Happy New Year

Our friends had left some fireworks at our house from the 4th of July. The men folk, being men folk couldn't let them go to waste. So, they decided to go full on hillbilly one last time this year. The base you see the fireworks in is my Christmas tree stand. Thankfully, it is cast iron, so it can take the abuse of grown men.

At least I know the kids have some common sense. The girl stayed in the living room and watched the festivities from the safety of the house. You can't see it in this picture, but the boy also joined her.




We hope you all have a safe, happy and healthy new year. Happy 2012!

Bad picture, big night

A family friend gave us tickets to a hockey game.  Perhaps as a sign of things to come the boy lost his first tooth.

Christmas Display

After school on Friday, we took the kids downtown to see the Christmas displays. It was brisk out, but not to cold. We had a good time and the kids snacked on churros. For you Easterners, churros are a West Coast version of a Mexican donut, its a staple at any event.

Across the street from the Christmas displays there was a carnival. The girl went on the swings, while the boy and Dad went on the ferris wheel. I wasn't able to get a good picture of the boys.

After the carnival, we headed out to get a Christmas tree. When we got home we found out the elves had been busy while we were gone. Our house was decorated inside and out. All that needed to be done was to put up and decorate the tree. I love those little elves.

Contraband

I was making the boy's bed this morning and noticed his pillow was suspiciously heavy and boxy. Last night, when I told him it was lights out time I suspect he didn't go right to bed. I found his "hidden" book, but I am still looking for a flashlight with little finger prints on it.

How he slept on that thing is still a mystery.

A Christmas Parade

This past Saturday, the girl and her Brownie troop were in a local Christmas parade. Since they had to be there 3 hours early, it turned into a whole day event. None of the girls complained. They all had fun. It was easy to spot them, as they were walking behind the giant silver duck.

Christmas Decorations

The girl and her Browne troop decorated a tree in a downtown park today. They made the ornaments last week. They had sequined balls and colored bells. I would have taken a picture of the finished tree, but my battery died. It was really cute.

Next week, her troop walks in a local Christmas parade.

Play Offs

The boy played his flag football play off games last Sunday. It was pouring down rain. The kids were troopers. They played for over three hours in the rain. Though, if I am being honest I think the parents and siblings were a lot more miserable than the players. They had fun. Luckily, we had a brought a beach umbrella for them to huddle under between plays. I didn't get any action shots, as I didn't want the camera to get wet.

This is the boy a little after 7:00 that night. He was wiped out! Though, even in his sleep he doesn't let go of his favorite book series. We just picked the last books in the series up today from the library. We will have to find a new series soon. Maybe he will revisit the 'Magic Tree House' series. I really like those books.

Advent Wreath

It has been busy and I have been lax in my blog posts. So, in my normal style I am going to inundate you with a bunch of random things that have been going on lately. If your lucky, I might even throw in a comma or two in my run on sentences!

The girl and I went to the advent wreath making class at church with some friends. It was fun and the girls made the wreaths for their families. I think the girl did a pretty good job. Note to self, put away the Thanksgiving decorations.

Girl Scout Tea

The girl and I went to a Girl Scout tea. It was very cute. They put on a nice event and the girl and her friends had fun.

The Pumpkin Patch

A friend called us this week and asked if we wanted to go to a local pumpkin patch. This particular patch has a cannon that shoots pumpkins. Well, since hubby is all boy, the answer was "YES".

Here are pics of the boy and girl shooting pumpkins. It was louder than I expected. This is the field they shot at. If you look closely you can see a couple of targets. The most exciting one being the old truck in the background. The boy hit it several times, including making it in the open door. The girl also hit the targets/truck several times

After the pumpkin cannon, we went on a hayride through the corn fields. It was cute, there were creatures everywhere. Including the Mum Butterfly garden. We all had a great time. Though, it did make us miss the annual hayride on Aunt M's farm.

The Last Week

I realized today that we haven't blogged with updates on what the kids are doing. It has been a busy couple of weeks. Our Sundays start fairly early. The boy had football from 9-11 in the morning. He is on the Patriots this season. One season, he hopes to be on the Steelers.

Pre game practice.

Yesterday, I took the kids to a pumpkin patch about a mile from our house that had a bunch of inflatable jumpers. They had a good time.

Later that day, the girl had a brownie meeting with some sorority sisters at a local university. It was a good fit, the college girls talked about bullying and peer pressure. The little girls were very engaged with the sorority sisters.


Last Saturday, we took the kids to the beach, since it was in the high 80's at our house. You can see they had to wear jackets, as the temperature was in the low fifties at the beach. Once the marine layer burned off, it was gorgeous. they got in the water. The girl boogie boarded (big surprise) and the boy played with a friend he made at the beach. If you look closely, you can see the boat race the kids are watching. Soon after the kids got in the water a pod of dolphins came by.

This is the kids before we went to the beach. As you can see by the boy's lack of attire, it was a warm morning.

After lunch, we hung out by the marina and watched the boats. They had a regalia race. The spinnakers were so pretty. They all had different colors.

National Day of Play

It is National Day of Play and 85 degrees outside. So, what are my kids doing? I guess they didn't get the memo.

Hey, at least the boy is reading outside.

Apple Picking

We took the kids apple picking at an orchard about 45 minutes away. We had a great time! We picked a bunch of organic fuji and gala apples. They were delicious. The boy ate three before we left the field.

Once the apples were picked, we sat down at a table in the orchard that had a cute checkers board. The girl and her Dad played a game of checkers while the boy at apples.

After apple picking we decided to head to the wharf (which was a few minutes away) to see the seals and eat lunch. We all had a good time watching the seals and the fishermen fishing. One of the fishermen was saying the challenge was getting the fish out of the water before a seal came and ate it off. Grandfather, you should recognize this place. It is where the girl jumped into your arms after hearing the "barking seals" when she was a toddler.

A Sunny Sunday

It was a nice day, so we decided to take the kids to the beach. Since the ocean is cold, they usually come out of the water a bright shade of pink. Thankfully, Costco had a special last week on wetsuits and they were even in the kids sizes. The girl boarded to her heart's content and the boy wandered out further into the waves than he has ever been. Even hubby got into the action, borrowing the girl's board to boogie in the waves. You can thank me later for not sharing those pictures :).

After they got out of the water hubby and the kids dug for sand crabs. They found some huge ones and brought them over to me to share. They are really ugly looking things. Of course, the girl asked a million questions about their anatomy. So, when we got home we had to read about them on the internet. I don't know who was more fascinated, her or her Dad.

We ended the day on the free Marina Shuttle. It is a boat that stops off at different places and restaurants on the marina. You can ride it as long as you want. The kids had fun watching the sea lions that came up to the side of the boat. The sea lions would also go right up to the paddle boarders in the marina and scare them.

We hope everyone on the East Coast is doing well and has no damage from the severe weather.

First Day of School

Today is the first day of school.  The summer flew by.  This is the girl in front of her classroom.

The boy at assembly.

The boy's class

After school we headed to the beach. It may be our last time this year. There is a lot of home work in third grade.

These pictures are for Grandfather, we wish you were here.

The girl is headed out to the surf to boogie board. The boy is having fun in the waves.

While surfing, the girl saw two seals next to her, also enjoying the waves.

Right after I took this picture, one of the boy's friend's from school happened to be on the beach. She came over and played with the boy all afternoon. Since she has three older brothers, she knows how to play with the boys.