Fall Fun!!

So for once I am not going to start this post by apologizing about being a blog-slacker and promising to be better from now on, blah blah blah,  because frankly, that just isn't the case for my lack of posts lately.  Truth is - nothing too exciting has happened, nothing blog-worthy anyways.  Bryan got a funny schedule this month and instead of being off on the weekends like normal - he has had to work - boo.  One day we did find time to hit a good old fashioned corn maze - which was fun.  We got pretty creative and wedged the camera between the corn and the stalk to take our self-timed photos - not too shabby!  

Other than that - we spend our fun fall days at work!  Luckily for me, on Bryan's days off - which this month have been at the beginning of each week - he is able to come to work with me -  where we spend our days playing with three very adorable little boys - so we cant complain too much!  The weather here in Indy seemed to go straight from the summer heat to the cold winter - which made it a harder transition for the little boys, but with the aid of three very plush winter jackets - we have made it work!  The boys love playing outside - and with a yard like they have got - who wouldn't?  They have tons of toys, slides, cars, etc - although my personal favorite has got to be . . . the fence!!!  It was put in a few months ago and boy is it GREAT!  Outside time has become so much easier and much more relaxed - and the boys are definitely enjoying their new found freedom!  
                                                                              Cale
                                                                             Colter
                                                                         Cooper
Although I love these boys to pieces - there are many reasons I would not want triplets of my own - one (of the many) reasons may sound lame but it would totally bug me - it is so stinkin hard to get a good picture of all three boys at the same time!  I cant get them all to sit still long enough and look at me, much less catch them all smiling!  Okay - maybe a little dramatic because I have got a few decent pics - but you know what I mean!  It is so hard to catch cute pictures of one kid - it is three times as hard catching a good one of all three!  Anyways - that is why I love the picture above - no one is crying or looking the wrong way or blinking - they just look too cute in their huge winter coats!  

It is official . . .

Bryan is OLD!!!  Ha ha! Okay, okay  - I am only just teasing, but he did hit the big 3-0 on the 11th of this month - and that definitely is considered a milestone in my book!  We didn't do anything fancy (do we ever?) however he got to eat out for all three of his meals that day and for Bryan, that is pretty much as good as it gets!  He was a trooper - and even though it was his day off - he came to work with me all day long!  We had donuts in the morning - took the kidlets to the park and to lunch - then we went to Bryan's traditional birthday dinner at Red Lobster where he gets the all-you-can-eat shrimp while I have to scour the menu for something edible to order for myself - - it is always such a treat - - but I suppose it is something I can handle one day a year :)

At Red Lobster - Yum Yum :)

I have been wanting to try to make a cake with fondant for a while now - so I thought I would give it a whirl for Bryan's birthday.  I definitely thought it would be easier - thats for sure!  I had this adorable cake envisioned in my head - but by the time I got down to actually making the stupid cake it was already pretty late at night and I was not in the mood to do it.  So sadly - I made this one pretty half-heartedly!  Kneading the fondant was brutal - as was rolling it out - so I rolled it just enough to cover the cake - - so it was way too thick - oh well!  I cut a bunch of corners in order to get it done in a timely matter.  It definitely did not turn out how I wanted it to - but I am glad I gave it a shot so I know what I will be in for the next time around.  I totally want to try it again - but maybe on a Saturday when I have some extra time on my hands - we will see.  Anyways - it was tasty, which I suppose is what really matters.  Dinner - Presents - Cake - - - that was about it - - but it was a nice, mellow evening at home.  Happy Birthday Bryan!!! 

The Happiest Run on Earth . . .

Seriously, does such a run really exist? I think not! However - if you just had to run 13.1 miles somewhere - I guess there is no better place to do it than in Disneyland, CA - wahoo! I was so nervous about this run for a few reasons - 1) because I did not train very well this time around. In fact - I trained worse than last time - which was pretty lame back then! I think the furthest I ran to prepare was 6 miles - I attempted a 7 miler with my sisters one week and got grumpy and walked - haha! and 2) because I was running with my sisters who had been training together and they (and by they I mean Bonnie) were very insistent that we were going to run this thing under 2 hours! The time didn't scare me too much - I needed to shave 6 minutes off my last race - very possible I knew - but I just didn't really want to be the one holding everyone else back.

Overall - we didn't make the two hour goal - but the race went quite well and we were very happy at the end! So I guess the title can stick for now . . .

Here we are in front of our hotel. We had to check in for the race by 6 pm the day before and the race started at 6 in the am so it only made sense to sleep up in Anaheim the night before! What we really didn't plan on was going up early that day so we could spend a childless/strollerless day at Disneyland. It may be one of the worse things that you can do the day before a run like that - walking around a theme park all day - - but we had a great time and I dont think any of us regret the rash decision! The lines were not bad at all - especially for a Saturday. I think the longest wait was maybe a half an hour! We got to ride all the fun adult rides - and we even broke down on Space Mountain and got to see and ride the coaster from the inside - lights on - definitely a once in a lifetime opportunity! At the end of the day - we were very responsible and left at a decent hour in order to get a good 8-hour (or very close to) night sleep!

