasn't blocked by a pole there.

It was good, the loop pedal he used was so cool, hence the name 'Loop Tour' ha.

Sunday was my birthday, for my 44th year I have made a goal to run a mile everyday. (I mighta allow walking a mile if it comes to that, but so far 9 days later I've ran at least one mile each day)

After my quick run it as time to feed the kids before our trolley tour at 1:00. I had wanted to ride the trolley that goes by our house for a long time, figured if I bought tickets on my birthday then no one could complain :-)

However it was rather a nightmare dealing with them hangry. We waited for about 40 minutes at breakfast club but the wait was getting longer so we left and went down the street because we didn't want to be late for the trolley. Pre food photo... not a keeper.

Post food photo, still not the greatest...

Alright one more attempt.... finally. (pay no attention to the figure at the bottom of the frame... Kyle just wanted to be a part of it, lol!)

The tour was great, they no longer go by our house. He said the trek all the way around lake of the isles was too much for guests so they shortened it by going down Hennepin then just doing isle for a little bit.

The house hunting was under way. We have pretty specific perimeters, which makes this even more shocking given just in this area the prices are easily $300-800k higher, gulp. Welcome to Edina. This idea of moving wasn't BRAND new because I did go see a house over Father's Day weekend, it's been in the back of our mind for a while given the last three years of driving and more so this past year being the first time all three were back in the same district since 2022. We weren't sure if everyone would land in the Edina school, but here we are and they have. AND all four are in sports which makes it even more beneficial for us to live in the community. So we're biting the bullet, we're saying goodbye to our beloved lakes (for now) our amazing bike trails and running paths, and hello newer house that better fits the needs of our family and hello to walking to school again <3 (well walking to elementary and middle school which is the next 6 years).

First half of August

2026-08-25T11:13:01.181-05:00

Lots of swimming when we got back from California. I had a couple weeks until I was doing an international distance triathlon (relay). I was doing the swim part which is a mile swim. Thankful that our coach added on some more morning times at the long course pool (50 meters) so I got two good weeks of four days/week swimming to start off August.

Also I mentioned one of our birds died right before our trip. I hated that Andy was all along so we went shopping for another one. I wanted a male. We were just going to get one, but then these two were quite the pair. Both males. They were having a sale - OH! I tried not to get them at pets mart but there is really no other place and it wasn't worth driving and hour to retrieve a stinkin' bird.

They were having a sale and it was basically buy one bird get one half off... so we got two.

Got them set up in the little cage next to Andy for a couple days.

Here's Andy - happy and carefree. Little did I know the other two were going to be buts to him. But almost a month later now I think they are finally all getting along.

The new birds names are Potato (the white one) and Anchovy (the other gray one that looks like Andy). Anchovy is quite the bully and taking on the dominate role. He is also a next builder and makes the BIGGEST mess EVERY single day. I didn't know this but the males are usually the next builders and have more of the instinct. Andy and Ragnar maybe just weren't as nesty as this guy. Hope he realizes sooner than later that all his hard work of shredding paper and stacking in the corner just falls through the cracks and lands on my floor. every.single.day I have to vacuum a pile. But hey it doesn't make be better about cleaning their cage more often because he's ripped out half the paper on the bottom.

You'd think we'd be done with baseball.... some how our July ball commitment is seeping into August. Kyle is head coach and as fun as it was - was definitely ready for a break. Thomas had fun at the woodbat tournament.

I'm getting excited to go to Crete in a month, got my international driver's permit.

Also my snake plant in the bathroom is OUTTA control.

The uptown art fair is BACK in a new location, just down the block from our house on the other side of the lake. Kyle and I were hopeful to find a great piece of art, but didn't end up getting anything. Went Saturday morning before baseball.

Then again after baseball, but the piece we had our eye on was gone. I still flew my drone to capture some great pictures of the fair.

Saw my friend Sandy and her art mandala! I promised her I'd capture it with my drone on Sunday. I had already flown it before I knew she was there.

Sunday was baseball championship game, boys played okay but not quite as good as the previous day, taking home 2nd place.

Drone pics for Sandy

Then we were watching a movie after dinner when we discovered a BAT had made its way into our front room. That was (NOT) fun. We got it out. I called a guy the next day but I seemed like maybe it made its way via the fireplace. Ha little did we know, I should have had someone else come out because a week later I got woken to one at 1am in our ROOM! I am still recovering it was so traumatic. Needless to say I called someone else who physically came out, they are to return this week to take care of blocking up all the little spots in our soffit that are letting them in. Oh and thankfully the bat tested negative for rabies.

