Monday, September 30, 2024

HOT HOT HOT

The calendar says fall but it has been HOT lately with highs in the mid-80s. Where are you, fall? I bank on cooler but still sunny weather and that has not happened much this month. I don’t want highs in the upper 80s when all the pools are closed! But the weather will cool off this week but then will warm up over the weekend - right in time for the marathon. Womp womp. It won’t be dangerously hot - just hotter than ideal for a fall marathon in the upper Midwest. You may remember it was canceled last year due to the heat and humidity. I wonder if the race organizers will consider pushing it to late October since warm falls seem to be a thing that will happen going forward (global warming, amiright?). 

All that said, we had a nice weekend. Phil took Paul to the driving range again on Friday and then to Home Depot. I had a late (for a Friday) client call that went until 4:30 pm but since it was a $200 million opportunity, I was happy to be on the call! 

Friday night at the driving range!

Taco had a rare solo bath since he was so dirty from playing in the sandbox at daycare.

On Saturday morning I ran 5.75 miles. I had to stop and take a picture of this house’s decorations! It made me think of our fall-lover, Jenny!


After showering, I took the boys to a park while Phil grocery shopped. It was BUSY at this park as there were 3 kid birthday parties and what appeared to be a parent group meet-up. There were a bunch of blown up balloons around the park so the boys had fun playing with them and made friends with another little boy. 

I did overhear a convo between them - the boy they met made a comment about Paul’s size as he was bigger than Paul but a year younger. Paul confidently said, ‘I’m 6.5, I’m just small for my age.’ He weighs about the same as Taco these days (prob around 38 lbs) so he is very small. But his doctor has never been concerned since he’s stayed on his (4th percentile) growth curve. Admittedly I worry about him getting teased for his size as he gets older but I guess we will cross that bridge when we get there. 

Phil took Paul out to his mom’s for the afternoon and I stayed back with Taco. We went to the goose house and played with LEGO. 


Paul got $5 from Nana for helping with yard work! They also found a cardinal feather in her yard which he was excited about.

Sunday was the usual program - church/Sunday school, Vikings game viewing for the boys (they almost blew their big lead but pulled off a win in the end), and swimming lessons. 

Working on his back float. 

When we got home, the boys happily played with LEGO for a solid chunk of time with no wrestling/fighting! It was magical!! 

This week will finally be a normal week with no travel… although now I wonder - is a week of travel now my new normal and a travel-free week is more abnormal? That’s what is feels like these days. My Chicago employee will be here for part of the week since he’s running the marathon on Sunday (his first!!). A lot of our 1:1 meetings this spring/summer have had a solid amount of time dedicated to discussing his marathon training and he usually lets me know how his long run went. I’m excited to cheer him on!

How was your weekend?

14 comments:

Elisabeth said...

Paul is so sweet (I'm just small for my age - aww). He has a such a big heart and is wise beyond his years.
I'm so glad you have a stretch at home though you're right - what is the norm now?? You've had so much travel the last year+.
That goose house never fails to impress.
And kids playing together happily is one of the sheer delights of parenting. I try to leave them when they're happy...and then I leave them too long and it swings wildly in the opposite direction where they start screaming (le sigh), but it is blissful while it lasts! These people who have kids that never fight - in my dreams! It's one of my kids favourite pasttimes.

coco said...

it's so nice to have someone at work that runs, I can talk about running all day long!
I wouldn't worry about Paul's size, boys growth's spurt comes later and sudden. As long as he's healthy, active, then he'll do well.
Travel free week sounds lovely. I can't get away from the family without feeling sad these days. And I used to travel for work every 1-2 months for 1-2 weeks, I don't know how I did it then.

Sarah said...

My favorite thing is to listen to kids convos-- it;s so adorable every time. I actually like the heat because it cools off so perfectly at night. I am someone who keeps the air on 24/7 all summer to achieve a 66-degree house, but it has been 75 and perfect inside all week. I AM SO WEIRD.

Birchwood Pie said...

If there is anything that I've learned from racing, it is that there is no "not too hot but not snowy" time of year. I've had heat issues with both April and October races. I hope that your employee's race goes well - yay for first time marathons! Especially one that goes by your Capitol building. I still have all the feels from staying in that neighborhood on vacation this summer.

One of my nephews was very small through the end of high school. Once we were at a family party and one of my stepsons thought that it was OK to make a joke about his size and my SIL just about tore him a new one. And then Nephew finally got his growth spurt and cleared the six foot mark in a hurry and today you would never know. The only thing "wrong" with him is that he has his dad's genetics - he's a tall skinny dude.

