The Blizzard of March 09

Our spring blizzard is upon us. We have one every spring and this better be the last of our snow! The snow started Monday morning and continued all day and all night finally stopping Tuesday morning. There were wind gusts up to 80 mph in Rapid so you can imagine all of the snow that was blowing everywhere. We have 3-4 foot drifts in our yard and the dogs had a great time playing in it this morning. It's not that cold out, but with the wind, it feels a lot colder than it is. Schools and a lot of work places were closed yesterday and today. Chris can't run today and this will break his 85 day in a row of running streak so he's not happy with Mother Nature. Lauren was supposed to come today for Caiden's birthday party this weekend, but she will be delayed until tomorrow as the roads are all closed. We all do need to remember that we do live in South Dakota so we should expect this and it could always be worse! Today will be spent snowed in hanging out in the house. I'm sure we will probably play some games and watch some movies and bake something at some point.

The Calm Before the Storm

Here are some pictures of us enjoying our day at the park on Sunday afternoon. It was close to 80 degrees outside and we kept hearing about this blizzard that was coming. As we were laying on the grass under the sun, it was hard to imagine we would soon have snow...more on that later!

Dublin Dash Official Results

Today the "official" results came out from the Dublin Dash that I ran on Saturday. I ended up 9th in my age group out of 53! There were 359 runners this year which is a big race for around here. Last year, there was only half that at this race. The weather was beautiful, which probably helped the attendance. Well, they have 28:34 as my official time (I know it wasn't that fast) but if that is what they have, who am I to argue with them? :)

The Last Rush Game of the Season

This weekend marks the last 2 games of the Rapid City Rush's Inaugural season. We have been to a few games and always have a great time. Living here, we don't get to see many professional teams so it's pretty exciting for us! Caiden loves when they win and last night they did win, 6-4, to which Caiden told us we witnessed the best hockey game EVER. We will be counting down the days for next season to begin!

Dublin Dash 5K

Today was the Dublin Dash 5K and my March race (I'm running at least 1 race every month this year). Before the race started, I began hearing about "the hill." Well, I heard about a similar hill at my first 10K last year and although it was tough, I got up it pretty quickly and it didn't take too much time off of my race. Not this time though. This thing was steep and it seemed to last forever. I started running up it....and then jogging...and then fast walking....and then just walking. On a positive note, I did notice that everyone around me was doing the same thing! So, after that, we did go down the hill and then up another pretty little hill and then cruised down to the finish. But "the hill" took a lot out of me and my legs were pretty tired afterwards. So, I had a MUCH slower time than normal - 32:42 (my PR is 27:31), but I imagine that every one's times were slower than they usually are too. And it was a really fun race. The School of Mines puts it on right after St. Patrick's Day so there are a lot of fun people, a costume contest, a cool T-shirt, a pub afterwards, and door prizes. I did not win anything (again!) so the streak of not winning continues. But this is a race that I will definitely do again!

Spring Is Here!

Finally we have been getting some nice weather around here! Although, I do hear we have a blizzard watch for Monday and Tuesday....But! It's been in the 70's for a few days and we have been taking advantage of it! It's funny how after the winter in South Dakota, how HOT 75 degrees feels! Here are a few pictures of the kids riding their bikes at the park over the weekend. Only in a few places can it be 70 degrees but still have snow on the ground!

Caiden and Chloe's Show And Tell

Last week, Caiden and Chloe brought their Pa (my dad) and his semi to their preschool for show and tell. All of the kids loved climbing inside and outside the truck, honking the horn, and pretending to drive it. They thought it was really cool that he had a TV, movies, 2 beds, and a refrigerator in the truck too. Not sure how we will top that for this week's show and tell.....

Another Rush Hockey Game!

Chris, the kids, and I headed to Rapid City for another exciting night of Rapid City Rush Hockey. If you know our family at all, you know we love sports and one of our favorite family activities is going to any sports game we can. The Rush games are always exciting, win or lose. They have some very loyal fans as almost every single game is sold out. Last night was no exception. Another sold out game! And it was a great night to go as it was military appreciation night so it was very cool to see the special Jerseys they wore and all of the American flags waving in the stands. Chloe was excited as this time, we were sitting at one of the goals behind a net so there was no chance of her getting hit in the butt with a puck this time! Caiden loved every second of it, like he does at most any game.
Besides the game, we also went shopping for some of Caiden's birthday supplies at the party store and checked out the new HUGE Scheels store and the new Cabela's store. The kids loved all of the animals and the aquarium at Cabelas. They also have their own homemade fudge shop in there which we couldn't pass up! :) After some spilled chocolate milk at Ruby Tuesdays at dinner and a quick trip to Walmart for some new clothes, we made it to the game just in time! A bucket of popcorn and a funnel cake later, the Rush couldn't pull out the win and lost 2-3, but it was still a fun game and we hope to catch one more of the last home games in March. Here are some pictures from our fun night!

Rabbit Hole

On Friday night, Lacey and I went to a play at BHSU called, "Rabbit Hole." Although it was very sad subject material, the play was amazing. You wouldn't have thought these were college students acting. All five of the student actors were incredible. Lacey and I go to a lot of the plays at the college and this one is definitely in my top 3. If a theater in your area does this play, I highly recommend it!

Here is the synopsis of the story from their website:

In David Lindsay-Abaire's Tony-nominated play, the heartbreaking story of a suburban couple facing tragedy mixes great humor with real emotions, and hopefulness that speaks to the resiliency of the human spirit. Eight months after the death of their four-year-old son, Becca and Howie's marriage has begun to unravel. She is struggling to forget the pain, he is desperately holding onto his fading memories. Other family members are complicating things, and a little-known astrophysical theory may be the key to putting life back on track.

A New Pig in Town

My friend, Desiree, got a new pet - a pot bellied pig named Dracula! He is all black and all cute! The kids and I went and visited him and let me tell you, this pig loves to snuggle. If you are sitting down, he will be in your lap in a matter of seconds. It took Chloe a few minutes to hold him, but Caiden jumped right in and didn't want to let him go! He is litter box trained and he eats pig food and fruits and vegetables. They aren't really sure how big he is going to get, so it will be interesting to see how big he grows! The pictures aren't great because all I had was my phone, but I'm sure we will be visiting the pig again soon! :)

The Yellowjackets advance to the Championship Game!

Last Sunday, we spent the afternoon at the Young Center at BHSU with Kelly and Lacey and her kids to watch the girls and guys play in their first Dakota Athletic Conference playoff game of the year - they were both ranked very high and were expected to do well. And they both did awesome! They were both playing Dakota State. The girls were up first and while the game was close the first half and they were tied up or within a few points of each other the whole half, the 2nd half belonged to BHSU and they won by a good 20 points. The guys game wasn't as close and they cruised to a victory of 100-83.

On Wednesday night, the guys played their rivals the Hardrockers from the School of Mines in Rapid City in the next round of the playoffs. The first half was tough for them and they were down by 2 going into the locker room at the half. But scoring 59 points in the 2nd half helped them win the game by 10. The girls also played on Wednesday against Jamestown College and also went into the locker room at the half down by 4. But after forcing 24 turnovers in the game, they cruised to a 55-48 victory also advancing to the Championship game today! Go Jackets!!!!!