Ready for Halloween!

As you can see my little girl Lydia is going to Halloween as a monkey. My husband wants me to add pink bows on the ears so people know she's a girl. I think she looks so darn cute, of course very biased. We plan on taking her to a few houses in the neighborhood, just really to say hi to the neighbors. And then my 6 month old will help us pass out candy at the door.

My dogs have costumes too but my one dog Mason literally won't move when you put him in it. He just stands there like a statue, I figure it's animal cruelty for him so this year we will just skip it.

From Amanda: I have a little Buzz Lightyear and a baby giraffe this Halloween. We dressed the boys up a couple weeks ago for a fun Halloween day at the Salisbury House in Des Moines. It was a great opportunity for Maddox to wear his costume. He was Woody last year and has wanted to be Buzz for about six months now. I found his costume on Ebay. Mercer's a giraffe because that's what Maddox was about three years ago. Poor Mercer, he got stuck with the hand-me-down. He doesn't seem to mind :)

Sprucing Up the Set

(Above: Before the "spruce up". Below: After)

(Above: After the changes)
(Below: During renovations)

You may have noticed ABC5 went High Definition a few weeks ago. It was a long process and took a lot of work for staff here plus it involved so much new equipment. The process continued today with revamping our set. Look for the changes tonight and we all hope you are enjoying our better picture!

Rachel Pierce

rpierce@myabc5.com

A "Sucker" for Sophie

So, I've been hearing all about this teething toy named "Sophie" the Giraffe. Rachel told me about her originally (she blogged about her too). Then I just started seeing, hearing, and reading about her everywhere (it's all the rage with celebrity babies). For some reason I never heard of her when my oldest son was a baby. I was baffled why anyone would pay $20 for this rubber giraffe. Well guess who bought one today...

I couldn't resist the temptation, I had to know what all the hype was about. Also, Mercer seems to be the prime age for kids who like this toy. Before I took the leap, I did some research. Sophie is made in France with 100% natural rubber derived from the sap of the Hevea Tree (whatever that is). But get this, she's been around since 1961! She's exactly the same today as she was when she was first 'born.' Obviously there's something about this cute little piece of rubber if she's this popular almost 50 years later. If you want to read more about this wonder toy click here. So far, Mercer seems to enjoy her company :)

Sidenote: You can't find Sophie just anywhere, more specialty shops. I found her at KangarooBoo in Valley Junction, what a cool store! I'll definitely be stopping in again.

Let me know of other cool 'must have' toys for kids.

akrenz@myabc5.com

Des Moines Marathon!

(Rachel Pierce and Amanda Krenz)

What a perfect and fun day Sunday was for the Des Moines Marathon! Amanda Krenz and I helped with the announcing at the event, it was such a great event to be part of! If you were out there you probably saw or heard us at the start and finish line platforms. We got to interview so many amazing people who were running for many moving causes. It was motivating! With 7,777 runners, plus all the spectators and over 1,500 volunteers, it made for one huge crowd and electrifying atmosphere.

I had been training for the half marathon for months. Yesterday I couldn't have asked for better weather for the race, it was cool, not too breezy and just perfect. In fact I ran my best race yet! I ran it in one hour fifty minutes which is a 8:25 average mile! I wasn't the only one who had a PR, five men broke the marathon course record and four men broke the half marathon course record! And the overall men's marathon winner it was his first marathon!!!

It was such a blast I can't wait for next year!

Rachel Pierce
rpierce@myabc5.com

IMT Des Moines Marathon

This weekend the Des Moines Marathon will celebrate its ninth year. It's come a long way since it started in 2001. ABC5 is a proud sponsor of the marathon and both Rachel and I enjoy taking part. I ran the full marathon (26.2 miles) in 2005 and the half marathon in 2008. I was trained to run the half last fall, but just learned about my pregnancy so I only ran a few miles just for fun. The photo below is from the 2005 Des Moines Marathon, I'm on the left.

It's such a wonderful, electric, healthy atmosphere. If you've never participated in a large road race I highly encourage you to just go downtown on race day and soak up the energy. Here's a photo of Rachel and her sister finishing last year's half marathon.

This year Rachel will run the half marathon again. She's been training hard most of the summer, many of her miles have been behind a jogging stroller... not easy! I started running again after my pregnancy, but haven't had time to train for a long distance race. Still, I get to participate in different way this year. I'll be doing some emceeing from the finish line for a Mediacom broadcast. After Rachel's finished running, she'll head out into the crowd as a 'roving reporter.' We're both really excited about this.

You should come downtown and say hi.

Thanks for reading.

Amanda
akrenz@myabc5.com

Pumpkin Patch Season

Without a doubt, fall is my favorite time of year. I love the crisp air, cooler temperatures, changing leaves, and pumpkin patches! We've started making pumpkin patches an annual tradition. We've been to Howell's Pumpkin Patch in Cumming twice, what a great place they have! My oldest, Maddox loves it! Last year we went to Patch's Pumkins and Honey Farm, also a great place. So far that's all, but we hope to make our rounds. What are some others that you'd suggest?

Drop me a line at akrenz@myabc5.com