It Was Dry

Amazingly it stayed dry for the Seattle Marathon today. There was a little mist in the air, but no rain while Mama and Daddy ran the half marathon. We got in a quick warm-up by running to the start line after detours on our drive in to town due to crowds and traffic revisions and we arrived just in time to climb over a gate and get started on the run.

Santa

We met up with Santa today at a nearly deserted mall near Grandma's house. The pictures went pretty well considering there were 4 cousins in one set and the elves were nice enough to let us take a few pics with our own cameras, although the lighting wasn't spectacular.

Seattle

Today we finally made it in to the big city to pick up Mama and Daddy's race packets. CJ enjoyed the crowds and the free gifts at the expo center, but really had a good time riding the old carousel put out for the holidays.

Cousins

CJ was excited to see her cousins over Thanksgiving (no, these guys aren't twins - they are cousins,too),

but one thing she really looked forward to was holding Baby C again. It was a bit different than she remembered from holding her this summer.

It's The Holiday Season

Here's CJ checking out some holiday lights and decorations. And we recently found the radio station back home that has nothing but Christmas music until after the holiday. We listened to it at home on Wednesday while CJ helped me make stuffing and then we wrapped a few gifts. She loved helping with the ribbon cutting and even more so with the tape.

Happy Birthday Grandma W

In case we didn't have enough food for Thanksgiving, we followed that up with a huge meal at PF Chang's to celebrate Grandma's birthday a few days early.

PS - Don't forget to pay attention to the little signs in the parking garage that specify the height limit - especially if you happen to have a cargo box attached to your car...

PPS - CJ still doesn't like balloons!

Happy Thanksgiving

Today we piled in the car (fully loaded, of course) for the drive north to Grandma W's house for Thanksgiving. Here's CJ and Grandma together after our big meal. Thanks, Grandma.

The Torture

Little B is known for being a pest, trying to get attention - especially if Big B is potentially getting more attention than she is. Now Little B has to put up with CJ's hugs. Mama thinks she likes the attention.

The Table Came

Here's CJ showing off the freshly oiled table. Looks much better than the dining room table in the kitchen.

It's Not True...

So, we are at Trader Joe's today, in a very busy wine section right before the holiday and CJ tells Mama "you know you don't have to drink a glass of wine EVERY night, Mom". Nice!

Me and You

Here's the dance of the day. Don't worry if you don't understand all the words to the song - sometimes she has her own language.

Gourmet Girl

The girl won't touch "normal" kid food like a grilled cheese or french fries, but she would not utter a complaint if goat cheese ended up on her plate every night!

Tiny Tumbler

It's Camera Week at the gym where CJ has her Tiny Tumblers class. Here she is sitting on the rainbow, waiting her turn:

And here she is doing one of her tricks:

Lantern Walk

Tonight was the annual lantern walk for CJ's school. The kids painted a big sheet at school, which was used to cover the "lantern" and they also painted beads to make the handle out of. We were lucky that the morning winds tapered off and the night stayed dry for the walk. Lots of singing and a bit of hot cider completed the event.

The Dancer

CJ has been taking dance for a few years and this year we decided to overdo it a bit by taking ballet and tap back to back on the same afternoon. Here she is doing a little free dance, while waiting for tap to begin.

Skating

This morning we headed out to Oaks Park for the Preschool Skating. CJ started out well and took part in the lesson, but after a few falls she'd had it. Maybe we'll try this again when she is 7. Or 12.

The Sugar Fairy

This morning CJ woke up to find out that the Sugar Fairy had taken her candy and replaced it with this beading kit. She loved it and made necklaces using up all the beads.

Bad Santa

When Uncle G was helping Mama with some computer stuff today (thanks Uncle G), we found a virus on the USB drive that Santa gave us with our holiday photo last year - Bad Santa! The file was hidden when using the drive on a PC, but clearly showed up when the drive was inserted into an Apple machine. Guess this is one reason for "mac tax".

Happy Growl-O-Ween

Today we took the little witch to the zoo for trick or treating round 2. We were excited to see the zoo lights are already going up:

And we had a front row seat while the baby elephant and his mom stomped and ate some pumpkins:

Daddy got to see the new exhibit and the lion (who is still adjusting to its new surroundings and really seemed to want to get through the glass to meet the crowds). Not a bad day. Happy Growl-O-Ween!