This weekend was all about barbecue and celebration. One to celebrate CrossFit and the continued success of our gym and its members, and the other to celebrate the impending arrival of little baby “LeBlaine” Walentik, possibly the most uniquely false-named baby in existence.
On Friday, Kaitlan and Erica came over to help prep for our first CrossFit member appreciation BBQ. On our to-make list: Kabobs, Alton Brown’s gluten-free chocolate chip cookies, Paleo “Oatmeal” Raisin Cookies and some Spicy Sweet Potato Hummus. A nice assortment of both paleo and healthy goodies!
I don’t think our kitchen has been this packed since the Christmas taco extravaganza. Every inch of our kitchen was covered in various stages of prep or assembly.
The cookies turned out beautifully, but our pièce de résistance were the kabobs. Thick cuts of beef, rubbed with a simple mixture of salt, pepper and chili pepper. We also added a little honey to help coat the meat. Then we skewered (is that a verb?) them alongside mushrooms, peppers, onions, mango and pineapple.
Lots of meat + lots of veggies = tons of kabobs. We lined an entire tray full of them, which required a pretty interesting pack job to prevent them from spilling over. Lots of plastic and foil wrapping. The whole thing, which kind of resembled a UFO, barely fit in our refrigerator.
The next morning, we loaded up the car and headed to the gym. Because we were bringing the meat, we missed the WOD, but it looked like a fun one, especially since we hardly ever do group challenges.
Everyone was definitely hungry after all the excitement…
Burgers, chicken, our kabobs and plenty of other fruit and veggies and salads. And our desserts!
Lots of food = happy CrossFitters
Our trainers Nate and Eric (right)
Kendall and Ranger
After food, we kind of broke into a Festivus-like celebration, replete with feats of strength.
Beer pong with…
..burpees? And…
…stretching?
Muscle-ups?
Some ring work…
And finally Rosie showed us some of her circus skills, literally.
…I think Aaron’s face says it all.
Even Neil got in a rope climb to test out his new shoes. Success!
And of course there is no better way to end the day like me ruining a group photo. People, this is why I stay behind the camera.
We stayed out late that night. We definitely need to do that more often…
Anja and Steve’s Baby BBQ (in which no babies were actually harmed) literally coincided with the rainiest day we’ve had all spring. While that pretty much killed plans for outdoor games and lounging, everyone was excited to cram into Anja’s parents house to celebrate baby LeBlaine, who is due in just a few weeks.
I can’t tell if Hugo remembers me and is excited to see me or is resorting to growling to keep me away?
We dined on BBQ, salads, fruit and veggies, cake and snacks. Whoever chose carrot cake is my hero!
And gifts!
A fun, albeit rainy day. It’s hard not to be a little sad that a good many of my friends are kind of moving into the next stages of life without me, but I’m trying to take it in stride. So far, being thirty feels like a wedge between two life stages. While I spent the first half of my weekend with people mostly younger than me, worrying I was too old and sticking out like a sore thumb, I spent the latter half feeling like an immature, ill-prepared kid. What a head case I am huh? Sometimes I just feel as if I’ve left some well-worn path of continuity somewhere and no longer know how to measure or judge my place or success at what I’m doing. Does this make sense to anyone? Is it just a “woman” thing?
Love that one girl’s rainbow socks!
Me too! Kaitlan is always wearing super bright clothing, she’s like pure sunshine!
I COMPLETELY KNOW HOW YOU FEEL. (about the last paragraph anyway). We recently went to a concert where I felt too old by half, but then the baby thing doesn’t feel quite right either. Somehow I thought at 31 I’d feel more “grown”, you know? Alas, I think life is just year after year of having no idea what you’re doing, just trying to fake it til you make it 🙂
I definitely thought I’d be more grown up as well. It’s not that I’m not, but the more I know, the less assured and confident I am of any sort of “timeline” or “plan” for even the next six months (other than the obvious work, house, etc.). I’m just going to keep running at things head-first and see where that takes me. Just be happy you’re not in the midwest anymore!