My 2nd Quad Cities Half Marathon

This morning Brenda, Anita, and I drove into the QC. We arrived while it was still dark and people were setting up for the race. We picked up our packets and got ourselves ready. We met up with Heather and Thom Shore, other running friends from Sterling. It was Brenda and Heather's first 1/2 Marathon and my 2nd. Anita came to cheer us on. It was a cool, sunny, beautiful fall day and I had a great run. I got the same time as last year, 1 hr. 54 min. We had brunch and headed home. Yep, this is my idea of fun.

Tanners '10

On Saturday, despite an impending storm, we headed down to Tanner's Apple Orchard with Deb to meet up with Brant's family. While waiting for them, we played outside for about 45 minutes before it started to rain. We enjoyed looking at all the scarecrow displays and the kids had fun on the train and in the pumpkin patches. It started to rain when Brant arrived, so we headed into the market for apple cider donuts and hot apple cider. We walked around the gift shop a little, too.

More of Tanners '10

Then it rained pretty hard for about an hour. We were thinking about leaving, but we were all being pretty indecisive. Finally we decided to go outside and feed the goats before we left. That led to playing mini-golf for a while, which was under a tent. Then we headed to the sandbox which was in a big silo. It just snowballed into the kids playing on the playground in the rain. It did eventually stop raining and we were able to do everything- pony rides, barrel rides, and apple picking. We finished up with a picnic in the parking lot. Other than getting wet and messy, it was a fun day and we actually ended up doing more things because of the rain.

This was our favorite new addition to the playground, a bike racetrack. These family bikes were a blast!

Luke's 5th Birthday

Luke is one of Jadon's good friends. They were in preschool together last year and they are in Awanas together on Wednesday nights. Luke turned 5 and had a fun party at his house on Friday night. The kids played in the yard, we had pizza, and then Luke's dad led all the kids on a treasure hunt in the park across the street. They enjoyed running through the woods and looking for each clue. We came back and had cake and Luke opened his presents. It was fun.

Luke, Brecken, and Jadon.

Fiesta Days Parade

A couple weekends ago I took the kids to the Fiesta Days Parade and we watched it with my friend Brenda and her daughter Emma. We have a large Mexican population here in Sterling and it was neat to see their culture being celebrated, along with the other typical parade elements.

South Haven-Campfire

By the last evening the wind died down and we were able to do one of our favorite Pins family activities, hanging out around a fire. The kids enjoyed roasting marshmallows and had even more fun on the teeter totter. This was the first house that allowed a dog, so Jeff and Jordyn were able to bring Woolfe this year. The kids loved playing with him. This was a great family bonding weekend.

Amongst the sculptures on the grounds was this old sailboat. The kids played on it quite a bit and it really fueled their imaginations.

South Haven- Cowboy Party

Each year we stay in a beach house, my parents host a themed party and this year it was a Cowboy Party. We listened to country music and the house was decorated as the Wild West. My mom gave each of the kids a gift bag containing some new school clothes and cowboy dress-up clothes. The kids looked cute in their little costumes and they had fun playing sheriff and bandits. The adults received sequined cowboy hats lined with lights and some other nice gifts. We had fun wearing them. We ate a nice steak dinner and then went outside to enjoy a fire. It was a fun evening and we appreciate all that my parents do to make these times special and memorable.

Since it was cold and windy, we hung out a lot inside the house playing games and talking.

Here, it looks like Stephanie's thinking hard about her next card in a game of Rummy.

"Whose present do you think this is?"

South Haven- The Beach

The weather was cold and extremely windy on Friday and Saturday. These days we went for walks down the beach, but tried not to get too wet. On Sunday, the wind settled down and we waded in the water, played in the sand, and relaxed on the blankets. It wasn't bathing suit weather, but we still enjoyed the beach.

My niece Claire is in 1st grade this year and is beginning to read and write. On one of our walks down the beach she found a feather and would stop about every 20 steps to write words inspired by what she saw. This one is rocks. I thought it was so adorable.

South Haven- Sculpture Park

This Labor Day weekend, we took our annual Pins family vacation to the Michigan coast. We stayed in South Haven this time at the rental home of an artist. The grounds were expansive and filled with sculptures and interesting gathering spaces. Each day we went exploring through the woods. The inside of the house was filled with paintings, drawings, mobiles, and sculptures. The walls and furniture were painted in many different colors and decorated with mixed materials. It was a very inspiring and interesting environment and we all agreed this is our favorite beach house that we've stayed in so far.

We found sculptures like this all throughout the woods.

Jadon is sitting on a piece of Cherry Pie.

Criterium Races with the Johnsons

A couple weekends ago we went to Dixon to cheer on our friend Mark Johnson in a bike race. While waiting for his race to start, the kids played along the new riverfront (under close supervision of course). We ate dinner along the route while Mark raced for 30 minutes around a .8 mile loop. We watched the last race of the night at a local park. It was a fun and kid friendly event and we enjoyed hanging out with the Johnsons.

Our friends, Mark and Anita Johnson.

1st Days of School 2010

Jadon started a new preschool this year. He attends a class at Jefferson Elementary School 5 days a week, from 8:30-11:00. His teacher is a friend of mine from church, Ms. Beth. Jadon loves it and looks forward to going each day.

Leah started a 2 yr. old class at the YWCA. She attends 2 days a week from 8:30-9:30 and her teacher is Ms. Kim. She was a little uneasy about me leaving the 1st day, but she didn't cry and had a good time. I've noticed her playing teacher a couple times since, holding a book the way a teacher does and pretending to read to the class, and saying, "OK everybody, get in a line."

These are 5 of the 6 kids in Leah's class playing outside on the 1st day.