Rafiki

So today we went to Rafiki to play and catch up a bit with old friends. We have heard great things about it and am glad we ventured out. It was great to catch up with Jessica and see what she's been up to and what some of our other friends had as well.

This place was cool. It had a big climbing structure with slides, a zip line and general climbing fun. So I watched a lot of this...

They also had a coloring area, a bin of "snow", dress-up, play kitchen, train table, baby area, and some other trucks and toys around. Along with the fun for the kids, they have lots of different couch areas set up for the parents, and a coffee/juice/snack bar. Defiantly on our list when we return.

Christmas before Thanksgiving and bikes....

At the Idaho Center, very large event center, they hold a Christmas show every year with all kinds of vendors, some food and Mr & Mrs Claus. It's fun to see all the stuff, and they have the best Santa around.

Yes, my camera sucks, but hoping to fix that soon. We bought the nice photo that they took.

He's watching you...
The boys have been wanting to play with the dogs, so we brought them in for a bit this afternoon and they all played for a while.

We've been searching Craigslist the last couple of days, looking for cheap bikes for the boys to keep up here, they were found!
Cody's $10 bike...

Ty's $25 bike....

Seeing the excitement and smiles: Priceless.

We'll take them for a spin around the neighborhood tomorrow.

So that's been our first couple of days in Boise, tack on a bunch of shopping for food and there you have it!

Tyler's Field trip and feast at school...

Tyler had a busy week at school, Tues was their fieldtrip to the music store and Thurs was their Thanksgiving feast.

We went here....

to learn about all different kinds of instruments.

The owner was great and showed them some different wind and stringed ones.
Then we moved over to the drum guy...

Then another guy showed us about drums from different cultures and different stringed things.

This guy showed us guitars, he was very talented.

Mrs. Suzanne showing us her skills...

Then to see the different key boards, by this point the kids were a bit finished and her songs weren't upbeat enough for the crowd, hence the faces.

After this, they were given the chance to try some of the instruments. Some had fun, Tyler had a bit of stage fright and wouldn't touch anything.

Then we headed outside to have a bit of a snack.

Thursday was feast day at school.

Circle time, singing songs...

It was Tyler's sharing day, he brought in some cars for the toy box.

Cheesy boy with his feathered hat and bead necklace, showing me his place.

The whole group...

They had a full spread of turkey, potates, rolls, veggies, salads and desserts. YUM!

More crafty...

Another post on the crafty blog:

http://acraftychristmas.blogspot.com

Let me know if you want the door unlocked.

Crafty...

Go here for a new post on my crafty blog. If you would like to see and you're not on the list, please email me and I'll unlock the door.

Cody's last game of the season...

Cody had his last game of the season this past Saturday. We're all ready for a break, but he said he had fun and wants to play next year. He had a so-so game, not really listening, but goofing around most the time. So, ahh, whatever....

Pre-game, warrior stance...

Going for it, full smile plastered on his face.

This boy next to him was a force to be reckoned with! They were all having a hard time getting the ball back when he had it, and he had an awesome foot!

Hooray! We're done!

The energy boost at the playground at the end of the game.

Cody and his friends, what he really enjoyed this year.
(Another mom sent me this)

Crafty blog on lockdown...

Okay friends and family, it's that time of year when the crafty blog gets locked down so only some eyes can see!

I'll send an email invite to those who's email address I have. If you would like to check it out, leave me a message, here or on FB and I'll let you in, seriously everyone's invited.

Okay, almost everyone. Family, sorry, you're not allowed. Wouldn't want to ruin the surprise!

So let me know and I'll unlock the door.

And the Christmas crazies begin....

There have been apples galore on sale the last couple of weeks, so I've been stocking the fridge and finally put them to use. Introducing the first thing finished for the Christmas baskets: homemade, sugar free apple sauce.

Variety is the key...

New toy, so cool!

My kitchen for the afternoon.

Mmmm, apples and cinnamon cooking...

Ran the soft apples and juices through the blender and it made perfect applesauce.

After many batches of peeling, cooking, blending we all felt a little like this. 24 jars ready for the freezer.

Next time around I'm going to try to get the right tools to actually process the jars for canning so they can be stored in the pantry. But being impatient and worried that the apples were going to go bad, I had to go today.

Cookies are next and bread to follow while up at Mom and Dad's for Thanksgiving.

Halloween Fun...

We jammed in a bunch of fun in a couple of days. It started Wed night with a game night at the high school, Cody was getting sick and couldn't go, but Ty and I braved the crowd.

Quick picture before we headed in.

The gym was full of carnival games, and Ty played most of them, lots of throwing things.

Bowling...

We cut it short as he said he'd had enough. Treats in hand we were back home to watch the Monsters vs Aliens Halloween special.

Friday started out with a party with Tyler's school. More games, food and fun to be had.

Showing off his painted pumpkin.

We ate and played, then they did a costume parade around the building, ending up on stage to sing "The 5 Little Pumpkins." Super cute.
After that we headed over to pick up Cody, then went to the safe TOT in old Fair Oaks. We started off with the games, both boys had a lot of fun.



Then did some TOT around the businesses, ending up in the little court to take a few pictures.
Saturday was soccer, then we went to lunch at the IL's house. After lunch, we left Ty with Grandma and took Cody up to Apple Hill. We stopped and picked up my race packet, then headed off to explore a bit. We went to El Dorado Orchard and let Cody have a pony ride, then walked around the craft fair. On the way down we stopped at Abel's to see what they had before hitting the freeway back. Once we picked up Tyler we ran home for a quick dinner before getting ready to go show off the boys' costumes. We started off at the IL's house and then came home and set out around the neighborhood.

Pumpkins ready to great the kids.

Ready to go!

and they're off.

It was fun, the boys bags were full by the time we came home and they were ready to settle in for the night. Happy Halloween!

Apple Hill Harvest Run

Done, Finished and walked away! Yep, I motivated myself for 3.5 miles around the Apple Hill country side. (And I didn't finish last)

Before it began. It was warm this morning!

Lined up...

3.5 mile crowd...

Off we go!

I knew that the race started uphill, but damn, that was a steep hill. So there was a bunch of walk /jogging going on, probably at least 1/3 of the 1st mile. But it finally leveled off and I was able to find my pace, still slow, but there. First mile was 18:30, second 18:15, and the last 1.5 28:18, for a total time of 63: 03. The average mile time figured out to be 18:001 which is at least 30 seconds faster than anything I've done before.
The end of the race was a nice uphill as well, so walking and jogging part of that until I came around the corner and could see the finish. See here I am still moving.
Rewarded at the end with a cold bottle of water, fresh apples, cookies, apple donuts, energy bars and chips. Then found a nice shady spot to collapse!

The other reward, a cool new shirt.

So my first running race has been completed! YAY!!

Now to figure out what's next.