Thomas started fourth grade football on August 10th.

Isaac has one more week off of football but went to one of the captain's practices which was a game of basketball.

Experimenting with sourdough bread bowls. They were amazing! Will be doing that again.

Football every weeknight.

I've been subbing yoga classes in addition to my two regular weekly barre classes. Used this quote for one of the yoga classes, needed to hear that. Also a fun little surprise coming in to work on August 12th to this fun balloon.

It was actually this evening that sealed the deal that our current life situation is not sustainable. I drove Thomas to football practice at 5pm, it was about a 20 minute drive with traffic, we arrived and realized we'd forgotten his shoulder pads. So Kyle brought them (another 20 minutes) then we both went home and one of us came back to get Thomas. That was also after a day of making 2 trips to Edina for the day time activities - Mary's volleyball. It was that moment we decided we need to move to Edina. (and here as I write this two weeks later, we've already purchased a house, gulp. It's really and happening but I'll share more about that when I get to that point in the blog.)

Thursday morning swim, LAST swim at the St. Louis Park pool. We even got to do the whale slide, haha.

Rainy trip to the Aquatic Park

I think I'll break here before birthday weekend.

California Day 6 {August 2nd - departure day}

2026-08-25T10:45:48.576-05:00

Sunday morning we woke up, packed up and headed out fairly early. We had to drive back to LA for our flight at LAX. It could take us anywhere from 2-3 hours but there ended up being NO traffic so we made it in two.

Solar is my brother's wild cat that roams the ranch. She (or he) likes to hide under the solar panels all day so Mary named it 'Solar'. We were surprised to see solar peeking in our window wishing us goodbye.

Another fogging morning, it was crazy driving out, when we went that way before the mountain we were in the fog, then went up out of it above the clouds then back down into it when we got to Santa Barbara.

Spotted a hot air balloon as we were saying goodbye.

Our map said it'd only take 2 hours so we did a drive around loop in their 'hood on a look for the cows. Of course there they were up in a field right across from Josh's but in the opposite direction we drove.

Back to the coast

And fog.

Stopped for a rest break and thought this little barn playground was suiting for our trip.

Made it to the airport with plenty of time, returned the rental van, found some food.

Airplane pictures are never as good as the live view, but I still continue to take photos, lol.

Going over Lake Minnetonka, that was pretty cool to point out familiar areas.

Next ones are Cargill's offices and Edina (you can see the golf course and the water tower is the campus the kids go to school)

Kids are old enough to be helpful at the airport, retrieving our bags.

Reunited with Oakley from the boarding house and stopped for lunch at Pizza Luce.

California Day 5 {August 1st - Horses and Lavender}

2026-08-25T10:33:05.045-05:00

Saturday, August 1st was our last full day. We mainly hung around the ranch. Woke up to lots of fog!

They have some fruit trees to the side of the house we hadn't explored yet.

Spent some time with the horses.

Josh took them out one at a time to go over to their training pen. We started with Magic.

Then we got Marmalade out. He had something on his back leg so Josh worked on spraying it off. You can see Magic in the background.

When we took Marmalade up to the pen, Magic was running in his area and was VERY excited, which made it difficult to keep Marmalade focused and calm.

It didn't last long and no body else got a chance to walk marmalade because they had hyped each other up. Just like dogs at a dog park they were ready to run and play, we should have blocked off Magic before going up there.

The girls and I rode with Stephanie to the market to pick up somethings we needed for the pool party she was having that evening for us and some neighbors.

Then when we got back we took the little farm car across the street to the lavender farm.

I don't have many other pictures from this day, hung out at the pool, visiting with their neighbors who also had four young kids, had a great cookout. Then evening goat feeding.

It's been really fun being here and away on vacay!

California Day 4 {July 31st - Ranch time and Ostrich farm}

2026-08-15T11:17:02.226-05:00

Woke up to the sweet sound of Mick Jaggar crowing at 4:30 am, lol but easily fell back asleep. Heard him again about 6:30. I think I laid in bed a little while longer then eventually woke for the day. The fog in the valley was so cool!

Went up to see the big chicken coop. There is a smaller coop by the AirBnB room with the rooster and 2 smaller hens that were getting picked on in this coop. This coop is up on the hill by the airstream.

Then I went for a run around their "3 miles loop" more like 4 miles, lol. Isaac and Kyle ran the longer 5 mile loop while Josh biked next to them.

