June Phone Dump

• KC Convoy of Hope.  For the third year, I volunteered in the Family Portrait tent taking pictures of families.  It's a pretty rewarding event to be a part of -- giving back to the local community.  I got lots of smiles and hugs...and even a few tears.

• Too much sun.  I spent a Saturday doing yard work...in my sports bra.  Can you tell I forgot sunblock? 

• Hunter helped with yard work.  Or watered rocks.  And then himself. 

• Lunch with my favorite 20-month-old.  Every other Saturday I get to spend the day with him.  Isn't he the cutest!?

 

• Shaved my dogs.  And my kitchen will never be the same.  June is ridiculously hot, and they're shedding like crazy.  I thought a little less hair might help?  It took so long to do Willow that Cricket lucked out and missed the fun. 

That's a lot of Willow hair.

She was embarrassed to be naked.  (She actually didn't mind at all.)

Pretty sure I'm going to be sweeping up dog hair for months...

• Visa to travel to India.  I sent off a packet of info and pictures and signatures...along with my passport and money, of course (I don't know why it's so hard to get in to some countries) - and then received it back a few days later with a shiny new Visa for a fun trip on August!
  
  

• Lunch date with my cute niece, Hadley.  She loves Chick-Fil-A, mainly for the play area.  So of course I had to crawl up and play with her...in my skirt I had on for work. 

• Another Father's Day came and went without my dad.  I have these pictures up at work and see him every day. 

• My brother and sister-in-law got a new Apple computer!  It's pretty awesome, and we had a good time playing with the camera features. 

Here we are as the alien family.

There is already a timer to rotate turns between the kids.  It's a popular item.

• Matt & Kim concert at P&L.  I've seen them three times in the last two years and they are still my favorite concert to go to. They're just so fun and really know how to entertain. 

• Peeling skin.  That is from my eyebrow.  I got them waxed and for some reason (maybe due to some new face cream I'm using), the skin decided to come off with the wax and hair.  It was a fun few days with bright red, raw eyebrows. 

• Summer Fun in the yard.  My brother and sister-in-law made the best investment ever with a blow up water slide. 

Hunter loved going down the slide backwards...over and over again.

YouTube video of it is HERE.

Hadley loved the sprinkler under the trampoline.

    

• Going Away BBQ for some good friends.  He is going to grad-school in Indiana, so we all got together before they left.  Apparently I forgot to take pictures of the food and only got one of the empty plates and dirty napkin on the table.  The aftermath.

Nate                               and                                Hannah

• Wedding at Union Station for an old work friend.  We were late and missed most of the wedding, so we waited in the hall for the reception.  Oops. ;)

Old work friends - Jayhawk reunion.

• Super Moon.  It was crazy big and bright.  This pic snapped from my back deck does not do it justice! 

• My new running shoes finally came.  I designed them both on NikeID and love them.  The ones on the top even have my name on the tongue of the shoe!  

They're already getting plenty of miles on them. 

•  Family Dinner on Tuesday nights.   

Brody cracked his last cascarone from San Antonio
over my head and surprised us all!  He got me good.

Hunter loves to line up all of his cars on the tv stand.

• First Day of Summer.  My purple balloon flower blossomed for the first time.  It's my favorite flower in my garden.

• Gear For Sports Dock Sale.  Once a year, they sell all of there damaged or imperfect apparel for super super cheap.  I snagged some interesting items.  Under Armour running shorts for $7?  Yes, please.  Don't mind that they say Arkansas Tech, haha.

                                                       (No idea if Okoboji University is even real. )

• Hunter learned to text on my mom's phone.  Or not.



The Big 3-0

I guess turning 30 is a devastating event for some people (my mom included).  I'm supposed to officially be OLD now, right?  Whatever - I still feel young, so I say 30 is the new 20! 

We did lots of celebrating - mostly eating - for some "turning 30" fun.  My birthday fell on a Saturday, but the eating (and shopping) started Thursday evening with a trip to the Plaza and Westport.

