Crazy!

This morning Allie, Doug and I were 3 of the 22,000 participants in the 30th annual Crazylegs Classic. The last two years it rained on the race and we were afraid it would rain today too. But it turned out perfect! It was pretty windy, but as the temperature rose, the wind was good because it got humid too.

We parked downtown at 9:15. The start was at 10, so we walked around a bit and I got some breakfast at Subway.

Allie decided she didn't really care for the stroller, that she'd rather walk, or run, around. Too bad there were so many people around! She had to stay in the stroller.

We saw Bucky when we were waiting for the walk to start! I did the 8K run and Doug and Allie did the 2-mile walk.

I was in one of the last waves, so I hung out with them until they started walking and then I went to wait for my start.

 We took a fun family picture, and then it was time for Allie and Dada to start walking!

The races end on the 50-yard line of Camp Randall Stadium. Doug couldn't take the stroller into the stadium, so Allie got to run around after all. She liked running around on the field.

Because there were so many people, there's a wave start. My wave didn't start until Doug and Allie were almost done walking!

They hung out right outside the stadium to watch me finish my run. It was a nice surprise to see them there. We weren't sure how we would coordinate because we would have to walk back downtown to get to the car. My arm looks like its broken in the picture because I was waving and calling Allie. We don't know if she actually saw me.

I had a great run. My official finish time was 57:15, which is over 8 minutes faster than I ran it two years ago and its also 5 minutes faster than I thought I'd run this year! I'll be posting a full race report over in My Marathon Journey.

Mesmerized

Allie is so smart. When we were off together last week I asked if she wanted to watch her Baby Einstein. She jumped off the couch and went to the entertainment center and tried to open the drawer (thats locked) where we keep the remote for the DVD player.

I love how Allie is so mesmerized when watching her Baby Einstein. She will either stand right up in front of the TV or sit still on the couch like she did on the Sunday morning when I took these photos.

Friday flashback: Bittersweet

Five years ago this week I moved to Madison to start working at the Wisconsin State Journal. Well, I moved in with my parents in Rockton for three weeks before moving to Madison. Doug joined me a couple months later in June and started working at the Rockford Register Star.

A year later, on April 30, 2007, Doug and I closed on our house.

Its bittersweet because I love our life in Madison, but I still get sad once in awhile that I don't work at the newspaper anymore. Sometimes I wish I'd never had to deal with the difficulty that was 2009 after being laid off. Considering that difficulty, I'm grateful that we still have our house.

I gave a speech during Jeni's wedding reception, and it was in part inspired by the difficulty we've had in the past. Here's the gist of what I said and what I live by: I learned a long time ago that our lives happen when and how they're supposed to. We're not in charge. I definitely learned that again and again in 2009. Theres plenty of bad but also plenty of good.

I know if I hadn't worked in the newspaper business and gotten laid off, we wouldn't have Allie or the great life we have now. We had to endure the bad in order to have the good. And that is why I look back fondly at both the good and the bad that were set in motion when I moved to Madison five years ago to work at the Wisconsin State Journal.

Easter surprise

On Sunday while Allie was napping, a special guest brought her a present. He was a little late, but we didn't mind.

The Easter bunny filled her bucket with Baby Einstein "World of Rhythm" and six plastic eggs. Guess which she liked more?

We were hoping the Easter bunny would bring Allie some eggs since she liked playing with them so much at the Easter egg hunt on Saturday. We had to return those because they get reused each year.

Luckily, he did bring Allie the eggs! We haven't watched the DVD yet because she's been too enthralled by the eggs.

Getting ready for the Easter bunny

Allie loved seeing the eggs change colors!

We got things ready for the Easter bunny yesterday. Allie's still too little to actually color the eggs, but that didn't matter. Just watching was enough for her.

Here's the finished products! The Easter bunny hasn't been to our house just yet. We got up early and went to church this morning and then Easter brunch at the Great Dane. Allie ate a TON, including dessert. And now she's taking her nap. I think the Easter bunny will be here any minute now to leave a surprise for Allie when she wakes up!

Egg-cellent day!

This morning Allie went to her first Easter egg hunt. It was over pretty quickly, but we think she enjoyed it. She didn't really get the egg hunting part, but she spent a lot of time afterward dumping her eggs out of her bucket and picking them up again!

Allie loved toting that bucket around. We had to give the plastic eggs back, but Allie will get her own tomorrow when we fill the bucket with our own goodies.

When we got home she discovered that she could put her cup in it and drink her milk from the bucket! I think since she likes putting things in her bucket so much, its time to teach her to pick up her toys.

It was an egg-cellent day all around! After getting Allie's prize, we went to Culvers for lunch. Then it was home for some naptime- for all three of us! Later we colored our own Easter eggs.

Party girl

I saved the best for last.

Allie had a lot of fun the the wedding reception. You can't tell from the picture, but she was rocking out while eating her cake. And she ate almost a full piece of cake!

And then Allie and Mama hit the dance floor!

She was a little unsure of herself at first. She didn't want Mama to let go, but she danced and danced.

She eventually got brave and let go of Mama. She danced until she dropped, literally. It was the most fun I've had at a wedding reception in a long time, and I know Allie enjoyed it.

We knew it was time to leave the reception when Allie was rocking it on the dancefloor while also rubbing her eyes. This picture doesn't do justice for how tired Allie looked! It also doesn't do justice for how jam packed the car was. We were glad it wasn't a longer trip!

We made a stop at Grandma and Grandpa Swanson's house to change clothes before driving home. Allie fell asleep on the way there, but then caught her second (third? fourth?) wind while we were changing clothes. But we changed her into her jammies so we could just put her straight in bed when we got home.

Here's a better representation of her exhaustion! She kept talking and laughing but fell asleep pretty suddenly. She was laughing one second and snoring the next. I think Allie would have danced all night if we'd let her.

It was a great weekend, and we were sad when it was over, but it was also nice to relax a bit on Sunday. Mama had a band concert, but Dada and Allie stayed home all day. In fact, Allie hung out in those same jammies all day! It took a few days, but a week later I think Allie has finally caught up on her lost sleep. Now its on to the next wedding... my cousin is getting married in three weeks. It will be more craziness, but I think Allie will enjoy it. :-)