Is there anything better than a sprinkler in the summer?

Our good friends Alisa and Nasser and their kids, Ronan and Theo surprised us this week with a present for Xander's birthday (belated).  In addition to some new chaulk (awesome!) they also gave Xander a new blow-up lizard sprinkler.







Now, I'm pretty sure this was not an expensive gift, but it was PRICELESS in terms of enjoyment. Xander played and played and played in that thing, until the parched grass (it's been unusually warm this summer) was soaked to puddle status. Of course, that made it even better..... 

Maya, meanwhile, was enthralled with the slides...and at almost 16 months old she climbs up the down just like her brother.  No babies here... this is a little thrill seeker that has super strength and wants to do it all on her own!

Late afternoons in the summer, playing in the backyard with the kids.... it really doesn't get any better than this!

Play time at the WOW museum

We forget what a great little kids museum we have nearby, and that we have a membership.... weeks or even months pass, and then we "rediscover" the museum and I'm always impressed with the new things they've added, or that the kids find to explore.  Even better is watching Xander try to teach Maya how things work, or how to "play this game" and he really really wants her to play right along with him!  Of course, this only works about 20% of the time, but it's cool to see him so interested in her.  Maya especially is loving the music room, and she and the lizard had a staring contest for a good 5 minutes before they declared a draw.

This time they also had a special art project, painting with dry watercolor dust and ice-cubes, a sensory experience that both kids really enjoyed.

Visiting Gran Jen on the Outer Banks

After a great visit with grandpa Jack we drove north and took a ferry from Cedar Island to Ocracoke island.  Xander loved the long ferry ride and we had lots of fun chasing each other around the deck.

 

 

We arrived in Ocracoke and had a lovely lunch there with Gran Jen and Rod.  After lunch we got to see the Ocracoke ponies.  Both Xander and Maya got pony stuffed animals from Gran that they loved.  The ferry ride from Ocracoke over to Hatteras was quiet and uneventful and the kids napped with their new ponies.

 

 

Our first evening in Avon was a lovely dinner at the beach house and then Uncle Rod showed Xander how to light fireworks!

 

We had a wonderful time enjoying the beach and relaxing.  The kids loved playing in the sand and being chased by the surf.  Xander learned how to build sand castles, and Maya learned how to get covered in sand.  Gran had a great time playing with the kids.

 

 

 

I was still trying to get in as much training as I could so I enjoyed being able to swim in the canal just behind the house.  During one swim, while the kids were hanging out with Gran and Rod, Erin and I actually got a chance to do a wonderful open water swim together, lovely.  We also were able to take Xander for a Kayak trip out in the canal.  He loved it, especially pulling up a few crab pots and peeking inside to see the crabs.

 

 

I was also doing lots of running, and Xander decided that he wanted to go for runs too.  So, after my workout we would head out for a run.  Xander actually made it over half a mile on our run, pretty amazing.  He enjoyed it so much that we went again a few days later.

 

Being in Avon was a bit of a trip down memory lane for me.  We vacationed there every year when I was a kid and so many things were unchanged, we even swung by the old house that we used to rent, it was just down the street from us.

 

One thing that was different was the Cape Hatteras light house.  Years ago they moved it from its precarious spot near the ocean to a safer location further back.  They also did enough structural work to it that you can now climb it, which you never could when I was visiting.  I had to go to the top, even though the kids couldn't go with us.  Erin and I trekked all the way up, the view was amazing!

 

 

 

It was a wonderful family vacation together.

 











Visiting Grandpa Jack

Grandpa Jack and Grandma Barb live far far away in Southport, North Carolina.  We don't get to see them very often, so when we do it is a special treat.  We get to ride in cars, trains, airplanes and escalators to see them.  It is all very exciting.  After a long day of travel the next day the kids needed to stretch their legs so we all headed to the playground to play.

The next day we took the kids to the beach for some playtime in the sand and ocean.  While Maya and Grandpa Jack played in the sand Xander and Erin headed into the ocean to play in the waves.

