Fall Fun

Tonight we took the kids to the pumpkin patch at Pierce College to enjoy the little fair and to find the perfect pumpkin.
Ian was his normal, busy self--running around and checking everything out.
Looks like a good choice, don't you think? (This wasn't the one we bought, but Madeleine wanted to show us how many pumpkins there were that weren't too heavy for her to lift.)
Our masterpiece.This one was just asking to be sat on. It was pretty beastly.

Mad took a turn in the bumper boats. She didn't end up liking it as much as she thought she would. She pretty much hated it. I'm not sure if it was because she was spinning around in circles against her will or if it was that she bumped someone or something and then bumped her mouth on the steering wheel. Whatever it was, she cried until they let her out. Too bad. It looked like fun to me.
This was Ian's first ride on a carousel. He was all smiles when we first got on, but he seemed bored by the end. Oh well, what are you gonna do?

He was being a little daredevil standing up in the wagon. That was before they told us we couldn't let our kids ride in it.
Striking a pose, as usual.

We had a really fun time. This time of year is so much better for me now that I have kids. And especially now that Madeleine is old enough to appreciate so much of it. We are going trick-or-treating tomorrow, so be on the look out for the kids in their costumes.

Boney Island

If you live in Los Angeles and have never been to Boney Island, you have GOT to go!! It's just a few blocks away from our apartment so we found it a few years ago and have enjoyed checking it out each year since. For a couple weeks before Halloween, this family sets up the most amazing display in their yard. They call it an Animated Skeleton Carnival. Tomorrow night will be the last night of it this year, and if you've never been you may want to try to squeeze it in tomorrow. I picked up a flier while I was there that said this will be the last year they do it. I hope it's not true! Check out the website at www.boneyisland.com. The address is 4602 Morse Ave. in Sherman Oaks and it runs from 6:00 to 9:00pm. If you go, you can expect huge crowds. We wanted to go earlier, but we didn't make it there till tonight and there were tons of people there. It's still so worth it!

Halloween Hangman

Two posts in one day!?! That hasn't happened since I started this blog! Here's a little game in the spirit of Halloween. Have fun!

http://dedge.com/flash/hangman/hangman.swf?a=300

Well, I have to say there hasn't been a lot going on to post about, but it's been long enough since my last posting that I am ready to see something new when I check in on my blog 10 times each day.

I'm sure you all are aware of the crazy wildfires that have been going on here in California. We are far enough from them that we weren't affected much, but the air quality where we live was much worse than normal. That meant that I had to skip out on running in the evenings, Madeleine's school didn't have any outside playtime, and we couldn't meet all our friends at the park on Wednesday afternoon. All in all, not much to complain about.

We did get to the gym last Wednesday where Madeleine got these cute flowers painted on her face. She hated to wash them off! She wanted so badly for her friends at school to see them! Ian got something painted on his hand. It lloked like a 'B' but maybe it was supposed to be something else. Anyway, I am sure that's about the best you can do on a wiggly one year old.

Ian's Birthday Party

Can you call it a party if it's just our little family? Let's just go with it. We had Ian's party tonight, complete with cake, ice cream and presents. He absolutely LOVED feeding himself the cake! As you can see, he tried his best to lick the plate clean.

Happy Birthday, Ian!

Has a whole year gone by already?! Browsing through pictures from when Ian was born, it really doesn't seem like that long ago. But our little man is a big 1 year old now. He is walking everywhere. That is, everywhere except where I want him to go. He's quite a babbler too. A few of his words are pretty clear, like 'mommy' and 'da da' and 'ba' (which is ball), but he does a whole bunch of babbling with real feeling. I know he is trying to say something important. One of these days it will all become clear.
We haven't had any cake and ice cream yet because we were in Las Vegas for the BYU-UNLV football game. I'll post more pics soon after he has a chance to feed himself his birthday cake. I know it's lame that he didn't get to have a party on his actual b-day, but we got to go to M&M World on the strip. So what if Madeleine is the one who picked out all the candy and Ian only got to have part of one M&M?

