Oh where do I begin..? Let’s start with my first official bike ride. The whole idea came about when Barry and Oleg decided to do Tour de Lincoln and I have always played with the idea, but did not commit. This time I thought, I could go with my dad and it could be more of a “father-daughter” ride, so I told my dad, he got excited, we signed up and on May 19th we were all set to ride. Our goal was to go 40 miles. The weather was absolutely perfect, the morning air was nice and crisp. Upon getting to our starting point, we grabbed a small snack and off we went. We were doing fantastic until about 8 miles into the ride and then a very unfortunate thing happened, my dad had a slight fall where his left side got skinned pretty bad and he had to head back home. I did not want to keep going without him, but Oleg told me there was no reason for me not to go on and that he was going to take care of dad while I finished. The ride ended up being a “husband-wife” team ride. I couldn’t help but think about my dad through the whole ride and some of the beautiful scenic places we went by where I knew my dad would absolutely love it. I have faith we will get to go on another ride in the near future, hopefully without any injuries. I am happy to say, I have finished it and was a bit disappointed as I was not tired and felt like I should have done the 63 miles. Maybe next year 😉 I definitely want to ride a century one of these fine days. Another big physical goal for me in 2013 is to run a Big Sur Marathon which I plan on registering for in July.
It seemed crazy to celebrate my birthday as it feels like only a little bit ago we celebrated my 30th. Well, what do you know, I am another year older, but it was definitely a special birthday for me, thanks to my dear hubby and family. First, he decided to surprise me with Ruth’s Chris dinner for which he asked my dearest parents to watch the kids. On the morning of my birthday I woke up without any plans but to spend time with family, where again, I was in pure and complete shock to find my parents downstairs at 8A.M. with huge bouquet of flowers, cake and balloons. The next thing that came out of Barry’s mouth was, “You better get ready, because you and your mom get to go out for the day on a shopping spree and here is your spending money”. Can I say it’s every girl’s dream? I was speechless! I have not shopped for myself for so long, that it felt like the biggest treat 🙂 Still in shock, I got ready and we left for the day. My mom and I had a blast, we just wished there were more hours in a day 😉 but who doesn’t? We came home to more celebration, where Oleg, Lilya and my dad joined us. There was a 26″ pizza waiting for us when we got there and probably 20lbs of cherries. I was in heaven 😉 Hands down, one of the best birthdays. It seems like my birthdays get better and better each year, maybe I don’t mind getting older after all;)
On the “getting older” note, the kids are growing way too fast. I was putting away some of Joshy’s baby clothes that no longer fit and got quite emotional about how fast he is growing and how precious time is. The other day Barry told me: “I don’t want our kids to grow up”. Funny that he did not know that I was thinking about that at almost that same time. Just looking at how independent Bella is becoming and more and more she does things on her own. She doesn’t even need her pants pulled up anymore after potty because she does it on her own ;( It certainly makes life more and more easier that we don’t have to assist her in everything, but it also hurts to see how fast time is flying and in a blink of an eye she will be asking for car keys. I am writing this all choked up just thinking how fast that day will come. So, the dancing classes have ended and we have successfully moved on to swimming. It has been a blast, Bella loves the water and would stay in it all day if we let her. She is not the biggest fan of going under, but we are working on it and will hopefully master it soon. Every day I talk to my baby girl, and still get amazed how huge her vocabulary is. It’s just like talking to another adult. Joshy is growing by a minute, the boy is wearing 9 months clothes and probably weighs about 17-18lbs. I think he might be a tall fella 😉
We have also just celebrated our sever years of marriage and the only word that comes to mind is blessed. God has hand picked Barry for me, which pretty much sums up that he is the best choice for me and I love him more and more every day. These seven years flew by like a breeze but we have gained two precious gifts and can not be happier. If Barry ends up reading this post, I love you honey and can not imagine my life without you. You have been nothing but kind, loving, carrying, and simply a wonderful man, husband and daddy and I hope to celebrate our 25th and 50th together, perhaps somewhere in Italy 😉
As to traveling, Joshy took his first trip to Fresno last month and did absolutely fantastic on the way there and back. He also met Mormor for the first time and we are pretty sure he liked her, they had a few bonding moments 🙂 It was fun to see Bella run around and play with sticks and dirt and of course to watch her relationship with Moses, the cat 😉 This is the conversation I overheard while walking by (Bella to Moses): “I love you Moses, you are such a good cat”. I wish you could hear the tone in that I love you, I couldn’t help but smile. We talk about Moses very often still and I am sure we will see him again soon. Now on to pictures…
