Halloween + Marathon Weekend

Halloween weekend began with a marathon and ended with a marathon...of different sorts! Having 2 kids in 2 different schools on different party schedules was crazy! But I loved every minute. It was a rare rainy day here in the Bay Area, but it really felt like fall: crisp air, rain and wind, dark and stormy all day. Amazing! 

Jack's whole class was on the "afternoon" kindergarten schedule for the day, so Jack & I took Caroline to school first. Then, we went grocery shopping for candy, then he went to school at 10:25am. I rushed right back over to Caroline's school to get there in time to chaperone her preschool's trip to the elderly care home to "trick or treat" and sing Halloween songs. 

She was a ghost. Can you believe that I made this?? Thank you etsy.com for the idea!

That's Caroline's teacher Miss Jenna and her classmates. 

 The kids had a great time, and the adults LOVED them all in their costumes. It was really neat to watch.
Right after Caroline's class got back to school, they had lunch and regular lessons. So I left her there to take her first ever nap at school and rushed right back over to Regnant Elementary to chaperone Jack's class party.

They were supposed to have a school-wide parade, but it was raining. Either way, Miss Toohey looked awesome at Cat In The Hat!

Jack and his buddies Josh (Spiderman) and Kieran (Ninja Turtle.) 

 Jack was Washbuckler from Skylanders.

His whole class posing for a much better picture than the one I took.

 Because of the rain, the kids played Halloween BINGO instead of a parade. The PTA donated toy iPhones as prizes for each game. It was hilarious to watch the kids get so excited about them. Only in Silicon Valley!

Miss Toohey told them all to "send an email!" and this is what they did.

Miss Toohey had her dogsitter bring in Cooper for the party. He was dressed as a witch.

When I picked up Caroline, I got this. Seriously.

 After Jack was dismissed at 2:35, we grabbed a quick lunch and then picked up Caroline at school. She had a successful nap!

We then had just a little bit of downtime before heading over to our neighborhood friends the Bradfords for a Halloween party and dinner before trick or treating!

The kids could NOT WAIT to get outside. They ran, we ran, it was crazy fun! We had: Lexie (6), Charlotte (6), Jack (5), Donovan (5), Lennox (4), Louisa (3), Caroline (2), Brandon & Vincent (1), and Molly (10 mos.) They RAN from house to house. My two kids got enough candy to fill up a big plastic bin!! It was insane! I guess it's the right way to do Halloween though :)

The next morning, of COURSE we had candy for breakfast!

Saturday afternoon, after my family was all tucked in for nap time, I got in the car and headed down to Morgan Hill CA to collect my swag and bib for the marathon. My BRF (best running friend) Maria and I were sharing a hotel room on Saturday night to rest up. We met some of the other moms out for dinner and hit the hay early!

Sunday dawned cold and early...but we were ready for it! With our matching Target outfits and all. No one was going to miss us!

Alice (white hat) is another of my good running buddies who lives in Cupertino with me.
She hung with Maria and I for 23 miles until she sped up and off. She's a rock star!

We started slow and easy, enjoying the pace and the weather and just being out on the (very desolate) course!

We ran part of the Santa Clara Co Wine Trail!

We couldn't resist the Peacock Crossing sign.... 

The drought in CA...

Two of my other really good running friends, Alison and Rachel, sat this race out, but chose to be AWESOME support for us. They basically drove the course, stopping every 4-5 miles and getting out to cheer, say hi, run beside us, take stuff from us or bring us stuff. They were amazing!

High-fiving Alison and Rachel!

So at mile 15, I was climbing this pretty darn big hill, and I look down
and see this GIANT FREAKING TARANTULA in the middle of the road.
Let's just say it's a good thing I didn't have to pee....

 Notice how there aren't any photos from miles 22-26...yea. Those were rough. We talked each other through it, probably making no sense at all in our delirious state. But we did it!

And I beat my PR from Big Sur by 23 whole minutes!!! Now if I can just find a FLAT marathon, I could really see what I can do...

so I drove myself home (bad idea) and devoured Five Guys (great idea) and rested most of the day away. Today, it was back to business. The kids had a dentist appointment and Caroline did great! 

Except she liked to "help" with her tongue. Lol.

Overall it was a GREAT weekend and I am looking forward to hopefully a much more relaxing week ahead! (Ha, now I've jinxed myself.) OK, I'm going to hobble off to bed now....til next time.