Hooray for Grammy and Pappy

We had another fun filled visit from Grammy and Pappy.  The kids could not have been more excited to get so much attention.  Grammy cooked with Lex and Finn, making pumpkin bread, apple pie, lasagna, lemon meringue pie, and pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.  I should mention they were here for just 3+ days, so our kitchen was happily at a constant hum.

Both Pappy and Grammy played make believe with the kids, taking them on adventures to Africa, a hair salon, and on many animal and pretend car excursions. They played outside in our yard, enjoyed a Fall festival with us at Wolfe's Neck Farm, and watched movies together.  Ultimately, everyone enjoyed every sliver of time together.  We just wish that Grammy and Pappy lived closer so we could delight in their company more often.  Thank you for a fabulous visit.  We can't wait until the next one!

On our way to Wolfe's Neck Farm

Happy to be there...

Learning how to make apple cider the old fashion way

Heath enjoyed his time with Pappy

 Never a surprise to see Finn in the drivers seat.

The view looking behind the farm

Yes, more pumpkins.  We now have at least a 1/2 dozen at home.

Numero Dos

Half marathon number two is complete.  Despite an injury, Keri bravely made the trip to Maine and we both completed the Portland course.  The course was spectacular with the leaves just beginning to change color, creating an incredibly picturesque scene.  The weather was considerably cooler (than our Chicago race)  and definitely more ideal for a 13.1 mile run.

We look pretty silly in these iPhone pictures, but I had to share something...
 

It was a unique milestone for me.  I realized just days before the race that the Maine half marathon was actually the very first half marathon I ever ran (11 years ago) when I first began running! Of course, the competitive side of me had to look up my time from when I was 27 to see how fast (or slow) I ran it then--just under 2 hours  with a time of 1:59.42. In Chicago, 13 years later, I ran a 2:00.58.  Pretty consistent for 13 years a part.  Well, as you can imagine, I really wanted to beat that 27 year old girl's time.

And I did! Running a time of 1:55.55.

Who said older isn't better?

I'm thinking my feet need a break from the running, so as my toenails recuperate, I'm looking for a new task to conquer on the exercise front.  Maybe something indoors?  Any ideas?

One of The Gang

Heath is finally turning the corner and becoming more of a toddler than a baby.  He seems to understand most of what you say and he even attempts to respond.  Telling you that his responses make sense to a common person would definitely be stretching the truth, but we've formed a basic understanding, allowing us to communicate verbally. We welcome his verbal progression as it's virtually put an end to him screaming out of frustration. Hooray!

Some more of his favorite words include:


Doat (boat) - we are lucky we live by the ocean as Heath gets to see boats everywhere
Kiki (Lexi)
GoGo (Finny)
I'm starting to think his nicknames for them might be better real names for them than their chosen names.

I'll have to remember to share more when they come up.

He's begun to play with the Lex and Finn and they all seem to really enjoy it.  One favorite game is Ring a Round the house.  I find this game particularly hysterical because I remember fondly playing it in my own house as I grew-up.  Maybe everyone did? It consists of the kids running from room to room endslessly (in a circle as our rooms connect) with one person being the chaser and the other two being chased.  It delivers giggles echoing through the house and the more they run, the harder they giggle.  Their giggling is contagious so usually by the end we're all laughing.

Finn and Heath also play cars, trains and animals together.  A very sweet site where Finn actually becomes a leader (I'm used to him being the follower with Lex) and helps guide the play.