Views on my run:

Flew my drone then got in the pool with the kids.

For a little fun activity, Josh took us to Ostrich land. It was quite the unique experience. The kids all got bowls of food to feed the ostriches and emus... Thomas dropped his right away due to their aggressive eating, but we got another so he could fully experience the attraction. :-)

It was hot!

We got back in the van and took a little drive out to see Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch. There was a couple of other cars there taking pictures as well.

Took the kids back home and then Josh, Stephanie, Kyle and I went across the highway to a vineyard. There are TONS of vineyards in this area. We missed the tasting time, but just got a bottle and had an adult conversation.

That evening we had dinner at home, made some 'smores outside and watched a rocket take off.

We had talked about driving closer to see it (about a half hour drive) but they kept changing the time and it would have been late. So we decided to just watch from their house. It was the Starlink 17-52 satellite SpaceX launch.

Mary with Izzy one of the house dogs.

California Day 3 {July 30 - Santa Barbara, Santa Ynez, and Solvang}

2026-08-15T10:50:27.392-05:00

Hmm what day are we on? Oh Thursday. So Wednesday evening my brother rode his moto down, had it worked on at a nearby mechanic and met us for dinner at the hotel. Then he stayed on a boat of a friend in the nearby harbor. We walked to meet him for breakfast about halfway.

Breakfast was about a ten minute walk away and we arrived about 8:45... it was kind of a shit show upon arrival, a sign at the door directing you to wait outside and scan the QR code to get added to a list... the place was mostly empty... then up walks a waitress at 9:00 and then they magically seat everyone waiting. Should have just said they didn't open til 9, annoying. Anywho, don't really recommend Hollywood Beach Cafe. But glad we finally got to eat.

Then we walked over to the harbor to check out where my brother slept. Or attempted to sleep, he was reminded why although it seems like a great idea to sleep on a boat, it's really like camping and not much sleep happens in the end. Kids got to see the inside of a boat.

And I flew my drone.

Then we walked back to our hotel to get checked out and head up the coast.

Our first stop was just ten minutes north: The Channel Islands National Park (visitor center) The Channel Islands are secluded off shore are require a planned boat ride and days worth of food/hiking supplies before a return 5-8 hours later. We knew this and opted to just visit the visitor center instead of planning an entire day hike. It'd be fun, but not with 4 hangry children, lol. Maybe we'll come back and Kyle and I can explore it someday. The visitor center was great and we watched a short movie telling also about the local history.

Next stop was Santa Barbara downtown. We thought about going to the pier but did a drive by and decided Santa Monica pier a couple days ago met our pier seeing needs so followed josh and had a little driving tour of Santa Barbara before parking to walk along State Street and find some food.

Picture with Uncle Josh

Walk by City Hall and the a quick jaunt into the public library. I'm a big fan of the author Sue Grafton and was hoping maybe they had a little showcase of info about her. Turns out they do sometimes but it's only an exhibit that is displayed at certain times.

Back in/on our vehicles, we remembered the whole pressed penny thing (I have a big collection) and saw there was one at The Mission, so that made it worth a stop. Also kids were wanting water, but not water fountain, they did have bathrooms though.

Quick stop at Target for sunscreen (and snacks) before heading up over the mountain to Josh and Stephanie's place in Santa Ynez.

Their place is BEAUTIFUL! We got the tour and met ALL the animals.

We met Marmalade

and Magic.

Fed them both as well as the neighbors goats/sheep, haha.

Met their three goats: Tajin, Tamala, Tequila

and two dogs: Boots and Boogie

Then we hoped in the pool for a little swim before dinner.

For dinner we rode into the town of Solvang to a savage garden. Solvang is a random dutch community in the middle of nowhere really. It was so weird, but so cool.

Me, Mary, and Emma got 3 sausages to share and tried all three. Here's Mary's:

Group photo!

Came back home, said goodnight to the animals and settled into bed. Kyle, myself and the girls shacked up in the AirBnB room of the garage and the boys took the guest room inside the house. Stephanie's daughter is staying in the airstream I shared a picture of up above.

California Trip Day 2 {July 29 - Beach Day}

2026-08-11T20:02:17.261-05:00

Morning view from our balcony.

Kyle and I went for a run, then a walk along the beach.

Went back to our room, got the kids then walked to the far courtyard of the hotel for breakfast. This cute little place out of an airstream.

Then pool time!

