A weekend of FUN!

 We had a great weekend!  Ryan and I celebrated our anniversary - late I know.  We had decided to go away for the night, which is not really all that easy with little kids and no family locally.  I have a great sitter who was willing to stay with them so off we went on Saturday afternoon to Atlantic City. 

We did a little shopping, had a great dinner out that was so awesome. We ate at a seafood place that was good but even better was the no rushing through dinner because everyone was done before we started.  We finished dinner around 10 pm - which normally I am in bed and fast asleep!  We hit the casino which we have not done in ages and covered our dinner and our room - always good to win! 

It is hard with Ryan being gone during the week and the studying on top of that for this exam in November has stretched things thin.  It was so nice to sleep in on Sunday and go get breakfast without having to worry about kids in tow!

So below it our one pic before we hit the casino - good thing we were smiling after too - HA

 

and then Sunday came and we were back in the craziness!  We had family pictures scheduled for the afternoon and pumpkin picking date following that...as soon as we were home we were off and running!  So I am really glad we got away and enjoyed a short 24 hours...but it was fun to be back with this crew!

 

 

October Fun

Lots more apples from NH this weekend!  We were busy at the pumpkin festival and the apple orchards.  I think we are finally done picking this fall - 180 lbs total....I need to get to work in the kitchen I guess.  Lots of applesauce to be made.

We had a whirlwind trip....to NH and CT...we were able to catch up with friends and work on the apartments some.  We headed back to PA on Monday and thankfully we are staying put until Thanksgiving....well except for a fun little solo trip I have planned in November.

Running is going..I was able to hit the trails for a couple of hours in NH...and it makes the fall season that much better when you can run outside off the pavement. 

We started working on Halloween costumes this afternoon...so I will leave you in suspense!

 

 

Catching Up

Fall is here and we are loving every minute of it!  We have been to several area farms, picked 100lbs of apples and we are already talking about halloween.  We have fallen into our back to school routine quite nicely.  Brianna begins preschool tomorrow and she is excited to be back at the high school.  Ryan is studying for new financial title (I know really specific) and I am running a lot.  The girls finished soccer this week and hopefully there is a little break between the next season.  Aly is pretty determined that she wants to swim on swim team this fall so we may make that jump.

 

Other than that all is good.....some pics of our recent adventures!

 

Trail Running!

 I am have done very few trail runs...like 2.  The half marathon I ran last weekend was on trails and then this weekend we decided to explore another trail that is not far from our house.  It took two miles to get there and then we were on our way.  The terrain was never the same.

 

I thought it was most fun crossing over all the rivers.

 

 We turned around about the 6 mile mark...because we were wimps and did not want to get our feet wet.

Apple Picking!

 This week we headed to the orchard to pick apples for the first time this season.  It is also the first outing where I was only sporting two kiddos.  Aly was a little sad about missing the apples but we will pick again with her.   Last year, I think we pick 20lbs or so and I think we had applesauce to last us until November...maybe.  So this year I am hoping to stash a good 10 bags of applesauce before the season is over.

 

 

We ended up with about 40 lbs..we made some apple bars and we have been eating lots of apples for snacks.  Sadly, this was what was left this morning...

 

 

Totaally random...but here is how Aly gets to the bus every morning!

 

VIA Half Marathon

 

 

On Sunday I ran the VIA half marathon in Bethlehem.  It was one of the prettiest courses I have ever run.  We got rolling around 5 am as the start was 7:15.  This was a point to point run on the Deleware Canal path.  It would have probably helped if I had read a little more about this course before I signed up...lesson learned.




The weather was awesome and we got off to a great start with a short downhill.  The course was a little tight in the beginning as we made our way to the canal trail.  The weather was perfect and I love knowing that we were only running one way.

What I did not realize was how narrow the course was for the first 4 to 5 miles.  We had huge storms the night before which was great because the humidity broke but not so great for running on the trail.  The first miles were so tight and on single track you really had to pay attention and surge ahead when you could. 

After mile 5 or so....it did open up a bit onto some birdges.  I was feeling okay.  My legs were moving but I did not feel super.  The course was mostly flat with some minor inclines up until mile 10 or so.  Around mile 10 we left the canal path and went up over the water. Ouch that one hurt...and my legs were starting to lose their steam...hang on for 3 more miles.  I thought we would get a nice downhill but instead we climbed again to another bridge and back over the water and back onto the path.   I knew we were getting close to the end..you can hear the annoucers.  I managed to negitave split the run which was great.  Overall I ended up with a 6 min PR!!!! WAHOO!!!!!

So we found out that PEEPS and Mike and Ikes are made locally here in PA...Ryan was excited that I brought him home some gifts for being gone all morning!



Next up is the marathon!

Running!

 This morning we headed up to Bethlehem to pick up my race packet for the half tomorrow.  There was a kids race, and we planned on checking it out.  The kids were so excited to race their first race.  We have been running around the neighborhood for a couple of months.

I love this picture of Aly and Ryan....she is excited and he of course is giving the last minute pep talk....

 

And Brianna...she bolted off that starting line so fast.....man she can run!  She kept looking back and I was hoping she would not trip...because grace is just often not on her side.

 

 

But she got the "GOLD" medal and man was she proud!

 

and Jackson...well he just wanted to do what the older two were doing...

 

So tomorrow I get to run....so exciting!

SCHOOL!

Summer has officially come to a screeching halt as Aly started first grade yesterday!  She loved it and had a great day.  Jackson decided he was going to get on the bus as well.  Good thing when the bus actually came he was a little starstruck to make his move.  All morning he just kept saying I missed the bus!

We are ready for a routine, well at least I am!  Jackson and Brianna started at a new preschool yesterday.  Of course, Brianna had little to say except they played because of course that is your job when you are a kid.  Okay conversation over.

A few pics:

 

 

 

 

Fun in the sun!

 

So today we went to Jockey Ridge.  It is like a big sandbox for kids, this huge ridge that you climb up and you can fly kites, run down, or enjoy the view.  We did the first two and tried the third one but the kids were having a pretty good time running down this "sand" mountain. 



 

 

Outerbanks!

 We have been busy....and it has been awesome!  We spent the first day and a half traveling and spending some time at Water Country.  We met Ryans parents at the airport in Virginia and then headed back to Watercountry to spend the day before we checked into our rental house for the week.

We arrived in the Outerbanks late Sunday...and we have been having a blast.  We rented a house with our good friends, Brian and Susna and the kids have been go, go, go.  This is truly what vacation is about.  There is nothing really around, some small shops and some little stores but we can see the ocean from both the front and the back of the house.  Combine that with a pool and hot tub and we are golden.

We spent this morning at Avon Pier and the kids liked watching the fisherman. 

 

Then this afternoon we headed to the beach, where we had this sand castle building contest.  Aly build this castle complete with a moat so she smoked us all.  I believe mine was the first to surrender to the waves.

Then we headed back to the house to roast marshmallows