May Recap

Ahhh May. I typically really love May, what with the weather being the most perfect it will be, smack dab inbetween winter and summer. This year? Well, it started out pretty rough weather-wise: And by "rough", I mean it was still snowing. On May Day. And cold. And windy. In fact, while we did have the occasional day where we would have nice temps and good conditions for being outside, we didn't even have leaves on our trees until the middle of the month. Mark and his Dad didn't even get into the field to START planting until May 13 this year!

We did, however, have a great time when the weather WAS nice, and Cashel sure enjoyed getting out as well. Here's a glimpse at our May and some of the events we took part in :)

Dinner with Friends (May 4)

We met up with our friends at Pizza Ranch in Worthington to celebrate Curt and Nancy's birthdays!

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Caleb's 4th Birthday Party (May 12)

Caleb turned 4 on April 18, but the big party was almost a month later. We made our way down to Humboldt and had a great time celebrating with the birthday boy!

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Mother's Day (May 12)

While we were in Humboldt celebrating Caleb's birthday, we also celebrated Mother's Day :)

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An Afternoon To Myself (May 16)

I took a half day off work to pamper myself a bit, since it had been a crazy week without Mark home in the evenings.

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Date Day with Cashel; Date Night with Mark (May 23)

I had the day off to spend with Cashel since our daycare provider couldn't watch him, so we had a fun day together consisting of a walk to the park and lunch with Mark. That evening, Cashel spent some time with Grandpa and Grandma while Mark and I had a nice, relaxing date in Worthington.

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Memorial Day Weekend (May 25-27)

We had a fairly laid-back Memorial Day Weekend. We took an impromptu overnight trip to Humboldt and did some housekeeping/laundry/etc. Sunday evening and Monday. Nothing fancy, although the weekend seemed much too short.

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3 Days Away (May 28-31)

I had work commitments in Minneapolis for 3 days at the end of May, so Cashel and Daddy had to rough it alone.

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What's Coming Up!

June promises to be fairly laid-back month for us. We'll be in Mankato on Sunday for Mark's cousin, Caleb's High School Graduation Open House, followed by my glucose test on Monday of that week. That will begin my bimonthly appointments - that has crept up on me! Being now in my 3rd trimester, I'm sure the hours, days and weeks will seem much longer than they previously did! I hope to really make some headway on my digital scrapbooking as well as our home renovation project.

Mark also may end up taking an impromptu vacation with his Dad to go out and visit Daniel, Iryna and Sofie in Washington State before they move in July, but nothing is set in stone for that at this point - it's all just talk.

We're looking forward, also, to the big Ropte family GTG at the farm in early July, and I can't wait for the 3rd weekend in July when I get to see my Vanderhill cottage roommies from NWC for a GTG in West Des Moines!

But for now, it's just getting through each day we've been blessed with :)

3 Days Away (May 28-30)

I think it's telling that the majority of the pictures I have from my work conference are actually of food: It seemed to me to be the theme of the 3 days I was gone.

If it wasn't bad enough that the breakfasts and lunches were catered (i.e. I walked 15 steps and could fill my plate from the smorgasbord instead of having to even walk to my car and drive home), we had 2 incredible meals both Tuesday (at Pittsburgh Blue) and Wednesday (at Crave) evenings. It was insane. I gained 3lbs this week, which doesn't surprise me.

The days at meetings were very, very long, and the nights didn't end until 8pm, when supper was finished. It was great to put some names with faces - definitely! We also enjoyed an impromptu bonfire at one of our counterpart's homes in Shakopee on Tuesday evening, and I walked on over to Babies R Us (where I got nothing for this unknown-gender-baby, but found myself some maternity pants) on Wednesday evening.

I sure did miss my family while I was gone, though! They managed alright, which was good, but I was so ready to be home!

"I'm in LOVE! I'm in LOVE! And I don't care who knows it!" (May 23)

Bonus points for anyone who knows where that quote comes from :)

I am so blessed. Truly.

After having the pleasure of spending the day with one of my loves being goofy at home, enjoying a walk (and swinging) at the park, then lunch with Daddy at McDonald's and a long afternoon nap...

...I got to spend a wonderful evening with the man I met over 8 years ago and whom I married almost 7 years ago :) Sometimes it feels like we're just doing the minimum to get through each day, so it's these types of evenings that we just fall in love all over again :) Sometimes words don't even need to be said (although, with me as his wife, is that really ever an option? haha), it just feels good to be together :)

We split some delicious fajitas at The Ground Round, then took a glorious walk in Worthington. Mark actually had intended to take me to the symphony, which was in town that evening, but after a busy day with Cashel, I actually requested that we just do normal stuff that's more difficult to do when you have a toddler in tow.

Memorial Day Weekend (May 24-27)

We had a fairly uneventful Memorial Day Weekend this year. Of course, initially, we had all these grandiose plans to get started on adding our new room downstairs for Cashel, but we got as far as unloading the trailer, getting the new window in the front door, and moving the new room and closet doors down into where the room will be. We spent an overnight down in Humboldt Saturday and Sunday, and when we got home, I did plenty of laundry and prepped for my big trip to Minneapolis for work on Tuesday. We also did a lot of grilling and lounging around and took a few walks.

New Swing

We were thrilled to finally get the new infant/toddler swing installed off our upper deck, hanging down under it. Cashel has already gotten plenty of use out of it, and mama is thrilled to not have to go all the way to the park just so he can swing.

Day Trip to Iowa

We had an impromptu trip down to Humboldt on Saturday, mainly to pick up my work laptop, which I had left there when we had visited a couple weeks prior. It was nice to catch up with the family as well :)

It's fun to see how fast cousins Ruthie and Caitlin are growing :)

The man of many faces: Caleb Michael!

Cashel and Kaleigh Mae have had quite the special bond since Cashel was a week old :)

The Vinsand Siblings

Sweet little Caitlin Ann

It was a nice opportunity to get a short glimpse of Josh and Tiffany's new home they are just getting moved into across town, and we're looking forward to getting the chance to see it all finished up the next time we make it down there.

Lots of Grilling and Long Walks

We made it home on Sunday afternoon around 4pm and enjoyed a relaxing rest of the weekend. Granted, we had lots of housekeeping to catch up on, and since the weather had gotten so nice, we enjoyed some nice, long walks as well. Monday, I don't think we hardly even got out of our PJs :)

It was a nice weekend, although it went way too quickly.

Tyler's Graduation Open House (May 18)

We were excited to spend the afternoon in Worthington to celebrate with Tyler and the family for his big graduation open house! He graduated from Worthington High School on Friday night. It was certainly warm, but there was a beautiful breeze.

The Graduate

I can't believe little Tyler is finished with High School already. I first met him when he was still a little guy - I think he must have been 9 or 10 - and I feel so old knowing he graduated this year!

Family

The Decor

It was fun to see all Tyler's gradeschool pictures from over the years as well as all his accomplishments from baseball.

The Spread

We were thrilled to see they were having a taco bar along with some delicious chocolate-covered strawberries and white chocolate mints.

Party Guests

Tyler had a great turnout for the party, including a great mix of family and friends. We even got to meet his girlfriend!

We had a wonderful afternoon with Tyler and the rest of the family and friends who attended the party :) Congrats, Tyler! Best wishes as you head off to NWC in Orange City this fall!