Here we are before the ran began! No one came up to watch so we had to run with our camera in tow and took our own Kodak Moments! We started in Down Town Disney - Ran through CA Adventures - then through Disneyland - then into the streets of Anaheim. We passed by the Honda Center (Home of the Ducks) and got to run a lap in Angel Stadium before heading back to CA Adventures where the race ended.
Shawna and Bonnie running through the Castle!
Whew! Mile 8! Over half way done! Don't mind the time - it wasn't accurate because of how long it takes you to actually pass the start time.
In the stadium! Mile 9!
With a bug from Bugs Life - 1 mile to go!!!

Bonnie and Shawna at mile 13 - Almost done! Notice Bonnie's face - classic! Ha ha!

Yay! We are finished! Sorry we look pretty gross in all the pics - a combo of both sweat and water from the water stations we used to pour on ourselves as opposed to drinking!

Overall time you ask? 2 hours and 9 minute! Drats! The funny thing was that the night before Bonnie used a permanent Sharpie marker to write down her arm the time we had to be at when we hit each mile marker in order to achieve our two hour goal. As the run started we were weaving in and out of people trying to maintain a steady pace. At mile marker one Bonnie nearly panics as she checks her arm and tells us we are behind! "By how much?" we ask. "Too much!!!" was her response! Geesh! By mile marker 2 she claims it is a hopeless cause so lets just get into a comfortable pace and finish! That was definitely fine by me. We relaxed - ran at a steady pace - and got to take all kind of candid shots that we would not have been able to had we been more set on our goal time. But it wasn't until our ride home that I finally got Bonnie to tell us how far behind we were at mile marker one. 20 SECONDS!!! Ha ha - she definitely gave up too easy on that one - had I known that I think I would have pushed us a bit harder - because that time definitely could have been recovered! Oh well! Still a fun run and an awesome castle shaped medal at the end - definitely worth it! Oh yeah - and the permanent marker sweat completely off her arm by mile 3 - haha!

Nothing Is Better Than Last Minute Company

Especially when it is my sister!  Shawna texted me last (x2) Friday night and told me that she was going to come visit for a few days.  

me: AWESOME!  WHEN?  

shawna: I think tomorrow.

Ha ha - she is so funny - but it is a true story!  I would love if all my visitors decided so last minute like that - then I wouldn't spend weeks counting down the days until the visit - it would just be here the very next day!  

After these last few visits I am sure by now Shawna wishes I lived somewhere a little more exciting than Indiana - but such is life!  I loved having her here!  She stayed a week and woke up every day at 6 just to come to work with me - she is the best!  The boys loved her and it is always nice to have an extra helping hand!  Sadly the very few pics we took were on her camera and she has yet to send them to me - so I cant post any - but take my word for it that we had a fantastic time together.  Sisterly bonding is the best - too bad I cant get Bonnie out here for a few days too :)  We did all the regular stuff that we always do when we are together - shopping, movies, eating, running, and lots of late night talking of course!  I sure wish I lived closer to my sisters so we could hang out more often!  Luckily it is only a few short days until our next scheduled trip!  I know I don't say it often - but SOMETIMES (and by sometimes I mean vacation times) having a pilot as a husband is the very best!   

I'm NOT a PC!

About 6 months ago we decided to finally get Bryan a laptop.  He is always out of town and it is nice to have a computer to get things done and keep him entertained on long layovers and such.  I grew up on Macs and Bryan did not - so when it came to picking out a laptop we had quite the pickle!  Our desktop at home is a Mac because I insisted on it - but since this was going to be Bryan's laptop I decided to let him pick - and he chose a Dell.  It was actually a pretty cute little netbook - the thing was tiny - perfect for traveling - and pretty inexpensive - in case he lost it. Really all he wanted to do with it was play on the internet and that is what these new netbooks are made for - so I was okay with his decision.  I stressed to him several times the advantages of Macs but he just didnt think they were worth the difference in cost - fine. 

So anyways - fast forward 6 months to the present and the thing seriously is pretty much junk!  It is slower than molasses and is constantly shutting down and kicking him off the internet for no reason at all.  Plus - the teeny tiny size makes it great for traveling but the screen is so small a whole window doesn't really fit onto it without scrolling.  But it wasn't until Bryan spent over 2 hours with tech support and coughed up over $100 bucks to get rid of some stupid virus that had attacked his little netbook that he finally saw the light!   He decided to donate his little netbook to the Molly-needs-something-to-do-during-naptime-or-she-will-go-insane cause (since a junk, slow laptop is better than no laptop) - and we headed up north to the Apple Store in Carmel to pick out a nifty new laptop for my Bryan (and to hit Cheese Cake Factory - mmm!)  It ended up being such the fun night!  We ordered the computer and got some smashing bargains too - free printer and ipod touch!  I also ordered this awesome green cover thing to protect it and his whole laptop is green now - ha ha!  I am seriously so very jealous but am glad that he finally has something decent to play on during all those hours he is away from home every week!  

Doesn't he look so happy!  The moral of this story you ask?  Macs will forever be the better computer - ask Bryan - a convert :)  They are so stinkin easy to use and best of all - NO VIRUSES - EVER!  Happy early birthday, Bryan!  Don't expect too much more next month!!