I am...

Our days have been so full lately that this week definitely called for an extra post. First, there was Kindergarten Roundup. I met with the principal over the summer to discuss whether or not we should hold Clark back, and she actually advised against it. She said if he's not thriving in Kindergarten, he can repeat it. But, if he's meeting his milestones, he will thrive at Valley View and nobody will notice he's younger. Valley View is actually ranked the #1 Elementary School in Texas, so I tend to believe her, and Kindergarten Roundup confirmed it. Having done 2-years of Pre-K at the Valley View CDC, he had no problems. He already eats lunch in that cafeteria, plays in the gym and on those playgrounds, and he is so confident and familiar with his surroundings that he walked in like he owned the place. He knew the kids, jumped to the front of every line, and gave me high-5's anytime he passed me. He is so ready to move up.

Valley View really has been great. Another cool thing they do is allow parents to donate to the Booster Club and get their birthday boy or girl's name on the marquee. I've never done it before because it seemed a little over the top, but this year I decided Aurora (and the Booster Club) deserved a little extra love. Clark won't have this opportunity, but I don't think he'll mind.

He'll still get to choose his birthday dinner! Every year Aurora has wanted Mesa Rosa, but it closed so this year she opted for Kirbey Lane, where kids happen to eat FREE on Tuesdays. Seriously, they comped both kids meals and the chocolate cake!

Wednesday Aurora had an extra long choir rehearsal in preparation for tonight's concert, and she did an amazing job of putting her birthday excitement aside to focus on the big event. The theme for the spring concert was "I AM," and many of the kids had a chance to share something about themselves. Most talked about being brave and overcoming adversity in their young lives. Aurora said "I am loving. I love my family, my friends, and I love choir and performing in the choir concert." She did great!!!

And while it has nothing to do with school, I recently started an extra-curricular activity of my own. It's an intro to trail running series for women, and we're learning where the trailheads are in Austin, how to navigate, stay safe, and avoid injury. I am loving it. I honestly can't believe I've lived in Austin for 11 and years and didn't know about all these entrances to the Greenbelt.

Over the weekend I took the kids out to the place we'd gone for our most recent run and it was a completely different experience. When I'm running, I'm focused on the ground a few feet in front of me. With the kids, we stopped and explored the rocks and water and everything looked different.

These past couple of weeks have been so full in the best possible way, and I'm pretty sure the whole family has been enjoying every minute of it. And as for Aurora turning 9, this was just the teaser. The goodie bags are packed, the cookie cake is on order, and this weekend is going to be super fun!

Easter Bunnies

As brand new members of our Lake Park Community Association, this was our first Easter celebration in the 'hood, and boy have we been missing out. Not only were there egg hunts for each age group (adults included), there was an Easter Bunny AND egg races! I wasn't sure my kids were going to get this whole egg race thing, but as I explained it to Clark he responded with his signature phrase, "I know that, Mommy." Clark ended up winning first place in his age group and Aurora was so far ahead of the pack I was sure she had it, until she put on the brakes just a little too early and her egg went flying.

This morning the Easter Bunny stopped by our house and left the kids some pretty amazing toys and treats. Aurora got a Barbie and Clark got a Transformer! Aurora swears she saw the Easter Bunny hop past our window this morning...

This afternoon we went to a friend's house for their annual petting zoo and egg hunt. There were fewer kids than usual and the house is on the market so this may be their last year hosting this awesome event, but the kids had a blast. Who wouldn't love holding REAL bunnies?

This has been a big week, and next week will be even bigger! With Kindergarten Roundup, the Spring Choir Concert, and Aurora's birthday - I may need to post twice. I will say that while Aurora is VERY excited to be turning 9 in just a couple of days, it became clear this weekend that she's getting close to aging up or out of some pretty fun activities. She truly loves being a kid and I don't think it's occurred to her that she's getting too big for anything, just that there's injustice in this world anytime Clark gets more or better. I love the way the kids have been playing together lately and am in no hurry for either of them to grow up. Happy Easter!

Cabin Life

As a full-time working mom, it's easy to get so caught up in school and work and schedules that days and years just start drifting by and you wonder where it went. Spending two weekends away from it all has made me feel like we can still get away and live a life of adventure! This weekend Aurora and I spent two nights cabin camping at Bastrop State Park with her Girl Scout troop and I have to say, I could get used to cabin living...

Presley was our roommate for the weekend. Her mom couldn't join us, but the girls were great and I got my own bed! We were situated in a cluster of cabins all occupied by our troop and we came together for campfire meals and activities throughout the weekend. I went out on my own Saturday morning for a sunrise run. Just over 3 miles from our campsite I found a gorgeous lookout. Bastrop State Park has suffered terrible fires and floods over the past several years and it makes for an amazing view of burnt trees and lush new growth.

