Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Hunter's First 5K

I just love this one! Marilyn's sign says it all- Her Daddy Rocks! A few weeks ago, on a very hot evening, Hunter completed his first 5K Cross Country run, and he did great. We were so pumped as we stood there cheering him on.

Coach Marilyn stretching and encouraging Hunter. Hunter did a great job and far exceeded even my wildest expectations. We are so proud of him... especially on a 90 degree plus night.
The next series of photos is a collection I subconsciously entitled "before Marilyn's first cast". She was playing on the playground while Hunter was running, and she was confident that she could keep up with the big kids. I watched for a little while, snapped a few pictures, asked her to please not follow the big kids as they climbed up the slide... then I did what every "good" mom does. I turned my head and waited for the crying to start. Amazingly, it didn't.
She played hard and had a good time dangling from the monkey bars, walking the planks and climbing up the ladders. And she didn't get hurt... at least not this time. I'm sure she won't escape her genes for long and will eventually end up in a cast- but at least this time our little daredevil prevailed unharmed.
Yes, she is in her Sleeping Beauty jammies... some battles need not be fought daily.

Princess Dress

Marilyn is such a goofy girl. She has become very interested in all things princesses. Here she is in her fancy "princess dress' spinning and twirling in her ballet shoes...

Then not even ten minutes later, she was outside driving her gator in her fancy princess dress. She is so funny!

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Mennel Family Camping Trip

On Father's Day weekend we were blessed with a campground full of family! My mom's siblings and their families and our grandparents gathered for a weekend of fun and quality family time. The fun started on Thursday, and Mom & Dad took their favorite little camper Miss Marilyn with them. We arrived on Saturday afternoon from Chicago where we were celebrating Chris & Abbey's wedding. It was hot and muggy, but being able to spend such fun times with 70 members of our large family was wonderful.

Align CenterAunt Nancy brought some creative games for the kids... and the adults!

Vaseline on the nose... cotton ball on the nose transported to the plate... so cute

We surprised Marilyn with this Disney princess bag from the Disney store when we arrived. She then carried it EVERYWHERE around the campground and filled it with her treasures.

Our little camper! We had not been away from Marilyn for more than two nights, so it was a bit hard to be in Chicago for 3 1/2 days. I must say I was very excited to see how well she done with Grandma & Pappaw... and them with her. And she was in heaven! She loves spending time with them and it makes us so happy to know we can have a little couple time without worrying.