Date Night

What?! Did that title really say "Date Night"? That can't be...oh wait! It's true!! :) Ben's parents came to visit us for a few days and insisted that we take time to go out on a date and an overnight somewhere. So, we did and we had a blast. Here are some pictures from our night on the town, kid-free. :) Thank you Dave and Sharon!

Girl's Weekend (plus kids!)

Ben left for the weekend to visit some friends in Minneapolis and to participate in this year's Fantasy Football League. That left me at home with the kids for the holiday weekend. Although, I got a wonderful treat too. Ben went to stay with our great friends, Alex and Christa but Christa decided to come stay with me for the weekend. So, we had a Girl's Weekend!! Of course, I had the kids too but we found a babysitter to get out twice during her stay. It was a great weekend - I miss her so much already. Here are some pictures of our fun weekend together.

Big slide downtown - fun for the kids

Kids climbing the "ladder" to the big slide

Waiting in line

Christa looking through her wristlet ... her movie ticket is in there somewhere....

Dessert and drinks before the movie

This is how you get your company to sleep in...you have the kids camp out in your room  :)

Great night!

Christa and the kids during our picnic on the plaza

Girl's Night Out!

This IS packing light...

Chocolate? Yes, Please!!

How far would you run if you knew this was waiting for you at the end?

Chocolate Fountain

...AND if it's cold outside, this also welcomes you: 

Hot Chocolate - YUM!

In just a matter of one month, I will be running my next 5K with my running partner, Rebecca. I suppose running 3.1 miles isn't so bad when you've got chocolatey treats waiting for you at the end. Hot Chocolate 5K here we come! Mmm. Mmm. Mmm. I mean, come on, who would say no to this scrumptious treat?! ;)

I survived...

I survived my first 5K and had a blast in the process. I ran with three other ladies but Rebecca was my "running partner". This was the first 5K for both of us and we both had so much fun running together. The day was sunny and hot with lots and lots of color.

We ran The Color Run in ABQ. It's a 5K race that has 6 stations of color throughout the race. As you run through each of these stations, the color squad throws powdered color all over you. As you continue through the race, you become more and more colorful. At the end of the race there is a HUGE party where everyone throws color up into the air and you get even more on you as it falls. It's a lot of fun!

Enjoy:

Rebecca and Me - Before the race

Our Running Team (Before) - Me, Sarah, Rebecca, and Martina

Let the Color Party Begin...

Colored Chaos!

Ready, set....go! (Rebecca, Martina, Sarah, Me)

Yahoooo! We did it!!! (Rebecca, Martina, Sarah, Me)

Running Partners (Me, Rebecca) - What a fun accomplishment!

Spoiled...Spa Day

Ahhh, a spa day! I was so excited to get pampered. Here are some pictures of my glorious morning of getting pampered by the ones I love. :)

Some might assume the place I went to get pampered at was this:

A beautiful, relaxing environment...

That might be how I felt but this is more of what my pampered day looked like: 

Spa Crew: Isla, Simon, and Solomon

A little bit of makeup (on the eyes, of course) by Isla, blow-drying by Solomon and combing by Simon

Lots and lots...and I mean loooooooots of giggles

In action picture - the kids concentrating on Mama's hair

Aaaahhhhhhhhhhhh, I love spa days!

Sometimes people are just too serious...

Sometimes people are just too serious...those people should hang out with us on a daily basis.

A whole lot of CrAzInEsS going on!!!

We Love LaLa

We couldn't get ahold of Lais to talk to her and the kids reeeaaalllly wanted to talked to her. Instead, we made her a special message with some paper and crayons. Here are some pictures of the kids' artistic way of saying "We love you to the moon and back, LaLa!"

Simon "We", Isla "Love", Solomon "LaLa"

Masterpiece