Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Houston Color Run


Right before Thanksgiving, some of us from the math department got together and did the Houston Color Run.  The Color Run is a 5K run/walk through downtown that raises money for a local charity that works with veterans.   All along the route, there are stations set up where volunteers throw colored powder at you.  Messy?  Absolutely.  Super fun?  Absolutely!

The four of us at the start line -- all smiles in our clean white t-shirts!
Waiting at the start line... behind about 10,000 other runners.
The pink station.  I think the volunteers had as much fun as we did!
We had to stop mid-race and take a picture with the downtown skyline.
The blue station -- glad we didn't have to work clean-up afterward!  What a mess!
At the finish line (with a random creeper getting in on our picture!)!
Every 15 minutes, there was a color party at the finish line where everyone threw powder at each other.  We were already super messy, so why not add a little more?
Perfect sign for the finish line!
I am by no means a runner, but I had so much fun doing this race with these ladies!  What a great way to spend my first 5K!







Trick or Treat!

Lindsay didn't really "get" Halloween last year, so it was fun introducing her to the festivities this year.  First, we carved our pumpkins... she wasn't too impressed with the process, but was very proud of the pumpkin Daddy carved for her!

Our pumpkin family.  I'm pretty sure I've carved the same pumpkin face since I was about 10 -- can't go wrong with a classic!  Todd, on the other hand, likes to mix it up every year.  I guess one of us has to color outside the lines. :)
We had the cutest chicken costume picked out to wear, but Lindsay called an audible about 10 minutes before our Halloween block party and decided she wanted to go as a ghost that my mom made for her.  It was definitely not worth the fight, and the ghost was super cute, too!

The original chicken costume -- it was my little sister's costume when she was Lindsay's age!
The last-minute costume switch to the cute ghost -- who am I to tell her she can't change her mind about what she's wearing?
After the block party, we headed out trick-or-treating.  We had explained the "rules" to her before we left -- ring doorbell, say "Trick or Treat!", they put something in your bucket, say thank you and head to the next house.  She did great, and loved seeing all the kids outside.  Todd said they ran into a complication when one house just left a bucket of candy on their front porch -- Lindsay stepped over the bucket to get to the doorbell because she knew you had to do that before you could get candy!  This girl follows procedures to the letter... Wonder where she gets that from? :)

Explaining to her that people will put things in her pumpkin after she says "Trick-or-Treat".
Ready to head out for a fun Halloween night!
She is getting to be so fun -- we are just loving this age, and next year should be even more exciting for her now that she knows what Halloween is all about!

Monday, December 3, 2012

Catching up on October Fun

Things always seem to get so busy in the fall!  Here is a re-cap of October:

In mid-October, we headed over to UT in Austin to visit Abi for sorority initiation.  Abi pledged the same sorority I was a member of in college, so I got to be a part of her initiation -- only she had no idea I was coming!  My family worked really hard to keep her in the dark about our plans, and she was completely surprised.  It is so special to share the bond of AXO with her!

Lindsay and Aunt Abi at the UT AXO house
The next weekend, we visited the Pumpkin Patch at a local church with Grandma and Grandpa.  Lindsay thought this was the greatest place ever -- it was hard to get her to stay still for a picture because she wanted to touch all of the pumpkins!


I'm pretty sure she's talking to the pumpkins in this one -- she's getting to the point where she will talk to just about anything (unless you're a man with facial hair or if you walk up behind her)!
"I want this one, Daddy!"
Finally found a Lindsay-sized one!
Halloween is up next... it was so fun, it deserves its own post! :)