Yesterday in pictures

We headed to Grandma’s house again early yesterday morning for a couple days, since we really have no activities at home this week. The esposo is studying as usual, and I’m, well, just hanging out with the kids, so I figured we might as well DO something. The trip started quite uneventfully, with the gang lined up in the back, each reading:

A couple hours later, I started smelling a really, really bad smell. Like burning rubber. I was hoping it was one of those semi trailers whizzing by. Or maybe just the Wisconsin highway pollution. Ha!! Nope. Suddenly, all went quiet. We were the stink. And here we are, by the side of the freeway:

Looks a bit dangerous, eh? We had time to enjoy the view from the safety rail: 

Then the nice people at roadside assistance came through again:

The kids got a huge kick out of riding in the front of the tow truck:

While we waited for the car to be repaired we had lots of time to enjoy ourselves. Well, at least they enjoyed themselves. Zufan and the little guy found some grasshoppers (look closely at his index finger):

They played with some toys from the ’80’s, and read some more books:

Mommy got to relax. HA HA HA!!!!! See that water glass in Zufan’s hand? Immediately after big sis took this picture, Zufan dumped it on herself. Oh well. She could’a dumped it on me. I was so soaked in sweat that you wouldn’t have noticed. Here’s the hard evidence of my haggard condition:

We were a blockbuster in Hicksville, the town we were stranded in. I’ve never been stared at so much in my life. OK, it isn’t REALLY called Hicksville, but it might as well be. To be fair, I suppose a mom walking along the freeway with three kids in tow is a rather unusual sight even without the multicultural elements thrown in… But the extra attention was a bit annoying. All in all, it didn’t turn out too badly. We’ve arrived at Grammy and Grandpa’s and I was motivated enough to do a post about it. Have I mentioned that I love my kids? They make even potentially unpleasant experiences into fun adventures. As for me, I was just glad to have something to blog about.

Results

We had such a fun day yesterday. The little guy got to do the Kid’s Dash, and the 8 year old survived the mile. She finished 3rd from the last, and here’s her take on that:

“Well, at least I finished. And at least I left Maggie in the dust.”

Said in total seriousness. Funny girl. I had a hard time not crying when she crossed under the finishing balloons. She is such a good sport. I “finished,” too, and got my first timed mile. Here’s the day in pictures:

In adoption blog world news, I’m a little behind the times, but what I do know is that Katy is back from Ethiopia with her TWINS, hop over and see how adorable they are, Tiffany is in Ethiopia now, and Lori is heading over in just a few days. Anne’s Steve is on his way home from Addis, and Sandi is on the top of the list for a referral. Wow. Hope I didn’t miss any obvious action, as I’m sure there are lots of other things going on, too! Amazing how life keeps on moving forward even when I’m not watching.

Off to the races…

The 8 year old and I are doing a little race today, one mile, and she is SO excited. Very cute and sweet. She has saved her “marathon power bar” for today. I told her she’s among the youngest allowed to run, and she might be last, very, very, last… and that she has to go really slow at first… and that it is going to be hard, miserable, and seem so long… To ice the cake, she was up last night throwing up, but no fever today. She insists she wants to run it, like mommy. Sometimes, I’m overwhelmed by how much I love my kids and how incredibly fortunate I am to have them. Here’s my 8 year old sweetie. Mommy’s nervous about how this is going to go. We’re off to get our race numbers.

My fearless child

One of these days, I’ll do a real post. Maybe. Until then… here’s a thousand words for you:

Think my other kids would have had the confidence to hold their own with an intimidatingly large and strange looking “a-woo-woo”, at that age? Not a chance. I guess in southern Ethiopia, maybe the tough really do survive. She’s a sweetie, totally, and at the same time, about the toughest toddler, in so many ways, that I’ve ever met. I just hope I can be tough enough and strong enough my whole life to be a good mommy, give her what she needs, and keep up with her. Happy almost-the-weekend, people.

Sleeping in the camper

Wow, that looks comfy. This is another photo from the trip to Duluth. As you can see, no one was really roughing it too much! It’s my parents’ camper. Well, I’d write more, but this picture shows just about how tired I feel right now. I think I’m going to skip the Tuesday morning run, and just sleep in. Only a few more weeks that I have the luxury of paid-work-free days, so once in a while, gotta catch up on that sleep. Hope you’re all doing well. Thanks SO much for the comments, even when I’m a slacker blogger. More later! :)

Family picture

Hot hot hot around here

It feels like El Yunque around here these days, but without the incredible views. Or the waterfalls. Except those running off our bodies. Despite that I got up and out before 6 am this morning, my shirt was so wet after running that it dripped. Poor little Zufan had rivers running down the sides of her forehead in the carseat, even with the combination of air on and windows sorta down. For the uninitiated, this is El Yunque, the only rainforest in the US National Forest System. Not too hard to guess where it’s located… right?

At least we’ve been starting every day at the swimming pool.  The kids have swimming at 9, then later a crazy array of other activities. Zufan LOVES the water, and is fearless! She’s amazing. She’ll just throw her little body in, get her head totally wet, under water, water in her face, and just laugh and laugh. She is so joyful. My parents have been in town, on top of the usual routine, so it’s been pretty busy. I’ve hardly opened the computer so if I’m not commenting on your blog, hey, nothing personal! I still like you. Not that anyone ever lost sleep over that. Ha! Just too darn hot for blogging. I’m not complaining, though. Been waiting too long for summer to complain.

What else… Oh, yeah, so I’ve decided that I’m going to do a third marathon this summer, in a couple of weeks. My brother’s girlfriend is running it and invited me so… Why not. Another trip. Gives me something to blog about, anyway – although no one’s probably too interested in my silly running. But I figure we so rarely regret the things we DO do, and more often regret what we don’t do. So this summer I’m just doing it. Running as much as I can without it cutting into parenting time too much, and trying to enjoy the moment, ’cause life just flies by so quickly, and then it’s done. Maybe next summer I won’t be able to run as much — I don’t sense any impending doom or anything, just don’t want to take it for granted — so, hay que ‘provechar, as they say. Here’s one more of Zufan, for the road. Is she beautiful, or what? 

Cuteness

Feeling lucky

I was walking to the car this morning, thinking about not much, when I glanced down as I reached to take Zufan’s hand and saw this:

  

Not too interesting. Suddenly, though, out of the maleza, this jumped out at me:

 

Does it mean today is a good day?

I guess so. Anne just got another referral, for the most beautiful baby girl. Wow. The world feels kind today. Anne, somehow, over a thousand miles away, I seem to be in sync with you, again. Sorry if that is just a tiny bit spooky. Anyway, this clover was for you. A million congratulations to one of the greatest families in the world.

Ethiopia photo Wednesday

Katy is leaving for Ethiopia in TWO DAYS! I’m so excited for her and her family. In your honor, here is a random Ethiopia photo. Eat some good food for me, Birthday Girl! And have the trip of your life.