Play Dates

This fall we have been having a lot of play dates.  John is gone just about all the time so it mixes things up and Elsie doesn't get so sick of me :)  Last Tuesday my friend Hillary and her little boy Owen came over.  We did a little swap of watching the kids.  I went for a run first and she watched the kiddos and then when I got back she went for a run.  It worked out well except for the fact I only got two miles in because I rolled my ankle.  After both of us finished our runs I had dinner ready and the kids played.  One thing I noticed is we don't have other kids over enough.  Elsie does not like sharing "her" toys.  It was a great night though and Hillary had a great idea about trading off watching the kids (her husband is out in the field a lot this time of year too).  

Then Wednesday morning Elsie and walked to the park with our good friends Kari and Briggs (who are also our neighbors).  We walked to a park we don't go to very often but it ended up being perfect!  Well except the slides were still wet from the dew.  So they played on the swings, the sand diggers, and the teetor toters.  After that we set off to explore and found an apple tree (Elsie loves all things apples these days) but the apples were too far up so I ended up climbing the tree to fetch a couple of apples.  I seriously can't remember the last time I climbed a tree haha.  

Oh but it was worth it to see these two happy kiddos!  

Elsie loves giving hugs and kisses :)  The funny thing about Elsie and Briggs is that Elsie does not like it when he wanders over into our yard to play.  She whines, clings to me, and asks to go inside.  She does not care for Briggs at our house.  Well she just loved it when they played together at the park.  I think it all leads back to not wanting to share her toys...definitely need to work on this.  But it was such a fun morning.  

On Saturday morning I planned another playdate.  This time at a park in Ames.  We have been to this park before in August but it seemed so different during the fall.  The park was just perfect!  We met up with Hillary and Owen again.  

We started out on the playground....

Then headed to the famous antique fire truck.  

Then just had fun running around, playing in the leaves, and walking to the bridge.  

Elsie was in such a daze and we could not get her to smile-but boy was Owen being a ham :)

"Why doesn't the water work?"

The kids discovered leaves on the bridge and had so much fun throwing them down into the river and watching them float down. 

These two are so cute.  I mentioned before Elsie loves hugs and kisses but she also adores holding hands.  She will try to grab for your hand and say "hand" and gets so dissapointed when the other person doesn't oblige.  Thankfully, Owen was more than happy to hold her hand :)

Run for the Roses 5k

This past weekend I completed my fifth 5k of the year.  Cross that goal off my 30 goals list!  I am so glad I set that goal because I feel like it has kept me running (kind of) throughout the year.  This summer/fall has been a little inconsistent but it was always on my mind.  I have really enjoyed all of these little races!  I am hoping to maybe get in one more before the end of December, maybe two and hope that I will have more time to run to get my time down.

Sunday was the best morning for a run!  Cool, crisp, perfect.  Although, these are the mornings where I am just not sure what to wear, and of course I over dressed but that's alright. Hey when I got dressed it was in the thirties!   It wasn't too bad.  The race started at 9:00 which was perfect-I didn't have to get up at the crack of dawn to get ready.  John and Elsie came to this one to watch and enjoy the yummy omelette breakfast that was served after the race.  We met up at Kedra's before heading to Ames for the run.  There we met up with a couple other ladies.

The whole group of runners-Joy, Jill, Heidi, Me, Hillary, Kedra, and Kedra's student teacher (I can't rememeber her name-how terrible am I?)

Elsie all bundled up for the morning. 

I ran the race with Hillary and Heidi.  I wasn't sure how it was going to go because I had rolled my ankle earlier in the week and had just noticed that it was black and blue.  I wished I would have iced it more but played it off like it was no big deal.  However, the run felt really good.  You know how you have some days where it is just a struggle to get your legs moving, well not on Sunday.  It felt good, despite my ankle.  The route was pretty hilly  especially compared to the last race which was completely flat.  I did like how this route was a lot of up and down vs a continuous uphill for the first half and then all downhill for the second half like the Dam to Dam 5k.  It kept things interesting :)  My goal for this run was to do better than the Flapjack 5k that I ran a couple of weeks ago back in September.  Which I believe I accomplished according to my Map My Run app. by over a minute.  We will find out the official time whenever it gets posted.    I plan to update times/pace time in my final 30 goals wrap up which is just about coming to an end!  Crazy! 

