Betsi signed up for the New
York City Triathlon. The
site opened for registration at 12:01am, we finished registering
at 12:10am, and the slots were sold out by 12:23am. Wow!
November 2, Sunday
Mary, Barbara, Ellen, Betsi and Sue start their team training
by walking 5 miles for the Avon
Walk for Breast Cancer. It's a two day, 39 mile walk on
May 2-3, 2009.
November 6, Thursday
Ryan's team, The Defenders, took second place in the
championship game and earned silver medals. They lost by one
run, but were excited they made it this far.
Ryan with his coaches.
Ryan gets on base twice while Nanny poses with Ryan.
Jeff had to work late unexpectedly on yet another version of the 2009
budget and missed the entire game. Grrr. Betsi tried her
best to use the camera, but didn't realize the ISO was set for daytime
instead of nighttime photos.
November 7, Friday
We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows over the coals for dinner Friday
night. It's like camping without leaving home. The kids ate the
first marshmallow in a smore and then made flaming marshmallow torches. We'll
probably burn more firewood in the fire pit than the fireplace this year. It
should be fun to light the fire during the first snow.
November 8, Saturday
Ainsley helped Jeff rake the leaves in the front yard
and then collapsed into them. The Sycamore tree dropped table
plate sized leaves which provided great shade in the summer, but
weren't colorful in the fall.
Our neighbor raked a ton of leaves. We probably
had that much, but I split it into two weekends so far. A few
of our tress still has some leaves that will drop during the week.
I took the left photo with the flash and Ryan made two self portraits
without the flash while we waited to be seated for dinner. Betsi
and Ainsley were looking at running shoes a few stores away.
November 14-16, Friday-Sunday
Betsi went to Chicago for the weekend to visit her
cousin Chris. They had fun visiting relatives, eating and
shopping in the windy city.
See more photos.
November 22-23, Saturday-Sunday
Ryan and Jeff joined Boy Scout Troop 160 for their annual Webelos recruiting
pig roast. The food was great, the temps fell below freezing, and
it was a lot of fun. See more
photos.
November 26, Wednesday
Grandpa and Ryan play the trumpet together. My
request for Flight
of the Bumblebee was lost on Ryan, but he now understands it's
hard to play.
November 27, Thursday
Betsi finished her first 10K race and averaged a steady
12 minutes per mile. She never walked. It was a big
relief to finish and another stepping stone toward the New York City
Triathlon in July.
It was nice to share Thanksgiving with family.
Ryan wields an axe for the first time helping Grandpa
split some firewood. We later enjoyed the fire pit on the back
deck.
November 28, Black Friday
Some electronics stores distributed vouchers as early
as 3:00am to people in line to avoid stampedes when the doors opened
at 5:00am. Insane. We avoided the crowds to visit the
Yorktown Battlefield instead.
Hey Ryan! BOOM!
We joined a ghost tour of Colonial Williamsburg where
the hauntings must be current and verifiable. Betsi peers into
a window of the most haunted house. She looks ghost-like herself.
November 29, Saturday
Ryan tries on some of the clothes as he poses under
Thomas Nelson's portrait in the Nelson House in Yorktown.