Army 10 Miler

Patric and I slipped away for a relaxing weekend in DC running the Army 10 Miler a few weekends ago. We had dinner with a friend the day before, who wisely advised: You won't win, and you won't die.  She was exactly right.

While we were away, the girls were ever industrious and helped kick off Halloween Season with a cake.

 

Nick, on the other hand, kicked off Halloween season a little differently. 

The text I received: "I think I did something to my arm."

I told him to drink some water and go to bed.  It solves most problems, even foolish ones...

And so it happened quite coincidentally that we were in DC the weekend of the Kavanaugh vote and confirmation.  We stayed inside most of that day, and we ventured out after it had all died down.

The Return

 Of Batgirl.

A bit more domesticated and baking bread.

Time Is Flying

They've grown about 5 years in the past 5 months.

Cedar Hill Farms

This pretty much sums up our collective behavior Saturday when we met the Kings for an outing at the pumpkin patch. Alida fell down and skinned her knees no less than five times on the trip. This one was particularly dramatic when she overreacted to my nudge and actually wound up face planting in the patch. Oh, the drama; she's as good as any NBA player I've seen.

Elaine was struck with a an unusual day of independence however.

We certainly had some sweet moments on our trip with precious Emily. At least we pulled it together when it came to her.

The we turned around and resumed being uncooperative, and Patric and I resumed being opposite parents.

For comparison.

We have no large hopes any Stuber will ever hit the 6.

And Alida, who was throwing fits before we got out of the car because she saw the horses before we parked, finally got her horseback ride.

Perhaps we were off due to the fact that it was over 90 degrees outside this fine October day. When we got home to the air conditioning, we all seemed to chill out a bit...

The Weekend Daddy Was Getting All Medaled-Up

Grandpa met us in middle Tennessee on a gorgeous fall day.

That happened to be the day of an airshow, so we ditched the meetings for an hour to go visit the airplanes. The boys claimed they saw the guns on this one.

No one was cooperating much with pictures.

Later we swam.

And swam, and swam, and swam until little eyes were red and skin was wrinkly. And this will be the moment that Nicholas declared he got the hang of it and was off not clinging for dear life to anyone that would hold him.

And in an unprecedented feat of sleeping, they didn't budge until after 8:30 the next morning.

Come on Fall

Go Grandma, Go!

Grandpa and grandma airplane spent the weekend with us.

You will not see my pictures from the Saturday outing because they loaded up the car and took off. Three hours of uninterrupted time in my own house during daylight hours is priceless. I cannot thank you enough. Then I locked myself out of the house, but that's another story...

At least the weather was gorgeous. The children had nearly forgotten how to play outside, but they came around.

And it wasn't long before grandma got her workout.

And then there was a pile.

And then we did it again. And again. And again.

Her stamina rivals that of their father.

And Alida's stubbornness rivals that of her mother--she would not stop to let me put her pants back on after they fell off doing stunt maneuvers.

And Sunday morning dawned, cold and wet. And got more cold and wet throughout the day.

We paused for a group picture and then had to coax Ben in with some sort of bribery.

That'll do Ben.

That'll do.

Finally

A little cool weather and a little sunshine.

We're Ready

We're just not sure yet,

what it is we'll be exactly.

Just Three Weeks

As their grandmother will attest, it is not that we keep the upstairs too cold. I think he is just ready to get back in the flight jacket as am I since I've already started digging through the fall and winter clothing.

Hats and Boots On

I pledge to stop whining!

All together now!

What's wrong Nicholas?

Oh you wanted a pair too.

And in other news: I have a shower!
Yes. It has been that long.

Now I can no longer put off the painting project.

By all of the hats and boots you would think this would be a great time of year since its so cold outside. It is supposed to be sunny and 70 degrees today.

The Saturday Outing: Kids Country

Technically: "Kidz Kountry", but that makes me bristle a bit.

Makes me want just a little bit of farmland (or a maple tree farm dad).

Elaine is certainly a fan of swinging. We now limit swing time and velocity due to the fact that you never know when that smiling face will suddenly turn green and fill her lap.

And even the ladies got to ride with daddy on Nicholas' favorite ride,

Thomas.

Every single time that little train rode by for the rest of the evening, which was many, many times, Nicholas let us know when it was coming and going.

Then we hardly ate any of our funny dinner.

And went on a hay ride--a very smartly caged hayride.

And this is not a tractor made out of old barrels. It is a train. It is Nicholas' very own Thomas train, than you very much.

That's More Like It

Little jeans, long sleeve shirts, and jackets to keep the chill off when we go out the door.

Fall colors, corduroys, and even a little shine of happiness so early in the morning.

Darker mornings, quiet tv, and

the glean of Neosporin to help fix the little hands. The drawback to less humid weather is certainly the eczema flare ups.