After my run, I became the go-to person for information and directions around the park. We had breakfast then brought the girls to the lookout where I lead them on a hike.

This morning I lead a short yoga session. The girls had so much fun and earned 3 badges: a letter-boxing badge, a dance party badge, and a yoga badge; I earned the title "Fitness Master." 

This was the first camping trip we've been on with NO DADS, so I have to give props to all the moms who came along and lead the girls in crafts, games, and meal prep. These moms handled the fire pit like pros and I was just happy to have found a way to contribute.

Believe it or not, I don't have an epic wilderness adventure planned for next weekend, but I did start up with a new running group last week that's a women-only intro to trail running, so the adventures are starting to bleed into the workweek! With Easter and Aurora's birthday on the horizon, we have plenty of fun to come... 

Ragnar Relay

What a weekend! I realize it's only Sunday morning but this weekend started early. How do I describe a Ragnar Relay... it's an event where teams of 12 people in 2 vans run and support eachother for 200-ish miles over 30 hours. My team was made up of LIVESTRONG supporters primarily from Dallas and Chicago, most of whom had run this together in the past with a few newbies (like me) mixed in. The team rented a house in the Hill Country and while I didn't sleep there, the family came out before and after the event to help with prep and cleanup. Aurora even helped decorate the vans!

Over 100 teams ran across Central Texas this weekend, which means more than 200 decorated vans were criss-crossing along the course at any given time. Ours was the "neat van," and according to a teammate from van 2 ours was not only neater and cleaner, but also didn't stink like theirs! We cleaned off with wipes and changed clothes after each run.

It's funny, we were all on one team but really our two vans could not have been more different - and boy did I luck out to get the van I was in! Our van consumed zero alcohol, even when we stopped for dinner. It was just a group of awesome runners and I made some great new friends. We're all married and most of us have kids. Kathy and I talked and giggled late into the night. Everybody gets a little loopy and everything seems funny at 3am when you've already run twice and have one more leg to go... but that last run definitely pushed me harder than any half marathon. I had nothing left in the tank and was so tired, but the team was counting on me and I powered through my final 6-mile leg for a total of just over 15 miles run.

The medals are amazing. We each took home a piece of a larger message, and in case you can't read it: Together we ran 200-ish miles. Together we can accomplish anything. We are Ragnarians. Oh, and we took first place in the Mixed-Submasters Division!

While I was away on my sleepless journey, everyone else in the family was having their own fun! Aurora had a sleepover at Presley's house an the girls slept in a tent in the living room to practice for next weekend's Girl Scout camping trip. Chuck and Clark had a boy's sleepover on the futon in Chuck's studio. Last night we got home, had dinner, I took a shower and went straight to bed for 11 hours of the deepest sleep I can remember. My legs are sore but I am so thankful for the adventure.

Jumping

This was a great weekend. We spent a majority of our time jumping with friends. On Saturday we jumped on the trampoline with our neighbors, and today we went to two birthday parties; one had a bounce house and the other was at Rollie Pollies, a jumpy house dream.

The best picture from the weekend didn't involve jumping. It involved Aurora clobbering a piñata. I love the intensity! The last picture was a rare moment when they were together and didn't mind sitting still for a moment. They were together most of the time. It used to be that Clark would call me when he needed attention or help, but today I noticed he was constantly calling his sister, which just about made me jump for joy! Other highlights from the weekend included seeing Beauty and the Beast (we loved it); I had time to run and do yoga (twice), and Chuck had lots of free time to continue fixing up his studio. He won't have as much free time in the next couple of weeks as we are about to jump into a VERY busy month. April will be awesome, stay tuned!

Weekday Edition

It can be hard to transition from spring break (and a time change) back into the normal routine, but for this crew it has not been a problem. Clark's been waking up before the alarm and Aurora's been able to do her homework and the dishes every day. This week was especially awesome because class pictures came in and Aurora got an award! I have to admit, picture day completely slipped my mind. It was during a week when Clark was sick, and at first I was kicking myself. We'd already pre-ordered individual and class photos and the kids were just wearing regular old t-shirts with messy hair!? Turns out, it really is the perfect glimpse into a normal day at school.

On Friday I got to join the kids at school for their weekly assembly, where Aurora was given an award for being inspiring! Clark was SO excited to see his sister on stage. 

I figure this is as good a post as any to put a picture from an event I attended a couple weeks back, where I ended up on stage with a group of amazing women who have all completed a leadership course in the past couple of years. 

When I first heard that every child gets an award every year, I thought this might be one of those "everybody gets a trophy" type of situations. But the awards are so personal, the kids are so proud, and giving each child a chance to accept an award on stage with their friends and families in attendance gives these kids such confidence. And, as I'm learning through my own professional development, it's something that she'll continue to do well into adulthood!

