Monday, November 22, 2010

Halloween

We had so much fun this year for Halloween. It was so nice to be back in the states where we could celebrate in all the traditional ways. We actually got to carve pumpkins this year!
From Sep-Nov
From Sep-Nov
Both kids truly designed their own "faces" this year. Here is the finished products with the kids making matching faces.
From Sep-Nov
And we actually got to go trick or treating in our neighborhood! At Dark! It was so much fun. Calvin was Superman,
From Sep-Nov
and Alayna was Princess Peach from the Mario games.
From Sep-Nov
And all ready to go!
From Sep-Nov
They were so excited that they literally RAN from house to house. It was all we could do to keep up with them! When their buckets were full and we headed back home, Calvin took over the Candy duties while Ryan and I got Alayna off to bed and chili heating on the stove. As you can see he took his job VERY seriously!
From Sep-Nov
After Alayna was in bed Ryan sat out with Calvin a bit longer before it was time to call it a night.
From Sep-Nov
It was a great Halloween!

Dress-up day at School

The week before Halloween the school had a dress-up day to celebrate the Lutheran Reformation. The kids could dress-up as anything from the Bible except Jesus or the Devil.
Alayna was an Angel.
From Sep-Nov
And Calvin was Matthew, one of Jesus disciples who was a Tax Collector before he went to follow Jesus.
From Sep-Nov
I think Calvin had the most 'authentic' costume there thanks to our time in Kuwait!

On another note, while we were brushing Calvin's teeth that morning one of his teeth just came right out! He now has 3 missing teeth!
From Sep-Nov

The Joys of Fall

My kids have no memory of what fall really is since we spent the last couple years in Kuwait and they don't really remember a lot before then. So when the leaves started falling this year they were so excited to get to jump in the leaf piles. Calvin even helped with the raking.
From Sep-Nov
And then the real fun began. It was so amazing watching them experience this for the first time really. The joy was exuding from them! See for yourself!

I also got some great pictures.
From Sep-Nov
From Sep-Nov
From Sep-Nov
From Sep-Nov
It was one of those times you just want to freeze the moment and never forget it. I love fall!!

Science can be fun!

In October there was a huge Science and Engineering Festival in downtown DC. It was geared toward kids and attracting more students to those fields. There was some really cool stuff there, and everything was FREE so Ryan was happy ;)

The kids got to pet a turtle,
From Sep-Nov
and talk to a robot.
From Sep-Nov
But the coolest thing we got to do was fly in an F-35 flight simulator.
From Sep-Nov
From Sep-Nov
Even Ryan took a turn.
From Sep-Nov
Again we only hit about 10% of what was there, but we had fun and finished the morning with a picnic lunch
From Sep-Nov
and still made it home in time for naps.

Chocolatey Reward

Let's just say that Calvin is not exactly 'challenged' by school right now, and the effect of that is that he speeds through his homework a little too fast sometimes making silly errors along the way. So after seeing lots of homework come home with silly mistakes, or just plain sloppy work we decided it was time for some good old fashioned bribery. IF he could bring home PERFECT homework for 4 out of the 5 school days we would take him to IHOP for breakfast on Saturday morning. And Alayna had to get good behavior reports all week if she wanted to go along.

It took several weeks, but they finally did it, and we all went to IHOP bright and early one Saturday morning in October. They both ordered Chocolate Chocolate Chip Pancakes with Chocolate milk. That's a LOT of Chocolate!!
From Sep-Nov
From Sep-Nov
They LOVED them! We couldn't believe it, but they both even finished every last bite.
From Sep-Nov
From Sep-Nov
As I am sure you can imagine they required some outdoor play later that morning to get through the sugar high!

Great Country Farms

The very next week we went to Great Country Farms for a school field trip. The kids thought it was pretty boring after their trip to Cox Farms, but they still had fun. They actually got to pick tiny pumpkins out of a big field here.
From Sep-Nov
From Sep-Nov
As you can see it was a bit muddy that day.

Here they got to feed lots of animals including a little pony,
From Sep-Nov
and a goat.
From Sep-Nov
There were some slides and things here too, but not even close to as cool as Cox Farms. By the time we were ready to leave the kids were actually wet with mud! We went right into the bath when we got home. No pictures because the camera battery died on me :(

Cox Farms

In October we took a Saturday afternoon to go out to Cox Farms with the kids. They had so much fun! I can not overstate how amazing this place is. They had an awesome corn maze,
From Sep-Nov
several big slides,
From Sep-Nov
rope swings,
From Sep-Nov
From Sep-Nov
and most impressive was the hayride.
From Sep-Nov
It went through water, got stuck in the mud, and even had dueling aliens with light sabers!
From Sep-Nov
It was a great time! As we were walking out after a long day of fun the kids picked up some leaves and I caught this picture. I think it perfectly captures their personalities!
From Sep-Nov

First Day of School

All the way back in August the kids had their first day of school. They were both very excited about it. They looked so cute in their little uniforms!
From Sep-Nov
They each have a little locker to keep their backpacks and jackets in.
From Sep-Nov
From Sep-Nov
Calvin was so proud sitting at his little desk! I can't believe he is in first grade already!
From Sep-Nov
Alayna was so excited to find her name at the yellow table. My little girl is in Kindergarten!
From Sep-Nov

They both had great first days, and now that it is already December I can confidently say they have settled in nicely.

Girls weekend in NYC

Alayna and I went up to visit my sister in New York City the weekend after her birthday. It was a short trip, but we fit in a lot. Saturday morning we went to the Bronx Zoo.
From Alayna birthday
We didn't even really scratch the surface of all the things to see but we hit Alayna's highlights, which included the pink flamingos
From Alayna birthday
the butterflies
From Alayna birthday
and riding the carousel.
From Alayna birthday

In the afternoon we went into the city to FAO Schwartz.
From Alayna birthday
Oh My Gosh! I thought her head was going to explode when we walked in and she saw all those toys! Auntie told her she could pick out one thing for her birthday. One of the first things we saw was a stuffed animal dog, and she claimed that was what she wanted, but Auntie and I convinced her that she should really look at everything in the store first. So we proceeded to check out all 3 floors! Alayna was in heaven!!
From Alayna birthday
From Alayna birthday
And she even got to dance on the big piano!
From Alayna birthday
We couldn't believe it, but the one thing she wanted after looking at ALL those toys was that little stuffed dog we saw when we first came in! It was so cheap that Auntie even let her pick a second thing and that really made Alayna happy.

That night we had Tacos again and a little ice cream cake.
From Alayna birthday
The next morning we went out for breakfast and then Auntie gave Alayna a Mani-Pedi!
From Alayna birthday
It was a great weekend, and Brooke and Macharia were perfect hosts and they have a beautiful place with an amazing view.
From Alayna birthday
Thanks for the great weekend!!