The Saturday We Didn't Do Anything

Last Saturday dawned bright, sunny, and a not-so-warm 33 degrees. The temperature was important because my friend Beth was on her way over to drop off her two kids with Mike and pick me up. Because she and I had decided several months ago that running a 5k at the end of October sounded like a super good idea. At 33 degrees, we questioned that decision. But we were really glad we powered through.

We were both pretty chilly at the start of the race, but by mile 2, were overheating. Beth and I are good running partners and go at about the same pace. We had run this race together before, right after I had Declan. But I was dying from the plague and Beth had a hurt foot. This time felt better for so many reasons. It is also safe to say that we drastically improved our time!

Mike brought all five kids down to see the end of the race - and we cheered on Beth's kids as they ran the half mile race. Then we headed home so that I could take a nice long, hot shower and try to loosen up my leg muscles. Everything felt good while I was running - but standing outside for quite a while after really tightened my muscles up.

After I got out of the shower, the kids and I made a final trip of the season to ValleyFair. We met Makai's family there and rode our favorite rides one last time. We also headed out to the Great Pumpkin Fest and did a little trick-or-treating. The kids only lasted about an hour and a half before they were cold and hungry. We swung through McDonald's on our way home for a late lunch.

While we were at ValleyFair, Mike was home taking down the trampoline and working on the leaf situation in the back yard. After lunch and a very short rest time where no one really rested, Mike and Declan took a load of leaves out to the farm to get rid of them.

When they got back, Quinn, Dec, and I headed over to the pumpkin patch to pick out our perfect pumpkins for carving. We spent a lot of time searching for just the right ones and they were very cooperative in taking a couple fun pictures for me. They know that their mama loves photos of kids in pumpkins in the fall! Thankfully Declan picked a small pumpkin that Quinn could carry because we had quite the adventure carrying two pumpkins across the very large parking lot. Quinn and I took turns carrying Dec's - and I had hers. We were all tired and sweaty when we got to the car.

A few weeks ago, we had made a trip up to Trader Joe's (we go for dark chocolate peanut butter cups and hummus. We get other things - but those two are a good enough reason for us!) and the girls talked me into buying a Haunted House kit. It's like a gingerbread house, only a Halloween version. We decided to put that together after we got home from the pumpkin patch. It was so much fun and they did a great job working as a team to decorate it.

I noticed Dec messing with his nose during the decorating and told him not to pick his nose. He had a funny look, so I asked him what he was doing. Yep. He had stuck one of the little candies up his nose. Because of course he had. So he took a quick detour into the living room to have his dad perform some candy retrieval. Then we had a short training course on NOT sticking things in your nose. Or your ears.

We also called Grandpa J to wish him Happy Birthday, gave Dec a haircut, and gave all the kids a shower.

And yet, at one point in the day, when I sat on the couch for ten minutes, Fiona asked me why I was laying around all day. True story. Clearly we didn't pack enough into the day!