Turkey Trot

At Calvin's annual physical, his doctor asked him about the amount of exercise he got each day. Now, in the past we've been pretty lazy about this on a regular basis. We go hiking on a lot of our weekends, and some of our weekdays, and we'd go biking every now and again, but on a lot of our school days we didn't have structured exercise mixed in. When he asked us the same question last year, I realized that with homeschooling there was no gym class, and we started training for our local Holiday Hustle run. The first few runs he ran some and walked some, but when the race rolled around, after a month of running about 3 times a week, he finished in about a 10 minute mile.

But when the question about exercise came up this year, we were a little more prepared. Since Calvin learned to ride his bike sans training wheels this year, he would break up almost every fall school day with periodic rides around the neighborhood. And since he met the girl who lives next door and the two became fairly inseparable, he's spent almost every afternoon riding bikes or racing through our yards. His pediatrician listened to his answer this year and replied, "Oh, so you participate in the sport of RALAMM, then," which he explained gleefully to our blank stares meant "Roll Around Like A Mad Man."

And yes, I'd have to say that he does participate in that sport a lot these days. And between that, the regular biking, and the Parkour class he took weekly through our homeschooling group this year, when we started training for the one mile this year, he nailed it. The first time out he finished his mile in 10:30, no walking, and probably would have gone faster, but I was pacing him. We kept to a steady training schedule anyhow—on Sundays he and Jon biked 3 miles around Hudson Mills while I ran, and twice a week Calvin and I would run a mile together.

This year we're busy on Holiday Hustle day, so he signed up for the local Turkey Trot charity race instead—one mile around Hudson Mills trails—and the day for that was today.

Cold and rainy—not a perfect day, but not terrible like running in the Shamrock Shuffle in several inches of wet, wet snow, either. To get my own run in for the day I started out from home intending to meet Jon and Calvin at the starting line, about 6.5 miles from our front door. Unfortunately I underestimated that distance by about a mile, so I missed his take off, but I did get there just in time to see him cross the finish line less than 9 minutes later.

Maybe next year we'll sign him up for the 5k.

Autumn Leaves

Hallowe'en Nights

It's not Halloween until Hallowe'en Nights. Dinner at Eagle Tavern, trick-or-treating throughout the park, hilarious and sometimes spooky enactments, and three fantastic story tellers. We've attended this event annually for three years now and have enjoyed it at least as much every time, if not more.

We start our evening in the Eagle Tavern with a home cooked meal, served family style to tables of about ten. Breads, chutneys, stuffing, beef pie, sausage, lemon herb chicken, tea, coffee, and pumpkin cake. It's a delicious way to start the night before we take off on our tour through the village.

This year the event grew by the measurements of one very delightful Sleepy Hollow. An extra turn around the pond in the village, by Ichabod's school house, through story at the Tarry Town Tavern, and past the party at the Van Tassels, fed our imaginations as we drew up to a fence where the Headless Horseman gave the poor pedagogue chase through the corn field. My favorite part.

Our wanderings took us through the yard of Dr. Frankenstein, too, where the villagers enjoyed our costumes while begging our help in stopping the crazed doctor from unleashing the monster into their presence. Another favorite stop, which came right after the snarky fortune teller and before the covered bridge. Spooky.

There are pirates, and singing pumpkins (Calvin's favorite part), and one more new thing this year: the plague doctor, and his best friend, the grave digger.

We always end our wanderings with a stop in the cafeteria for hot cider and a gander at what's filling our bags, and we end our night at the last presentation of Poe's Tell-tale Heart. It's told by one of the best true story tellers I've ever seen. Story telling at it's finest. And Halloween at our house just can't start until we've heard it.

Pumpkinning

Beautiful fall weather we're having here. Bright sunny skies, and even a bit of warmth. One could almost forget the deep freeze of last winter's polar vortex. But not quite. The wooly bears are predicting a mild winter (if wooly bears could predict, that is, which they can't), and the fairly average fall is suggesting a standard winter, but if there's one thing we've learned, it's that you just can't trust the weather, or anyone or thing that predicts it.

So for now we'll just enjoy this beautiful fall we're having.

Fall weekends

Michigan football on Saturdays

Family biking on Sunday mornings, followed by doughnuts and cider at the mill.

And, on occasion, wildlife in the neighborhood (although that has nothing to do with it being a weekend...at least not with this kind of wildlife)