An active weekend

We had a busy weekend. Saturday started with a trip to the flu shot clinic. Lex was, once again, traumatized. He spent part of the time under the doctor’s desk with his legs wrapped in a death grip around the chair. We managed to get him calmed down enough to get the shot, though he was not happy about it. Then, funny boy, he decided it wasn’t actually so bad after all. He insists his past flu shots have hurt for two days, but this time it only hurt for 15 minutes. He likes to be precise. :)

[ no pictures of this fun event ]

After that we drove over to Woodstock for some banking issues. At the bank the kids got Halloween candy (after the lollipops from the doctor’s office) and freebies. A calculator, a football, and a basketball. All bank branded, of course. They were THRILLED. Then we stopped at Quechee Gorge on the way home. We hiked down and marveled at the water levels. I don’t think the kids have ever seen the rocks completely covered! Then we went out to lunch. Home for some chiling out, family games, Eve and Alan went for a run, etc. Overall a fantastic day!

gorge trail

It was a beautiful day!

kids

Happy kids – properly protected from the flu! :)

water p1

The river was flowing fast!

water p2

Where are the rocks?!

boys

The boys

girls

The girls

seesaw

Eve just discovered that the log moves!

Sunday was another active day, the CHaD HERO Half Marathon & Ripcord 5K. Alan ran the half marathon (13.1 miles!!) and the kids and I walked the 5K (3.1 miles). This is the first year they have offered a 5K so we were excited to participate. In the past they had the half marathon, a relay option, and the one mile fun-run called “Cam’s Course.” Lex was pretty interested in that and said next year he might like to do that. We’ll see.

We participated with a team of friends and friends of friends in memory of a little guy who died this spring of an aggressive brain tumor. He spent a lot of time at the Children’s Hospital in his final days and it was exciting to be able to participate with the group.

heros

We went looking for costumes the night before and came up a bit short. Eve was excited to find a Spiderman costume and insisted she was comfortable in it, despite the fact that it’s a 4T. She didn’t last long before asking to take it off. :)

us

More heros!

start

Do you see the start line? Waaaay up there under the white banner. This year they did a 5K and allowed walkers, which helped swell the participation numbers. There were over 2800 people signed up, plus all the families, volunteers, vendors, etc. It was crowded!

waiting

Waiting for daddy to cross the finish line.

alan

There he is! Our hero!

hula hoops

There was a ton of stuff for the kids to do there. A bouncy house, climbing wall, a side walk chalk tent, hula hoops, etc. Lots to keep them busy.

ball area

This was Lex’s favorite area.

After Alan was done and got some free food we headed home for a shower and to repack for the next event – a party at the team leader’s house! I think Eve was feeling bad at this point. She was really tired by the end of the 5K and spent the rest of the time there feeling tired and asking if she could have quiet time. On the way home she said she was going to take a nap as soon as we got home. Guess what? She did! Alan headed for the shower and Eve headed for bed. She slept for almost an hour before I woke her up to go partying. Fortunately she rallied and we all had a great time. We got to catch up with old friends, meet new ones, and had a really nice night. Right when I was about to round everyone up to head home, a woman pulled out face paints and Eve was asking for a butterfly. So we stayed for awhile longer.

butterfly

A beautiful butterfly after a very long weekend.

Then she and I cuddled in a chair while she ate a cookie and told me how much she wished she was home in bed. :) I wisked her away and put her to bed. Unfortunately the beautiful butterfly lasted only about an hour. Fortunately she woke up this morning feeling much better!

School pics

Lifetouch, the school picture company, is getting all high-tech these days and this year we were given the option to get a free low-res digital copy of their school photos. Hi-res, of course, costs $$. :) I got the email today saying they were available for download. I hope that means we’ll get the actual pictures next week!

Eve’s dinner

image

Eve made herself dinner tonight. A cheese quesidilla. All her own idea. Two wraps, ketchup, and sliced cheddar cheese. I helped with the cooking part.  It was actually yummy, in a ketchup on school mac & cheese sort of way. She didn’t eat much of it (she doesn’t eat much these days in general) but we all shared bites of it.

Treasure hunts

The kids spent the better part of the day putting together treasure hunts. Lex started his and Eve wanted to help, but he wouldn’t tell her what the treasure was at the end, so she decided to make her own treasure hunt instead. He was sweet and helped her with her spelling and writing. After quiet time and snack they were done and we did the hunts. We started with Eve’s.

clue 1

“There is an arrow pointing to the next clue.” The “pull” was sticking out of the cabinet so that was the only part of the clue that was visible.

clue 2 front

(front) “There is a beautiful treasure at the”

clue 2 back

“end of this treasure hunt.” The way Lex helped was by writing out the sentence she wanted to say on a scrap paper and then she transcribed onto her clues. I can see areas where his messy handwriting resulted in poor spelling on her clues. :)

eves treasure

Eve’s treasure! The tall guy is Lex saying “I love you” and the shorter one is Eve saying “I love you two.” :) Personally, I love them both!

Eve’s treasure hunt was a little fluid, with part of it involving us following her with an arrow in her hand. :)

Then we moved on to Lex’s treasure hunt. I love their writing so I took pictures of all the clues. They are just so sweet! His writing is more legible so I’m not going to transcribe them all.

He put two tabs hanging down, but only one contained the treasure!

Eve got it!

Lex’s treasure!

My treasures!

We put everything back in place again and Alan did the treasure hunts later while I made dinner.

Our Sunday morning also contained:

math towers

Math towers!

doll store

Number rods turned into a doll furniture store so the dolls can browse and shop for new furniture. Lex rolled away for the picture but he was actively engaged in the game for awhile too.

Saturday (on Saturday!)

Real quick… before Alan turns on some good comedy on Hulu and I shut down.

Alan and Lex spent the day at a boy scout Haunted Harvestfest two hours away! I told Eve we could have some sweet mommy and Eve time, since we never get any of that anymore now that she’s in school. I offered several fun activities, but she opted for painting. So we painted all morning.

coloring

I told Eve I had to do two quick jobs and then I would be hers for the day. She set up shop at the easel and colored patiently while waiting for me to come join her.

painting

Then we painted all morning! I should have taken a picture of all the masterpieces we created, but I didn’t so you’ll just have to use your imaginations. :)

cleaning

Eve cleans up.

Then we went to a birthday party for a little girl from Eve’s pre-k class. They hoola-hooped and ran and played and painted some more!

hoola hooping

The birthday girl rocks at hoola-hooping!

more painting

And more painting!

eve still painting

Eve was the last one at the table. I had to hurry her along because the rest of the kids were waiting for cake.

Then Eve and I came home and opened up our new present!

futon

Our new present! Can you guess what it is?

After Alan and Lex got home and we all settled in, Lex headed up to the shower while Alan and Eve got started building the futon!

setting up

If this happens to fall apart we’ll blame it on the 5yr old with the power tools! :)

done

You like? Our “deluxe accommodations” got an upgrade for a Queen! (the spots were from the camera, not on the futon)