Paris pics!

At the train station ready to go!

We went to the "Denon" section of the Louvre that displayed all the paintings, sculptures and the "Mona Lisa"

In front of the Louvre
As you can tell, GA had no problem taking naps through out the day

This is us at the end of the day enjoying a glass of wine and dinner before getting on the train

here we are in front of Notre Dame

In front of Notre Dame

Russ and GA at the children's park
This is one of my favorite pics!!!

My new camera is so great at capturing the scenery.

GA was WORN OUT after the trip! She slept almost the entire 2 hour train ride home!

Bonjour and Gutentaug!

Our Germany digs

We are back from Germany and have so many pictures to share! Our visit with my brother, sister-in-law and precious nephew, Camden, was so much fun and I wish we could have stayed longer! Grace Ann loved playing with Camden and he even showed her his crawling skills! Yep, my baby is now crawling and moving all over the place. So my blog posts may get shorter due to my new time span.

Back to the trip.....we arrived on Tuesday, May 19th and hit the ground running. We went to Ramstein Air Base and took a quick tour, then got adjusted at Mick and Enjoli's house, which is in the cutest village ever (Steinbach am Glan). Here is a basic run-down of our trip (because I know you are dying to know..he-he):
Tuesday: arrive and settle
Wednesday: Paris
Thursday: Russ and Mick played golf in Air Force squadron tournament
The gals toured the local village/Mick's office and HQ and went to lunch on base at the Country Club
Friday: Mick and Russ took the kiddos to swim at the Aquatics Center on base, the gals got ready to leave for weekend trip to Garmisch/German Alps/Bavaria
Saturday: visit Cinderella's castle (Schloss Neuschweinstin) and Germany's version of Versaille-Linderhof, dinner at the Gasthaus in Garmisch in their biergarten
Sunday: drive back to Steinbach
Monday: Memorial Day BBQ with my brother's German neighbors
Tuesday: fly back to the states
Whew and catch our breath sometime in between!

(i will post paris pics later tonight...ga just woke-up!)

Beach to Bay 2009

Waiting for me to come by.....
Trying to make the last few seconds count.

After the race posing with the girl!

At Cole Park for the Beach to Bay Celebration! Free pizza and cold beverages! What more could you want!!!!

Sarah, Leann and me

(There were so many people my team didn't get a chance to meet up, but I did find some of my fellow Stroller Strides gals.)

This morning we all woke up bright and early, I think I heard a rooster somewhere, to see me run in my first Beach to Bay Relay Marathon! Now that it's all said and done, it wasn't too bad, but while I was doing it....it was pretty hard! But my goal was to complete my part of the relay without walking and I can proudly say that I can check this off my list! My part was 4.67 miles and it took me 52minutes, which averages out as 11 minute miles. I have to admit I loved the energy I felt before, during and after the race. Having those endorphins and feeling that runner's high feels great and having Russ and Grace Ann at the finish line was awesome! My husband was the best today with his encouraging words and just getting up that early on a Saturday when he'd much rather be fishing. Grace Ann was a trooper, too. We took her swimming after I ran so Russ could see her swim underwater (something she learned at swim lessons) and she was so tired by the time we went to Cole Park for the end of the race.

Now that I have this finished,I can look forward to our trip to Germany and France! We are leaving Monday afternoon at 4:25 and arrive in Frankfurt on Tues., at 9:05am. Please say a little traveling prayer for us, since GA will be our special little travel companion!

Oh and can you believe it our little miss is 9 months today!!!!!

The Wedding

Me and Lindsey before the wedding! She was a beautiful bride!!!!

Those good 'ole SWT boys! Barn, Ryan and Russ

Emily with Scott and Laura

Some old friends from Southwest...Vanessa and Amanda

Ryan and Heidi---cute, cute couple!

Dana---showing off her moves!

Me and Russ at the end of the night! Whew...I was tired!

Relaxing with Mani/Pedi time at Lindsey's house on Friday

GA, Emily and Brit

(Bikini disclaimer: GA was about to go swimming! Don't worry I don't just let her hang out in these at random occasions!)
All the girls

Grace Ann is attacking Emily with open mouth kisses!

Busy, busy, busy

Grace Ann and her Auntie Em

Practicing for the wedding

View at Villa Antonia

Wow--- did we have a busy weekend which started on Thursday when GA and I headed up to Austin. This past weekend my seet college friend, Lindsey, got married and the Sebring 3 were able to help celebrate! Russ joined us on Friday night after a busy day that included the rehearsal @ 11am, the rehearsal lunch, afternoon mani and pedi time with some fun in the sun at Lindsey's parents' house! Before Grace Ann this wedding weekend stuff used to be a piece of cake, not the case anymore! Add a baby to the mix and you get a very tired momma!! Thankfully, I have wonderful friends who chip in and help!! Greer even fed GA her entire lunch while I scarfed mine down. Thanks Greer! Needless to say, GA crashed that night at 8:15!

On Saturday, Emily, Nancy(Emily's mom) and I headed to Viva Day Spa for some Mother's Day TLC before the wedding! If you are ever in Austin go to this spa..... they are wonderful!!!! Then we enjoyed lunch at Romeo's Italian eatery! Russell watched Grace Ann while I was away and while getting ready for the wedding.

Saturday night, Lindsey and Eric had an awesome wedding at Villa Antonia, which was a beautiful place! I really miss the hill country! We danced, ate too much and caught up with old friends. It was great and I got to practice with my new camera. So the next few posts will be of pictures from the weekend.

Testing out her sea legs...

Stroller Strides Mommy group

Grace Ann was glad to be out of that cold water!

Learning to swim to the side

(Sidenote: Russ laughed so hard looking at how red GA's hair is in this picture, we both said, "Whose child is this?)

On Tuesday, GA and I started the mommy and me swim class at Santa Fe. She enjoyed all the fun splashing but the water was a bit chilly! Grace Ann looked so cute in her swimsuit and her little lady legs were too funny when she tried to stand up in the water! Russ is glad she's getting some wade fishing practice before he takes her to test the waters. Don't worry I told him he had to wait until she won't be considered bait.

This weekend we head to Austin for my friend's wedding. I hope I can get some great shots with my new camera since the wedding we will be by the lake. (My awesome parents got me the camera as an early birthday gift to take on our trip! It's the one that Ashton Kutcher has on the Nikon commericals the D60! I absolutely love it!)

Happy Mother's Day to my mom and Russell's mom and to all the wonderful mothers out there!

Much needed date night!

Sweet girl before we left
Family photo

Since Russ went for a long fishing weekend last week I felt like we needed a night to ourselves. So I called up our babysitter and begged her to watch GA, which thankfully, she was available! And I got myself cleaned up and girly and asked my hubby on a date! We had such a good time and ate too much! It's fun to pretend you are a DINK again! (double income no kids)

So tonight I head to Austin for my first overnight away from GA..... I am going to a bachelorette party on 6th street and man am I going to feel old! It will be nice to see my college buddies and catch up on the good 'ole days! (Maybe we can rekindle those Fall '99 Pledge sister moments!)

Have a great weekend everyone!!!

And the trophy goes to...

Apparently, I got 3rd place in my division for the run last weekend, so my sweet friend, Aleisha, brought over my trophy yesterday! I have to say that in all my 28 years, I have never gotten a trophy before. So this little baby is going on the mantle (for now) well at least 'til Beach to Bay for some much needed motivation!