Halloween

Hannah's second year of Trick-or-Treating went successfully. Last year we just took her to a few houses on our block. This year we graduated to our street. Maybe next year we'll do a couple streets. The benefit of living in the city is that you could potentially spend the entire 3 hours out there and still be nearly in your backyard with many more streets to go! When I grew up it was just our little town, and you did those houses, and that was it! I doubt it was 3 hours worth, and you hit every house, not just a few streets.

Hannah went dressed as a princess this year. Last year we just had a hand-me-down costume, and since I can't see spending tons of money for this one day, we decided to figure something out. Hannah received a crown from my aunt and uncle when Grace was born, and she had a frilly dress, so it just seemed to fit together well. Add in some costume jewelery, and some pretty shoes, and voila...a princess!




Grace was a tiger. She did very well watching Hannah go from door to door. Her costume was pretty warm so I think she fared better than her big sister did!



They were just so cute together! Can't wait for many more Halloweens with our two little girls.



We carved a pumpkin this year, too. Hannah did not remember last year (not surprisingly) and really seemed to enjoy this year. I love these early years when everything is new (again!) each time. Eventually she will start to remember doing it previously, but until then it is fun to discover each new thing one more time. The only trouble is that now she thinks we're going to eat it.





In the midst of all this October fun, Eric has been slaving away on his midterm and a presentation for his class. He's still made time for us, though, which we've enjoyed (and appreciated). He's still not quite finished with the midterm (it was a take-home) but he has until midnight tonight, so here's hoping he gets it done! He's been pulling "most of the nighters". He can't quite manage an "all nighter" anymore. Showing his age and all that ;-)

Now we get to look forward to November and Thanksgiving. Grace is soon to be 8 months and we're looking forward to this month and all it will most likely bring (like crawling!). Should be lots to write about!

Marathon

We are back from Eric's marathon. He ran the Whistlestop Marathon in Ashland. We "test ran" the kids on the 5 hour drive, seeing how they did in preparation for our Thanksgiving trip to Pennsylvania to visit Eric's family.

We decided that Hannah starts out strong, makes it about 4 hours and then passes out. Grace starts passed out, and then gets sick of the whole scene and melts down about 4 hours in. Should be interesting all the way to PA...we are stopping after about 8 hours on the road and then have another 3 the following day. Yikes!

Back to the marathon...Eric completed it successfully. We were all very proud of him. He was pretty exhausted by the end, and is still hobbling around because of his aching muscles. He claims he won't be doing another one, but I think we'll find ourselves watching another marathon before too much time passes by. He wasn't completely happy with the results, and that is always a driving force to try again!

My Favorite Runner


The Finish Line


Marathons are Tiring


Triumphant Finisher


The kids have been sleeping like a dream since we got back. I think the whole ordeal tuckered them out. They didn't have a decent nap all weekend! But life will start to get back to normal today, I'm sure. We're looking forward to a few weeks with nothing at all planned.

Milwaukee Marathon

We spent the day in the hot sun driving from spot to spot to support our friend Todd who ran the Lakefront Marathon today. He and Eric have been training since May, so I think we were all glad to see him finish. We both felt badly for him, though, because he trained for a fall marathon, and the weather was in the 80's, and he struggled a good deal because of this. We came home exhausted, dehydrated, and a little bit scorched from sitting in the sun too long. In OCTOBER.

I cannot get over the weather. I hate this unseasonal warm streak. I like the weather in the 80's, don't get me wrong. In JULY. October is light-jacket season, where you get to wear jeans and occasionally a snuggly sweater. The season of a crisp breeze and fall camping. Where you can sit by the fire to stay warm. I cannot wait until the seasonal weather returns in a couple days. The weather guys keep talking as though this warm weather is a good thing...and I do not agree!!

Next weekend is Eric's marathon in Ashland. The weather promises to be in the 50's and sunny, so we're hoping that proves true. This is Eric's first (and most likely last) marathon and we want it to go well for him.

We're going to stay in a cabin and we're hoping it will be a bit like fall camping, without the tent, and with separate bedrooms for the kids. The best of both worlds ;-) We're hoping that my parents can make it, but they will just be getting back from a long vacation and I'm sure they'll be ready to crash at home, unpack, and get settled. So who knows...

Can't wait until next weekend and this whole marathon thing will be in the past!! It has begun to dictate our lives just a touch too much. We'll see what Eric chooses to do next :-)