Labor Day and My First 5k

I achieved a new goal at the end of August, I ran my first 5k!  There was a possibility that I wasn't going to be able to run in the race and I was unable to run for a week before hand, but I decided I would go through with it and I'm so glad I did.  I was able to get in my goal time range, running all but about 2.5 minutes and completing my race in 34 minutes.  I was really excited and I really enjoyed the experience.  The atmosphere was awesome and it felt so good to see my husband, son and mother at the finish line cheering for me.  I will definitely be doing more races.

My race was Saturday, we had family dinner at my parent's house on Sunday  and then Monday was Labor Day, so Trevor had the day off.  We decided to go to my parent's cabin in Tennessee and spend the day with my family.  We stopped at a fishing store on the way out and Trevor was able to pick up some flies for his new fly fishing rod.  He was so excited to take it out finally (it was a graduation present).  

On the way to the cabin, Grayson was drawing and I asked him what he was drawing.  He told me it was an octopus and when I looked at it, I had to take a picture because I thought he did such a good job!

Grayson's octopus

We got to the cabin and headed straight out back to get Trevor's fly fishing rod ready.  Grayson of course had to help.  He was really excited to fish too and Trevor made him his own fishing pole with a stick and some of his extra fishing line.  

Prepping the fishing rod

Father and son fishing

We had such a fun day, we played outside, ate some hot dogs and did some fishing.  It was such a fun day and it was great to spend time together as a family.  

Our Fun Summer 2014

We kept ourselves busy this summer.  It was enough just moving to a new town and settling in.  We have really been enjoying our apartment.  It has three bedrooms and two bathrooms and is the biggest and nicest apartment we have every lived in.  There are lots of amenities which we have been enjoying over the summer, there is a small hiking trail, a playground, a gym and thank goodness, a pool.  Grayson has been doing great in the pool, he still doesn't like going under water, but he will blow bubbles and float on his back pretty well.  It is a lot of fun to go to the pool with him.  We ended up buying him a float and he will just kick around the pool happily in it.  He also likes to 'swim' with me.  He holds my arms and kicks his legs around the pool.  

We also went to the Botanical Gardens a few more times before our membership expired.  Despite the oppressing heat, we still had a good summer.

We cut Grayson's hair at the beginning of the summer to try and help him stay cool.  I still much prefer his hair long, but he still looks handsome either way.  

We got to spend a lot of time at my parents' house too.  They have a water feature in their backyard and a little kiddie pools, so it is a fun place to enjoy a popsicle and try to cool off on a hot day...which is most days.  Have I mentioned it's really hot here?

We also started doing a letter of the week and Grayson has been doing a great job picking up the letters.  We try to do some activities during the week for our letter.  We did 'b' is for bird and so that week we went to the Wheeler Wildlife Refuge where you can see tons of birds and then to the Cook's Natural history museum.

Here Grayson was painting some bugs.  This was our first week and it was 'a' is for ant, so we used his finger prints and some washable paint to make ants.  It really turned into him covering the entire paper with paint, but hey he had fun so who cares.

Another first, I found some pop rocks at a store and so I gave Grayson some to try.  He really did not like them at first when I put them in his mouth, but he discovered he liked crunching them.  I ended up just putting some in his hand and he would lick them off and chew them and he was ok with that.

Family selfie!

We caught a tadpole in my parent's pond and we kept him as a pet for a while to watch him change.  Grayson insisted on calling him Froggie, he is not very original with names.

Another big part of our summer was our garden!  My parents were gracious enough to give us some spots in their garden.  We would go over every week and work in the garden and we got some beautiful produce.  Grayson loved helping me in the garden!  It was so fun to watch him help me water the garden and pick the produce.  He was always eating the stuff we picked off the vine, it was great.  

I joined a mom's club in the middle of the summer.  I have a friend who is in it and I wanted to create an opportunity for Grayson to meet some new friends and for me to be able to meet some new friends as well.  We went to a super hero play date which was right up my little guy's alley.  He frequently wears a cap around the house or to the store or the library or really anywhere we go.  Actually he is wearing it in the picture above, it's that weird blue thing you can see behind him.  At our next event (which is where the picture is from) we met at a park.  There was a little puppy there that the other mom there had brought.  Grayson followed that puppy all over the place, then of course the other girl had to tell me they were trying to find a home for it.  Her husband had found the poor little guy abandoned by the side of the road.  We seriously considered taking him home with us, but decided it would be too much for right now.  Although, I have to say any time we look at the picture of this dog, we kind of regret our decision.  He is adorable.  

At the end of July, Trevor went down to Montgomery to take the bar.  Grayson and I had a great time hanging out with my mom.  We went to the aquarium in Chattanooga, which we always love and a bunch of other things.  We have to wait for a while to hear the results, but it is so nice to have it over and be able to spend more time with him.  He has been building a bicycle and a table, among other things.  Grayson loves having him home in the evenings.  

