Duluth and Long Lake

Hey all! This summer is flying by and has been busy and so much fun. Earlier this summer, I participated in the much anticipated Garry Bjorklund Half-Marathon (it's a part of the Grandma's race weekend). My brother Ben and several friends ran the race, but it was so crowded I didn't even see everyone. I accomplished both my conservative (under 1:40) and high-reaching (under 1:35)  goals with a time of 1:33. Overall, I felt really even-paced and strong. By the end I was pretty wiped out, so I knew I did the best I could do! The last couple miles I felt like my calves were going to cramp at any moment so I just tried to maintain my pace instead of pushing it in. The girls ran their first race the Friday before my race at the Whipper Snapper races. I had to hold Josie's hand, but it seemed like they had fun! Since then, I have done two more 5ks including the "Esprit de She". The race was well done and I plan to come back next year if I can! It's a women's only race and two glasses of wine, a turkey burger and salad, a cute singlet, etc were all included in the fee. I took 3rd place out of more than 2000 women. They gave the top 3 runners flowers and a gift basket full of fun goodies like a water bottle, cleaning spray, shampoo/conditioner, head band, etc. I haven't broken 20 minutes, which is my goal. I am signed up for the Monster Dash half-marathon in October, but I'm sure I'll squeeze in another race or two before that. Early August I officially start my half-marathon training plan again- uftda! I hope I can train more this time, as my IT band prevented me from doing that many miles. (I only ran 3 days a week in preparation for Garry Bjorklund.) This blog is rarely about my activities, so I know you're dying to hear about what the kids have been up to! :)

Ben and I after the half marathon. Post-race high!

Pre-race- they must be going over their racing strategies- look at those game faces! ;)

Warm-ups!

Before the "Esprit de She" 5k with my friend Steph. I ran with her at St. Olaf (awesome runner who finished her first 5k post-baby!)

I lost to a fierce competitor, but it was a good race!

I registered with the Minneapolis Moms of Multiples! They were so nice and we had 43 kids between all of us in this picture!

The kids and I stayed in Duluth after Grandma's Marathon weekend for a whole week because Dan was traveling to Seattle for work again. The girls went to Vacation Bible School with their cousins Dane and Peter. Their aunt Lara taught their age-group so that was great for the girls! I stayed two of the days, but I think they do better (participate a little more) when I'm not there. We also spent time at Island Lake, where Dan's parents are building a new home. It's a beautiful timber frame and basically everything is custom how they want! It's really coming along since this past weekend. It may be ready to move in for them this fall sometime. 

The timber frame! It looks a lot different now, but it's really cool to see this part!

Will and "Bumpa" 

Will had such a blast looking at all the big trucks. He was mesmerized sitting there in that picture (with a worker).

We spent July 4th up at Long Lake again, where we enjoyed swimming, fireworks, and boat rides. It was really relaxing (as much as it can be with kids) and the girls even went on their first tubing ride! We are so lucky that they get along so well with Dane and Peter. Will tries to tag along too but there's only so much he can do as a toddler.

Cousins! (L to R Peter, Dane, Will, Josie, Sofia, and Madeline) Not sure if they will all fit on that bench another year!

Jumping on a water trampoline on land was just as much fun if not more than when it was on the water!

Sauna time! (L to R of my girls: M, S, J)

Cousins with Uncle Pete (J, S, M)

Cousins watching some little fireworks.

Sparkler time!

So exciting for little kids!

Will is fascinated by the glow stick.

Father and son! 

Enjoying donuts (love the ruffle bums!)

Sofia tubing with Dan!

Josie and Dan

Madeline and Dan

Tubing is serious business in the Klopp family!

All three with Dan!

Will with Grandma

Andy and Aimee visited when we got back from up north. They came prepared with fun activities for the girls. They are planning another Minnesota trip around the same time my brother Jon will be around too. Langager family reunion!

