Dear Em,
This Saturday was one of the most physical & fun Saturdays we've had in a while. Your daddy & I competed in the Warrior Dash with a group of friends. It was amazing.
What is the Warrior Dash? It's a 5K with obstacles, & the proceeds go to the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. They hold them all over the country. Ours was just over the border of Rhode Island in Connecticut. It's also a party. There was a stage with a band, food (some free), & beer (if you complete the course, the first one is free). Plus, you bring home a fuzzy warrior helmet, a t-shirt, a medal, & pride in yourself for finishing.
Our team before the race. We were the Wicked Awesome Super Heros: Mr. Clean, Wonder Woman, Mr. Koolaid, Hulk Hogan, Animal, Super Man, & Spider Man (yeah, we may have gotten a little liberal with the super heros).
Your daddy & I went with a group of seven people. Our course included eleven challenging obstacles. Climbing a cargo net, crawling under barbed wire, using a rope to climb up a steep wall & then dropping down the slide, crawling in two feet of mud, & jumping over fire were just some of the the things we did on Saturday. As we approached each obstacle, I questioned myself. "I don't know if I can do this," I thought. I worried about breaking parts of my body or getting halfway through & not being able to finish. I mean, when was the last time I tried to climb a 20 foot wall? Um, never. But, I did it. I surprised myself each time, & I did it.
That's not to say I was a stellar athlete the whole time. I had trouble with the running. I knew that I would. I'm not much of a distance runner. Well, maybe I could be if I actually trained (which I'm hoping for next year). I got ran halfway through the course & then had to walk. The rest of our team runs 5Ks & half marathons for fun & were way ahead of us, but your daddy stayed with me. We did the whole race together, cheering each other on as we went. It was such a great feeling when we crossed the finish line together.
Our team post race.
After the race, we got hosed down by firefighter hoses. It probably doesn't sound very appealing, but it felt so good to let the cold water power-wash off all the mud & sweat. We were still kind of muddy & pretty dirty as we enjoyed the after-party & a beer (or two). We admired our medals & the funky tan lines were were getting through the mud. We challenged ourselves, & we did it. It was so fun.
And now my body is so sore. It's not broken, but it is sore.
Dear Em,
Since you were born, my family has had the extreme dread pleasure of taking family portraits when we get together each summer. I am pretty sure everyone in our family wants to kill me in my sleep (except for probably Nonnie), but somehow they've just accepted our yearly forced family fun photos.
I'm cheap fiscally conservative & a control freak have an idea of what I want so I am the photographer...which isn't exactly easy because I'm also in the photos. Our family size & the fact that half of them ignore me can also be a challenge, but I love a good challenge.
If you're interested in taking your own family portraits, here are 15 nearly impossible easy steps.
1. Tell your family that you are planning to take family photos. While the girls will pretty much be OK with that, let the guys get really annoyed & complain that family photo shoots take too long.
2. Take weeks to discuss what everyone will be wearing. In the end it probably doesn't matter what color/clothing option everyone chooses, they will all be rushing at the last minute to buy new outfits for the photo shoot. Let them complain about it.
3. Choose a location. Beachy areas are best if you want your hair to fly all over the place in your photos. Everyone knows that bad hair days make for the best photos.
4. Try to plan a time for your photo shoot that is not around the same time as "cranky time." For those of you with children or husbands, you understand.
5. Plan out what poses/groups you want to take pictures of (i.e. whole family, just the girls, just the guys, individuals, etc), & make yourself an agenda of which order you're going to take the pictures. Plan to get any pictures with small children out of the way first. They tend to become tired & cranky easily (actually, they all tend to become tired & cranky easily). Forget your agenda once you get to your location & forget half of the group/poses you wanted to shoot.
6. Make sure your camera battery is charged. This is very important. Consider bringing a second (or third) camera for when you realize you forgot to charge your camera's battery.
7. Bring a tripod. Possibly have a backup in case your brother-in-law forgets to bring his or you accidentally break your Dad's (I'm still so sorry, Dad). Use a tall pile of books when you realize you have no tripod.
8. Cameras with ten second timers that take numerous photos continuously are best in this situation. This will give you ample time to run into the frame & wipe the sweat off your face before the camera starts shooting. Also, multiple continuous shots give you the best chance of finding one photo where everyone's eyes are actually open.
9. Once you get to your location, arrange everyone where you want them to be. The girls will mostly listen to you & stand in the right spot. The guys will pretend they don't even know you. Interestingly enough, the guys will take the most time to get set up for each shot even though they are the ones who complained about how much time forced family fun photo shoots take. Weird.
10. Make your family walk through mud, sit on fire ant mounds, hang from trees, & get bitten mercilessly by mosquitoes to get your perfect poses.
