pumpkins and running...

We had a great (and finally healthy!) weekend. Friday started with Spencer's first dentist visit and me taking the day off to hang with the kids. We went to the new children's garden exhibit at the botanic gardens and then spent Friday night at Family Fun Night where the kids go to daycare - Spencer played in the jumpy castle and we ate dinner with some friends.

Saturday morning we went as a family to the pumpkin patch. Spencer especially loved the tractor train ride. We still cannot get over what a big kid he has become. It was amazing for us to think back a year and how we were only a family of three at the pumpkin patch. And here's our little munchkin about to turn 9 months. A special thanks to all the grandparents for the very adorable halloween shirts which make the pumpkin pictures extra festive.

Saturday night Jon and I got all dressed up and headed to a really nice fundraising event that honored one of the attorneys I work with and supported an organization that provides services for abused children. Jon and I were the winning bidder in the silent auction for a night at a nice hotel in Vail with dinner and breakfast. Time to dust off my skis!

Sunday morning was the half marathon and I felt really great. I finished in 2 hours, 4 minutes which put me in the top 25% for women and in my age group and gave me an average running pace of 9:24 per mile. After last weekend in the emergency room I still probably had a little more in me but I was really happy with how I felt. And it was such a great run...it seemed like the entire city was out cheering. Admittedly I was all too happy to be running 13.1 miles and not the full 26.2 but I still have two more weeks to recover before the big day! My running buddies and kids came over for bagels and mimosas after and then it was a relaxing stretch into Monday.

October happenings

Here's a few pictures from a couple of weekends ago. We missed the Aspen trees turning yellow by about a week but had a fun family day together.

October brought us visits from both of Jon's parents in from Texas one week and South Dakota another. As always, fun to see family. And on another family note we wish a happy 40th to Charlie! We know this will be a good year for you.

Only two weekends away from the Marine Corps Marathon. Tomorrow I'm running Denver's half marathon...it's the inaugural Rock-n-Roll marathon for Denver which means it's now part of a series of marathons around the country, bands at every mile and I think I heard about 17,000 people running. Not quite the 40,000 that will be in DC but a great start to putting Denver on the rock-n-roll route. I am finally in taper mode and ready for the marathon with the last 20 completed last week (at the same time as running my 20 miler I came down with a stomach bug...not a combination I recommend...I ended up Saturday night in the ER instead of celebrating a buddy's 40th).

We're off to the pumpkin patch with the clan. Have a great weekend!

Catching up v.2

After posting today's earlier entry I realized I had no Shoshana pictures. Here are a couple of Shoshi and I this afternoon before heading to a baby shower.

And here's a shot of one of my best care packages ever from my cousin Steve (other than the pringels, squeeze cheese and teen bop magazine from my parents in sleep away camp). He leads an advertising group that works for Chap Stick - one of the greatest inventions ever and forever an obsession of mine!

Catching up...

Here's a few noteworthy activities from the past month -

* Spencer turned three. We had a party at our house where the Fun Bus came...a gutted out school bus with gymnastics equipment, mats, etc. It was great. On a Sunday morning the kids got entertained by someone else and the adults had coffee, mimosas and bagels on our patio. It was super fun to watch Spencer with his school and neighborhood buddies. We shared the party with our neighbors and good friends (and Spencer's classmate)...Kaia also turned three and a few days prior Andrea and Sander had a baby. It was fun to join efforts. In the pictures below Kaia and Spencer are eating cupcakes together.

* Shoshana turned eight months and started crawling. She's absolutely adorable! She follows her brother (who usually is quite sweet with her) and is into everything. She's way more mellow than her brother at this age (or any age, for that matter).

* I am one more 40-mile running week away from tapering (translation: running less) for the Marine Corps Marathon. We ran a crazy hilly 20-miler last Saturday (it gained around1,400 feet of elevation) and have one more next Saturday (this is a recovery week so I "only" have a 12-miler that I'm taking off for in a few minutes). It has been a total blast training for the run. I meet up with a large group early Saturday mornings for the long run and on Tuesday morning (even earlier) a smaller group does speedwork. Tuesday and Saturday runs are with a coach (which is fun and very new for me). As the runs get longer during the week our start time (even for the other runs which I usually do with a couple of girlfriends) are crazy early...like setting my alarm for 4:30. Yikes. But it's great and by the end of this month I'll be a marathoner again. And we're so excited to head out to DC and meet up with my parents, cousins Steve, Julie and baby Harrison and hopefully a few of our friends.

* Jon is totally loving the kids and the stages they are at. He's off later today with Spencer for a train ride through the mountains while I take Shoshi to a baby shower. We finally had our first date night in a long time at one of our fave sushi joints. Last night we had a really fun evening at the club where our kids go to daycare...they had this huge party everywhere in the building including the beautiful roof deck with bands, a jumpy castle for the kiddos, etc. So much fun for all of us (except when Spencer got spooked out by the lady on stilts and the mardi-gras themed greeter at the door!).

* We have had a fun visit from Jon's parents Lewie and Linda who finally met Shoshana.

Enough chatting...here are a few pics before I'm off for a run.