Remember last year's visit to the pumpkin patch? We weren't going to let that happen again so we headed out to Eplegaarden this weekend (just a mile or so from our house) on a beautiful morning to hunt for the perfect pumpkin...
"Over there..."
Not exactly an accurate measurement...
There it is -- our pumpkin!
It's been awhile since I did one of these "age" posts! Gavin is no longer a toddler. He is a walking, talking boy who is quick to express his likes (horses, crackers, his teachers) and his dislikes (putting on sunscreen, vegetables, and sometimes baths). Just today, his new way of answering affirmatively has changed from "Yeah" to "Yeah, OK." Very funny.
Whoa! It's been a long time since I blogged ... we have been taking advantage of the lovely evenings to read on the front porch. Gavin is very into reading right now and loves to read the same ones over and over and over and ....
We enjoyed a great evening Saturday night attending the wedding of my longtime friend Jenni to David ... the festivities were held at MMOCA, with the ceremony and party on the rooftop. It was a beautiful spot for the event and we enjoyed getting dressed up and catching up with some old friends (those photos are on Vikki's camera -- Vik, please send 'em my way!).
Gavin awaiting the appearance of "more horses!" in the Edina Independence Day Parade...
Check out the bearded flag dancer!
Awesome old-timey bicycles
Aunt Heather with Gavin at the sculpture garden of the Walker Art Center
Making a break for the spoon!
Anna and Caroline got to make their own prints -- part of the Walker's "First Saturdays" activities for families -- that will hang in Heather and Rick's beautiful new family room.
Gavin got to make a "habitat" that is now "on display" on our kitchen table.
Enjoying a musical performance at his new preschool...
Sharing a hug with Rose, one of his classmates in the Yellow Room...
Stealing Colin's chair when he got up to check the burgers on the grill while we were visiting the Benedicts on Sunday for dinner. Gavin thought this was so funny that he did it twice, of course getting a bigger laugh and milking the moment on the second go-round. He is really showing his sense of humor more and more and enjoys getting us all to join in on the joke.
We were so lucky to get a quick visit on Sunday morning from Jackie, Indra and their new baby Sylvia (7 weeks old!) on their way back home to Ann Arbor, MI, from visiting family in western Wisconsin.
I even got in on the baby holding and forgot for a moment how floppy the little ones are!
It's been a big week at our house, between Gavin starting preschool and me suffering from a wicked bout of the stomach flu (enough said). Gavin managed to come out of this week healthy and mostly happy about his new school, new teachers and new friends. The school sends us daily e-mails and pics, which is an awesome way to keep up with how he is doing...
“I’d kill right now for a meatball sandwich,” Keely Smith declared from the stage of Birdland on Tuesday evening. Ms. Smith, who has recently acquired the nickname Queen of Swing, has expressed the same craving for meatballs on New York nightclub stages before. Performing clearly stimulates her appetites. I have an imaginary picture of her chomping down on a sandwich at 4 a.m. in a Las Vegas diner after a marathon performance with Louis Prima in the early-1960s heyday of Sin City. On Tuesday she recalled that Mr. Prima struck her as the handsomest man she had ever seen until they divorced, and then she realized he was ugly.
Some of you may not know our dog, Keely, has a namesake -- resulting a few years ago from a late-night brainstorming session involving our ITunes library.
To learn more about her, read on in a NY Times story found here...
OK, I really need to stop resting on my laurels (butt) and get moving again!
At mom's suggestion, we hit the UW Arboretum on Saturday to take in the gorgeous flowering trees and lilacs. Gavin loved running through the grass with his cousins and we were lucky enough to spot some wild turkeys and sandill cranes while we were there, too! 
The low-hanging branches were fun for Gavin to explore with cousins Anna and Caroline...
A moment for the Price sisters to pose for the camera...
That's how long it took me (and my dear friend Sara) to complete our second half marathon together.
Our finishing time was only a few seconds slower than four years ago, so we are thrilled and felt blessed to have a perfect day for running -- no rain, not too much sun and not too warm or cold. In other words: just right.
We were lucky to have family cheering us along the way and at the finish, so here's a big thanks to Don, Gavin, Jim, Quinn, E.J., Heather, Rick, Anna, Caroline, Mom, Dad and Charlie!
And I also want to thank those of you who were kind of enough the last couple months to ask how training was going and offer your encouragement to me in this journey. I was overwhelmed at the finish and really struck by what it probably took for all of the runners to get to that finish line. It was an amazing experience and worth all of the pain and hard work!
