Katie and Peter's Blog: October 2013

October was chock-full of fun activities. Peter and Katie were both playing soccer (not together). Katie really enjoyed it. Peter's enthusiasm was mixed. Some days he wanted to stay next to Nancy the whole time. Other days he wanted to play. October is also the time for Del Ray's awesome Art on the Ave festival. About a mile of the downtown is closed to car traffic and hundreds of artists, vendors, bands, and restaurants converge. Every year it's one of our favorite events in Del Ray. It typically attracts over 50,000 visitors.

Then we packed up the car and spent a weekend in Scranton with Nancy's sister Sara and her family. I "ran" the Steamtown Marathon (I puttered out around mile 19). Cousin Mark ran it too and I thought I had a chance to beat him since it was his first marathon and he reportedly hadn't trained much. But I forgot that youth is more forgiving and he trounced me. Oh well. Sara and her family and Nancy, Peter, and Katie all came out to cheer us on from different spots along the way. At mile 22 I texted Nancy to come get me but eventually decided to tough it out and slowly dragged myself to the finish line to finish my 6th marathon. I'm slowly catching up to Nancy's 10 but I don't think she has to worry. I don't think I have 4 more marathons in me.

After Scranton we stopped at the excellent Crayola museum in Easton, PA (sort of near Philly). They had lots of hands-on art stuff which Katie loved. We got to see how crayons are made and even got to create our own crayons and markers.

When we returned home, it was time to get ready for Halloween. We also went ice skating and Katie did a great job skating without any help for the entire time (usually she wants to hold our hand for a while). It was very impressive. Peter skated for the first time and we may need to sign him up for a skating lesson soon before he yanks my shoulder out of socket. I forgot how much strain they can put on your shoulders while you're holding them up.

Coming up next.... Halloween!

Photos are below. Click here to see a lot more.

Peter with a friend at soccer practice

Peter goes one-on-one with the coach

Ice cream at Ikea

Story time with Katie

Painting pumpkins at Del Ray's Art on the Ave

Enjoying a band and some barbecue in Del Ray

Katie got to help paint a mural in Del Ray

A petting zoo at Art on the Ave

"I can't believe how big this cheeseburger is."

Waiting for Mommy to come home

Got tired of waiting.

Bedtime stories with Katie

Katie reads to a dog (and Peter) at our local library.

A bench in memory of Grandma Butler in Naugatuck.

In Scranton

Fun with cousin Matthew

Waiting for Daddy and cousin Mark to pass by mile 17 at the Steamtown Marathon in Scranton, PA.

There's cousin Mark in the green shirt!

...And then a loooong wait for Daddy.

There's Daddy! (finally!)

There's Daddy again at mile 23.

The finish line at last. The hills killed me, even though most of them were downhill. I also wasn't quite as prepared for it as I thought. Mark, running his first marathon and training lightly, beat me by 90 minutes. Ah, youth.

It's always nice to get a warm reception after a rough day.

The medal winners.

I made the front page of the Scranton newspaper! I'm in yellow underneath the "n" in Joslyn. Luckily it was taken at the start. The older man to my right in blue? He's 81 years old and I beat him by 5 minutes! Take that and shove it old man! In your face!

The Crayola Museum in Easton, PA.

Katie creates drip art by letting melted crayons drip from a stick. It was one of several neat hands-on artsy things at the museum.

Katie made her own crayon. Princess Purple.

Peter is a little less creative in the naming department.

Working with clay at the Crayola museum. They also go to make their own markers, watch how crayons are made, and create a coloring book page of themselves.