Beachtime

and lunch time :-)

We drove a few minutes away to a place called The Strandwich, that is near Silver Strand Beach

These trees were anti-gravity trees. Norfolk Island Pine

Back to the beach, can't have enough photos of your four kids silhouette on the beach :-)

A little drone flying. Can you spot the kids playing in the water?

The waves were pretty big due to a hurricane taking place offshore.

My brother rode his motorcycle down from his place. He had some maintenance to get done on it nearby, then planned to stay on a friend's boat in the harbor. He met us at the hotel for dinner. We ate at the hotel's restaurant: Ox & Ocean, it was really good. Isaac and I shared the mussels I didn't get any photos.

Then a sunset walk to the beach before bed.

Full Moon.

California Trip Day 1 {July 28th Los Angeles}

2026-08-11T12:31:32.983-05:00

Early morning wake up to head to the airport. We dropped Oakley off at the boarding place, where we also park our van and they give us a ride to the airport. We forgot something at home.... so we headed to the airport, Kyle drove back to the house and then took an uber from the boarding place. Meeting us at the gate, plenty of time. We had a long direct flight to LAX.

Arrived and shuttled our way to the car rental place. Picked up the van then headed to our first sight seeing place. La Brea Tar Pits, we did a drive by, even though it wasn't even 11 am yet we were all really hungry (and hangry) we decided to NOT speak until we had food.

We stopped at The Grove and found this trendy little burger spot.

With food in our belly we were a little more kind. We walked The Grove for a minute, stopping at Dylan's Candy for some treats.

Then back to our driving tour to check out the Hollywood stars and see the Hollywood sign. Did a little jaunt up into the hills so the kids could see where people live, crazy steep and crazy narrow. And check out the gas prices! 5.55 was actually the least

From there we drove to Santa Monica Pier

Next was a little less than two hour drive to our hotel for the night. We were staying just south of Ventura at Zachari Dunes Hotel. Kids all got a little nap in during the car ride.

We got near our hotel but stopped first for an early dinner. Even though it was 4:30 pacific time it was late evening in our bodies. We ate near the harbor at a place called Waterside.

Our hotel was less than five minutes away, our room should have been ready at 4, we arrived at 6 but it was still not ready. We were tired... but explored the grounds while we waited for our room to open up.

6:30... 6:45... flew my drone to kill time.

FINALLY got into our room a little after 7. I think the kids did a quick trip to the pool, I took a shower and got ready for bed, Isaac also stayed back. They weren't gone but a half hour or so then we all crashed.

July Photo Dump!

2026-08-11T09:21:15.563-05:00

July 10-11 Emma had her final weekend of soccer tournaments. Her team made it to the Final Four! Won the first two games.

Kyle and I got a bike ride in on Sunday afternoon

Before heading to another HOT soccer game, the championship game and they WON!

Was a really fun season for Emma. Done with 12U now on to 13U next season (ha in a couple weeks for fall) She'll be on the bigger field next year and it'll be 11 vs 11.

I left the fam after the game and headed out west to a remove little spot to take a friend's sourdough class. It was SOOO hot but since I had been out in the sun all day it didn't feel so bad sitting in this green house, lol. It was so good to finally learn all the fluff about sourdough. Many people dove into it during covid but honestly I just didn't need one more thing to learn. And even before attending this class I wasn't sure I would take it up.... but of course I have. It's been fun experimenting and figuring out how it all works.

Doing my own at home.

Week of July 13th the girls both did a figure skating camp. It was a SUPER hot week so a perfect week to be inside at an ice rink! Mary is our figure skater and Emma joined in for funsies. They were in different groups but Emma had fun and even learned a few moves. She learned the first day not to wear hockey skates (which she prefers) so thankful for Mary's old pair of figure skates. You can only imagine how much sporting goods gear we have in a house of four athletes each of them with their own sport(s)!

Tuesday morning swim. So great to swim outside, it's sadly coming to a close. As I write this (on a Tuesday after swimming) there is only one more swim this week at this spot :-(

Kyle and I have been enjoying some walks down to the lake in the evening... this evening we discovered a SINKING canoe! These two gals were helping him, then we helped from shore. The dog threw off the balance and he started taking in water.

Thursday I woke up to swim and learned it was 465 AQI! From the wildfires up in the boundary waters. I couldn't believe it and looking back we REALLY shouldn't have swam (or even biked to swim)!

Not many swimming (smart) it was an easy go, no sprints - nothing that involved heaving breathing - easy easy swim). But me and crazy carol were there of course. I love this woman she is such an inspiration!