 We had a wonderful visit at Grandma Barb's house and even got to walk out to the pier to watch the water and for Xander to see the BIG SHIPS go by.  Xander of course couldn't pass up the opportunity for some jumping too!

Yeah.... I've been planning my Graduation/Birthday/Back to Society Party for Cinco de Mayo for months.... too bad I'm sitting in Texas right now for the Venture Labs Investment Competition. 

Missing your own Return to Society Party because you are working too much which is what you've been doing so much and so continuously that you needed the party in the first place?  Nuts!

I'm representing Fashion Forward Maternity and the University of Michigan, and it's a big honor, and it's a chance to get in front of investors... but in all honesty, I'd so much rather me having a margarita with my friends!

Xander Rides his Pedal Bike

Xander got a new pedal bike for his 3rd birthday, and with training wheels on has been learning to pedal, which he didn't learn on his strider bike.  After 4 rides in 4 weeks the training wheels came off.  Is he enjoying the new pedal bike?  I think the picture speaks for itself.

Graduation.....

When I was 23, I felt like like I was finally joining the world of adults.  I'd been working as an engineer for years, but I was now going to start a career.  And of course, now that the degree was out of the way I could get married to my best friend!
When I was 26, I felt like I had accomplished something really challenging, but more than that I was focused on having played the game to get two more years of experience so I would finally have the pay and the title I deserved for the work I was already doing.

Now again I graduate, a second masters at 34... days away from 35....

I hope that I have been and will be a role model for my children, even though the last 20 months had been really hard on them.  Schooling is really important and you are never too old to work hard and focus on learning something new.  Originally I'd sought the MBA as an investment in our family's desire to continue to have me be a working mom in Colorado.  It was also a way for me to fill in gaps that I thought I had to move forward with my career.  Little  did I realize how much the degree would take out of me, or how much I would have to sacrifice to get it, and how proud I'd be of the accomplishment. 

• Sitting through classes in the first trimester trying to keep food down. 
• Studying late at night, again, even though I'd been active with Xander all day and was almost too tired to keep my eyes open. 
• Sitting through classes with my pelvis out of joint. 
• Nursing 2 week old Maya in the middle of a timed final exam (at  home!). 
• Traveling with Maya in tow (and Jake too of course!) for the first 2 months, and then with bags and bags of frozen milk for months afterwards. 
• Having to listen to Xander cry and beg me to come out and play and having to say no
• Spending almost 20 months with hardly any exercise, and flat tires on my bike.
• Spending almost 20 months with my husband and my marriage coming last among my many competing priorities....

This is a degree that is not like the others... it has been a life changing event and one that allowed me to grow and see myself as a very different person than when I started.

I graduate not with the original plan to enter back into the corporate world, but with a new business venture: another big risk and another big time commitment, but one that I hope will soon allow my flexibility in my work hours in the years to come.  Fashion Forward Maternity is up and running and I'm using everything I was taught in class and more.  It would be nice to get a paycheck again though.

Thank you to my husband most of all, but also to my kids, my family, my friends.  To my mother, who set the example for me to follow, and who came all the way to MI to see me graduate.  To those that have guided my learning, and those that have journeyed with me, my EMBA16's, Thank you.

Spring Play Day

With longer days and warmer spring weather here Xander is getting a chance to play outside with his friends Kelsie and Kylie a lot more.  The girls love to push Maya in her stroller and ride bikes and play with Xander.

Easter

Xander had his first easter morning that he could really understand and be excited about.  Xander had been talking about the easter bunny for weeks, and wanted to save up his money so he could buy a carrot for the easter bunny.  When easter morning came he was so excited to run around and find easter eggs.  Searching for easter eggs was hard work, and after a while dad had to be drafted to help find all of them.  Xander even got a chocolate bunny from the easter bunny, which was really exciting.  After a successfuly easter egg hunt it was time for easter breakfast, which Maya was much more excited about than looking for easter eggs.