They are waiting for the  "fizzy" rocket to pop!

Displaying their tees the girls made with Aimee (J, S, M). How fun!

 I also brought the kids up to Duluth during the week to see my good friend Leah and her three kids. The girls always take a long to warm up to other kids, but once they did they had a lot of fun together! Will was just getting over an ear infections, so he was clingy the whole time. It was so fun to see Luke, though, because they change so much at that age! We were able to squeeze in another play date this past Sunday when we were in town again. Will was himself this time.

Dane had a heavy load to push!

Epitome of how Will was feeling those couple of days :(

Friends/cousins!

Peter having fun at the playground

Will was a cuddle bug with Lara :)

Everyone following Anna!

Anna dried off Madeline after some water play. It is so cute how motherly Anna is!

Anna is probably explaining something here.

Madeline, Josie, Sofia, Anna, and Elsa

Peek-a-boo, Luke!

Leah and I with our 7 kids! I love Luke and Will staring at each other! 

Another example of Will's mood :(

Nice story time before bed with Grandma!

This was this past weekend. I couldn't get the smiles from my girls but it's still cute! (S, M, J)

Will and Luke. (Lighten, up, Will!)

We are planning to be at my parent's cabin on Lake Ojibway soon but our plans aren't solidified yet. We love going up north to cabins and Duluth, but once in awhile we try to stay in town too. Hope everyone is having fun and beating the heat! When the kids wake up, we're heading to somewhere with water! I had a fun photo shoot with my girls and frogs. I just love the combination of girly dresses and frogs! 

Sofia, Madeline, and Josie showing off their frogs!

Ooooh!

Fun perspective pic

Madeline is NOT squeamish with frogs!

Neither is Sofia (or Josie, for that matter).

Don't worry, these lil' guys survived!

Until next time... I know I'll need to update after Lake Ojibway!

Will is 18 Months!

I need to split up the updates since it's been so long! It's been over a month since the last entry and so much has been happening. Summer is so busy! We've had Duluth trips, cabin trips, and once in awhile a weekend at home. I took Will in last week for his 18 month check-up. It was good timing for the appointment because he started a fever the night before and was still feeling crummy that morning. It turned out he had a right ear infection! I think it was his first as far as I remember. It was sad because he was so lethargic and pathetic at his appointment and the pediatrician felt so badly for him! Because he was sick, we put off the vaccines, so we will be going in soon.

Will measured 31st percentile for both height and weight. This was a relief to me, because his height percentiles kept getting lower and lower at each previous appointments. He somehow had a growth spurt these last three months. His weight was 23 lbs and he was 32 inches tall. His head is still big at 87th percentile. No wonder it's hard to get shirts on!

Will has been having a language explosion. He knows a lot of words and strings the occasional two words together (such as "Mom go?") There are unfortunate words in the mix like "no" and "mine", which he definitely learned from his sisters. He's a fantastic sleeper, but I still don't think he needs as much sleep as his sisters needed at his age. He loves balls and can catch a really slow throw (where he catches it against his chest).

Will Likes:
*trucks, buses, trains, cars- anything with wheels, I guess.
*balls
*SWEETS- and he now knows juice and asks for it a lot
*lasagna and pizza
*Sunbutter (peanut butter replacement made out of sunflower seeds)
*his blankie - wants it for sleep and when he's tired or sad
*Daddy!
*his aunts, uncles, and grandparents! (and his cousins and sisters too)
*dogs- Odin and Walle (Lara and Charlie's new puppy)

Will Dislikes
*most vegetables still- but I keep trying!
*having to share Mom when he needs a cuddle
*putting on his cream or steroid ointment for eczema :(

Overall, he's such a sweet guy! We are seeing the drama of the two year old starting to creep out but this time we only have ONE going through it. Piece of cake, right? Right?? Well, we'll see.