Of course I had to fly my drone to take a view at this crazy air!

Here's a comparison from the same spot of the normal view.

Thankfully the AQI improved throughout the day and crazy enough the next morning it was down to under 100!!! Jana and I prob spent an hour worth of texts back and forth trying to decide if we should run Friday morning or not because of the AQI and when we woke up to it being so low we knew it was okay.

Friday night, July 17th Kyle and I went to the Yacht Club Festival to see The Lumineers. Still HOT

Saturday July 18th

I had a bucket list of paddle boarding all three(four) chain of lakes. I did it in three segments. The longest was making it to South end of Bde Maka Ska... Kyle and I set out and felt like Kelsey Pfendler rowing across the Atlantic on the way back haha. The wind was not in our favor on the return and makes it clear why BMS is a great lake for sail boating. But after 2 hours we made it home, lol.

The week of July 20th was Camp GOTR (girls on the run) The girls were junior coaches with me!

Coach meeting before camp started.

New haircut mid week!

Thursday Isaac got his braces off! This was Wednesday evening at Mary's sand volleyball

Before and after! A few months into 7th grade then a month before 9th grade. Less than two years but it felt like five.

Super fun week at camp!

Finally made it to the long course pool (50 meter pool) on Saturday July 25th since I won't be swimming next week when we travel to California.

Thomas still has lots of baseball right up to the end. Tournament in Coon Rapids this weekend, going to miss the end of it for our vacation. But no worries cuz there is another tournament when we get home. July ball turning into August ball, UGH!

Sunday Isaac needed a workout for his summer wellness class, it was REALLY! hot and he wasn't used to it, had to stop. He says "you worried about me dying from jumping off the bridge but I'm about to die now and you're not worried" HAHA oops. Stop for water.

Ending this post on a sad note. I was heading out the door on Monday morning, July 27th and noticed Ragnar our colorful bird was DEAD! I didn't have time to think since I needed to go teach a class (life of a group fitness instructor). When I got home we buried him. I think the saddest part was that tomorrow is the 3 year death-iversary of my dad dying and this was his bird.

That's it for July, the rest of the month is our Cali trip which I'll break up into a few different posts.

Thomas's Birthday

2026-08-11T08:14:48.405-05:00

Thomas turned 9, in the midst of SO MUCH BASEBALL! lol.

The day before his birthday he got a fresh haircut and had a baseball game.

His last night of being eight.

His birthday was on a Tuesday, he was in the middle of an All Star team tournament and had a game that evening.

I brought home birthday donuts after my swim.

We did his cake that evening after his game.

His birthday party was the following Friday at the St Louis Park Aquatic Center.

4th of July America is 250

2026-07-05T16:38:23.184-05:00

We've had this tradition for the past few Fourth of July's. We are so grateful for some friends that live nearby that host a very fun and patriotic block party gathering on the fourth. This is the 3rd year we've attended (missed 2024 when we were in Vegas). They started this tradition in 2020 when the Edina Parade was cancelled due to covid and this gather has stuck ever since.

We gather, sing a verse of America the Beautiful, do a popcorn reading of the declaration of independence and MLKs Dream Speech. Then there is a guest speaker and a SURPRISE for the kids, then they do a parade around the block.

Thomas read a few lines, then it was time for the surprise reveal. A dunk tank! Where we DUNKED THE KING (aka the host's youngest son) but not before the kids answered 8 correct citizenship test questions.

Thomas even took a turn in the tank.

We got home then the girls and I changed and loaded up the paddle boards to meet a friend at the beach. Not our close beach but the one across the lake. So we pulled the boards to hidden beach, then road them across to point beach to play and visit.

CRAZY busy hidden beach!

Very sunny 4th of July. We talked about going to see fireworks but then a huge storm came through about 7:30pm so we opted to just head to bed about 9:30 instead of staying up to see fireworks once it stopped raining.

June 29 - July 3rd

2026-07-05T16:29:30.034-05:00

Monday June 29th we got new windows put in the office, Tuesday they came and finished up the framing/trim. I also had a raining swim that morning.

When miracles happen I have to document, all four kids were playing four square in the backyard. This did last only about 5 minutes before it ends in tears, yelling, and the start of a sibling war.

That evening Kyle and I went for a walk to the lake while the kids were being couch potatoes. We take for granted where we live and this week we were reminded of the beauty that surrounds us. We just have to get out and enjoy it! We walked to the dock that is a quarter mile from our back door. It was a beautiful night. The resident muskrat made his way over then we saw a family of raccoons peeking out for their evening adventure. A mama and three littles.