After the race, we were served omelettes which were yummy.  Elsie must have been tuckered out because she slept the whole time in a loud, crowded cafeteria with music playing over the speakers.  Oh and we also all received a rose.  My friend Kedra ended up getting first place for our age division too!  I think they said there was 1100 runners which is pretty good for a little 5k in Ames.  

After the race we had another open house for our house so we came home, tidied up the house and then Elsie and I ran some errand while John did cattle stuff.  Another beautiful weekend-I seem to say that every week which makes me feel so blessed!  

Girls Weekend

Last weekend we had our annual girl's weekend with my friends from high school.  I look forward to this every year!!!!  (I am already looking forward to our next one).  This time it was at Mel's new beautiful home.  It was a great weekend full of catching up, laughing, good food, and reconnecting.  We don't all like super close to each other and it isn't too often we all get together at the same time so I cherish these weekends.  

While I was having fun with the girls, Elsie was having fun with Tanner, John, and Bev.  

Tanner sent me a couple pictures throughout the day.  The top one was Elsie excited about how Tanner put "pretties" in her hair.  The bottom one is Elsie taking a morning snoozer during the volleyball tournament.  Tanner and Elsie walked up to the high school which is just a block or so away.  I guess she was tired :)

The later John sent me this picture of a very happy girl who was super excited about the Sundae playset Grandma Bev bought for her when she took her turn "hanging out" with Elsie.  Let me tell you, she has spent a lot of time playing with this all week long!  Gotta love Melissa and Doug! 

I got home around noon on Sunday but ended up going to Dale and Bev's where Elsie was napping.  We had a showing during nap time so we hung out there.  Then we went out for ice cream and headed home for the afternoon.  Elsie and I made chocolate chip muffins and John made Cinnamon Swirl bread in our bread machine (which we absolutely love!).  It was drizzly afternoon, perfect to spend it in the kitchen. 

Elsie had watched me put the muffin liners in the pan so she wanted to do the same thing and she set out all the liners and put a candle in each one.  Then she turned and told me it was "ready".  Oh and don't mind her outfit...while I was folding clothes she decided this was what she wanted to wear.  Silly Girl but I love her so much!  

Once again another fabulous weekend!  

Life in August

I am trying to come up with a word to describe August for our family but I am struggling-we had quite a few things go not quite as planned such as Elsie getting sick and changing up some weekend plans, putting an offer in on a house, and putting our house up on the market.  We also had some good times with family, celebrating birthdays, and enjoying the last weeks of summer.  So here is what August was to us...

I had a great time at the Taylor Swift concert with a great friend! :-)

Our first weekend was a bit of a disappointment.  You can read about it here.  Although we were unable to go up to the cabin with friends as planned we had a wonderful out biking a trail I have been wanting to go on for a long time.

Here is Elsie feeling down in the dumps (how our weekend started) and then us on the bridge (how our weekend ended-perfect).

I continue to love my days home with Elsie.  She loves to sit up at the counter for snack time as you can see below.  Also, this is her "cheese" face whenever my phone camera comes out.  Love it!

Elsie has found an interest in my phone.  She got a hold of it and appears to ask Siri a questions.  This is what Siri though Elsie said...

John and I went to the Iowa State Fair and had a wonderful day together! 

We put in an offer on a new house-well new to us.  Here is Elsie on the porch. For more details about the house check out new house post.

While working on my parents birthday decor I came across this picture from when we were little.  I was a camper from a very young age :)

And some randoms from the month.

John makes Elsie breakfast just about every morning.  This is their special time :)

Elsie chillin on the couch downstairs while I try to get ready so we can head out the door for work-no doubt she is watching the latest episode of Mickey.  

Daycare drop off

This pic was taken before I left for the Taylor Swift concert.  I should have known just by looking at this picture that Elsie would have a high fever by the end of the nigh :(.  Somehow I missed the early signs.  

My big helper- "I hold it"

Fun at the Park

Other big highlights were celebrating my parent's 60th Birthday and celebrating Piper's 1st Birthday.  More on that to come soon!