He also went to his first BYU football game. He loved being in the stadium surrounded by all the crazy fans. Even though he didn't realize it was his birthday, I think he had a very happy day. Anyway, Happy Birthday, Ian Stuart Rands! We love you and we are so happy to have you in our family!

Manhattan Beach 10k

Sorry, no pictures to document this, but I ran the 30th Annual Manhattan Beach 10k on October 6. It was too early in the morning and over so quickly I didn't ask Spencer to wake the kids and haul them down there just to get a picture that may or may not have turned out well. Anyway, I've been running a few times a week with my friends, Gabrielle and Samarah, in preparation and I think it paid off. My final time was 56 minutes--a 9:01 minute mile. I was certainly not the overall winner, but I felt good about my time. There were separate starting points for even and odd bib numbers so I didn't get to run with my friends. They finished just a couple minutes behind me.

I love the atmosphere and the feeling of a race like that. Although, I have to say I think the crowd at this one was a little much. There were quite a few times I wanted to go around the other runners but couldn't. Oh well. The view was gorgeous. The finish line was right on the strand near the pier at the beach. Also, the t-shirt is my favorite race tee so far. Comfy long sleeves and the best fit of all the shirts I've gotten in the past. I am considering running the Rose Bowl half marathon in December. I'm not fully committed to the idea of running 13 miles, so if anyone has a compelling argument as to why I definitely should or should not do it, let's hear it.

P.S. Here's a link to my results. http://runraceresults.com/Individual.asp?EV=RCEB2007&Bib=1429

ABC Tag

ABC TAG

Rachel

A- Attached or single: Attached
B- Best Friend: Spencer
C-Cake or Pie: pie
D- Day of choice: Sunday
E- Essential Item: lip gloss
F- Favorite Color: green

G- Gummi Bears or Worms: Bears
H- Hometown: Billings, MT
I- Indulgence(s): pedicures
J- January or July: July
K- Kids: 2 of the cutest EVER!
L-Life is Incomplete Without: Family
M- Marriage Date: September 16, 2000
N- Number of Siblings: 4 brothers, 4 sisters
O- Oranges or Apples: apples
P- Phobias or Fears: Something happening to my family.
Q- Quotes: "No pain, no gain."
R- Reason To Smile: Watching Madeleine and Ian play together.
S- Season: Summer
T- Tag Three +: Anneli & Jon-o, Amy & Curtis, Melanie & Lin, Sara & Allen

U- Unknown Fact About Me: I am/was a massage therapist.
V- Vegetarian or Meat Eater: Meat
W- Worst Habit: wasting time on the computer.
X- X-Rays or Ultrasounds: ultrasound
Y- Your Favorite Food: Mexican food
Z- Zodiac: Leo

Spencer

A- Attached or single: Attached

B- Best Friend: besides Rachel, nobody because I'm a lone star

C-Cake or Pie: Pie

D- Day of choice: Saturday

E- Essential Item: glasses

F- Favorite Color: blue

G- Gummi Bears or Worms: bears

H- Hometown: Wilsonville, OR

I- Indulgence(s): chocolate

J- January or July: July

K- Kids: two awesome ones

L- Life is Incomplete Without: Rachel

M- Marriage Date: 9/16/00

N- Number of Siblings: 4

O- Oranges or Apples: Oranges

P- Phobias or Fears: no money at retirement age

Q- Quote(s): "Daddy!" - Ian & Madeleine

R- Reason To Smile: The way Maddie tries to sound like a grown-up or how chunky Ian is

S- Season: Summer

T- Tag Three +:

U- Unknown fact About Me: I used to bench-press 250 lbs in high school

V- Vegetarian or Meat Eater: Meat

W- Worst Habit: not paying attention when people speak, even though I look like I'm paying attention

X- X-Rays or Ultrasounds: ultrasounds

Y- Your Favorite Food: sushi

Z- Zodiac: aquarius