6 posts tagged “halloween”

It's been a crazy busy few days around here. The madness started on Halloween when we had 3 different parties to attend. The first was at a friend's house and was chaotic with toddlers everywhere, but very fun. The second was at a Retirement Community in our city. I was prepared for it to be depressing, but instead I was very pleasantly surprised. The community center was clean and new and there was an open bar for the residents! Anya trick-or-treated around the tables and then sat down to watch the belly dancers and listen to the Blues band. From there we headed out to another friend's house for delicious soup followed by trick-or-treating. Anya was so excited to trick-or-treat, and she was quite the task master making sure we got in and out with out any unnecessary stops. After each house she would say, "Next house!". She was scared by one person in a scary costume, but soldiered on, unlike some of her friends who were too frightened to keep going. It was a great success and after eating a few pieces of candy she left her bucket by the door for "Jack O' Lantern" who exchanged it  for a present.

Saturday was filled with rain and errands. Chris and I left Anya with my mom for the night so that we could stay in the city before my half marathon on Sunday. Luckily we arrived at the race expo just before they closed and I was able to pick up my bib and timing chip. Unlike other races that I have done the half required that runners pick up their stuff the day before and not on the day of the race. Unfortunately they did not make that very clear and one of my friends and closest training partners didn't pick up her number and therefore couldn't run. We were all quite sad about that.

The race on Sunday went ok. It was pretty poorly run with too few porta-potties, so I was stuck in line when the official start happened. Since timing was by chip I decided to stick it out (I had to pee during the entire 12K last time and didn't want to repeat that experience). So when I started I was essentially by myself, which was pretty anti-climatic. Because I started at the end of the pack, and am a slow runner, by the time I (and a bunch of others, I wasn't totally by myself) reached the third and fourth water stations they had run out of water. I was pretty bummed by that, especially by the fourth station since it was at the top of a large hill which had been preceded by hills and was followed by hills. So I was pretty thirsty by that point. There also weren't very many mileage markers, which wasn't really a problem for me since I had my Nike+, but was irritating to other runners.

But it wasn't all bad. I finished just 5 minutes slower than my goal, it only sprinkled a few times and there was an amazing rainbow over the Golden Gate Bridge as I was approaching the span. I was exhausted at the conclusion, but haven't been too sore since. I'm not sure I'm cut out for running that long of a distance, but I will keep running more moderate, for me, mileages (more like 10 miles/week instead of 20).

Today has been filled with work and election stuff. Anya and I took some time to stand on a corner with No on 8 signs. It was great to see how many people honked and waved to us. I wasn't sure what to expect from this community. I'm looking forward to putting the Anya the Grouch (no nap today) to bed early and watching the election returns!

Yesterday we went over to a playgroup friend's house for scrumptious chili and cornbread before taking a bunch of the kiddos out trick or treating. We all had a great time!

Anya dressed as a "Bunn[y]. Floppy, hoppy, bunn[y]" (extra special nerd awesomeness points for anyone who gets that reference!) Chris and I meant to dress up like Little Red Riding Hood and "Festive" Sombrero Guy to complete the look, but never got the opportunity. Here are some pictures:

This afternoon we went trunk or treating (trick or trunking?) with my mom's club. We had fun dressing up Chris's car and handing out cheese. Bubble Toes actually seemed to mostly understand and enjoy the concept, which was fun. Sadly, I think many of the adults didn't get the car's costume. Come on people, it's not a Mickey Cooper!

This weekend was full of firsts for Bubble Toes. On Saturday we kicked the weekend off with a trip to the driving range. Bad idea! Of course, Bubble Toes wanted to be right in the middle of the action, so I was constantly trying to keep her from walking out onto the range, getting in the way of people on the putting green, and getting hit with flying clubs. The final straw came when she dropped the ball she was holding and couldn't get it back. She threw a major fit and I scurried back to the car as she screamed in my arms. I could feel the glares of the other golfers on my back the whole way there. Golf and toddlers don't mix, take it from me!

After her nap we went on to the next adventure, Bubble Toe's first move in a theater. We attended a children's showing of Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. The theater was perfect for kids with cushy chairs, couches and tables. I set Bubble Toes down in her own large arm chair armed with a bevy of snacks and water while we adults enjoyed pizza and beer. She made it through the whole movie, only getting a little restless and talkative in the last 10 minutes or so. It helped that it was a relatively short show!

On Sunday we took a trip out to Sonoma to go pumpkin hunting. We ended up at a former ranch that has now been turned into a county park. For their Fall Fest they had barnyard animals to pet, a small "museum" with stuffed wildlife and real jellyfish (kind of strange for farmland), tons of crafts for older kids, a play area, a hay maze, and a tractor hay ride out to the pumpkin patch. We picked out our pumpkins and had a great time. The drive home through wine country was beautiful, as it turned into a bright sunny day after the morning fog burned off.

So the poor Bubble Toes has a cold :(. She is now dripping from every orifice on her face. Her eyes are watering, snot will literally (sorry, Dad, but I think it's an appropriate use here) bubble from her nose, and of course the ever present drool is forming a fast flowing river down her chin, into her neck rolls, and on to her chest. I guess this means we won't be making it to lap sit at the library today. She is in a remarkably good mood for how bad she must be feeling. She mostly gets fussy at naptime, I think, because it is hard for her to breath and thus uncomfortable to sleep. Oh, and she doesn't like having her nose wiped which also leads to frequent fusses, in light of the snot bubble development.

I guess she wants to be a snot monster for Halloween this year!

 

I usually love Halloween, but this year I didn't even get out my decorations or anything. I do love seeing Bubble Toes in

her costume though! She gets a little confused by it and tries to eat the peas off the front, but will tolerate it for short periods of time. We have actually had this costume since before she was born since Dad (and Mom) thought it was super cute and couldn't wait to order it. I was worried that she might not fit into it since it is 0-6, but since we still have a pretty petite baby it is plenty big. I don't think we will get to show her off to any trick or treaters in it though since her bed time of 6-7 is probably when most will come by. I am really looking forward to next year when as a 17 month old she should enjoy Halloween a little more.