Turkey Trot

Mom decided to run a 5K race on Thanksgiving Morning. You couldn't beat the location -- the local streets of our little neighborhood. Dad, Nate and Sean got outside early to watch Mom run by. We took this photograph of Mom from our front yard because the race went right by our house! Nate and Sean cheered Mom along.

Dad took the kids down to the park to find Mom. Somehow they walked down there just as Mom was crossing the finish line. Here is Mom on her final sprint at the end.

Nate and Sean were glad to congratulate Mom on her fantastic finish. She didn't look tired at all.

Mom waited to see if she might have finished in the top-3 for her age category. We think she came close but the race was so small that they didn't record people's times. So we'll never know exactly how well she did, but we thought she was a winner anyway.

Sean didn't really know what was going on but he was happy enough to spend the morning playing on the ladders and slides.

Reunion Weekend

Mom and Dad went back to their old school for a reunion. They took Nate and Sean along and showed them all the sights. This was the grand setting for a long walk around the University on a crisp Fall day.

Mom and Dad took them to see the house where the reunion was being held, a special place where Mom and Dad had spent so many wonderful times. Dad even lived here during his final year at college!

Nate sure enjoyed touring through the house and made Dad take him up to his old room about a dozen different times. Here is Nate on Dad's old balcony high above the street below. He wondered why the roof was so close to the balcony but decided it probably wasn't a good idea to climb out there.

Sean partied like a frat boy. No, really he just took a nap. But you never know what might happen to you when you fall asleep at a fraternity house!

Down on the Farm, Part I

While we were visiting our friends in out in the country, Nate and Sean got to spend some time outside with the farm animals. Apparently Sean had a near miss encounter with a huge cow patty, but no one got a picture of the event.

Here they are chasing chickens. Sean is yelling "no, sorry". Not sure why the no part, but his new "thing" is to do something he shouldn't while saying sorry at the same time.

Down on the Farm, Part II

Nate's a bit of a city kid so he loves it when we have a chance to visit a farm. For him, chicken means something breaded in the form of a nugget, not something with two legs that pecks around a field. Our friends who live in this beautiful rural setting had invited us down for the day. They'd won a musical performance in a charity silent auction, so they used that as an opportunity to have everyone come on over and spend an idyllic afternoon out in the country.

The band used an African tribal drum as their rhythm section rather than a standard drum kit, maybe because the space was small or maybe because that was their thing. Either way the kids sure enjoyed showing off their musical "talents." Well, at least they were enthusiastic. Now don't anyone go quitting your day jobs!

Uh oh... looks like one of the gang got moved a little too much by the dancing spirit. Her mom was on the scene quickly and everything was fine. Sean seemed to take notice but the other two were oblivious, not wanting to lose that beat.

They played so well that the band invited them back on stage for an encore. Nate played a rousing tambourine solo with his little friend. The folks in the band were really good sports and actually seemed to enjoy having kids run around and across the stage during most of their performance. Nate said his favorite part of the day was "playing in the band" so maybe music lessons are in his future.

There's a Party in my Tummy

Nate and Sean love to dance to Yo Gabba Gabba's "Party in my Tummy." We set up the jump-o-line in the basement so they could get some wiggles out while the weather was cold and wet outside and the music did the rest. We're still not sure what Nate was trying to do with the support post but it appeared to be an integral part of his elaborately choreographed breakdance routine. Sean seemed perfectly content with the pogo.

Their enthusiasm was matched only by their lack of rhythm!

Halloween 2007

This year, Nate was really interested in decorating for Halloween. We had a ton of pumpkins and he was quite excited about his spider. Sean was much more excited about the chocolate, as you can probably tell from his mouth.

This year was Sean's turn to be the dalmation. Or the "woof, woof puppy" as he calls dogs.

Nate chose to be a Power Ranger, even though he's never actually seen a Power Ranger.

It's not often Dad gets in the picture.

Sean really figured out trick or treating this year. He'd say "appy alloween" all the way up the walk and then refuse to say anything to the person handing out the candy. We ended the night at the annual neighborhood bonfire.

Due to the recent drought, this year the "bonfire" was two fire pits, but it was still a nice way to end the evening.

Halloween

Nate really got into the Halloween spirit with his pet spider, "creepy-crawly." Sean wasn't quite sure what to make of everything but he got the hang of it pretty quickly.