Wednesday I worked, then Kyle and I went for a heated early evening run. Phew it was HOT! We made it 4.5 or so miles, Oakley was with and he was so hot too.

Boys had baseball practice, I showered and convinced the girls to come to the lake to see if we could see the raccoon family again. They had come out at 8:37pm the night before. 8:40 rolled around and no raccoons but I did see the same two muskrats.

Made another walk to the lake Thursday evening.

Friday morning I met up with a friend to run 6 miles around Lake Harriet. Started off as a rainy run, but it was delightful.

Friday afternoon we went to the Edina Aquatic Park for a couple hours, enjoying summer!

Weekend in Duluth (June 26-28)

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Friday, June 26th we drove up to Duluth for Emma's soccer tournament that weekend. They have been really good this season and this tournament was planned a few months prior. We learned last week they've played so well they qualified for the final four which will be our final tournament next weekend.

We treated this like a mini-vacay and the whole family was in tow. We almost had to bring Oakley because I forgot to board him, but after he was on the waitlist for a few days a spot opened up and I was able to drop him off Friday. Also I had only one room reserved at the team's hotel... which was a king bed and a sofa bed... not going to work for the six of us. They were all sold out so we had to get the second room just down the road at another hotel. So the plan was for me and the girls to stay at the team's hotel and Kyle and the boys to stay at the other one. THIS was the sofa 'bed'! I even called downstairs to ask if there was some sort of topper to go on the bed... nope, it opens up to a HARD platform. The girls of course fought over who would be sleeping on it, but in the end they each took one night.

We had dinner at OMC Smokehouse, then met up with the team at Bent Paddle Brewery and played some games while Emma hung with her team.

Then we all went over to Canal park for some ice cream.

Back at the hotel the girls got their swag bags us mom's put together. One of the items was a room sign, super cool! It was fun having them all up and down the hallways. We weren't all together but at least 4 on each floor.

Saturday we knew we had two games, it was a bracket tournament. Well we knew we'd have three games but wasn't sure on the times until we played the first. The area was literally taken over by soccer players! Our hotel was full of various teams. We had breakfast in the hotel then Mary wanted to walk on the treadmill for a bit.

First game was at 9:30 at anytime the ball was hit past the goal it would run off into this swamp area. It was a full search squad of parents and siblings to recover the balls.

Pics from first game by Joe:

They won that one! Which meant we moved up and played at noon. Quick run to Target then lunch, and a new hairstyle for Emma's next game.

(Pics of Oakley having fun at the boarding place)

Second game was at an adjacent field so we didn't have to worry about the balls getting lost. They ended in a tie and had to do a penalty kick off.

Which we WON! We have a great goalie!

Joe's photos of the second game:

Coach didn't want them to swim in-between games so they wouldn't be tired. So they were all excited to swim after the second game (The next game was the championship game and wasn't until 1:00 on Sunday)

After they swam a lot of the girls went to watch two of their team mates stand in as subs for the older girls game. We didn't make our family attend ANOTHER soccer game so Emma went with her team and we hung out. Mary and I went to Fleet Farm for some shopping and saw the baby chicks.

We met up for dinner with most of the team when the 6:00 U14 game was over.

Sunday Kyle and I got a run in. He got a run in around the hotel and then for me I wanted to do a leg of the Ragnar run I'd be doing in August since we were really close to it. It was a 5.5 stretch and I had the map of it. So he dropped me off at the start which was a school, then picked me up at the finish which was another school and just so happen to have a soccer game going on, of course. They were using all the fields they could for this huge tournament.

Anyway, it was a great run and took some of the anxiety out of the unknown, although when I do this at the end of Ragnar it will be my third leg and probably after little to no sleep... but at least I know what to expect.

This was suppose to be a 'sidewalk' HA!

lots of hills!

The finish (of my leg)

Kyle picked me up, I showered in the hotel then it was time to check out. We went to Texas Roadhouse for lunch then it was time for Emma's game. Here's a pre-game photo:

It was a pretty INTENSE game, they were playing great but just couldn't get a shot in. Instead of penalty kicks they went into overtime with two 5 minutes halves. We scored a goal in the second 5 minutes which gave us the WIN! WOO HOO!! They got winning shirts instead of medals which I thought was super cool and way more useful.

Great weekend and lots of fun! Excited they took home the win.