Congratulations, Daddy!

A belated Congrats to Daddy, who is ALL DONE with grad school!!! His last class was last Wednesday and we got balloons and made a "special treat" to celebrate - brownies!

 

Clare picked the "pitty color 'boon" which was very appropriate since it said "Congrats" and Sean picked the Woody & Buzz balloon because "it's Daddy's favorite!"

Unfortunately, Daddy was at his last class until after the kiddies went to bed, so they enjoyed the brownies without him. No worries, they gave him plenty of hugs and kisses on Thursday. 

As Sean said, "You're all teached, now Daddy. There's nothing more to learn!"

Swimming

Sean started swimming lessons again!  He liked to blow bubbles, kick his legs, reach his arms, and float in the water.

Holding on tightly to Daddy:

"Cheese!"

Clare and I hung out on the bleachers while Clare had dinner:

Big reach - get that ducky!

Moorestown 8K

On Saturday, Thom John ran an 8K race and the babies and Mommy went to cheer him on. For once in the five years a Sooy has participated in the race, the weather was ideal - not too hot, not at all humid and no rain!

Sean enjoyed some Cheerios in the car on the way to the race:

We clapped and cheered while the runners waited to take off at the start:

Clare chilled out in her car seat:

Sean and I got busy with the markers to make Daddy a big sign to see as he passed us:

Did I mention we used washable markers?

Thom John had a great race and got a personal record.

Sean helped his Dad enjoy the post-race snacks:

Motivation

Let's get moving! Need a little help? This mama does, for sure. Here's a post about Thom John's successful completion of the Philadelphia Half Marathon this past Sunday! The half is run in conjunction with the full Philadelphia Marathon, which Thom John ran last year, as well as the year before.

Looking fit and handsome, despite the 4AM wake-up call:

Lucky Sean was staying with his Sooy grandparents, so he missed the early wake-up. But he did miss the sun rising over the Ben Franklin Parkway.

The race was started by "The Mayor of Running," Bart Yasso (on the left, in red) and Philadelphia's Mayor Nutter (second from the right in the red hat):

Some shots around town while cheering on the runners:

Later on, my wandering took me right next to the trophy table:

Thom John at Mile 13 - looking good in blue!

Finished!

Boys' Road Trip

While Mommy was staying in North Jersey to help Seany's Grandma recover from surgery, Daddy took Sean up to see Uncle Peter in Saratoga Springs, New York. It looks like the boys had a blast, getting shown around town by Peter and Andrea for a couple of pretty fall days.

"Let's get started!"

Uh-oh! Somebody does NOT like to dress up in Colonial garb:

But he does like riding on the Congress Park Carousel...

and running around on battlefields...

... and sitting on a Great Pumpkin!

"Cheese!"

More than spaghetti

Sean is showing us that are more uses for pots and pans than just cooking. There's drumming, stacking, wearing... the possibilities are endless!

Trucks!

In honor of Fire Prevention Week, our town held an open house at the fire station! Considering Sean says the word "truck" about 700 times a day, we figured this visit would ring his bell. (Ha!)

The engine, the pumper truck, the chief's truck, ambulances and the ladder truck were polished up and open for kids to explore. Sean was a little shy at first, but he soon got his bearings and was running from truck to truck like a wildman!

Getting down from the first truck:

Exploring in the ambulance:

Up?

Cheese!
Yay! On the front bumper!

Sean really liked this little truck. He kept pushing it around the station - he was on a mission:

After awhile, we had to say a reluctant "bah-byyye" to all the trucks and the really nice rescue personnel to head home for a bath and bed.