11. Bribe your child with candy, ice cream, & Disney World to get her to look at the camera & smile while the camera is shooting. Shake around a box of sweet tarts like an idiot & fill your child with so much sugar that she is ready to vomit. This is parenting at it's best.
12. Set up the tripod. Set up your shot. Tell everyone to get ready. Press the shutter release button & then sprint into the picture frame. Realize that you've forgotten to set-up the shutter timer & you've just taken a picture of your family & your bum. Tell everyone just kidding. Set-up the shutter timer, set-up your shot, tell everyone to get ready, & sprint like the sweaty mess you are into the picture frame. The more your run back & forth between the tripod & the poses, tell yourself that sweaty is a really great look for you.
13. Repeat for as many different poses you want or until your whole family is ready to strangle you/not even paying attention to you anymore/off doing things that have nothing to do with family photos. Make most of your family wish they were part of a non-portrait taking family. Imagine that your camera is shooting bullets & not pictures, & smile as half your family ignores you.
14. Look at your photos. Realize that at least one person has their eyes closed in every shot. Debate with your family which group photo each person looks good in. Have no one agree on one photo that they all look good in. Have the guys mostly not care as long as they don't have to do it again.
15. Have some really awesome family photographs that will last a lifetime.
Here are some of the special forced family fun photos that will last our lifetime:
2010
In 2010 you were just 5 months old. We took the pictures at a beautiful park near my parents house. Guys wore collared shirts & girls wore whatever. We got some great photos. Unfortunately, I hadn't learned how to set my camera at the highest quality photo setting, & the pictures become grainy when enlarged. Whoops.
2011
In 2011 you were almost a year in a half. I loved the idea of family beach portraits. While we got some really fun photos, it also made for some funky hair photos. Each sibling/part of the family wore a different color.
This Year: 2012
Jennie had the great idea to take our photos at the River Court, a basketball court where scenes of the TV series One Tree Hill was filmed. It was the perfect location. It's right on a river & we could get cool water shots without the wind. A basketball court is a less traditional spot for portraits, & I had all kinds of fun ideas for poses. Plus, we would be able to say we had our portraits taken where a TV show was filmed.
When we got to our portrait location, I gave Jennie a weird look & said "um, so where is the River Court?" It was gone. Total bummer. Plus, it was still a little breezy right off the river. So, we didn't have the cool location we originally planned on, but I think we made the best of what was there.
I promised the girls that if we all wore red scarves, we wouldn't have to take family portraits in November to use as Christmas photos.
An old fashioned riverboat actually passed by while we took the girls photos, but of course happy faces weren't a priority for you then. Oh, well.
Here is a great example of the guys not paying attention to me. I still love it. It's a great classic guys shot.
Here's our fun, just the kids shot.
This pose was Gina's idea & ended up probably being my favorite of the whole shoot.
This one is my other favorite shot. I feel like this precious photograph captures 33 years of love.
Speaking of photographs, most of mine end up just being stored on my computer & facebook. Luckily, we have your aunt Gina to provide us with an incredible way to display our photos: photo montages. She is so incredibly talented, & we are so fortunate that she has gifted us with montages to commemorate our most precious moments. Your montage is your favorite thing to watch. It includes everyone you love & all your favorite songs. It was a lifesaver during our 12 hour drive from North Carolina to Rhode Island. It made me so happy to listen to your squeals of happiness & giggles while you watched the photos & videos of some of our most precious moments from your second year.
Here's a teaser of your second year montage. The actual one is an hour long (I know, we are so so so lucky to know Gina) which includes some of our 2011 forced family fun photos.
Dear Em,
Can I tell you a secret? I don't really like bowling. I know, it's kinda weird since we went at least a few times this year. Growing up, I just didn't really see the point. Or maybe it's just that I've never been very good. And then you came along, & well, you put fun in anything (& then there are cranky times when you take the fun right out of things, but mostly you put the fun in).
While we were out in North Carolina, your aunt Jennie & uncle Nick treated all of the siblings to bowling. I thought, "what the heck, I'll do it to spend time as a family." Typically when we come to visit, everyone else still has work & school. There are eight of us (including spouses & you), & schedules can be hard to work around. Typically, we try to have special moments with who we can, when we can.
It would have been nice to have Nonnie & Papi there too, but being just the kids was kind of nice. Being able to spend time together, the eight of us, made my heart so happy...even if it was bowling.
But you know what? It was a blast.
You woke up a little cranky from your nap, but were thrilled once you found a pink ball.
The boys were pretty amazing in action.
Of course, you & I had pretty amazing form too.
One of the most precious moments was when you helped Aunt Jennie bowl. The excitement on your face when the ball knocked over some pins made my whole night.
