We're Ready

The rest of our long weekend was indeed uneventful. Food shopping, laundry, Home Depot workshop, playing at the park, library, running, going to the gym, dinner with Grandma & Grandpa... the usual. Oh, and we DECORATED THE HOUSE FOR CHRISTMAS!

I'm amazed that we got the tree up AND got our cards ready to go so early this year. Aurora loved decorating and listening to holiday music, and Clark couldn't believe his eyes. He also can't keep his little hands off the ornaments. Ahhh well, we sure enjoyed having 5 days off. Now, bring on the December festivities!

Blog-worthy

Apparently the long weekend requires daily updates. The light show and turkey trot were amazing but today was pretty darn blog-worthy, too. First, AURORA LOST A TOOTH!!! It's the 5th tooth she's lost and I must admit, I helped this one along (meaning: it was super loose, she bonked it, it started bleeding, she was crying, and I pulled it out). When I asked her to smile for a picture, Clark ran up yelling "My turn! My turn!" because of course we need a picture of his teeth, too.

Clark has some news of his own. The last few nights he's been peeing in his little potty before bath time. I realize this is not everybody's favorite topic but OH MY GOODNESS CLARK IS PEEING IN THE POTTY. I'm not saying we're ready to start potty training, but these are exciting times we're living in. I'd tell you the rest of the weekend should be uneventful but you just never know what's going to qualify as an event around here...

Eat, Run and Be Thankful

Eating: Thanksgiving lunch at daycare yesterday; Thanksgiving lunch with friends today.

Running: The 5-mile Turkey Trot. This is about as far and about as fast as I've gone since I started tracking runs on my phone. I did the Turkey Trot on my own this year. I mean, it was me and about 20,000 other participants, but I arrived early, started up front and met my race goals. Maybe next year we'll have the whole family out for the 1-miler. I think Aurora would've liked it. But, this year it was a training run - just a couple months out from the Austin Half Marathon!

Being Thankful: Aurora probably made about 5 different versions of the turkey hat/hand/art project, and I think we can conclude that she's thankful for her Mommy, Daddy, Clark, Grandma, Grandpa, BFFs and (randomly) her Birthday. Clark's thankful leaf at school says he's thankful for Smiles. 

I'm pretty darn thankful for thankful kids and art projects! I'm thankful for the improvement I've seen in my running, for family and friends, for audiobooks, blogs, long weekends, and the amazing weather we've been having in Austin. Based on the current post-meal situation, I'm going to say Chuck's most thankful for wine and naps...

Awesome!

Today we kicked off our 5-day Thanksgiving weekend extravaganza and it was awesome. Clark went to daycare for a half day and Aurora & I had the pleasure of eating lunch with him at school. Then we played with Grandma & Grandpa, went to the park, and ended the evening with a light show at Mozart's Coffee Shop on Lake Austin. Before it started Clark seemed concerned that it was getting dark and cold, but once the music started he was mesmorized. What a fun day!

There's a LOT more awesome coming up in the next few days and I'd say we have a ton to be thankful for. Wishing all my readers a wonderful weekend, too!

Zoo Party

After years of going to all sorts of kid's parties, I figured I'd seen everything Austin has to offer. Last weekend, we had a completely new and completely fun experience as our friend Van had her 3rd birthday party in a special room at the zoo - with a hilarious animal show! It was a cold and rainy day so a zoo party could've been hit or miss. Turns out that in the time we did spend just walking around we saw more animals looking happier than we ever see in the heat of summer.

Zoo parties are awesome - Happy Birthday, Van!

Go Exercise

Saturday was my last workout with the Moms on the Run group. My neighbor Megan joined up along with me and most weekends the kids and dads would come hang out at the playground while we lifted weights and jogged around the neighborhood. Some days we left the fam at home and carpooled together. Clark seemed to think that if I wasn't going to hold him the whole time I ran, I may as well leave him at home. He doesn't like it when I leave him, but lately when he sees me put on workout clothes, he just gives me hugs and kisses and says "Go mama. Go exercise."

It was a really fun group and I'm glad we did it. We're not going to register for the spring session, but we are planning on running a 5K together next year. Until then, I'll keep working toward the half marathon in February with my own training runs, workouts at the gym, and yoga at work. I'm really loving getting back into shape, but I'm also glad tomorrow's a rest day...

JUST DO IT

Aurora's school pictures turned out amazing. Clark's are cute, but not QUITE as good. I already bought copies of Aurora's and will get those out with our Christmas cards. What do you think... should we get some of these too? 

Sneak Peek

This weekend we met up with my friend Elise at the park and she took some adorable photos of our little family. I don't have them all yet and since I'm going to be ordering holiday cards, I wouldn't want to ruin the surprise - but I had to post a preview of the pics she sent me today.

Aurora is like a model, but Clark... he spent most of the time crying, pointing accusingly at the camera, and looking up at airplanes, so I imagine there aren't a TON of good family photos to choose from. He came around and we got some sweet smiles and kisses at the end of the session. Oh well, enjoy the sneak peek!

Veterans Day Assembly

Aurora's been excited about this for weeks. Her music teacher split up military and patriotic songs among each grade and Aurora was beside herself when she learned that first grade was singing the Marine Corps Hymn. She knows her daddy was in the Marines! I remember all the military songs from when I was little so we've been practicing in the car. Apparently she was the first one in her class to memorize the words. Of course we had to attend. Our neighbor sent us these pictures:

We all carpooled in to work and school so afterwards we decided to go out to dinner. Clark is usually pretty hard to deal with at restaurants but tonight he was just a perfect little guy! He loved the food and LOVED sitting in a big boy seat instead of a high chair. I figured since he missed the assembly I could include a picture of our boy enjoying his dinner.

Just a few more years and he'll be the one singing the Marine Corps Hymn (he does love to sing!). Happy Veterans Day and Happy Birthday to the United States Marines. Semper Fi!

Art in the Park

This weekend we went to the Grand Opening of the new Bee Caves Sculpture Park. It was a lovely day - perfect temps, not crowded, nothing else on the agenda.

It's a small park, just right for a leisurely walk. Lately I've been running 3-5 miles twice a week, often through different parks. I notice art all over the place and have taken pictures of a few favorites near work and on Lady Bird Lake.

It sure makes running around Austin interesting. Of course, my FAVORITE site to see at any park has to be these sweet little faces.