I have heard a lot of talk about these fancy Baldwin jeans made with raw denim that are from right here in KC.  Of course I'm all for supporting the local economy, but these have always been waaaay out of my price range.  Matt has seriously been asking to get a pair for a solid year at least, so we finally decided to pop in the store and just try some on.  For fun.

They are not soft and stretchy like my cheap Old Navy jeans.  They're stiff and skin tight -- because they supposedly stretch and mold to your body.  And you aren't supposed to wash them.  Like, ever.  Gross. 

The trying them on "just for fun" turned in to Matt shelling out some serious dough for two pairs of them.  The deal has always been he could get a pair as long as he bought me a pair, too.  Happy Birthday to me!  I officially own a ridiculously priced article of clothing. ;)

 After the shopping extravaganza (which also included a trip to H&M), we went to Westport for dinner at Beer Kitchen.  Their short ribs and polenta might be my favorite meal in KC.  (I think I was still too excited over the jeans and forgot to take any pictures!)

 On, Friday, Matt took me to Jun's sushi - my favorite sushi in KC - for lunch, and then to Port Fonda in Westport for dinner.  Yum. 

   

Sushi for lunch.                                     Mexican for dinner.

We talked about going to a movie after that, but since I'm officially in full swing training for my first marathon, a nice long run was in store bright and early on Saturday.  We went home and went to bed before 10pm.  My kind of Friday night! 

This is how I started my first day in my 30's: 

My mom provided me with all the necessary equipment for that:  an awesome watch, comfy running shoes (never mind that they're actually old-man shoes - they're the only ones that fit my super wide foot), and a running belt...all for my birthday!  Oh, and then she mowed my yard for me while I was running...and gave me an absurd amount of cards to come home to.  She's the best.  :) 

After that 10 mile run, I needed some food.  My mom and I met my favorite little guy for some lunch at Jason's Deli.

Hunter had a card for me, too!

He experienced - and loved - his first ice cream cone! 

Click HERE for the YouTube video.

The rest of the afternoon was spent doing some yard-work and napping.  Just a nice, relaxing day. 

That night, there was more eating out, of course.  I had planned on going around KC to different spots - my favorite drink, my favorite appetizer, my favorite entree, and my favorite dessert - but that seemed like too much work.  So we decided on dinner at a new spot called Collection near downtown.  And I wore my new jeans for the first time!  (I actually tried to wear them to work on Friday, but when I went to pull them up, the zipper broke.  That's how tight they are.)

My card from Matt.  I used to collect Unicorns when I was little. : )



Heading to dinner



Collection - from the outside



Our entrees were seriously SO good

On to dessert.  I had been craving some creme brulee from Fogo de Chao ever since we went there for Christmas.  So we drove down to the Plaza and just ordered that.  It was just as good as I remembered.  So good, in fact, that I felt it necessary to lick the bowl.  And help Matt finish his.

 The sky was crazy when we left the restaurant.  (Oh did I mention that we totally lucked out all weekend with awesome parking on the Plaza?  That's some birthday luck.) 


No filter.  It was that cool!

The final birthday celebration was with my whole family.  Dinner at Will Jenny's on Sunday night.  They have big enough tables for all of us, and there is something that everyone can eat there. 

Hadley brought down my birthday card and present...and then proceeded to open it for me.  It was too cute. 



Hadley still just adores Hunter and always want to play with him.  He usually isn't as interested, but I got a couple cute pictures of them together.

Obligatory family pictures galore after dinner.  My mom tracked some random guy down who was walking to his car to snap one of the whole fam.  


I love my big, crazy family



 

 A few of the presents I got:





A purple, sparkly scarf from Christa that I wore to work the next day 



An awesome original drawing by Allie.  I seriously love it (all colors of kids holding hands around a heart-shaped drawing of the world).  It's framed and in my bathroom now.



 

A new mouse pad for work from Christa/Tony.  It now includes all my nieces and nephews and has new pictures on it.  (The old one was a birthday present two years ago.)

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So here's to my 30's.  I'm really looking forward to this decade.  It might be the best one yet! :)