Mommy's Birthday

It was my birthday yesterday, and I had a great day! My mom and sister took me out to lunch at Godfathers for a pizza buffet. Chris came home from work with flowers and a new book Extreme Measures, by Vince Flynn. I've loved all of his other books, so I'm excited to start this one! Thanks honey! Then we went out for dinner to Red Robin. The kids behaved, and it was pretty good. Afterwards, we were feeling adventurous, so we went bowling for the first time as a family. The kids had a blast! They were so excited to push the ball down the ramp that they have for small kids. We used the bumpers and we all had a great time. Although, I wasn't aware that the alley wouldn't have shoes for kids. I felt like a bad parent...I let Claire bowl in her flip flops. It's a good thing we survived with all of her toes intact. :) Thanks family, for a great birthday! I love you all!

Nike Maxim Awards

Last night Chris and I went to the 2009 Nike Maxim Award Ceremony for IT. It was a formal affair, so we got to get all dressed up. Chris and his colleagues were finalists for two of the awards. Here is us leaving the house....

The event was held at the Tiger Woods Building on the Nike Campus. First there was a cocktail hour, which we missed most of, and then the ceremony started in a large auditorium. They put on a good show! The awards were specially made black shoes with purple laces. They are pretty fancy.

That's right, Chris and his teams won not one but TWO of these Maxim Awards! Considering there are only 11 awards given out, and over 200 nominees, this was a great accomplishment! Good job honey, we are proud of you! (Too bad they aren't the right size) :)
After the awards were all given out, we were served a really great dinner of steak and salmon with spinach and potatoes. There was a live band serenading us throughout the dinner. Overall, it was a really fun evening! It was nice to have a fancy evening out away from the kids. Thanks to Grandma for babysitting!

Fun in the yard

Summer days are just about over. We have been trying to enjoy the heat while we can, knowing that next week the rain could start. On one such day, we opted to stay home and play outside with water. I spent a few dizzying minutes blowing up the kids' small inflatable pool, and then Claire helped fill it up. It was pretty nice to just sit in the shade and watch the girls have fun. They really love splashing around and just being in their swimsuits makes them hysterically hyper. I'm glad I finally said "yes" when asked to get out the pool. It really wasn't that much work...and the looks on their faces was priceless.

For the record....

So, it turned out that my fish was actually good to eat! We BBQ'd him up last Sunday, and it was super yummy! A little terriyaki sauce and brown sugar, thrown on the grill = tasty dinner. I just wanted the record set straight. My fish was high quality! Just as good as Bree's fish. :)