Stay tuned for more updates! Continue enjoying the summer- it's going by way too quickly already. Today in the cities we are experience a fall type of day- very unseasonable for July, so it's a reminder to soak up the heat while we can! Here are some favorites from his mini 18 month photo shoot:

Long Update!

Time for a little update! We were up north for Easter this year and we had beautiful weather in Duluth. It made for some interesting pictures- sleeveless dresses in the snow! The girls had been counting down the days until Easter for so long, hoping the Easter bunny would bring them new stuffed animals. The bunny must have understood that our house has enough for now. ;)  They got candy, books, a couple toys, and new clothes, though! Not too bad!

My beautiful girls Josie, Madeline, and Sofia

The girls looking at little presents from Grandma and Grandpa

Ready for Easter brunch!

The cousins- Dane and Will, Madeline, Peter, Sofia, and Josie

Another cute one

Our little  big family

We also made it up north for Mother's Day this year to spend time with Dan's side of the family. We enjoyed nice weather at Island Lake (which is lucky since it rained most of the days leading up to the weekend and now after!) The girls had a blast with their cousins and we might have gotten an hour and change fishing (with no luck).

The girls looking like serious fisherwomen!

The cousins minus Will. They just love each other so much!

Will and Grandpa... he's pretty serious about driving the boat!

Even though there were still ice chunks in the lake, they got near-naked to splash in the water and run around!

Uncle Pete taxied the kids to the other side of the cove. (Shallow water, FYI)

There they are!

Happy Mother's Day! At Brighton beach- it was/felt about 20 degrees colder than up the hill. BRRRRRR! Great picture though!

We also had some good quality time (minus Dan, unfortunately) with my family this past Monday. My brother Andy and his wife Aimee are in town so the kids are having quality time together. They like to ride on shoulders and get chased around the house!

Me with Sofia, Will, Josie, and Madeline. YES, my arms are full. ;)

Mother/Grandmother picture (courtesy of Andy)

Cute pic of Aimee and the girls. (courtesy of Andy)

Mr. Will! (courtesy of Andy)

Grandpa and Will

Playing chase monster (courtesy of Andy)

At Uncle Ben's putting together their legos from Grandma Klopp. Will is cute in the background TRYING to get in on the action! (courtesy of Andy)

I have been training for the Gary Bjorklund Half-Marathon coming up in June, so extra time I get I like to escape for a run. A friend from high school, Leah Pustovar, and I ran a 5k a couple weeks ago and took first and second! (Leah won.) 

The girls are taking swimming lessons for the last several weeks, and they have been enjoying riding bikes. On a relatively nice spring day- around 60 degrees- they pleaded and pleaded with me to get out the kiddie pool so they could swim! They have been looking forward to summer for so long!

Practicing the bikes!

The day Josie didn't want to bike, she had so much fun with Will, who apparently wanted to wear a helmet.

Hi Josie!

First Teddy Bear Park excursion of the year! (S, J, M)

Josie, Sofia, Madeline

Will!

Sadly, the girls have been taking on a new attitude with me. If they want something- usually a new stuffed animal or a treat- they try to make demands, like "Either we have candy or we watch a show!" This does not work on me, sorry girls! 4 going on 13, huh?  Another less-than-desirable attitude is this mean-girl thing coming out. They will say things to each other like "You can't live with us because you don't have a pony-tail!"

Sofia just had her first tick of the season- Oh no!! Otherwise, she's doing well. She is the fish of the group but still gets nervous practicing floating on her back (with help). The feeling of water covering the ears is something new! Sofia is also taking off with biking. She got the hang of it the quickest. I'm sure we'll be using training wheels this whole summer, but you never know! One more thing to mention is at Preschool she tends to be without her sisters the most. I suspect it's not necessarily her choice, but she seems happy to be separate. At home, she is slightly more likely to be excluded, but some of the time she is the one excluding. Three is a hard number!

