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?"