Adventure-Filled Week

Hello, everyone. It was busy week as we added swimming lessons to our weeknight evenings. Katie has been doing very well and as of Wednesday she was actually going under the water and swimming which is a big advancement for her. She was starting to do some of that in Florida and I was excited to see her progress. One of my friends from work has her two little girls in the same class, so I've had company while I watch, and Katie has become fast friends with Chloe and Riley (after the first class she asked if they could come to her birthday party. Reminder: Katie's birthday is in December!)



We had some big thunderstorms this week on Tuesday and Wednesday. Katie was quite concerned as the sirens were going off and we did actually go to the basement for the first of the three tornado watches were issued for our exact location. We had to wake up Caroline and then we set up a little camp in the basement. The look on Caroline's face was priceless! She was like you woke me up to come sit in an old lawn chair in the basement? On Wednesday night I was giving the girls a quick bath before the storms rolled in and our power flashed off. The girls' bathroom doesn't have a window so it was pretty dark. Caroline grabbed onto my arm really tight and kept repeating "Out, out, out" as I was racing to get the shampoo out of Katie's hair.


As a result of those storms the playhouse was tested, but proved to be able to handle the storm. The rains created a moat around the house and one morning we had some ducks "swimming" around it! And speaking of the playhouse, with all of the activities and bad weather the last of the painting still needs to be completed. So the girls have not officially moved in yet. I hope to do it this week, so that this coming weekend can be there "grand opening."

On Thursday night I went to Chicago to visit a few friends from Notre Dame, so the rest of the family was on their own for the weekend. I think Jamie will have to post the true details but what I do know is that during one call home Katie told me "As a special one-time treat Daddy let me play in the front yard by myself" at which point I heard Jamie in the background asking to have the phone back to elaborate!

I got home Sunday evening (after a long drive and an adventure with a flat tire) and was happy to see everyone. Katie was excited about the items I brought home for her which were from a race called the WonderGirl 5K. The ND girls and I ran/walked the race that supports a group called Girls on the Run in Chicago. Katie was thrilled to don my medal, crown and goody bag.

The girls and I had a great mini-reunion and I will post some photos--if Alicia emails them to me (hint, hint).