Destination Destin

Rogue playing on the golf cart

Playing in the fort that Bryan built on a rainy day

Back in March we took a family trip to Destin Florida. When I say we I mean the WHOLE Kraker family. There was sixteen of us total. The youngest turning 4 weeks old while we were there. The weather could have been a bit warmer but the sun shined all but one day we were there so we got a little beach time in. I have to say Destin probably has one of the nicest beaches I have ever been too. The sand was white and soft and there were little "tide pools" along the length of the beach that was perfect for the kids to play in. We didn't do too many exciting things while we were there but it was nice to have a relaxing time with family. I have to say I was a bit worried about the trip down since we were driving through the night. We packed some dvd's and borrowed a friends portable dvd player in hopes that it would entertain Rogue while she was awake. Without the dvd player I think we would have had a rough ride, but thankfully Rogue likes to watch movies so it kept her entertained. I will admit that I had Elmo songs in my head all week. Such is the life

of a mother right?

Mother Sucker

April 1st is the opening day of sucker spearing and this year was a rare opportunity. By rare opportunity, I mean opening day landed on a Thursday and Chad and I both had off from work the next day for Good Friday so we didn't have to worry about staying out too late. Also, the river was low and clear because there hadn't been any snow melt or rain recently, and the final plus was that the temprature was a beautiful 70 degrees. How could you ask for a better situation? Usually, April 1st is poor weather and everyone has to be at work the next day so you don't want to stay out too late. Not to mention, the sucker aren't up stream far enough yet. That wasn't the case this year. The sucker were up in the masses. We probably speared nearly 60 fish that night and we were only out there for one and a half hours.

Just when everything seemed to be going perfect, my brother took a spear to the head. Yeah, thats right, I said a spear to the head. You might be thinking I can understand a spear to the foot, but how did he get a spear to the head? Well, his buddy went to sling a fish off his spear and when the fish flew off the spear the momentum carried the spear right into my brothers left eye brow. Needless to say our excellent spearing adventure was cut short because we had to bring my brother to the hospital where he recieved 5 stitches.

Ah memories, they are priceless!!

15 month Well Child visit

Today Rogue and I made a trip to the doctor for her 15 month well child visit. All was well except for a cold that she has been fighting almost all winter. Here are here stats from this morning;

weight 24lbs 10oz just under the 75th percentile

height 31 and 3/4 inches just above the 75th percentile

I am very happy to annouce too that Rogue is finally sleeping through the night. I think its the nice weather we are having. She absolutely LOVES being outside. Rogue will throw quite the fit when its time to come in.

A Serious Case of Bedhead

We just returned from a wonderful trip to Florida yesterday. It was a 16+ hour drive so Rogue didn't sleep the greatest. She slept for a straight 13 1/2 hours when we put her to bed last night, I guess she needed to catch up on some sleep!

First 5k

Last Spring some friends and I started the c25k program. When a friend sent an email out asking if I wanted to try this of course I hesitated. I had tried running on my own and just ended up frustrated because I could only run a very short distance. But I thought I should give the program a try since it starts with short runs and works you up to running 3 miles. Over the next few weeks I was running more than I had ran ever in my life. It was such a sense of accomplishment. I honestly cannot say enough about c25k. Never would I have been able to run 3 miles without it. And Beth I want to thank you for sending that email.

With that being said, I ran my very first 5k this past Saturday! Thankfully the weather was amazing for a run. I have to say I was a little nervous to be participating. I had no idea what to expect. When I started out I instantly knew it wasn't going to be an easy run. For one the first mile was down hill. Me being the person I am kept thinking about the last mile and how it was going to be completely up hill and two the whole run never felt good. I had to constantly struggle with myself to not walk. Which I did not do, thankfully. Although I did have to stop at an intersection because the wonderful police officer that was there to stop traffic chose to not stop traffic. Yep, I was pretty pleased about that. Coming up to the last hill I seriously that I might die. Hills and I don't get along very well. But knowing that I was almost done got me through. Since the run was such a struggle for me I thought my time would be terrible. I had timed some of my 3 mile runs and had never come in before 37 minutes. So when I rounded the corner and crossed that finish line at 33 minutes and 45 seconds I was elated! No wonder the run was so hard for me, I was going much faster than my normal pace. Overall it was a great experience and I will continue to do more 5k's throughout the summer.

Please excuse my face in the pictures. I was going to bring my camera for before pictures but my husband had the camera with him that morning. Thank you to my mother in law for taking these pictures and coming to cheer me on!

2010 Hunting Expo

The 2010 Hunting Expo was in Grand Rapids on January 24 and we thought it was a good excuse to get out of the house and check it out. Chad, Amber, Elijah, and Elizabeth came along and Rogue got a chance to see some pretty neat wildlife mounts. We even got to see a live deer. I think Chad and I had more fun than the others, but ladies didn't complain and the kids behaved well.

2010 Motorcycle Show

Saturday, February 27. The Shadow Hawks got together to do some dreaming in Grand Rapids. The annual motorcycle show was in town and we wanted to go drool over some of the areas finest looking bikes. The show was pretty weak this year but Marty, Terry, Beaver, Kuyser, and I still managed to have a pretty good time. And, even walked away with some fine hardcore biker apparel, a helmet and some leather vests.