Miss 'Fia

Madeline got the hang of biking too. She and Sofia will go in circles on the sport court and almost make it a game of bumper cars. I keep reminding them this won't be possible when the training wheels come off! Madeline is the most tentative at swimming lessons. She wants to wrap her arms around my neck the whole time, but I try to stop that. I'm not sure if this stems from the two times she fell of the dock as a smaller toddler. 

Miss Madeline

Josie is doing well at swimming! She loves jumping off the side of the pool and blowing bubbles. Josie took a while to warm up to the new bikes. She watched her sisters a couple weekends ago, but decided to give it another try the next day. She seems to get really frustrated or scared with new things. At conferences last week, all three girls got good remarks. They have a ways to go with writing letters and knowing numbers, but they are progressing! The teachers said they are always sweet to everyone. They still try to wrestle or be physical with kids but it's never out of ill-intention, more just fun play. We're on the homestretch of the school year- our last two days are next week! In fall they go 3 days a week instead of 2. I don't know how moms and dads get their kids up and ready for school 5 days a week- 2 days a week seemed busy.

Miss Josephine

Will is turning more "toddler" each day. When I say that, it doesn't necessarily have a negative or a positive connotation. In some ways it is harder- he is keeping me on my toes. When we're out in public, he wants to be down and walking around, but he'll go wherever he wants without a care in the world! At home, he knows the snacks he wants and puts up fights a lot. He is even saying "mine" already- no doubt he learned that from his sisters! He also thinks he can take swats at me when he doesn't like what I'm doing- or at his sisters when they have the nerve to sit with me at the same time as him. HMMM. On the other hand, his comprehension is improving and he practices saying a lot of words. It is fun to watch his development- the first couple years it changes so quickly.

Will- Mr. Cutie Pie...maybe it's why it's OK he acts like a toddler, haha!

I  am ditching the fam this weekend for my good friend, Anna's wedding in Charlotte. I'm not going to lie, I am pumped to have absolutely no dependents and just to do my own thing. I plan to do a long run and walk around the cute areas of the city when I'm at the wedding. Debbie, Dan's mom, is helping out on Friday to make this possible, so a big thank you to her! 

15 Months

Will is already over 15 months and he checked out well at yesterday's check-up. I had to fill out a development questionnaire and I didn't even know whether he could spoon feed himself, color, or problem solve (like dumping out a toy from a container to get at it), so I tested him once we got home. He is actually great at spoon feeding himself and problem solving! It's so funny I hadn't even given him the chance yet. I forget so quickly from when the girls were young. I also never thought to give him a crayon yet, but I guess my baby is growing up. Sniff, sniff. Will also has a lot of words, including dad, mama, sisters, dog, car, ball, fish, byebye, and uh-oh.
Will only gained 3 ounces from his 12 month appointment. He now weighs 22 lbs 8 oz and is at the 45 percentile for weight. He grew over an inch but is still at the 5th percentile (29 1/2 inches). His head is HUGE at 95th percentile! I guess he isn't exactly proportioned haha!

Will, 15 months

Hey, Will!

This is a typical Will expression!

The girls have two swim classes each under their belts. Sofia is still the fish, Josie is getting braver, and Madeline is still very timid; not wanting to do certain exercises and very clingy. I hope she makes improvements throughout the session- I'm sure she will.

Our beautiful children (S, W, M, J)

A cousin "slumber party" (movie night) from a couple weeks ago. FROZEN!!

This is a video from today... He was trying to not so subtly tell me he wanted to GO somewhere! (In case you can't tell, he's saying "car" a bunch and "bye".)

Last Sunday was the perfect opportunity to try out the new bikes! (S, M, J.. Josie has a new bike too, she just wasn't ready to try it yet)

Hope everyone has survived the crazy weather- I hear of some friends getting tornadoes down south while us northerners were bombarded with MORE snow. Luckily the girls had a blast in it this morning and no doubt it will melt quickly when I see the upcoming forecast. :)