One of Grayson's favorite things to do, is wrestle.  He frequently asks, "want to wrestle with me?"  I have to watch him because if I am sitting on the ground he will just tackle me, it is pretty funny.  

Ok so you are probably asking yourself, why is there a bucket of green water with ice cubes in it?  It's a funny story.  The hardest time of day I feel like is at about 4pm right when I'm trying to get dinner ready and we can't go anywhere, so Grayson sometimes gets bored and into mischief.  So at this witching hour, sometimes I will try and do fun, new activities to keep him entertained while I'm getting dinner ready.  Our letter for the week was 'i' and I really needed to get the kitchen cleaned and make dinner.  I remembered seeing an idea on Pinterest to make ice cubes with dyed water, well I didn't have time for that , so I just decided to dye the water. 

So, my first mistake was that I chose a giant bucket to put the water in and I thought that I could feel it full of water and then carry it to the kitchen.  So I realized I couldn't get it out of the bathtub so I dumped some of it out and some how was able to get it out of the tub and I started staggering to the kitchen. I had Grayson take a towel to the kitchen and at first I tried walking too fast, so I spilled a little so I started walking slower.  I have no idea how I made it to the kitchen, but once I got there I realized I had another dilemma.  How on earth was I going to put the bucket down without dropping it.  I somehow made it to one knee and rested the bucket on my leg.  I realized I was just going to have to go for it so I quickly tried to set it down, but the bucket tipped some and water went sloshing over the top.  I got water all over myself and the floor but managed to keep most of it in the bucket.  I scared Grayson with my screaming as I poured water all over the floor and he started crying.  I had to hug him for a minute before I started cleaning up. 

After a rough start, Grayson had a lot of fun playing with the ice.  A few minutes after doing some dishes and Grayson had been happily playing, I hear "Mommy look my shorts are green!"  And he is standing in the bucket.  It was only a matter of time.  I should have known to just put him in his swim trunks, but I wasn't thinking ahead.

By this time the water was cold and so he didn't want to play too much longer, but he had so much fun.

We have had a great summer and Trevor is getting settled in his new job.  We are excited to see what new adventures come ahead!

May 2014

May was an especially busy month for us.  We made ourselves a list of things to do before we left Charlottesville and we slowly chipped away at it.  It was fun to visit with friends and go visit some of our favorite restaurants and places in the area.  The law school families got together for a BBQ at a lake park for our last activity before graduation.  We had a great time visiting and the kids ate hot dogs and played on the playground.

Grayson enjoying a smore.

 One of our stops was to spend a day in Richmond one more time.  We went to our favorite mall and we got to ride the train which Grayson thought was pretty cool.

Then we went to a game store we love and picked up a few more board games.  It was a great afternoon.

Trevor's family got into town first for graduation.  We spend a morning at Montpelier, exploring the grounds and having fun.  The house was beautiful and the grounds were equally so.

Grayson found a lion statue in the garden to pet and he especially liked seeing the horses out in the field.

Trevor's family rented a cabin about 30 minutes outside of Charlottesville.  It was in a really pretty area and we had a BBQ there with my family and Trevor's family. We got to walk around the lake and feed some ducks and enjoy a delicious meal. 

Hanging out with Uncle Tanner

The day of graduation finally came!  We went to the first hour of church and then headed back to our apartment for lunch.  Luckily we didn't have to worry about finding parking since we could walk to the law school.  The Grandpas went up to the law school first and found some good seats for us.  Grayson was able to rest for a while before we headed up for graduation.

Playing with Uncle Tanner.

Games with Grandma Swenson.

We finally headed up and got some decent seats in a little bit of shade.  It was so fun to see all of our friends and their families.  It was such an exciting day!

Happy graduates!

I had to get a picture of Trevor with the law school sign.

Grayson's friend AJ was excited to see him.

Grayson was a champ and was very well behaved through the whole ceremony.  

On his way to cross the stage!

He's official!

We tried to get the boys to wear their dad's graduation caps, but that did not work out so well.  So, the mom's put them on instead.

Playing in the chairs after the ceremony was over!

I was so proud of Trevor!  He has worked so hard over the years to get through law school and take care of our family.  I am so lucky to have such an amazing husband!

The day after graduation, my parents picked up Grayson early in the morning and took him with them back to Alabama.  Then Trevor's family came over along with a few of our friends and they all helped us load up our moving truck and get our apartment ready for our move.  We got everything done so quickly, we were lucky to have so much help.

We had some friends drop by to say goodbye, then Trevor and I got dinner at one of our favorite Cville restaurants and slept on an air mattress in the living room.  We packed up the last of our stuff in the morning and drove the moving van down to Huntsville.  We had an uneventful drive and things went really smoothly.  We met my mom and Grayson at our new apartment complex and picked up our keys.

Grayson helping us unload the truck.

We had a lot of help unloading the truck.  A lot of people from our new ward (church congregation) came to help us unload the moving truck.  They were so fast and efficient that I had to just stand in the hall way of our apartment and direct everyone where to put the boxes.  Grayson spent one more night at my parents' house and the next day we were able to get our room and Grayson's room set up so we could all sleep in our own beds.

