Hogle Zoo

This last friday, my sisters, Mom and I all took the kiddies to the Zoo. Now although Hogle Zoo really struggles, the kids had a blast, especially with each other.

This was Miller's face when he heard the T-Rex roar. It was so cute! He loved it, even though he isn't smiling in the picture below.
Oh and on a side note, we saw Mrs. Bittner when we were by the T-Rex. She remembered all of us and was so nice, love her!

 

 I can't get enough of these two. They are so cute together and were walking around holding hands. So fun to have a cousin so close in age.

 Connor is so adorable!

 Halle liked being in the stroller, i think she secretly wishes she was a baby. 

 Then we all went on the train. It was so hot and the kids couldn't wait to go on the train and as soon as we got to the front of the line, the lady told us that the train had to go get gas and we would have to wait another 7-10 minutes! I was so annoyed, you can't explain to an 18 month old that the train has to go get gas. Well, once we got on the train Miller was in heaven. It didn't matter that we didn't really see anything cool, just the fact that we were on a train.

Happenings

Running in the mountains
Last week we, my parents, my children and i, went to the cabin. Russ got to stay home and catch up on work, and live the life of a bachelor, which he said was great for a while, then he missed me. :)  It was perfect weather and i got to do a couple of runs while we were up there. It was gorgeous, and so fun to be running in the mountains. Here are some pics i took while on my run.

Playing at the Park
My kids love going over to the Rosslyn Heights playgrounds, aren't they cute!

Yesterday
My Miller got burned. It was so sad, he grabbed my mom's hot curling iron and burned his hand. I called his pediatrician and they told me to bring him in. Luckily it was only a mild 2 degree burn on his little hand but the poor thing cried the whole way there (which is longer then he has ever cried in his life). They wrapped it up and sent us on our way. He is pretty proud of his little bandage.

Today
Slip-n-slide. After Miller and i got back from the docs we went out and enjoyed the beautiful day outside. (can you see the plastic bag wrapped around Miller's little hand?)

Halle thought she was pretty funny dumping cold water on my mom!

Cabin

We went up to the Cabin the day after memorial day. All is right with the world (in Halle's mind) when we are at the cabin. It was perfect weather and so much fun!

Something

So I figure since i haven't posted in a while i figure I would put a couple pictures on here to let you know i am still alive. 

I hope you all had a fabulous Mother's Day yesterday, celebrating the women in your life who have loved and nurtured you! My day was wonderful. It started out with Russ getting up with Miller at 6:30 am and letting me sleep in as long as i wanted. It was great! 

The night before Russ and i went on a date, thanks to my Mom and Dad! We went shopping and i actually found 3 things i wanted to buy and got them all in only 45 minutes, it was a good shopping trip. Then we went and saw "Thor" I know, i thought it looked dumb to, but it was actually pretty good, and the guy who plays Thor is easy on the eyes if you know what i mean. Although i think the people who did the makeup and hair for the twilight movies might have gotten their hands on his hair, it was pretty  bad. But it was just fun being with Russ, i love him, a lot, and always have fun with him. 

And of course my babies! I LOVE them so much and am so lucky and privileged to be their mama! 

Easter Eggs

Yesterday all of my Sisters and their kids came over and we decorated Easter eggs and just hung out. It was really fun but you would have thought we were running a day care with all the kiddies, it was a little crazy at times, but super fun overall!

Kai and Naya reading

Cute little Connor!

Lani's second, Crew, isn't he so sweet!

Love this one of Halle with her tongue out!

Laina and Kai

My sweet Miller boy, love that kid. And yes,
that is another bump on his forehead. 
He got that one from tripping and
falling down the stairs outside. 

Oh and thank you to Lindsey who took the amazing photos. 

Team Firestorm

This Saturday i particapated in the first

Team Firestorm Ben Jacobsen Memorial Ride

 

We rode up Emigration Canyon. It was my first ride up the canyon and my first ride on my bike this year. It was an amazing experience for many reasons. Ben Jacobsen passed away about 6 months ago when he lost his battle with Melanoma. Because of him i went and got my funny mole checked and was able to catch my Melanoma early. I feel very indebted to him and his family, so this ride meant a lot to me. There were a lot of people who showed up to support his family and remember Ben. He was an amazing cyclist and that is how he and Russ got to be better friends.  

When i got to the top i was proud of myself, but also felt very grateful for Ben and his sacrifice. One of my friends from my neighborhood was at the top as well and said, "this was my first ride with Ben." It was mine as well and i could feel his encouraging spirit when it was getting hard.  

His wife Allison is one of the most amazing people i have ever met and she is as solid as a rock! Her example of perseverance and putting on a Happy face will be with me always.  I will be coming back every year to this event to celebrate Ben's life and example. It also happened to be his birthday. It was very touching and emotional when everyone began singing Happy Birthday right before the ride started. 

This is Russ, me and Allison Jacobsen after the ride! Thanks Allison!

I want to say thanks to Russ for making sure i was ok during the ride and encouraging me to make it to the top, love you babe and loved riding with you! (you better watch out come tri time, i am gonna kick your butt!) I also want to thank my dad for watching the kids so Russ and I could ride together.

thoughts

This is an excerpt from my Journal, i think it was worth sharing.

So the other day i was brushing my teeth or some random task and a thought came to me. You know when you have a thought just come to you and it makes you want to change your life right then and there, and then you spit out your toothpaste and go on with life and nothing changes? Well this time i really wanted to change.

My thought was about Halle, and how that little girl loves me so much, oh so much. She almost started crying when i told her i was going to dinner with friends and wouldn't be able to put her to bed. I thought about how soon she won't be the one vying for attention, I will. I will want her to play with me, talk to me, sing, dance with me and oh how sad it will make me that she will want nothing to do with me. What have i been thinking or doing? Just today she wanted me to come outside and play with her and what did i do? i told her no, i need to fold the laundry . . . oh my goodness Lacey, really??? the laundry, that was more important then seizing the opportunity to go play with my 3 year old daughter? And that was just one incident. There have been so many more and it is breaking my heart just thinking about it. I basically told my baby that i would rather do laundry than play go play with her, how heartbreaking. Yet, she still loves me more than anything. Oh how ashamed i am. I needs a serious adjustment in my priorities, laundry . . . honsetly.

I love my kiddies more that anything and will try to make our time together more fun, enchanting, magical, happy, lovely, imaginative and joyful. Tomorrow is a new day.

Valentines Day and other Random Photos

For Valentines we went to my sister Lisa's and decorated cookies and played games, it was great!

Pudding Faces!!! We made chocolate pudding and the kids loved it, obviously! I wasn't loving the mess however.

Random pictures of my Miller! Pretty much the cutest thing ever!

Disney on Ice! Halle was a little hesitant to go to Disney on Ice, she didn't have any idea how AWESOME  it was going to be. When we left she was so worried about where Donald Duck was going to do? Where he would sleep and where Pluto would stay. It was so fun to see the excitement on her face. She was especially excited about her Swedish fish as you can see in the pictures.

Playing at the park. Since it has been warmer Halle has been begging me to go to the park. It is funny how when Halle was Miller's age i was up on the payground making sure her hand was held the entire time so she wouldn't fall. But with Miller, i just let him play.