Ruggerfest 2015

My most anticipated summer bucket list item this year was by far Ruggerfest in Aspen, CO.  Ryan and I have been to our fair share of Ruggerfests and you just can't ever complain about a weekend in Aspen, especially when all those fancy pants are overrun with a bunch of rowdy brutes. 

We'd been planning on the trip for months, and I couldn't wait to take the girls back home and up to that crisp mountain air.  Aspen didn't disappoint - it was beautiful as ever and the weather was perfect.  Even a little too perfect for my suitcase filled with sweaters and boots.

The weekend came at the end of a 10 day CO trip for me and the girls, so Evie was not really impressed with being uprooted again, or really anything Aspen had to offer for that matter.  Always the critic, that girl.  Lyla had her fair share of meltdowns as well, with her most frequent/ best lines being "I HATE COLORADO!!!!" (crying), "I woke up on the wrong side of the bed!  I woke up on THIS side!" (crying), "it's been a long, hard day for a little girl" (crying), "it's HARD to be part of a family!!!" (crying).  Being 3 1/2 is tough.

The rest of us had a good time despite all the little girl sour pussing and Ryan's team made it all the way to the championship on Sunday afternoon!  Unfortunately they lost - most unfortunately we didn't get to leave Aspen until almost bedtime and the girls did not sleep the whole time as you might have assumed they would.

All in all it was a great trip.  Mostly.  ;)  Here's some pics!

- K



Evie's general outlook on life in Aspen.

 



 

Hanging with Papa and Grammy.  I don't know what's cuter - their happy faces or their matching trench coats.

These new rugby balls were great entertainment until Lyla tripped over hers and bodyslammed multiple bikes to the ground - including a tandem bike.  Bikes - 1, Lyla - 0.

 

Dad's biggest fan.

I die every time I see this picture.  We're so calm and happy while the girls are obviously being tortured.  It's hard to be part of a family.

 



Proud girls!  He made it to the championship!

 



Snuggles in between games.

 



Sunday morning shenanigans.  Sis decided to wake the whole house up at 4:30 by screaming her head off.  Luckily I'd happened to have slept in the peacefully quiet basement with L.

 



This is both girls' favorite maneuver known as "I'm going in for a hug, JUST KIDDING I'M SQUEEZING THE CRAP OUT OF YOU UNTIL YOU CRY!" Really cute.

 



How cute is this chick?

 

Selfie game strong.

Rugby Weekend

On Saturday we drove down to Iowa Falls for Ryan's rugby game.  Watching Ryan play rugby is one of Lyla's very favorite things.  Well, yelling "go, Dada!" while he plays and she runs around like a fool is more what she does.  Very little "watching" actually takes place.

It was a really good day with beautiful weather.  Ryan had a great game and got a little pent up aggression out.  Us girls met another rugby wife who had two girls just about the same age, and the older girls got their very own rugby balls to play with and shared lollipops.  They were pretty darn cute.

Hope you had a good weekend too!  PTL for the good weather.  ;)

- K

Ready for Baby!

The last few weeks have been pretty tough.  Ryan and I are both in sales, with Ryan having his sales closeouts every month, making the last few days of every month pretty hectic.   My closeouts are quarterly, and when they line up it's just a lot to handle.  Throw in being almost 9 months pregnant and the doctor saying I would most likely have the baby by the end of the month on top of that?  Kind of stressful.

Luckily Everly hung in there through the end of the month, and somehow we all survived the baby preps, pediatric appointments, vet appointments, OB/GYN appointments, visitors, birthday parties and some really crazy work schedules.  The best part was that the last few weeks really were difficult, but Ryan and I managed to work together and tackle everything.  I don't think there's ever been a time in our marriage that I felt more like a team.  It was hard, but together we made it.

I think we both had a big sigh of relief when Saturday rolled around.  We put the very final touches on the nursery and ran around cleaning and picking up, making sure we really were ready to bring a newborn home.  We even managed to get out for a little breakfast at Panera, which is where we ate on the way to the hospital when I was induced with Lyla.  Sitting there that morning with our two year old sitting next to me in a booster seat, drinking OJ straight out of the bottle like a big kid, with another baby seemingly moments away...I had this feeling of everything coming full circle.

I've finally given up on having everything perfectly pristine and picked up when bringing baby home like I had it last time around.  A puppy and a two year old make every moment about a million times more chaotic than they ever were when we brought Lyla home, and I figured out that this is the chaos that is our life, and will be Evie's too.  It may not be perfect, but it's our home and I can't wait to have her join us.

Lyla and I even got out to see part of Ryan's rugby scrimmage, which completely thrilled Lyla.  As soon as she saw Ryan she couldn't stop yelling "Go, Dada!" and "Dada, Come Back!!!", which is how she tells (demands?) us to come to her all day every day.

Here are some photos from the scrimmage.  I can't get over those pigtails!  :)

- K

The Weekend

My mom was in town until Saturday afternoon, and Lyla ate up every second.  She dragged that lady around from dawn til dusk every single day.  The only good thing about being away from family is getting the concentrated one on one time when they get to come visit. 

We took Grandma to the farmer's market Saturday morning for breakfast.  Lyla and I got donuts, but Lyla decided she should just go ahead and both.  Personally I think her upside down technique is pretty fool proof.  I mean, the frosting IS the best part.

After donuts and a nap it was time to head to the airport.  We were so sad to say goodbye - Lyla is still talking about grandma anytime any little thing we did comes up.  It's pretty amazing the associations she's making these days.

After the airport we headed to dad's rugby game, which we saw about 5 minutes of before needing to head to the playground.  Luckily we happened to catch one of Ryan's trys and I yelled "Go, Dada!" and clapped with Lyla.  For the rest of the day she would periodically start clapping and yelling "Dada!".  Ryan didn't mind it.

On Sunday Ryan had to work for a few hours, but managed to have a quick dance party with Lyla to some of the music in Despicable Me beforehand.  It was one of the cutest things I've ever seen.

One of the best parts of the weekend was the awesome, cool weather.  It's really starting to feel like Fall and it scares me a little having come off the worst winter of all time, but I do love jeans, boots and sweater weather more than anything.  To celebrate I got out my Fall decorations which consist of 4 decorative pumpkins and 2 pumpkin candles.  I know, I know - getting crazy over here.

Tim also got into the festiveness and tried on his Halloween costume.  I'm pretty sure he loves his dinocat hat more every year.

- K

Milwaukee Road Trip

This weekend Ryan had a rugby game in Milwaukee which he asked Lyla and I to tag along to.  I am pretty ridiculously bad at geography, and have basically no knowledge of Wisconsin, so my immediate reaction was a very sarcastic "oh, yay."  But we went anyways for an adventure, and an adventure it was.

My cousin lives in Madison, and she happened to be picking up my aunt and uncle in Milwaukee the day of the game.  We hadn't seen them in over a year, so we met up in downtown Milwaukee that night and had so much fun catching up.  Turns out Milwaukee is a super cool little city!  It's a really eclectic combination of new and old, with a huge German influence.  Don't quote me on that because I didn't actually look it up, but just picture lots of cheese, sausage, and gnome shops.

The next morning we stopped in Madison on our way home and met up with the fam again.  We played at a park and ate at a great restaurant called Weary Traveler.  L was a pretty good little trooper the whole time, but I think she had enough "screen time" with the iPad for about a month in those 3 days.  Don't tell her pediatrician.  She was also quite obsessed with her Uncle Mike.  I think she could tell he's a grandpa.  :)

So, Midwest, you prove me wrong once again.  Every once in a while you really are quite tolerable.

- K