Why I come home everyday

This link pulls up a voicemail message Kim left for me at work on Friday, prior to our trip to Atlanta to visit her family. Yes, it's common for Kim to sing a message every now and then. But it was a delightful surprise to hear Helen speaking on queue. Needless to say, I shut down my work right then and there, and left work on time.

http://www.box.net/shared/hvjgpfx2lb

Saturday Festivals

Continuing our September recap series, on Saturday the twentieth we tried to maximize our fun by participating in all of the fun festivals going on that day. We started by walking around the yard and taking the baby for a stroll. This was just a warmup for a full day of walking and strollering.

We then spent the rest of the morning at Art in the Park held at the Greenville baseball stadium. We ran into one of my co-workers there, who was with his wife showing off her artwork. Sorry... no pictures of the artwork on display, just a picture of our attempt at eating lunch. We had such sorry service at a nearby restaurant, we left in disgust (and hunger). Note: "open seating" does not mean first come, first served. In our case it meant the hungry families farthest away from the waitress station are waited on last (or until those customers get up and leave). I'm still a bit annoyed by it even now.

After a little rest, we went to Mauldin Fest, where the exciting main event was the "cluster balloonist". Apparently, this fella is one of about 12 in the world who does this sport (?) and is trying to make flights in all 50 states. He was held by a little bit more than a lawn chair, but it was a variation on the same idea. We saw him take off and it was, well interesting to see. Shown below is Kim, Terry, and Helen showing their enthusiasm for the balloon preparations.

We also decided to let Helen try out some kid rides. She and I first went on this spinning ride shown below. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of sitting backwards and was afraid we might have to abort. But Helen held on and made it through the ride although I can't say she was exactly thrilled about the what we were doing to her.

We also ran into our friends the Jefferson family. Helen was riding on this ride with the twins, until they tried to get out in the tunnel. That just left Helen on the ride all by herself. Again, not exactly a thrilling feeling, but she accepted her fate and stayed on the ride.

And after all the funnel cakes, popcorn, and lemonade, we finished the night with roasting marshmellows to make s'mores around a bon fire at our neighbor's the McCallister's. Happy (belated) Birthday Pam!

What a fun filled day!

On Sunday we rested. And ate vegetables.

Not just walking

September also brought the return of Fall racing. On the 19th we went out to the BMW 2-mile run, part of the Corporate Shields Races where companies compete against each other in a series of races. Between our affiliations with Michelin, GE, and GHS it's a fun time to visit socially and catch up with friends. Especially since I'm not exactly there to win the race. I was glad to just beat my expectations by over 30 seconds (considering my prep work wasn't more than a handful of runs in the week leading up to this day). We all had a good time.

We also visited with the Markwell's who came out for their first race. Photo credits to Sarah for the above picture!

Helen especially enjoyed the free reign we gave her in the sugar department. She told all the kids about it.

What do you get when you mix Gatorade, fruit chewies, pretzels, cookies, and bananas?

Answer: Helen running her own race (this was the first of many wild runs after the race that she enjoyed)

Another fun note, was that after the race, the BMW test drivers were giving laps for a charity around the test track that we had just run on. With all the tire screeching and spinning, I taught Helen to make car driving sounds. It sounds kind of like her lion roaring sound, too.

Hiding in September

It hasn't been quite a month since the last posting-- but close. So without further ado, let me begin a series of postings to update on where the Walker's have been. I'll try to remember the fun time's of September.

We had Matt and Julie come up from Atlanta for a weekend visit with us, and fortunately Helen was in between illnesses so we had a good time playing, visiting, and grilling.

Kim has been taking advantage of her part-time work status to join other Mom's for get together's with Helen's friends. She has been going to the zoo and started another round of Kindermusik at the church.