Nicole said...

I love kid conversations too! I clearly remember one from pre-k where they talked about their favourite juices with a friend for like 10 minutes, then they all said that their moms didn't let them have juice much. The conversations get so great as they get older, I loved listening when I was carpooling.
Enjoy your week at home!!

Jenny said...

Hee hee! I do love that house (especially the large skeleton coming out of the ground.)
Yes, maybe they should think about moving that marathon later in the future! I hope it's not TOO bad this weekend. And you never know- the forecast could change?
Sounds like you had a really nice weekend without too much kid drama! Legos are the best. My son still gets Lego sets for Christmas- unfortunately we tried to get my daughter interested in them but it's not her thing.
Enjoy your travel-free week!

Ernie said...

It looks like solo bath is Taco's happy place. I love it. Our weekend was a whirlwind. We had a couple over for drinks on Friday night, tailgated Saturday at Notre Dame, raced home (stopping at Reg's apartment on our way back to drop off food with his roomies - he was at the ND game too) to take pictures of Curly before homecoming, I met a few moms out at a bar during the dance, and on Sunday we had the fundraiser for pediatric brain cancer for our friends, who lost their 3 yo daughter to a DIPG tumor in 2022. ]

Enjoy your week without travel. And I love the heat, but I do prefer having an available pool. ;)

Kyria @ Travel Spot said...

Heh, probably as soon as the push the date back for the marathon, it will start snowing in late October. I am not sure what is worse, too hot or too cold, but definitely I do not do well in too humid. I have run in both very hot and very cold (well not MN cold, but CIM was in the 20s in the morning) weather and both are hard! Hopefully fall will peek its head out by this weekend for your coworker's sakes!

I love listening to kid's convos and how they each, at whatever age, think that they know everything and are so sure of themselves. Then as they get older, they have a new sureness; each stage is so fun. A just went to the homecoming dance with a kid who was "small for his age," and it was so cute. I mean, 14 year old girls are head and shoulders above the boys at that age! They had a great time though. I remember a girl in 7th grade who was super busty and how the boys all looked tiny compared to her. I sure would hate to have to do middle school/high school over again; looking back, it was both so easy and so, so hard!

Grateful Kae said...

Oh, I know, the heat has been.... interesting. Like, on one hand, it's really been a gorgeous September. Nice and warm, no jackets needed, sunshine... dog walks have been quite glorious both in the morning and in the evenings. But, I also feel like, where's fall?! I do love the crisp air, the smell, and heck, I want to use my hot tub more again!! It's been too warm!

I HEAR YOU on the small kiddo thing. This is still something we're dealing with over here. E is just so short compared to many of his peers. At this point I'm not sure how much more he'll grow, either... but supposedly could still stretch a couple more inches. He sure hopes so! It's just hard to feel "different", especially as a guy. I know it really ultimately doesn't matter so long as they're healthy and happy but society definitely tells us that boys "should" be taller, and it's hard for him, and me too, honestly, to not end up with that idea in our heads.

Life of a Doctor's Wife said...

Awww, I love how confidently Paul stood up for himself! Sounds like he has some excellent role models in his life. And look at Taco, grinning away in his bath! He is such a cutie.

This sounds like a pretty great weekend. I love the photo of the Halloween decorations. The skeleton climbing out of the earth looks so pleased with itself!

Your travel schedule has been bonkers, Lisa. Is the frequency of your trips going to be typical for the longterm? It sometimes seems -- from the perspective of this blog reader, at least! -- like you have such a mix of pre-planned and last-minute trips that it would be difficult to find the right balance.

NGS said...

This weather! Egads. We had to do yardwork and I was miserable. I want to do more yardwork, but it's going to have to wait until the weather cools down.

I put up Halloween decorations this past weekend and it's making me so happy!

sarah (SHU) said...

I don't know what a $200 million opportunity means, but it sounds very exciting! I really hope you get some fall soon - seriously, i kind of live vicariously through the idea that at least it's cooling off somewhere . . .

J said...

It was 100 degrees today, but with the sun going down earlier, it's not as bad as 100 degrees in June or July. It cools down a bit in the evening, thankfully.

I love the kid conversations. There's a lot of insight to be had.

Anonymous said...

Awww, I love Paul's confidence about his size. He'll grow into himself. It sounds like you had a really nice weekend... but man, yeah, it's still hot (here too!). I am always amazed how you split parent duty. I don't recall that my parents did that with my sister and I (or at least not regularly enough for me to remember).