We had fun exploring our new home.  There is an awesome little hiking trail on the apartment complex property. 

Grayson helping dad hang up a picture.

Grayson found ants on our back porch and he loved watching them.  He also ate one, but hey that's pretty normal for a kid right?

Exploring our new playground!

A butterfly landed on Grayson's shirt while we were playing.

He really loves to swing!

Did a little fishing at my parents' cabin.

It was fun to have some time to spend with Trevor before he had to start studying for the bar.  On one of the days, we went to the Botanical Gardens as a family.  It was a lot of fun.

Grayson in the butterfly house.

It has been a fun but wild ride and it is hard to believe that our time in Charlottesvville is already over.  It went by so fast!  We have been lucky to make so many life long friends and have some great experiences.

April 2014

I know I have been absolutely terrible about keeping updated on our blog, so let the back posting begin.  It is going to take me a while because we have been very, very busy for a while.

In April, Trevor was finishing his last semester in law school and in the middle of finals, so we usually only saw him in the morning before class and at dinner time.  Grayson and I did our best to keep ourselves busy and entertained and also worked on getting our apartment packed for our move to Alabama, that's right, if I didn't mention it before, Trevor got a job offer with the firm he interned with last summer.

One of the new things we tried was to go visit the Children's Discovery Museum in Downtown Charlottesville.  I had heard about it from several friends, but we had never gone before.  It was a fun little museum and Grayson had a great time playing there.  

The had a boat to play on complete with slide to go down and some puzzles and other fun things in the toddler room.  They also had places where you could build your own cars and race them down ramps, a play store, vegetable garden and a real beehive to mention just a few things.  We spent a couple hours there and had a great time.  

With our packing, I emptied out the ottoman and so Grayson liked to bring his books into it and sit and read.  Sometimes he would request a pillow and a blanket as well to 'take a nap.'  

In the month of April, we got to enjoy watching General Conference.  Twice a year, our entire church has the opportunity to listen to inspired messages from modern day prophets and apostles for a weekend.  We have started some fun Conference traditions which I think Grayson likes.

I like to put pictures out of various gospel topics that are most likely to be addressed during Conference weekend, then when we they are brought up, we can point at the pictures that match.  He found the pictures of the apostles and prophets in the middle himself.  He was looking at the Ensign (our churches published magazine) and he kept saying, "look mom prophets, prophets!"  So, we added it at the center of our 'board' and when a new speaker would come up, he would find their picture and we would put a sticker on them so we know who talked.  Then Sunday morning, we make a really big brunch with our friend's the Funks.  We have been making sausage and buttermilk biscuits and some amazing french toast with cinnamon chip bread.  It is all so so so good!

Grayson watching Elder Holland speak

When I was packing things up, I found a box of my old toys from when I was a kid.  I pulled them out for Grayson to play with and he absolutely loved them.  Of course, the Star Wars toys were the biggest hit and since that day, he has played with them almost every single day.  He is a big Star Wars fan and I only had to 'nudge' him a little bit!  

On another day, we met a few of our friends and hiked the Monticello Trail one more time.  It is a really fun trail, especially on the way down hill, you can get going really fast especially with a jogging stroller pulling you down.

On the way up, we let the boys get out and run a lot.  It was helpful to wear them out and they had a great time.  

Grayson and I stopped at the lake on the way down to feed the geese and ducks and have a picnic.  I brought some bread for the critters, but as usual, Grayson ate most of it.  And then watched me throw some bread.

Grayson is really into super heroes and he a got a new super man shirt, which he wears religiously.  We have had to ban super heroes from the dinner table, so we don't spend the whole time dodging webs, arrows and blaster shots.

We got the chance to also meet with a large group of friends to do an Easter egg hunt at one of the girl's house that had a big backyard.  Grayson thought it was a lot of fun. 

The best part, was when he realized there was something inside all of the eggs we were picking up.  Also, I then learned, quite quickly, that he can now unwrap chocolate candies.  He definitely ate his fair share of Easter candy.

Grayson made quite the hall for Easter and kept asking about the Easter bunny the night before.  I have to admit, there are some aspects of holidays that are just more fun and enjoyable when you have kids.  Everything is so fresh and new to them and they are so delighted by so many things.  Being a mother is teaching me much more about what the Savior said when he taught that we all need to become as little children.

Some times we would go for walks up to dad's school and go see him and where he studies.  Grayson always liked that.

We also got the chance to go to a birthday party for one of Grayson's friends.  It was a super hero theme, so of course Grayson was ecstatic!

Knocking down blocks with Captain America's shield

Dressed up like a super hero!  It took him a while to warm up to the mask.

Grayson got a special lunch one day and he absolutely loved his hamburger!  He hadn't really tried one before, but he loved it!  Ate the whole thing.

Grayson 'helping' with packing.

Playing at a park

Having a snuggle with dad.