Life in Kansas

We've had a busy week once again. I think there's a flip-side to the nesting instinct... I'm suddenly feeling like I need to get out of the house and do as much as possible now, since once the baby comes, it'll be much harder for a while. So, in the past week we've done a lot! Here's a brief rundown & you can see more pics here...

• SAT, 9/27 - RACE FOR THE CURE: I signed up to walk in Wichita's Race for the Cure with my moms' group. It was a lot of fun... and I discovered that a one-mile walk really isn't very long. I'd been a little worried about it because I'd had some trouble just walking around the neighborhood sometimes, so I wasn't sure how this would go. It was a breeze and fun to spend some time with the other moms' in the group. (You can't really tell from the pic, but the 3 of us on the right are all 30+ weeks pregnant! I was not waddling alone.) Ian's practice also had a tent there, so it was a good chance to see a lot of those folks, too.
  
  
• SUN, 9/28 - CHURCH PICNIC: In Farmington, the annual church picnic is a HUGE deal. Maybe that's just country life. :) It really is something that people from all over town - and the county, really - come to, even if they're not Catholic. It's also a huge fund-raiser and how a good chunk of the parish's budget is covered each year. Apparently, not all church picnics are quite like that. They had a sign-up after Mass a few weeks ago for people who were planning to go. I thought that was kind of strange, but whatever. This picnic was way smaller and - strangest thing of all - everything was free! Even the funnel cake! It really was a nice thing... there were some speakers, activities for the kids, chances to meet other people in the church. We ate with a couple who lived in the Chicago area for about 5 yrs and in NC for a bit. What a funny coincidence. They were a lot of fun - we compared notes on the best places to eat in Chicago and got some good tips on places in Wichita.
  
  
• FRI, 10/3 - ZOO DAY: I went to the zoo with the moms' group on Friday. The weather was absolutely gorgeous and it was great to get outside, get some exercise, and meet more new people. It was nice because the people who went to the zoo were different than the ladies I'd met at the other events so far. It's a pretty good little zoo. I saw the biggest tortoise I've ever seen in my whole life! I think I sounded like one of the kids when I first saw it. :)
  
  
• SUN, 10/5 - PUMPKIN PATCH!: We went to the pumpkin patch yesterday! Neither of us had ever been to a pumpkin patch before, but the moms' group was going, so we thought we'd try it out. It was fantastic. They had a corn maze that we really were not sure we'd ever find our way out of. In the end, we thought we figured it out, but ended up coming out the entrance! We considered it a victory, though, since I was beginning to imagine going into labor in the middle of the maze and needing a helicopter to come save me. :) There were a bunch of other cool things, too... a giant pumpkin cannon, pumpkin sling shots, great food, etc., and those are just the not-necessarily-kids-only things. We're excited to go back next year with the baby. I think it really must be one of the most fun places ever for kids.

So that's about it from here! I'm resting up today, which has been very nice. It's a kinda dreary, rainy day, so it's perfect for resting. We have a childbirth class marathon this week... there really is a class on our schedule every night this week! Childbirth, Dad's Class, Car Seat, Breastfeeding... Phew! Hopefully, we'll learn something this week. :)

Last, but not least, here's your name game letter for this week... As promised, it's not alphabetical order! Your letter this week is R.