I have been way behind in blogging lately. It just hasn't been on my radar so I have lots of catching up to do. Here's a bit, with lots more to follow.

At the end of September, sort of (very, very loosely) to celebrate my birthday we went to Michigan and stayed at my cousin's cottage with the kids. We were looking forward to lazy days reading, hiking, being outside and that's just what we got! The view below is what was across the street from her cottage-just about 100 feet! It was gorgeous!
The first day there, we went to the state park and walked a short hike to the beach. It was very short-even Anne was able to walk the whole way and the end reward would have been worth 10x the walk.

Above is the beach at the end of the hike. Simply unbelievably beautiful and breathtaking! Even though it was probably only 60 degrees and quite windy, Anne and I couldn't resist taking off our shoes, rolling up our pants and splashing in the waves.

The next day we went apple picking, which none of us had ever done. I'm always amazed at how much Jamie can despite being only a year and a half old. I think it's the influence of a big sister coupled with the fact that I am not in a position to baby things down for him. He's forced to either participate or sit it out. He usually chooses participating!

After the apple picking we went to a corn maze. It was fun, but tough and we were forced to bail out early. Jamie spent the entire maze sleeping on my back. Poor guy-the day was just too exciting!
We did lots of other things that weekend that I didn't get pictures of. About a mile away from the cottage was a little children's museum where we spent our last morning. We also ate out at Mom and Pop type restaurants for nearly every meal! John and I were both grateful for home-cooking and salads when we got back home! John and I both got some good reading done and the kids watched 4 Disney movies on VHS, which in and of itself was a fun adventure (do you remember how long it takes to manually fast forward through previews?). It was a great weekend and we hope to go back next year in the summer or even early fall. Can't wait to actually jump into the waves wholeheartedly!

Shorewood Scoot 5K

John and I have done the Shorewood Scoot for 4 years in a row now. The main reason we do it is because it is literally 10 minutes from our house. In the Chicago suburbs where everything seems to be a minimum of half an hour away, finding something so close is a gem. The past few years John and I have leisurely run it together; last year Jamie was a tiny baby and we walked the whole thing. This year though, I am probably in the best shape of my life, I weigh less than I did before having Anne (thank you for that gift you gave me Jamie while I nursed you!), and I am really fast with running! Before this year, I was running at a comfortable 11 minute mile pace. Maybe a 10:30 if I was having a good day. In the running world, that's practically walking. This year, I am comfortably running a 9 minute pace. Much much faster than I ever hoped I could run.

Back when I started doing races, I knew that I was-at best-a 10 minute miler girl. So I always thought it would be cool to run 3 miles in under 27 minutes (or in under a 9 minute mile). That translated over into wanting to do a 5k in under 27 minutes, even though that meant doing an 8:45 or so. I never ever thought I would even come close to doing that. But this year, since I was already running so "fast" I thought I might actually try for it. I made up a training schedule for myself that included one day of speed work, one day of mock 5Ks at a faster pace and one day of a "long" run. Last week I ran my final training 5K in 27:35 and thought I just might actually have a (long) shot at making my ultimate goal for time in a 5K.

So today was the race. I was totally nervous. Even though we paid for John to do the race too, he decided to stay at the finish line to watch me come in (since we were both so excited that I might actually make my goal). The first mile I was incredibly fast. I finished it in an 8:20. The second mile I finished in an 8:40, still well within my goal. By this point, I was feeling it big time in my gut. When I exert myself with running, I get what's equal to the worst side stitch but in my stomach. So I was feeling that a lot. The beginning of that mile started with a hill so I slowed my pace for a few minutes and ended the 3rd mile in 9 minutes. I had only 1 tenth of a mile left to go-about one minute to finish that, give or take a few seconds. My watch said I was at 26:05 or so. I didn't think I'd finish that tenth before 27 minutes but I still picked up my pace. The last 30 seconds or so I debated slowing down and jogging it in because I thought I wouldn't make it anyway. But then I thought of finishing just a few seconds over 27 minutes and didn't want to be kicking myself for not giving it my all. So I sprinted it in-and made some nice breathing noises-I'm sure my co-runners thought I was giving birth. But I did it! I finished it in 26:55 (and actually even faster since I didn't start their start line right away). Awesome! I almost cried! I cannot believe I actually beat what was basically an unattainable goal. I have absolutely no desire to beat my time-I think this may go down as my fastest 5K in my life and I plan to run until I die. I had a great time and am so thrilled my training paid off!

