Jog-a-thon

 (I am getting okay with the fact that this blog is no longer in date order-we did some great stuff last weekend but now I am posting about this morning!)
Gloria and I just returned from Lydia's PE jogathon.  The Kindergartners ran for 45 minutes!  I did every other lap with Lydia as parents were encouraged to participate.  Gloria even ran/walked one lap!  Lydia did great, I tried not to let my sports competitive streak show and instead talked about hard work and perseverance (which Lydia said she showed yesterday in doing the monkey bars for the first time).  She did 16 laps which is 2 miles.  The picture above is the first lap before she shed her cup and jacket.  It was a beautiful, cool morning and no dramatic mishaps from all 100 or so KGers.

Columbus Day

 Lydia had a Monday off so we went to Zilker Park with some friends, played on the playground, rode the train, were sad the cave display is closed on Monday, had a picnic watching people swim in Barton Springs on a day that was actually pretty cool.

 We then walked down the trail to feed the ducks and enjoy the view!

Pumpkins

 Last Saturday our church had a Widow's work day, so our family scrubbed a tub, dusted up high and vacuumed before heading to a pumpkin patch!  It was a beautiful day.

 Lydia was being a great poser and I got tons of cute pictures of her...

 Gloria thought running was more fun, so here is one of her!

 Even Daddy got in on the picture fun with his new phone from work.

Silly faces, we got two little pumpkins and a big one to carve closer to Halloween!

Gloria's Birthday

 On Gloria's actual birthday we had our second annual combo birthday party/playgroup with Jackson

 and again realized that most of Gloria's friends are actually Lydia's friends but a small group came and we had a nice time-it was pretty quiet.

 Mary made yummy cupcakes and they wore their matching shirts.

 we also snacked on kiddie food.

That evening, Caleb was still gone on his event and Kathy was in town from TN so we met half way for dinner at IKEA after Lydia got off of school.  Less than festive for the girls-they whined through most of the store, then we attempted to sit at a tall table-I thought it would be fun, but the kids fell off the chairs and the grown ups were uncomfortable, so we moved for the cake part of our dinner.  Up side-the store wasn't crowded, Ligonberry drinks and its always fun to be together, whether stuck in a car on Belton Lake Light show or dragging kids around IKEA :)

cousin visit

Caleb's sister Catherine and her family, Justin, Gabriel and Abigail came to visit.  Caleb had a comp day so we let Gloria stay home from school (poor Lydia was the only one with a regular day) and we went to Zilker Park to ride the train and play.  The weather was great.

Wading below the cold Barton Springs Pool.  We then went to REI and Gloria declared she wanted to go to Russia in the winter so she could get warm clothes too.  We do hope to visit them in Summer 2014 :)

Lydia got to join in the fun in the afternoon/evening when we went to the swimming pool for the last time and had a picnic supper.

After Austin Library story time on Wed, Gabriel and Gloria enjoyed some downtime watching a movie.

Hanging out with friends at Wednesday night dinner.  They spoke about going to Russia and had a nice response.  Then off they drove again to see other cousins in San Antonio.  Quick trip but we are so glad they came to see us.

Gloria's birthday party!

 (this blog is so out of order...)  We celebrated Gloria's party early at the swimming pool.  The weather was cooler so we had it to ourselves with personal lifeguards and a bunch of great friends, all of whom live close to us!  Most of the girls and moms pictured above.

 Jackson helped out with blowing out the candles since they almost share a birthday

 The kids enjoyed the baby pool at first and then a group ventured into the big pool.  It felt good if you were moving.

 A special surprise guest-some sort of water beetle.  The little kids loved it.

 Nana and Grandpa came for the celebration and did a lot of the decoration, food and craft work to make it a special Princess Girl under the Sea party!

 Gloria got lots of fun presents, which she enjoyed dragging around at the end.

Princess Girl with Super Jack Boy while Super Girl (also on the cake) watched.  Mary got them personalized 4 year old shirts!

Pumpkin Reenactment

 Four years ago one of Gloria's first outings was to a pumpkin patch, she slept the whole time including on the pumpkins.  I was telling the girls this story at a pumpkin patch and they decided they wanted to sleep on the pumpkins like Gloria again.