Races, Rain, Turkeys and Trees

A few days after our Polihale camping trip, we ventured there again with Nic and Heidi for Veterans Day.  Brady needed to work, so it was me and the kids with their family.  Our kids play together so well and it was non-stop running, sand and water.

Nic looks like he's planting one on me.

 Kate and Tate=Best Buds

Ty and Zac=Sand Monsters.  The best part of this picture is we came home after dark.  Zachary claimed that he had removed all the sand with his last dip in the ocean.  Yeah right, son.  That sand was still around a few showers later.

 Bumpity, bumpity, bump.

The next night I was all lined up to go to a Girl's Night Out at my favorite restaurant, 1849.  I had a yucky cold sore and a headache and considered bailing.  I decided I hadn't been out in so long, though, and decided to go.  I needed to leave just before 6pm, and when Brady came home at 5:15pm, he seemed really alarmed that I was cleaning windows and not ready to go yet.  I thought that was strange, but it all came together when I walked through the doors of 1849 and found all these sweet ladies waiting for me to celebrate baby Owen.

I was pretty vocal about not wanting a shower, but apparently that didn't matter.  I instantly cried because that's how I respond to anything not within the 3-7 emotional range on a 1-10 scale.  The chairs were draped with ribbons and newborn onesies and I received some generous and darling gifts for this lucky kiddo.  

The part that touched me the most was looking around the table and realizing that every single girl there had helped me with the IVF process in one way or another.  This baby took a village!  I feel so much gratitude to these friends!!

Saturday morning was the much anticipated Koloa Sugar Mill Race.  Zachary has wanted to race since missing a 1-mile fun run during a soccer game.  We told him about this race but had some trepidations about allowing him to participate.  First, it seems like a long distance for a 7-year-old who is used to sprinting.  Second, I was nervous about being a baby belly spectacle.  I was still running a few times a week at that point (I've since quit), and felt really good, but I wasn't interested in people thinking I was competing.  Zac proved how much he wanted to race by going on about 7 training runs, so we decided to sign up.  He ran well and ended up with 9:50/mile pace for a 30:34 finish!  My heart nearly burst when he saw the finish line and took off sprinting.  This ranks in the top 5 of my favorite mommy experiences with this kid.

The weather was bad, but Brady still turned in 7:28/miles for his half marathon.  Go, Daddy, go.

 Kate was in heaven playing with her little girlfriends.

Zachary's favorite thing is to entertain little kids.

 Zachary had a birthday party for his best friend, David, and Brady had to work all day, so Kate and I went on a Mommy/Daughter date to lunch.  She is suddenly very animated and talkative.  She also insisted on wearing the Koloa Sugar Mill race shirt with some leggings because she was "so excited" about her family running.  She said she wants to do the race next year (but she can't because the minimum age is 7).

 The next couple weekends were rainy and windy.  We knocked off a ton of to-dos for Owen's arrival, as well as for hosting Thanksgiving--cleaning windows, deep cleaning, organizing, assembling, and so much yard work.

 We also had some fun playdates in the mix, including Shay's birthday.

 Thanksgiving finally arrived!  Brady was on turkey duty, and we have hardly any pictures to document the many hours that go into this holiday.  Nic and Heidi and Todd and Megan joined us with their families this year.

 Zac was weirded out by the turkey.

 The kids gobbled up their food in 5 minutes or less.  Dishes included: turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, a huge green salad, green been casserole, a cheese ball, regular rolls, orange rolls, raspberry pretzel jello salad, triple berry pie, pumpkin pie, and pumpkin crisp.  I'm sure something was forgotten on this list.  I feel more and more like an adult every year with improvements to my T-Day cooking.  This year I made gravy for the first time in my life.

 Our neighbors annoyed us with their roof work ON THANKSGIVING DAY, but finally sent the roofer home in the early afternoon.

 The kids and I made these appetizer turkeys, which represent a lot of pain and seven blisters.  One of brown circles ended up hot glued to my hand.  Youch.  So glad it happened to me and not one of the kids.

 We spent the afternoon playing football, bocce ball, soccer, and jumping on the trampoline.  When it started getting dark, the kids moved to bikes.  The weather was still windy and chilly, but perfect for a day spent at home and not in the water.

Friday, we watched a load of football and decorated for Christmas.

 I directed the kids a few times that some ornaments belonged on the back side of the tree...

 I love this picture.

 Kate and Zachary displaying the ornaments they purchased in Leavenworth at the Christmas shop over summer vacation.

 We spent Friday afternoon at the beach with the Hadleys.  Zachary split open his chin to end the night, but we evaded stitches and it's healing up nicely now.

 I read on Facebook this post about not knowing you are OCD until your kids decorate for Christmas.  We let the kids completely decorate, and as you can see, most of the ornaments ended up dragging off the lower branches of the tree.  To our credit, nothing has been rearranged.  Yet.

 My favorite part, though, was when Zachary found ornaments we made for grandparents and cousins from his school pictures a couple years ago.  We had some left over, and all 7 of those made it on the tree.  Hysterical.

 The kids are loving their new Christmas PJs, and re-reading their favorite Christmas books.  I love having young kids at Christmas.