June 2016 Happenings

Began June like I have for 3 years now. . . running Relay Iowa.  It was the same group of 11 great people as last year.  This year I was really more anxious than I ever have been before because of lack of training and the heat.  Friday and Saturday ended up to be temperatures near 100 but most of us lowered our legs to 3 miles and we made it through!  The lack of training ended up okay too, my body just remembered how to run:)  The best run this year happened to be the dreaded Critter Run in the middle of the night.  It was near 10:00 Saturday night, temperatures were cool and hardly anyone else was on the trail.  I ended up running a 5K that leg because it felt so good:) We started about 11AM Friday morning and ended about noon on Sunday.  Loved the experience!

Lanie had a check up at the University of Iowa Clinics this year.  All wonderful news; she's growing beautifully in all areas! We took the kids to the Old Capital ped mall for lunch.  First grabbing samosas from Masala and then for burgers at the Airliner.

A mom that I met through ChildServe told me about Miracle League of Ankeny where kids with disabilities can play baseball on Saturday mornings in the summer.  Lanie was only able to make it twice, but enjoyed the experience and got a medal:)

Had a beautiful night together with these friends (and significant others) watching Belinda Carlile at Nightfall on the River.  The amplitheater was more packed than I've ever seen before!  Grilled at Scott's house first and then enjoyed wonderful songs.

Matthew and I tried to catch an I-Cubs baseball game with Kristi and Kevin, but got rained out after many delays.  We're still trying to schedule another night to finish what we started.  We still enjoyed a great supper, conversation, and drinks together while we waited for the rain to stop.

We lost Matthew's dad, Grandpa Merlin, this month.  Thankfully, we stopped to see him at his house after Lanie's University of Iowa appointment.  We were there about an hour and he was only awake about 10 minutes, but he when he was awake he had a sense of humor and a grin on his face.  A week later, we were called to the hospital in Newton to be with him when he passed.  The memorial service was at the funeral home and was a beautiful celebration of his life with a video of pictures and memories shared.

Trying to make as many summer memories as we can with the kids!  This was our first family bike ride of the summer on the Neil Smith Trail near Saylorville marina.  It was quite hilly for us!  We made it a little over 5 miles though:)  We'd like to go every week if we can, and I'd like to increase by at least 1 mile every week.

A new Iowa treasure. . . Neil Smith Wildlife Refuge.  Took a morning trip with the kids there.  Didn't see any buffalo but enjoyed the butterfly garden trails and Learning Center.