We had a fabulous long Memorial Weekend! It was the perfect balance of relaxing, being active, fun, and time with friends and family. Most of our favs were from the long weekend:)
Last Soccer Game
Luke had his last soccer game of the season last week. He got the chance to play on a team with neighbors and good friends, Evan and Eli. It was fun for us parents to watch them play together too:) The final game of the season, they got to play another neighbor's team...I guess that's small town living for ya! It's great getting to know more faces and names around town.
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| Warming up. Luke's in the neon shorts |
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Light blue (Evan, Eli, Luke) played red (Jayden)
and neon green (Erik) had his last game the same night |
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Petersen Neighborhood friends;
first, fourth, fifth, and sixth
grades represented |
Bike Ride
So, I rode a bike for the first time in probably 15 years...and I survived! The good news: it came back to me (just like they say) and Luke's bike is big enough for me to ride (since I don't have my own). It was a good workout, but very different from my typical walking/jogging. I was surprised that the only thing sore the next day was my butt, and that was just from the seat. I'll need to get a softer one if I plan to ride more often. A few things I was reminded of while riding: keep mouth closed because bugs enter easily and even a minor bump in the rode feels much worse on a bike seat.
Friday with Nora
Nora and I had a lovely Friday together:) She picked our lunch location: Pizza Ranch. Then, Nora tagged along to my hair appointment. I knew it would be about an hour, so we packed a bag with her markers, a workbook, and snack. She settled in right away working on her book and I didn't hear a peep from her the entire time. When my appointment was done, one of the barbers gave Nora a dollar and told her what a good girl she was. It was very sweet:) She was so proud of that dollar! We had already planned on a trip to Hobby Lobby, so she was all set to spend her dollar on a treat. She found a watermelon (her current favorite candy/gum flavor) ring pop and her day was made!
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| Busy working at the salon |
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| Excited for her sucker! |
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| Sucker time! |
Med City Marathon
Each Memorial Weekend, Rochester hosts the
Med City Marathon which includes several events for all ages. This year, Nora ran in the Toddler Trot for 3-5 year olds. Nora was
very excited to go, got nervous once we got there, got
lots of positive reinforcement from Daddy (his strong suit), and finally ran the race!
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| Warming up with Daddy |
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| Ready to run! |
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| Nora picked her outfit for the run |
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| Like a boss! |
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| Proud girl with her medal |
Dates
Brent and I got two date nights last weekend! One just us and the other a double date. What a treat! Friday night, Papa and Gma asked the kids to join them for a cousin sleepover, so Brent and I took a hike at Chester Woods Park on a beautiful night and watched a movie at home. Sunday night, we met our friends, Peter and Bethany, for dinner at 300 First and dessert at Forager while Luke and Nora hung with the other grandparents for the evening.
Hiking
Memorial weekend was very nice weather for hiking. Brent and I also got out Monday morning for a hike in Stewartville. There are several grass/dirt paths through the trees at Bear Cave Park. It was a pretty windy day so the trees were a helpful windbreak.
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| We encountered a friend |
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| Beautiful wild flowers blooming |
Time w/ Family and Friends
I already mentioned we got to do dinner with our friends, but we also got to see lots of family over the weekend. The kids had their cousin sleepover Friday night and we had my sister and fam over Sunday afternoon. Piper adores her older cousins and Parker is just the cutest thing around. We love our time with them! One of my favorite memories from the day was when Piper arrived. She came marching very intently into the kitchen, threw her sunglasses aside, and hugged Luke with all of her might. So stinkin cute!
After lunch, Nora was feeling tired, so she curled up in her bed. Piper found her and snuggled up too! We brought Parker in to join the party:)
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| Piper and Nora |
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| Nora, Piper, and Parker |
Rocket Project
The last science assignment of the year for Luke was to build a bottle rocket that they would launch at school to see whose rocket went the furthest. Brent and Luke crafted the rocket below. Unfortunately, it was very windy this week so Luke said his rocket didn't fly the greatest. One kid who had the farthest flying rocket had the top of his weighted...great engineering for the wind!
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You have to look closely,
but this side says "NASA" |
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This side has a rocket logo
they found online |
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The tip/head
(I don't know rocket terminology)
has a block M on it |
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| Michigan Rocket! |
