Summer Birthdays

8 years ago I taught 3rd Grade with a team that is my favorite team ever!  The 4 of us worked well together, helped each other out, and celebrated the highs and lows of the school year together.  We all have summer birthdays, and 8 years ago we began a tradition of getting together for our birthdays.  Even though we aren't a team anymore, we still make the time to get together and catch up on life!

Betty - our pontoon driver!

Janet and MaryLou

Selfie with Janet

For MN Twins fans...this is Glen Perkins' home on the lake

15 Years By the Numbers

82 combined years old
31 combined years of teaching
15 years of marriage
13 half-marathons
10 states visited
5 traffic tickets
5 ER visits
4 kids
4 airplane rides together
3 triathlons
2 full marathons
2 houses
2 computers
1 round of golf played together
1 apartment
1 car
1 washing machine
1 dryer
1 broken bone
???? pounds gained

A golf course....I should have known!!!

Wedding

Our boys had their first opportunity to attend a wedding this past weekend.  Brian's cousin was getting married, and this was going to be a family event!  I pretty much read them the riot act before hand to ensure they would be well-behaved during the ceremony.  With the exception of Luke who let out a few yells just as the bride finished walking down the aisle (Brian then took him out for the rest of the time), the boys did a fantastic job!  They were patient while we waited for dinner, and let it all out and had fun dancing the night away at the reception.

All 6 of us dressed up!

Handsome boys

Did I scare them into sitting nicely?

Running off steam before dinner

He's two and has his own place card!

Ready for a "fancy" dinner

He loved the wedding!

He got a little antsy at times.

Luke joining the Conga line!

Matt's biggest goal was to be part of a Conga line.

Amelia, Kate, John & Ava

Watch out Village People!

Luke and the YMCA

 Adam & Amelia

 Even I got in on the dancing action!

I had a lot of fun dancing with my boys!

Brian, Ben and cousin Leighton spent the reception on the putting green.

John (oldest male cousin) and bride Lori (oldest female cousin)

Hard to believe it was 15 years ago we had our wedding!

We Clean Up Nicely

Kate and I usually have pictures of the two of us that look like this:

This weekend at a family wedding we had the opportunity to have a picture like this taken!

4th of July

My 4th of July started with an early morning wake-up call in order to head dowtown for the Red, White and Boom Half-Marathon.  This is the second time Kate and I have run this race, and for the 2nd time, we couldn't have asked for better July weather.  Kate and I enjoyed running together for the first part of the race, and then separated as we went into our zones to push through the 13.1 miles.  This was Kate's second half-marthon in 10 days, and my longest run of the season, so we each had some mental hurdles to fight through.  I didn't beat my PR, but I did beat my previous Red, White and Boom time.  Kate and I always enjoy running and racing together, and this was no exception!

We spent the afternoon of the fourth hanging out by our pool in the backyard watching the cousins swim and play.  We had a typical 4th of July menu of hot dogs and brats on the grill, and Kate made some outstanding watermelon mojitos!  

John working hard to get on the floatie!

Ahhh, finally!

Before heading out for fireworks, we had a bonfire with s'mores and lit off some fireworks of our own.  Sparklers are always a hit!

Ben lighting bottle rockets.

Silly Brothers

Brian's head looks like it's in a guillotine.

The IA WaltoLachs 

What you don't see is a mouth stuffed with marshmallows.

 Waiting for fireworks

A cool shot that Ben took

The following morning, Brian and John woke early to play a round of golf.  Apparently it wore Brian out.  This shot is 100% legit and was not posed in the least!

Dreaming happy dreams about his 8-iron and his smart phone...

Ring Around the Rosy

I recently came across this video of the boys doing their own version of Ring Around the Rosy.  

Blooper Version

Final Version (sans Luke)

Adam's Baseball Season

Adam just completed his first year playing baseball.  He had a great time, and like most kindergarteners, declared that he likes batting more than playing in the field.  Brian was one of the coaches, and now that season is over, Adam has said he's going to miss baseball until next summer.

Fielding

The Rangers

That must be a heavy bat!

Chatting with Matt

Cute!

Our traveling baseball player being a good sport and cheering on his brother at the Kindergarten Tournamnet

The season is over

His first trophy

Hawaiian Ice - the best part of the tourney!

Same Post, Different Pictures

Summer swimming never gets old!

Ben - 12

Matt - 10

Adam - 6

Luke - 2

These two are becoming good buds!

Swimming with Dad

Picking on Dad!