Happy Halloween

We don't typically get a lot of trick-or-treaters at our house for some reason, which I always find disappointing. And then the ones we do get are often too old to be cute, just wearing some ugly mask for a costume, and holding out plastic bags begging for candy. Bleh.

But tonight Ashlee and Naomi brough Hannah and Sophia over to trick-or-treat, and they came dressed as twin bumblebees. They were by far the cutest costumes we saw all night.

Here Hannah shares her bee-antenna with Uncle Bryan. Awww :)

Welcome Abigail Grace Flinn!

Abigail Grace Flinn finally made her appearance yesterday morning, weighing in at 8.2 pounds. Quite a lot of progress for one who gave her parents such a scare at less than one pound! We got to go visit her last night- what a precious little girl! Congratulations Flinn Family!

Morning Routine

In honor of Amber's recent post (Hot Sheets) about her husband, Ryan, I thought I would share one of Bryan's newest quirks. Lately he has gotten very into having a morning routine. Now, Bryan has always been a creature of habit- he ate a bowl of Frosted Flakes every single morning for the first two years of our marriage (I once bought 15 boxes of Frosted Flakes at the grocery store because they were half off and I knew he would eat them all), followed by a long phase of Great Grains, then a slightly shorter phase of Wheaties, and currently his breakfast is oatmeal. Every single day. Oatmeal. He never switches it up, never is there the question of "hmmmm, what do I feel like for breakfast today?", if he makes a change it is a permanent change and he rarely looks back. The only problem this creates for me, is that any changes he makes are often without warning, and we might be left with 4 boxes of cereal in the cabinet that will no longer be eaten.

Anyways, the oatmeal breakfast is significantly more involved than a simple bowl of cereal, so Bryan has begun setting up his morning routine the night before. He puts the pot on the stove, the oats and raisins on the counter, and lays out the measuring cups next to his bowl and spoon. The coffeemaker is also prepped at this point.

Why this all needs to be laid out in such a perfect order the night before is beyond me. What a funny boy!

Fall and Smores

We had the most beautiful Fall weather this weekend, so today Ashlee, Meggan and I (and Hannah too) took a walk through Riverside. A new activity for us, as Meggan is finally off bedrest, hurray!

I love this face Hannah makes:
Then tonight we enjoyed smores in the Flinns' firepit. Yum!
And a complete group shot, now that Aaron figured out how to use the timer:

Marathon Day

Last weekend was Bryan's second Chicago Marathon. Here we are after eating the traditional pre-marathon spaghetti dinner:We got up bright and early and saw the Chicago sunrise- which I have seen more this summer than ever before, due to the sharp increase in marathons/triathlons this summer....

Our two youngest spectators waiting for the train:Our three runners walking to the start: Half of our cheering squad:
The youngest cheerer:
Carolyn was very cuddly and a just wee bit crabby about having her picture taken this early in the morning:And they're off! We managed to catch Bryan and Aaron and sometimes my dad (who we missed by just a few minutes a few times) at each one of our six cheering stops- Mile 1, 4, 11, 17, 20, and 25. Here come the strollers, racing through the sea of runners, on to our next lookout spot:
As the afternoon heated up, Carolyn reminded us all that a popsicle makes everything better:
Here's Hannah, cheerful as always:
Here comes Aaron at Mile 20, ready for a high five:
And Bryan, "No time for high fives, can't you see I'm running here?!"
Here are our runners at mile 25.5- less than a mile to go!

Dad is in The Zone...
And here come Bryan and Aaron, still going strong to the finish!
Proudly sporting his medal and ice bag:
A few minutes of rest before the long trek back to the train. The spectator team was ready for a rest also- after walking approximately 8 miles around Chicago chasing these runners around! And yes, I actually added up our miles- thanks to Gmap pedometer.
So proud of this boy:
The three marathoners:
And here is sweet Carolyn, still smiling even after a long and crazy day- what a champ!

Hannah turns 1

Little Hannah Pace turned 1 two weeks ago. She's such a big girl now! Doesn't Uncle Bryan look handsome in his party hat?




Isn't she a cutie?
The traditional tasting-of-the-birthday-cake

Fun with the Coxes

A few weeks ago we went to Klackle Family Farms with our dear dear friends, Ryan and Amber. It was a gorgeous day, and we had a great time picking apples and enjoying all the carnival-style events Klackle had to offer. Unfortunately, we did not get to ride the camels. I would have loved a picture of that. Who knew an apple orchard would have camels....

We love these two!

At The Launch Pad you could put rotten/deformed apples in this giant slingshot and try to hit the targets. On my first try I pulled the slingshot back as far as I could, released, and BAM- the apple flew straight backwards and nailed my shoulder. I have no idea how that happened. I mostly watched after that.

Yea, we're "those people"...

Could you guys please live by us again sometime?
The day ended with salmon and asparagus on the grill- doesn't get much better than that!