The Adventures of the Dahle Family

We began the Halloween festivities this week by carving pumpkins Tuesday afternoon. The girls were so excited as they've been wanting to carve them since we bought them a few weeks ago. Maren ended up carving the little one that we got for Jonas as one of the pumpkins was stolen from our porch last week. We're just grateful that they didn't leave it smashed on our sidewalk. Wednesday night we headed to the church for Trunk or Treat. They had carnival games and a costume parade prior to going out for the trunk or treat. The girls also each got a medal for participating in the carved pumpkin contest.

Ever since Jim had heard about this race he had wanted to go so when I saw it advertised I made plans for us to go enjoy a true "redneck" experience. There were 11 different events as part of the derby. The first was a tug of war where the cars would start bumper to bumper and try to push the other past the cone.
The second was the burnout event where the audience judged who won by the person who could make the most smoke come from their tires/engine in a minute's time. The third race was one of the best where the driver had a bag over his head and the navigator had to direct him through 3 laps around the track. This was further complicated by the barrels full of soapy water placed around track that would make it slippery when they spilled after being hit.
There was the reverse race where they did three laps driving in reverse and then a myriad of races where they had to drag various implements behind the car. The winner was the one who could keep their piano, boat, etc. attached and intact the longest.

One of our favorite races was the appliance race. It was five laps and each successive lap you had to attach another household appliance to the vehicle.
The longest race of the night was the enduro race that was 50 laps. It started with 42 cars and only 8 were still running by the end. As the cars broke down or were wrecked they were left on the track to become additional obstacles. We had a good time enjoying the beautiful, sunny afternoon and the interesting entertainment on the track and in the crowd.

I haven't been great on keeping up on all of our activities so I'll put it all into one post. Whitney started playing the fall season of soccer. She even had a goal in her first game. We're adjusting to the busy afternoons twice a week when she has games. It makes for a rush to get homework done, ready for soccer, eat some dinner, to the game, and then usually to some other event afterwards.

She is loving going to kindergarten all day and especially loves getting to buy lunch at school one day each week. It's a good thing that she is at one of the few elementary schools that doesn't start until 9 as we've found she is not a morning person:) She has also found a new love in this fruit that I've purchased a few times recently--Starfruit. She gets so excited when I bring it home and usually eats most of it herself. Speaking of fruit, the girls and I had fun making this fruit bouquet one afternoon.

Maren is enjoying going to storytime and preschool once each during the week. We are doing a preschool co-op with 8 other kids so it's a bit hectic but the kids have fun. A few weeks ago we attended a Kids Day on base where they had a bounce house, crafts, and other fun activities along with a free lunch. Here's a few pictures of the fun:

Maren decided to beat up on Whitney one evening and pushed her off the bathroom stool. Unfortunately Whitney ended up hitting her head on the floor and cut it open. Luckily Dad was the one home with them so it was a 5 minute Urgent Care visit to get the 3 staples put in her head. She was so brave and didn't cry at all!

Time just flies as we can't believe our little guy is already 6 months old. He celebrated this milestone by coming down with a fever and probably the flu. We've started him on solids now but he's not such a big fan yet and has a sensitive gag reflex. Half the time he gags on the small spoonful of cereal but it doesn't help that he is all congested right now. He is such a happy kid and very easy going. He is also very observant and loves to sit and watch what everyone around him is doing whether it be at the gym, at home, or in the store. He's sitting up well now and loves to maneuver around on the floor. He can roll, go backward and spin circles but hasn't figured out the forward motion yet which frustrates him. I finally got the crib converted back so he's out of the pack and play. He's quickly learning his role of being the pesky younger brother by pulling his sister's hair and eating their pictures they leave on the floor. This guy is growing so quickly but we relish the joy he brings to our home with his loving smiles.

This past week Jim and I spent time in Fort Worth, TX attending a Bogleheads conference and enjoying time with family. The Bogleheads is an online investing and personal finance forum that Jim frequently posts on. They focus on the ideas of Jack Bogle, the founder of Vanguard that promotes low-cost investing via index funds, etc. So we flew across the country to meet people that he met on the internet :) We had a great time at the conference and Jim enjoyed his mini celeb status being that he was a chapter author of the recently published book that the group put out on retirement planning and that he is a frequent poster. We met many great individuals and had some wonderful conversations.
The impetus for attending this conference was that there was family nearby to also visit. Jim's sister Michelle was gracious in letting us stay with them for the week. We enjoyed some disc golf (of course!) and they took us out wakeboarding one afternoon. Our skills are improving but we had some spectacular crashes too.
Jim's youngest sister Sue and her family also drove up for the weekend so we got to meet our newest nephew, Benson.
That night we had a blast roasting marshmallows over the fire pit in there backyard. Saturday before we flew out I enjoyed a 10 mile run with Michelle through the rolling countryside while Jim and Jon with kids in tow played some more disc golf.

About a week ago, Jim and I participated in the Wingman triathlon on base. It consisted of a 10K bike ride, 5K run, and 1.5K canoe. The canoe section had to be done with your wingman (team mate) so you either raced with them or waited when you got to the canoe. Jim was kind enough to stick with me. Our canoeing practice from the river trip a few weeks back really paid off. We ended up coming in 3rd out of 21 teams (the 1st co-ed team) and got some new Camelbaks as a prize along with the t-shirts, smoothie coupons, and refreshments provided. Pretty sweet for a free race! The picture above was one that appeared on the front page of the base newspaper.