Let's Go Irish?

So I am outnumbered in our house today. The big Michigan-Notre Dame game is tonight and this chant has been said repeatedly around our house today. I guess John can be a Notre Dame fan! At least he is a cute one!

I know I am long overdue for an update, and I promise an 18 month updates this weekend! Stay tuned! For now, some pictures of my two football fans...

A little bit of this, a little bit of that...

So this post is LONG overdue, but we have been quite busy enjoying our summer. I have to admit, every time I go to update the blog, I get overwhelmed with how many pictures I need to upload, what I need to say, etc, but I am going to attempt at doing this in the shortened version :)

This summer has been awesome. Period. It is so much fun, and I was telling a friend tonight, that usually in summers past I have slept in, hung out in the house, worked out, watched some tv, napped, and just relaxed. This summer is so different. I certainly feel rested, but John and I are up early, and have agendas during the day. There is really no down time with this kid. And it has been so much fun. It is so fun to see him interact and take things in. He has been such a trooper with our trips this summer, and there are so many new fun things he is doing and saying. Just in the past few days he has been sitting on the floor and patting next to him to tell us to "sit." Little things like this are so much fun to watch his personality develop. John and Libby have also become quite the best of friends this summer, and it is so cute to hear him scream., "Bibby!!!"

I know these pictures might be in random order, but here is a glimpse of our summer (dating back to July---man, I am behind!). Here is a glimpse into our summer...John's 1st Tigers/White Sox game, Libby's 2nd birthday, 4th of July at Lake Diane, Brad and I competed in the Detroit Muddy Buddy (and continue to stay married :), trips to the zoo, and just hanging out! Enjoy!

Lake Placid Ironman

I know I haven't updated in almost a month, but this summer has been busy and it seems like there is no time! We have had a great month, celebrating 4th of July at the Lake, Libby turning TWO, going to the pool, John's first Tigers/White Sox game. I will write a separate post on all that, I think it would take 2 hours to upload all of my pics, so I am focusing on our latest venture...which was SUPER exciting!

This past weekend we had our first family road trip to Lake Placid, NY to watch my sister in law compete in an Ironman. It was super exciting and she did beyond amazing. This is her 3rd Ironman, and she finished in 10:26 and qualified for the World Championship in Kona in Hawaii! It was such an exciting day, she is such a superstar! We are so proud of you Lisa! Thank you so much for letting us be a part of your day! I'm sure I drove my brother in law, who is also her coach, crazy with a million questions throughout the day. Sorry Greg!

For those of you who don't know, an Ironman is a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride, and then a marathon run. Crazy right? And there were just under 2500 people total racing, and I think Lisa finished somewhere around 101 overall. She was 5th overall female and 3rd overall in her age group. It was such a cool experience to see her.

We left Thursday night and drove a bit, then stopped and drove the rest Friday morning. We were nervous about the drive with John, but he did great! He got cranky coming back today, but overall did so good. We stayed in a cabin with my sister and brother in law and my in laws. There is so much to say about the trip, but I will try to show it in pictures:

First time at a hotel

Getting into the mountains

"Are we there yet?"




Local watering holes near the cabin

The Monhaut Family

Relaxing with Aunt Lisa before the big race

Aunt Lisa teaching me how to be safe on a bike!

And how to be a good swimmer!

They keep fresh snow in front of the Olympic building

The start of the race...this picture doesn't do this scene justice. It is amazing to see 2400+ people do a mass start swim race.

Bright and early watching for Aunt Lisa on the bike.

Cheering with Grandpa. "Go Aunt Lisa!"

Enough said!

Power nap

This is the part where things got really exciting. She passed so many people on the bike!

Waiting for Lisa on the run

Into the final stretch, walking to the finish line

Waiting at the finish line...super exciting!

Crossing the finish line...qualifying for KONA!

Post Race with Uncle Greg

"This Ironman stuff is exhausting!"