so apparently I had to turn *37*

I turned 37 a few weeks ago - don't feel much different other than on paper, I'm officially 37.

I took the day off work so I could take Colin to some routine dr. appointments, and they were pretty good all day, until the very end of the day, when they made me lose my cool.

We ended up going to dinner at On The Border, where the waitress wasn't so happy to be at work that day.  But, we got it all figured out and decided to open up my presents another day.

Well, another day turned out to be a couple weeks later when we returned from our Texas vacation.

I was surprised with a bunch of gift cards to do dates with my family, Brian and get a pedicure (time that I dearly love to spend by myself, getting pampered with a fresh coat of nail polish on my piggies!)

Looking forward to a great year!

Colin's 9th birthday

Against all of my wishes - Colin decided to turn 9 this year!

9 just seems so old to me for some reason - but I guess that's what has to happen, right!?

We did donuts for breakfast

And Red Robin for dinner - not sure why Colin has a grumpy face in that picture, but you can tell he was trying hard not to smile :)

This was our first time at Red Robin and the kids loved it!

They even sang to him and he got a really yummy dessert!

We opened up presents - Maggie was SOOO excited to give him these water balloons!

He got a new indoor soccer ball and outdoor soccer cleats

And he also got a new Messi soccer kit which he wears ALL THE TIME!

Then later that weekend we had family over for a swimming pool party - and wouldn't you know, it was kindof rainy and yucky outside that afternoon (it really hasn't rained much all summer - but when we planned an outdoor party...go figure!)

The water was a little chilly but overall everyone had a great time!

We ordered pizza to be delivered at the pool...

The big boy table with some of the cousins

Silly faces...

There was even a swimming race that took place!

Colin's awesome cookie cake (we're slightly obsessed with this new cookie cake place!)

Colin got a stretch armstrong as a gift from the family and everyone had a lot of fun pulling him in all directions possible!

Ring around the rosie...

And my best attempt at a group pic with all the kiddos (and Tiff holding up Arleigh...)

Then the next day Colin had his friends party at a really neat laser tag place

So much fun that even a couple of the Dad's had to join in...

Colin's awesome cookie cake for his friends party...

The kids got to play 3 10-minute games and had a lot of fun!

More water balloons...you can never have enough!

Phew!  What an exhausting week of parties and cookie cake and fun!

Happy Birthday Colin!

Conference -Finals night

We had a wonderful conference finals night - and in true Colin fashion, he was more worried about getting a treat after his race than what place or time he got :)

Love this goofy toothy-smiled kid

Colin actually WON the 25 fly (the same event his Daddy won when he was an 8 and under, too!)

That was pretty special!

Proud Daddy!

Colin with his free relay team

Colin and our neighbor (and buddy) Alex

Those  new goggles must've made his swim really fast!

We treated him to an early birthday present with a QT shake on the way home from the meet. 

Don't worry - that huge thing was shared between all of us in the car!

Colin ended up 1st in the 25 fly, 4th in the 25 free, and 10th in the 25 back.  He got best times in all of his events!  

Maggie ended up with a best time in her 25 fly as well!  We had a great 2018 summer swim season!

Conference - prelims

The kids had their conference meet the week of Colin's birthday (He has such a good late summer birthday - perfect for swimming!)

Maggie qualified in the 25 fly

Colin qualified in everything, but chose to swim the 25 free, 25 back and 25 fly

It was a long couple of days at the pool but the kids ROCKED it!!

Here's Maggie - in the middle, right next to the stroke judge in the white shirt.

She dropped 4 seconds in the fly and *almost* made it back to swim in the consolation heat of finals.

She was so proud of herself!

And...Scott, Granddad, and Andrew came to watch Colin and Maggie on the first night (along with Daniel and Chris -not pictured)

Maggie killed some time playing cards with friends

Colin with his 100 Medley relay team

Colin made it back to finals in everything - placed 14th in back, 1st in fly and 4th in free (all with best times!)