I may have slowed down the bowling game...err match...I'm not sure what you call it...by stopping everyone to take pictures. I'm lucky no one murdered me with my camera strap & I was able to catch shots of all of us like this.
You know how it doesn't matter what you're doing when you're with the right kind of people? I think our bowling fun was kind of like that. Or maybe it was that I actually broke 100 (which never happens) & beat your uncle Greg. Ok, it's probably a combination of both.
Dear Em,
I think it's pretty clear how much we love the beach. I think I've talked about the beach on my blog more than anything else, other than you (i.e. here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here). When we're in North Carolina, we soak up as much beach time as possible.
As much as we love our Rhode Island beaches, there is only a short period of time somewhere in August where you stop feeling like you're going to die of hypothermia when your body hits the ocean. Plus, it may be the "Ocean State," but the beaches are tiny. I feel like I have to get to the beach at the crack of dawn in order to find a small area of sand that is not already covered with people to fit my bum (& the 300 things you have to bring when you go to the beach with a child). Rhode Island beaches will always hold a very special place in my heart, but I am filled with an amazing freeing feeling when I go to North Carolina. Not only is the ocean temperature perfect from April to October, there are miles & miles of open beach space (it's kind of neat when you don't have to sit on top of other people at the beach).
We spent three days at the beach during our stay in North Carolina & they were beautiful days.
On the first day, the weather & water were so beautiful that we spent almost the whole day in the water. We rode waves & floated. It was amazing & exhausting & perfect. I slept so great that night.
For our second & third trips to the beach, we took a few more littles with us. Your daddy called our car the beach bus. It was packed.
Between the big waves & the extra kids, there wasn't as much opportunity to swim in the water. So, we spent most of our time wading, looking for shells, buildings sandcastles, & enjoying the sunshine. I of course used my time on land to snap photos of precious beach moments.
OMG, I think littles on the beach are the cutest thing EVER.
Except for you & Nonnie, most of our family members avoid going to the beach with me like the plague. It was such a surprise & a treat when your aunt Gina & uncle Greg agreed to join us. The day was filled with special moments with both of them.
It made my heart so happy when I caught this precious moment with Nonnie, Greg, & Gina.
Sigh, family & the beach are definitely two of my favorite things & how lucky are we to have enjoyed both on our NC trip?
Dear Em,
Remember last year when I felt like I was just living out of a suit case? I'm starting to feel that way a little again this year. Vermont...North Carolina...Maryland...we've had such amazing adventures the past few weeks. But, boy, does it feel nice to come home, just the three of us. It's like nothing else to come home from a trip & sleep in your own bed.
I have so many posts to catch up on & memories to share, starting with our trip to North Carolina. So for now, I'm going to close my eyes & pretend my overflowing suitcase has already been put away, the laundry has already been done, & all the cat hair has been vacuumed up (I swear our cats had some kind of kitty kegger while we were away...cat hair EVERYWHERE).
One of the highlights of our North Carolina adventure was going to your uncle Jared's cross-country meet. I left for college when Jared was just 3 years old. Being so far away, I've missed a lot of the day-to-day things with my siblings. Things like their first day of school, watching them learn to ride a bike for the first time, their games & meets, taking a million pictures before prom & asking them about every detail after...it makes me so sad not to be a part of it all. When we get to visit, I want to soak up as much of the everyday as possible. Plus, it doesn't really come as a big surprise to anyone that I was a cheerleader in high school. Cheering on my family is one of the things I love best.
So, it was exciting for us to go to our very first cross country meet & see Jared in action. It was a really large meet, with teams from all over the state. We jumped a little when we heard the first gun-shot go off to indicate the start of a race. It was so exciting to see the swarm of runners as they started the races.
And they're off!
We found a nice shaded spot near the finish line & waited for the Jared to pass by. Your papi saw him first, & we all started cheering just in time to see Jared kick it up & sprint to the finish line.
Here comes Jared!
Sprinting to the finish!
Jared did so great. He finished his race in the top third. We were wicked proud of him. Who knew cross country running could be so exciting?
You had so much fun cheering Uncle Jared on too. Hmmm, like mother like daughter? Will there be cheerleading in your future?
Dear Em,
You started pre-school again on Monday. Remember how tough the transition was last year? Things got better little by little, but it was a really hard transition for all of us.
This year you've handled things like a champ, especially because you started school the day after we drove for twelve hours & returned from our vacation. You love your school. You love being with your teachers again & you're thrilled to play with your friends.
My favorite part of the day is the conversations we have about what you did at school. Last year I would ask you about everything & you would remember nothing. This year, you're a little chatterbox. You tell me all about what you did, what you ate, & who you played with. Yesterday you were so proud to tell us that you did the weather & annoucned that it was "sunny!"
I have a feeling it's going to be a great school year.