Later on Anne and Jamie ran a race. Anne actually came in 4th out of probably 20 kids. That's my girl! And Buddy came in dead last, but in his defense he had no clue what was happening. Here's some pictures of our fun morning.

Before the race

Me finishing

Anne running her race

Look at her go! She's like lightening!

Jamie "running" his race. Look at him go! He's like molasses!

Jamie in his fire hat-his prize for finishing the race.

Anne in her fire hat.

Lots of summer fun

Today is the day before Labor Day and tomorrow marks the unofficial start of Fall. I love Fall. My favorite season for sure. Something stirs within me and its like my soul starts to bloom in the fall. I love the colors, the changing leaves, the crispness to the air, the yummy food....I love it all. I am so happy we are getting preview of it this week here in Chicagoland. So as Summer ends and Fall begins, I am mentally looking back over our summer and-phew!-I'm tired! Until this summer, the kids and I, and before Jamie, Anne and I, have been mostly homebodies. We'd plan a playdate or two during the week, have a day that we ran errands or had a class to go to and then spend 2 or 3 days just hanging at home, doing chores, craft, playing games. This summer was quite the whirlwind! Just about everyday we had something to do from playdates, to activities to just getting out there and enjoying it! We didn't go to the pool as much as I had hoped, but we went more than the previous 3 years combined and we did enough of others things to make up for it!

In June we went to Pirate's Cove, which is a kiddie amusement park in the Northern Suburbs. It's specifically designed for kids ages 2-9 and so much fun! There are only about 8 rides, but the kids can ride them over and over and there are no lines so the kids have a blast.
Later that month, Anne and Jamie both had swim lessons. Even at only 16 months, I was amazed at what Jamie could do! He was able to put his face in the water and try and blow bubbles and at one point, he even floated on his own! (Albeit for only about 2 seconds.) Anne, too, grew leaps and bounds since last year! I think next year she'll be swimming on her own!
We also visited the splash park several times too. Even though Jamie loves the water and Anne has started liking it much more too, both my kids would rather play on the dry apparatus than splash in the water. Oh well.
In July I made Daddy take the day off and we all went (in the ridiculous 90 degree and 100+ heat index to go blueberry picking. Unfortunately after over an hour of picking we only got 5lbs of berries. I was hoping for 10 or 15 so I could cook and can the week away. Still, we had fun and will for sure go back every year.We also spent what was supposed to be a rainy and cold day at the beach in MI. The day turned out relatively warm and sunny and was a fabulous day.
In August, Anne took another round of swim lessons-since she did so well at her first round-and improved even more. Later on, John, Anne, Jamie and I went to a local water park courtesy of the Library for completing the summer reading program. Anne was too little to ride any of the water slides but she had a great time playing in the zero depth pool and the little playground in the middle of the water. I was able to sneak away and ride a few slides.
The first weekend in August, we went to our annual city fair for kids, Kidzfest, in Joliet. It's a local street fair where area vendors and organizations set up booths complete with games or activites for kids and handouts for parents. Even Jamie was able to do some of the stuff!
Near the end of August, Anne and Jamie got baptized! That was such a special day for our family! What a blessing to look back years from now and see how God will have been faithful to us and to know He will continue to be faithful!
The last big thing we did this summer was go to the Will County Fair. It was quite a drive (over an hour) but we had so much fun! We saw a rodeo-which I am pretty sure someone with vegetarian tendencies is not supposed to like-which John and I enjoyed, Anne tolerated, and Jamie (loudly) protested, rode carnival rides, ate funnel cake and root beer floats and saw all the prize winning animals and arts and crafts. Such a fun time!
Of course, this summer we've also taken numerous day trips-just me and the kids and on weekends with John. We've visited several new forest preserves, gone to the Arboretum and DuPage Children's Museum, and lots of other fun things.

Phew! It's been a busy busy summer for us here at the Atwood house! School starts for Anne on Tuesday. She will be going 3 days a week, in the afternoons, so for 3 out of 5 weekdays we are basically going to be home bound. Perhaps we'll catch up on our crafts, games and chores that fell by the wayside during our whirlwind summer! Hope you all had a great summer too and Happy Fall!