Happy Halloween!

We had a great pumpkin carving night on Wednesday. The kids really got into it. We let them draw faces with markers and then Amy & I helped them cut them out (and fixed them up a little bit). They really did well though.


Amy carved the middle pumpkin and the kids carved the ones next to them (with a little help)....

They were excited to go trick-or-treating tonight! Giana decided she wanted to be a princess...and a lovely princess she was...



Aran was his favorite Superhero - Spiderman!



Halloween was a big success! (Now, how to hide the candy??? - no better place than in my belly!)

Tour de Tempe 2008

It's that time of year again! Aran & Giana were excited to ride and gave each other a big hug before the start. Aran would be riding in his 4th Tour de Tempe but it would be his first time actually pedaling. It sure was nice having him contribute to our movement.


Amy got to tow Giana in the trailer this year. Giana was pretty happy to have the trailer all to herself. We left our trailer at the cabin in Flagstaff and haven't had an opportunity to retrieve it so we borrowed one from a friend. Thanks Art!


Aran really liked the 2 bridge crossings - on College Avenue & Country Club Way.


It was a perfect day for a ride. The Tour was just a little over 10 miles. Giana says she wants to ride her bike next year!

The light is coming on....

After getting his feet wet in his first game, Aran is starting to "get it" and started going after the ball this week. He tracked the ball well with his eyes and played a bit more aggressively.


The boy wasn't afraid to mix it up with the older (& bigger) kids either.



He's almost ready to take on his little sister - Giana :)

Birthday Challenge is postponed due to....my birthday!

D'oh! Well actually it's a bit more complicated but I'll keep the long-story short. Amy's brother had his birthday yesterday and with her Uncle in town from Minnesota the family wanted us to celebrate our "joint birthdays" on Saturday. Aran has a soccer game at 8AM and well the day is just too full of things to pull off the challenge. So, now it's been bumped to next Sunday, Nov 2nd. Stay tuned...

Zip-a-dee-doo-dah....zip-a-dee-ay

My, oh my what a wonderful day!

And so it begins...

Our little boy is now officially on a team. Aran went to his first soccer practice today. It was supposed to be last week but he was sick. No more mountain bike rides for Mom & Dad on saturdays. They are now Soccer Saturdays!


The whole family went to practice. They started by doing some stretching. Giana wasn't about to let Aran have all the fun so she joined in too. Then they chased Coach Ryan around the field dribbling their ball...


Then it was time to try and score a goal on the assistant coaches...


After all that work it was time to get their uniforms! Aran got his favorite number - 1 - just like Thomas!!! He even got his name on his jersey too.


Now that is one happy boy!


His first game is this saturday. I'm looking forward to watching the little huddle of humanity going up and down the field...as the Blue Lightning strike fear into other Tempe Youth Sports teams!

Sedona camping trip

With a week before Aran started soccer we decided this was our last chance to get out of town for a while. Our local RideAZ mountain biking group had a camping trip planned to Sedona, AZ and we decided to go. We've been to Sedona many times but had never actually camped there. The Chavez Crossing Campground is right in the heart of Red Rock Country and easy riding distance to the trail system. We set up camp and Aran was ready to go for a ride! I hooked up the Trail-a-bike and we were off. The campground is right by Oak Creek and the road out is a steady climb. Aran wasn't much help pedaling up, but he sure kicked it in on the ride down! The boy likes to go fast.... I know he's out of focus in this picture but the look on his face says it all...



The kids had a blast camping and hanging out with their friend Robin - even if it was a bit cold.



Amy & I enjoyed a great group ride on Saturday too.



We rode the usual loop (about 20 miles) that included Submarine Rock!


The kids were having a great time and didn't want to leave but we had to pack up early Sunday morning so that I could get back and go watch my Dallas Cowboys get beat by the Arizona Cardinals in person! We should've stayed in Sedona....