A Whole New World

I know I just posted the other day, but Chad and I have experienced some new things in the last few days (well, at least I have).

We volunteered last night at THE WORLD'S LARGEST BRATFEST!!! I had to put that in all caps to make it seem really cool. It was a lot of fun. Chad and I were both cashier runners, meaning we ran to grab drinks when people ordered. We switched off shifts so that someone would always be with Cameron. Chad worked first, so I got my hotdog (I don't do brats) and pepsi and sat to listen to a band, Sunspot. They were actually pretty good. I wish I could've captured it better on my camera, but Cameron started randomly dancing. Hilarious cause it was really loud rock music. Guess he likes that.

They also had carnival rides and little booth-like things where you could get souvenirs or funnel cakes (I did get one of those!). The only kind of annoying thing was that there were two bands kind of battling it out...way too loud. But overall, it was a lot of fun.


















Another new thing for us was that we just got back from our first family bike ride...complete with little kid seat on the back of my bike. So, I've gotta mention that I haven't ridden a bike in a LONG time. I figured getting back into it would just be like...riding a bike. Hee hee. I had to say it. Anyway, so I had this new bike to get used to and then let's throw a 22-pound kid on the back, just for kicks. The first few blocks were rough. Poor Cameron. He probably felt a little motion sickness at the beginning. And I'm so out of riding shape (well, shape in general) that I was really tired when it was all over.

But since we volunteered last night, we got coupons for a free brat (or hotdog, thank you) and ice cream from the Chocolatte Shoppe. Good stuff. There's one located down by the library (about a 10-15 minute walk from our place). So we biked on over there first and then went down the bike trail.

Madison has this awesome bike trail going through the whole city. We rode downtown and stopped at Lake Monona. Really pretty and so much fun.

We stopped at Monona Terrace to look at the water and take some pictures. Cameron was really annoyed with his helmet and being in the seat for a while. I'm not sure how many miles it was down there, but it took us probably a good 30 minutes.

We later stopped at a grassy spot to hang out. I was helping Cameron with his helmet...

And spotted this. Look at his nose. This was a common occurrence on our trip.

Then Cameron decided it would be a good idea to eat a dead dandelion. Nasty.

This is Monona Terrace. Kind of a funky building--it was inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright (he's a WI native and some of his houses are around).

I was totally out of focus on this one, but I think it looks cool.

This is on the way back to our place. I felt like I was going to die. Seriously. The trail was really pretty in this spot. It's kind of in the back of a few neighborhoods.

It was great. A lot of work (I think we were gone for around 2 hours!), but a lot of fun. I'm glad we have our bikes now and can go on rides together (and get in shape!).

Lots of random pics

Since I hadn't posted since I was home last week, I figured I should empty the memory card in my camera and post some of the random pictures on here.

Chad and I got new bikes. We're really excited to start riding together as a family since the weather has been a lot warmer (although I had a dream last night that it snowed!!!). We're still looking for helmets for the two of us, but Chad found a "Cars" helmet for Cameron. It took him a while to stop trying to pull it off, but it seems like he likes it ok here.

I can't believe how big he looks in these pics!

After Cameron's bath last night, Chad left his hair a little wet. When it dried on its own, it got really curly! I always wanted a kid with curly hair!

That's Cameron's bike seat on the piano bench

Chad says that Cameron has "Chicken Truck Driver" hair. I think that's a Shorter family joke, so they'll be the only ones to get it.

A pic of Cameron's bday cupcakes (remember the post where he cried while eating a cupcake? This was before that).

While we were at home, Granddaddy Leake gave Cameron a ride in the wheel barrel. He seemed to like it.

I put Cameron's pj pants on his head the other day. The way it looked made me cry I was laughing so hard. This pic isn't that good cause Cameron had figured out how to get them off quickly.

This was outside of the hotel we stayed in when Katie got married. We had been in the car for 4 hours!!! Chad's suitcase got stuck in Detroit, so we had to drive 45 minutes to the airport before even leaving for Maryland (another 2.5 or 3 hours!). We were all happy to be out of the car!

I wanted to throw this picture in here cause this doesn't look anything like my child.

Chad as the Biggest Loser winner. He says he didn't win, that we tied, but when we weighed in, he won by a few tenths of a percentage point. It's ok. He was nice enough to split the winnings with me. What a nice hubby!!

After mom and Josh's graduation last weekend (the four Leake siblings)

Katie and Jared's Sealing

Well, last weekend was quite the couple of days. We drove up to DC on Thurdsay to spend the night for the sealing on Friday at noon. I helped Katie get ready (did her makeup and hair) on Friday morning and then they were off to the Temple for pics before the sealing. It was a gross, rainy, cold day. Poor Katie. Pictures were done (at least after the sealing) under the covering between the Temple and the Baptistry. I'm sure the professional pics were great (sarcasm here) cause we were all wet and cold, and had our hair in our faces. Oh well. It was a cool ceremony and a great day.

The reception was held at my parents' house the next day. A few ladies from the ward helped my mom with the food and decorations, etc.

My grandma has the corsage on.

I did Katie's hair and makeup again and helped her get ready. Some of these pics are posed.

Coming down from Katie and Jared's new "apartment." They're going to live at my parents' house for a while until Jared finishes school, so my parents had the attic finished. It's pretty nice.

Katie's new family

Katie's new sisters-in-law

Chad "helped" Cameron catch the garter. Niiiice, dad.

My nephews dressing Cameron up.

It's been good to be home. It's been crazy to be home. Chad came and went in what seemed like a day. He got in late on Wednesday night and flew home Sunday afternoon. My mom and brother graduate on Saturday, so I stayed to be there for that. I'm flying home from DC on Sunday afternoon. Wish me luck on this flight...I'll need it!