All last week, Zachary went to Broadstone summer camp. Since camp started at 9am, but James and I “wanted” to be at work by 8am, we buffered his mornings with private tennis lessons. Camp at Broadstone included sports (such as lacrosse, human bowling, scooter races), a trip to a roller skating rink, and daily swimming. At the end of the camp day (4pm), Zach could hang out in the clubhouse until I picked him up. The clubhouse was pretty fun – equipped with pingpong, billiards, arcade games (i.e. skeeball), video games, and an enclave for art projects and board games. Often times I’d come to pick him up, only to wait because he didn’t want to leave quite yet!
Last Friday, we joined Melissa and Rachel’s family for a outdoor movie. The kids enjoyed the bounce house, sno-cones, and picnic dinner before settling down with popcorn for ‘How to Train Your Dragon’. Yes, again. Kids like repetition, right?
The next morning, after my jog, I took Calie to her dance class. She had a substitute teacher who actually taught a few real dance positions. Calie liked it, but said that she would rather take the gymnastics class.
As soon as ballet was over, we drove to Camino for berry picking. My friend Dana set up the same berry picking trip with her mommy friends last weekend, and informed me that berries were scarce. Fortunately, the berries we were interested in were in decent supply, not any better/worse than previous years.
Calie loved the golden raspberries and ate them almost as fast as Zach and I could pick them. Even with Alex helping us, it was hard to keep up! We had a picnic lunch with berry-themed dessert and played lawn games. Thanks to Melissa for organizing!
That evening, we hosted Calie’s 3rd birthday party at Tricks Gymnastics. It was one of the simplest parties we’ve ever thrown, and I booked it 5 months ago using a $80 Groupon. We had only 15 kids and the party hosts kept them entertained with trampolines, obstacle courses, a train bounce house, foam pit, balance beam, and a crazy 3-person swing. The instructor hosting the party did a great job of making Calie feel special.
The second half of the party was in the party room, where we had pizza, fruit, and chips for dinner, followed by birthday cupcakes. We usually just take the presents home rather than bore everyone, but we had some extra time, and surprise – the kids loved watching her open gifts! I had no idea it was so exciting – see, and adults have to play games like ‘baby shower bingo’ to keep ourselves awake!
For party favors, Tricks gave every child a balloon. We tied on a little bag of fruit snacks and a magic wash cloth. The whole party was done in 2 hours, which was perfect for my almost-3-year-old. Calie had a wonderful time!
(Group picture … family friends plus 3 of her best friends at school. Calie specifically chose to invite Ava, Cassie, and Eamon … and all 3 were able to attend!)
I ordered cupcakes from my admin’s friend. Mini chocolates and regular sized Tuscan cream. They looked great and tasted even better. Calie ended up with a great mix of gifts, from clothes to puzzles to toys. Thank you to all our generous friends!
Sunday, I jogged for 50 minutes with Erjia. I usually run 35 minutes but we had to take a detour because of a crazy lady. A few weeks ago, on the same route, we ran into a woman who started yelling at Erjia and spitting on him. Our group joked that she must have been Erjia’s ex-girlfriend, but he swears he had never seen her before. We felt it was best not to repeat the encounter. After my run, I took the kids to their swim lessons, and then headed to Arden Hills Spa. My friends Kathy, Sandy, Melissa, Karen, Rachel, and Dana were already there, playing tennis. Since I don’t play, this closet introvert enjoyed a few leisurely laps in the pool.
After swimming, we had brunch at Mangos. My order of crabcakes egg benedict was delicious (Salt and fat, what’s not to love? Oh, right. The calories. Too late now. 
). As my primary job now is being a mom, it seems everything I do revolves around the kids (is it obvious from my blog?). It was great spending quality time with my friends, focusing on ourselves beyond our role as a parent. Sandy’s rule to ‘not talk about kids’ was very smart!
After breakfast, it was back into the pool for diving board and water slide high jinks before our spa treatments. Since I have a masseuse I like and go to regularly for under $40, I decided on the sugar scrub and vichy shower. Very relaxing day - Thank you Sandy for setting it up!
While I was at Arden Hills, Alice visited. She is in between jobs (congratulations on her new position at Zappos!) and wanted to drop by to see the kids before heading to Europe for a Vikings River Cruise with our parents. After I got home from the spa, we went to Dave & Busters, where we struck out on Wheel of Fortune, but won 100 tickets from Deal or No Deal. Alice nabbed a stuffed bear on her first (and only) try on the claw. The token cards James and I got from work seem to last forever – we still have credit left!
We headed to Susumu for dinner to celebrate both Alice (7/7/77 – fixed!) and Calie’s (8/1/08) birthdays. Susumu has the best fried rice ever (I recommend mixing with their side sauces), and cost significantly less than Bennihanna’s, especially with a $40 for $20 Groupon. I was pleased to see that business was hopping for them, as we’ve always had good experiences celebrating there.
Today, for lunch, I invited my extended team over for a potluck. It was hard to believe how much the team had grown since the last event at my home. I work with some of the most capable and fun people I know; I’m so fortunate to get paid for what I love to do!
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