Turkey Trot 2011

This past Saturday, November 19th, as a spur of the moment thing, Mom decided to take part in the 38th annual Turkey Trot 10k in Newark. 

Mom and I awoke early and headed out to Handloff Park.  With a chill in the air and a frost on the grass, Mom registered on the spot and found herself amid a field of 248 runners.

When all was said and done, Mom finished the hilly course in 56.53, coming in 132nd over all and 11th in her age bracket (full results here).

Linus He Ain't

Aidan has always kind'a marched to the beat of his own drum.  From his frequent desire to actually go to bed to his actually liking his vegetables and eating them first, he's not your average 5 year old.

So it shouldn't have come as a surprise when, last week, he announced that he thought he was getting too old to sleep with a blanky.  Slightly taken aback at this announcement, I initially just wrote it off as just a passing thought he had had, and continued to leave the blanket in bed with him.  That was, until last night.

As we were putting him down to bed last night he announced to Mom that he was done with it.  Her initial reaction was similar to mine, so rather than completely remove it from his bed, she set it off to the side, within arm's reach, turned off the light and closed the door.

A few moments later, we heard him call out from his room.  I opened the door and found him holding out the blanket.  He was done.  And that was that.  They grow up so fast.
 

Hey, Everybody! Its The Famous Molly Pitcher!

Hot on the heels of Halloween, Amanda got to play dress-up again.  Only this time, her effort wasn't for the sake of sugary confections but was instead for a grade.  As part of a biography project for school, Amanda was required to give an oral presentation while dressed as the subject of her report.

Amanda had chosen Molly Pitcher.  Molly, whose real name was Mary Ludwig Hays, was an American Revolutionary War hero who was credited with providing water to soldiers of the Continental Army as they would pass by her home.  History also tells how, when her husband was overcome with heat exhaustion at the Battle of Monmouth, Molly took over for him by swabbing and loading the canon for the rest of the day.

Soccer Wrap-up

This past Saturday, we put another GRPC Soccer season in the history books.  Aidan and Amanda both had really good years.

Aidan was a force to be reckoned with, scoring multiple times almost every game.  He also had some natural defender skills bubbling to the surface as we would see him frequently dart around the opposition to protect the goal.

Amanda spent a lot of the season playing midfielder.  While she would have liked some variety, she did play the position well and had a good time on the field with some good friends.