Happy Halloween! v.10

Happy Halloween!

Another fun year of trick or treating in the AP with Greg & Tracey...and little Max too!

Evan the bull rider. He dressed as a hippie at school on Friday, but I love this costume.

Angel and devil. Seriously, she ate 2 pairs of devil horns.

Max looking good in his skeleton suit :)

Max, Greg & Emma

Looking very angelic...

Max did not want to sit on the Great Pumpkin. Poor Binkster.

Bart came out of the house dressed to kill. Literally.

Time to re-fuel with a little True Blood!

Emma didn't trick or treat...she was all about walking around with Lola. They were going to dress the same, but Lola really did eat 2 pair of devil horns, so at the last minute Em pulled together the angel costume. They were very cute. I still can't believe she didn't get one piece of candy. I take that back...she ate from Aunt Tracey's bucket but didn't get any of her own. Brat. That means I don't get to raid her stash.

Good thing Evan had a large bag.

Impromptu beach visit!

Emma's team had a game this past Sunday in Grand Haven, which is a three hour drive from our house. Which, any way your look at it, is an all day trip, basically. Her teammate Kayla rode with us. It was the most gorgeous October day ever; just below 70 degrees, sunny and crisp. Outstanding. We got to the fields with 50 minutes to spare, so we drove off in search of the beach, knowing that it was nearby by not wanting to venture too far away.

Less than a mile from the fields we found a sign announcing Rosy Mound Nature Center and decided to give it a try. No water was visible, but there was a sign saying 'No Lifeguard on Duty'. Bingo!

Nowhere on any of the trail markers did it indicate that the trek to the beach was around 3/4 mile, Nor did it mention that it was up and down flights of stairs over dunes! The girls ran ahead while I did my best to keep up with them. I failed miserably. I was huffing and puffing and moving by sheer will to see the Lake.

The water wasn't nearly as cold as I thought it would be in October. The sand was gloriously warm, and the waves were quietly lapping the beach. There were tons of boats on the Lake and many people enjoying the beach. I wanted to stay all day. In hindsight, we would have left 2 hours earlier so we could just hang out there.

Emma had no problem running right into the water, even though her shorts were getting all wet. I was sort of surprised that she didn't jump all the way in!

The harsh reality was that we could only stay 10 minutes because the trek back was so long. They ran ahead of me and I just kept climbing. I would have given anything to just be able to sit for a bit and rest, but the clock was ticking and they had to be on the field in 15 minutes. I didn't account for how hard the trip back would be, but I didn't stop. Not once.
They played at the most beautiful high school complex I have ever seen. The field was huge. They have their own soccer stadium with bleachers. Seriously.

We were massacred. Of course I felt we should stay at the beach but did the responsible thing by bringing them to the game. After, they both wanted to go back but there was no way I'd have been able to do that climb again. And we still had a 3 hour drive home to deal with.

It was totally worth the drive.

FO-Jen's Switcheroo switcheroo socks

I finished these in August and completely forgot to share them!

My friend Jen was looking for a little motivation to run in Central Park in a tutu. I promised her that I would knit her a pair of socks if she did. And did she ever!

So this pattern was called 'switcheroo socks', but for me they ended up being a double switcheroo. In knitting, you read the pattern from right to left, and I was 75% of the way finished with the first sock before I realized that I was reading the pattern backwards. Yes, I am a rocket scientist, why do you ask? I also catch on quick!

They have a fun heel pattern that I've never attempted before, and the lace pattern was very easy to handle.

My favorite thing about this pair is that I hand dyed the yarn, and I think it came out very pretty. Very fall, with a few bright bits of green, just like in nature.

I hope she enjoys them now that it's cool enough to wear them :) I know she has some awesome shoes that will show them off!

Hello, October

October, you are my favorite month of the year.

I love your cooler temps, your Pumpkin Spice Lattes, your cider mills.

Your Saturday football, your crisp nights, your spectacular show of color.

I would, however, like you to stay around a little longer than 3 days. We're barely into the month and already it's cold.

Let's return to the beautiful weather of last week!

Em, Ev & Max last weekend :)

Tournament weekend two

I haven't had time to blog about the second tournament weekend in September. Here's a little bit about it!

This tournament was for Evan's team, in Dublin Ohio. It's a pretty nice tourney, and not too far. It has the added bonus of being in Ohio, which means I cen generally talk my BFF Heather into visiting me. The weather was really nice; mid 70's to 80's while at home was raining and miserable. Not too shabby.

Our games were at the crack of dawn. The fields were barely light when we got to them.

The first game was against the best team on our playlist. And they were good. Took an early lead and continued to school us for 30 minutes. Then we rallied. We tied it up. We went ahead. They tied it up. In the end, they beat us by one goal, and that cemented our place in the tourney...no place. We automatically wouldn't go to the finals after losing to this team, which just sucks. To travel all that way and to know by 9:00 on the first day that you are done, well that just makes for a really long weekend.

Evan played goal during the second half and made some amazing saves. He just needed his defense to be strong and they got a little too confidant. It happens.
They went on to lose the second game after lunch. Losing is weird for Evan's team...they don't do it often. Losing twice on the same day is just...weird.
Here's the birthday girl on the morning of her big day. Between games she opened gifts (we totally had her fooled that we didn't bring any), with her major gift being a laptop of her own. She's tickled pink and totally loves it.

Heather came after the second game, and we girls headed over to the mall across the street from the hotel. I had only slept 1 hour and 20 minutes the night before, so I was beginning to get supertired. We got Starbux and wandered around. Em didn't want to go into any stores...she may be the only teenager who won't shop when offered carte blanche...until we found a doggie boutique. She was all over that. We ended up with a new collar for Lola and a Halloween costume to debut later. But it's Awesome, trust me.

Went to Graeter's for ice cream, Noodles & Company for dinner, and had cherry pie from GTPC (E's fave), not to mention gourmet cupcakes that Heather brought. We were in a food coma, but it was all good.

The boys won their game on Sunday morning, and we hightailed it out of there. Made it home just in time to go to most of Emma's game, which we hadn't planned on. Picked up Lola at the dog park and went home. Whew. It was a crazy fast weekend!