Break

In the days leading up to Spring Break, I kept telling Clark that we were going to have a 9 day weekend. Tonight as we recapped our fun and talked about what we liked the most, Clark said it only felt like an 8 day weekend. I guess he could use one more day... couldn't we all! The second half of spring break was super fun. On Wednesday we spent hours at Mt. Playmore jumping, running around, and playing video games. Clark had recently been there for a field trip and had a great time, but they couldn't play the arcade games and he really wanted to so we got a 2-hour unlimited pass and enjoyed every minute out of it.

Thursday we spent the day in Lakeway exploring a park we'd never been to, having lunch at a restaurant we'd never been to, going to a library we'd never been to, and having ice cream at this amazing new place we'd never even heard of. Fruity Pebbles ice cream FTW!

Friday we were off to the Thinkery. Clark didn't think he'd ever been there before (he had). It was pretty crowded but we arrived early and found some quiet corners to explore.

Lunch was high tea, a tradition for me and Aurora but new to Clark. If you can believe it, he overdosed on sweets and doesn't think he needs to go back again!

That evening we rode bikes and had pizza with friends, then Saturday night Aurora accompanied me to a co-worker's wedding at the Wildflower Center. It was lovely and she was the perfect date.

Today we had lunch at the Lake Park with friends, did our food shopping and laundry and enjoyed our last relaxing afternoon of this very long weekend. I love taking Spring Break off with the kiddos and we all needed the break to unplug, rest, adventure, and play together. We did get a little bit of time with Chuck as well, but he had a busy week at work so I guess he'll have to recharge and take a break on his own time. 

Spring Forward

In all the excitement of the time change and spring break, I completely missed a blog post! Last week I had a couple of late nights out without the fam, and this week we've had several late mornings sleeping in. I'm taking the whole week off and so far we've spent most of our time going on outings with our neighbors Heidi Grace and Collins. Yesterday was the Dino Park and Chuck E. Cheese.

Today we went to the Nature and Science Center and had lunch at a new restaurant called Lucy's on the Fly, then spent the afternoon on our own, riding bikes and doing art projects at the library.

Aurora has been needing a new bike, but it's such a rare opportunity that we can go riding that it hasn't been a priority. Over the weekend we found her an inexpensive big girl bike and I bought it as an early birthday present. I knew the weather would be nice and figured it would be an ideal spring break activity. It was actually her first time riding without training wheels and she just took off without hesitation. She wobbled around a bit but it didn't take her long to get a hang of it.

These last few days she seems to be growing up before my eyes. In addition to riding a big girl bike without training wheels, she's decided that she wants to be a helper and has been doing dishes and laundry, sweeping the floors, helping make dinner... we actually decided to put together a chore chart and I've given a value to each household activity so that she can start earning allowance. She still has the option to help, but the more she helps the more she'll earn (dishes = 25c so she can earn $1.75/week if she does the dishes everyday, and so on). She's super excited about it, though we know that once school starts back up her time will be much more limited.

Clark isn't quite as helpful. He's more stubborn and ridiculous. Lately he's been wearing his pants backwards every day, on purpose, so that the ties in front can be his tail... so, yeah. At least the time change hasn't affected him!

Cool Kids

In school I was never one of the cool kids. Chuck and I met in junior high art club and that's about as cool as either of us have ever been. Flash forward to today, and I'm pretty sure we have two of the coolest kids you've ever seen. Case in point: Clark, wearing a handmade beanie while shoveling mac & cheese with a pumpkin scoop, and Aurora showing off her science day inventions to Clark's friends. I'm pretty sure they were thinking Clark has the coolest sister ever.

This weekend I felt a little like one of the cool kids. We had a date night Saturday and went to this awesome show at the Long Center which was part play, part concert. It was called Let It Be, and it was basically a Beatles cover band changing sets and costumes to take us through actual concerts from the 60's and 70's, followed by the concert that never happened; a reunion show in 1980 with their newest hits as a group and a variety of songs they'd released as individuals. The band was amazing and the audience was going crazy!

Today I got to be in the audience once again for some live music and an awards ceremony honoring the top finishers for the Austin Distance Challenge. I got my jacket, my beer, and even got invited on stage for sharing my experiences through the ARC blog this season.

The Austin Runners Club is full of cool people. I may have been the first one to register this season, but today I sat next to the female/half track first place overall finisher and if you think my running goals are big, think again! This girl has goals! My goals for the coming year are still a bit up in the air so instead of planning ahead I've been extending this season instead. After the Ragnar Relay I'll be participating in a Women on the Trails introductory program followed by my first ever trail race. I'm thinking all the cool kids run on trails... we'll find out soon enough!