You know it's summer when...

The other night Aleks and I were watching some of the Olympic trials.

One young woman, who just turned 17, qualified for the first time.

As the heat ended, the cameras cut to her family and showed their reactions in the final moments of the race.

The dad was jumping up and down and the mom was standing with her hand covering her mouth, hardly moving. As their daughter finished and it became apparent she would be a part of the US Olympic team, the mom looked stunned while the dad looked like he wanted to jump out of his skin, he was so excited.

I looked at Aleks and said, "No way. There is absolutely no way I could handle it if our girls ever go to the Olympics. I mean, it's just too much."

Aleks started laughing, "Are you kidding me?! Have you met our girls? They're not going to the Olympics. Unless there's a 'jumping on stuff' category."

He has a point. Our girls are really good at climbing on top of every piece of furniture in the house. 

Oh! And they're really good at jumping onto stuff too.

It's been sweltering here. We've had triple digits all week. Thursday was 106 and Friday was 102. Interestingly, Friday seemed exponentially more bearable, even though it was only 4 degrees cooler. A friend of mine said it was because there was less humidity.

At any rate, we've been spending some time at our YMCA. 

The outdoor water park is wonderful.

I can't wait until our girls can be on our own at the pool. Right now, it's a bit like an intense survival game. Keeping the girls from getting knocked down by older boys who run past, making sure Ruby's always holding a hand as we walk through waist high water, catching them at the other end of the slide so they don't drown...

at least it's cool!

Ballet Wichita 5k

Today Aleks and I ran Ballet Wichita's first annual 5k.

We were excited to run our first race of the season, but we were also doing a bit of reconnaissance work. 

I'm helping to plan a 5k this winter and I want to be sure it's as successful as possible.

There were between 400-500 participants at this event.

I chopped up my t-shirt via, this tutorial I found on Pinterest.

Unfortunately, you can't see my handiwork here.

We hired our babysitter to meet us at the starting line and hang with the girls during the race.

It was a luxury not to have to push the stroller!

Of course on a morning that we had to be out of the house by 7, my early bird 3 year old decided to sleep in.

In fact, Aleks had to wake her up.

And now that I think about it, other than über early travel plans, we've NEVER done that before.

I'm happy to report I PR'd today. By almost 30 seconds.

However, true to my type A, oldest child personality, I was disappointed because I'm in so much better shape than I was last fall and was hoping to take 2 minutes off my previous best time. 

Thankfully I'm married to a man who brings me back to reality and reminded me that I did run faster than several ballerinas.

And everyone who slept in this morning.

Of course afterward we had to go to the Donut Whole.

Ruby thoroughly enjoyed it and carbo-loaded for the day ahead.

I'm mustering up my courage to register for a half marathon in the fall.

I've got to make the decision soon...

Two unrelated notes:

1. I'm the most popular person in my family.

Maia, who do you want to take you to bed? "Mommy!"

Ruby, who do you want to read this book? "Mommy!"

Maia, do you want to come with me to the store? "No, I want to stay with Mommy!"

Ruby, can I get you some more milk? "No! Mommy!"

I don't get it.

Aleks is the best Daddy these little girls could have.

I just keep reminding myself that in 11 years or so, they probably won't want anything to do with me.

2. I am so excited for the Olympics.

I can barely stand it.

Homemade BBQ Sauce, Ceiling Fans, and other important things

I finally finished repainting Maia's dresser!

The whole time I felt a pit of guilt in my stomach for messing with a good piece of furniture.

However, I think the finished project turned out pretty cute and I can always sand and re-stain it if I start losing sleep.

I didn't sand it before priming, which I will do in the future if I ever do this again.

But overall, it's pretty stinking adorable.

Aleks went to Bakersfield, CA last week to be a guest composer at CSUB.

While he was gone, I decided to cook things for dinner that he might not particularly enjoy.

One night I had planned to make bean and corn pizzas (a meal that Aleks actually would have enjoyed). However, I ran out of time to make dough for the crust and when I opened the fridge, I realized we were out of BBQ sauce. 

Tapping into my Kyhn roots (you should know my parents make their own pancake syrup) I decided to create something from nothing. I ended up putting the pizzas on tortillas and mixing ketchup and mustard to make BBQ sauce.

I'll be honest, it wasn't amazing, but Ruby certainly liked it!

Of course while Aleks was gone Maia caught a cold and was up all night. The next morning was a blur, but thankfully the girls usually play together pretty well and I could self-medicate with coffee.

A while ago Aleks won "Best in Show" from the Global Music Awards.

While he was gone, his trophy came in the mail.

Isn't it pretty?

I know it's the first of many awards to come.

The girls and I went to breakfast one morning that Aleks was out of town.

They did remarkably well and the outing was without incident.

Well, until Maia spilled her orange juice all over herself and the booth as we were leaving.

Sigh.

How great are Ruby's curls?!

I mean come on.

I learned how to use the timer on my camera!

Look! a picture with all 4 of us together!

When Aleks got home, he installed this ceiling fan!

And watched the girls while I was at work

 And made dinner.

I'm so lucky.

I found the cutest kid's consignment shop and got the girls some new dresses.

This one has lobsters embroidered on the collar.

So cute and vintage looking.

And pink of course.

And then there's this outfit that I think is adorable, but Aleks doesn't want her wearing belly shirts in public.

So, I'll probably put Ruby in the shirt and hope Maia wears the pants once in a while.

Sweet Ruby.

Whose favorite words are "hungry" and "bite."

Can you tell how much Ruby adores her sister?

Well, summer is here.

It's hot and muggy.

House projects are piling up.

Aleks and I are doing a 5k next Saturday.

Tomorrow we're going to see a Dinosuar exhibit downtown.

Hopefully Maia won't be disappointed when the pteranodons don't start singing and dancing.

But seriously, thank you Jim Hensen for Dinosaur Train.

Happy Weekend!

Happy Friday!

To be honest, now that school is out, I lose track of what day it is. The deliciousness of Friday afternoon no longer means the same in these summer months.

But, for those of you that still have to go to work during the week, here are two adorable videos to get your weekend started off right.

Maia practicing her serious face.

Ruby's love of apples and peanut butter.