Thanksgiving

So, we had a wonderful Thanksgiving, but these are the only pictures that I got. I got so caught up in other things once our company came, that I forgot to take pictures. Here is Anna cheesing it up. I set the coffee table as the kids table. The kids made the decorations. The jar in the middle we are filling with acorns in response to President Monson's talk at conference about asking the kids (and parents) if they have done something nice for someone that day. We have a big jar to fill but have a reward at the end. The kids are always good to remind me if I forget to ask.

Here are their decorations close-up. Why I gave them glitter, I don't know, because I was cleaning it up all day!

The table before the company came. We had our friends the Nemelkas over with their 3 kids and Z. The kids all played together and the food was great (thanks Melanie for the sweet potatoes of which I am now a Big fan. SO Yummy!) If we couldn't be with family, this most certainly was the next best thing.

Halloween

I know we just had Thanksgiving, but I couldn't not post about Halloween. Here was our pumpkin carving. Sorry for the nudity, but Anna is extremely messy and had to dig into the pumpkin without a shirt! All glowing. Can you tell whose is whose?

We went on a haunted train ride at a local park with some friends. They even got to go in costume.

All dressed up and ready for trick or treating! Thank you, mom, for sewing Anna's costume up. She did it all the way from across the country and it fit perfectly!

Trick or treating the hallways of our building.

Then, heading out to the local neighborhood for more!

Last year we were freezing on Halloween night, so this year I made sure the kids had warm clothes and lots of undershirts, etc. Well, even though it was drizzly, it was so muggy, that we were all sweating. So much for being prepared!

Jim Thorpe

We decided to take a little trip up to the town of Jim Thorpe in Pennsylvania. The surroundings were beautiful. It is this clean, quaint town nestled in the hills. We specifically went there because they give special train rides just during the month of October. Our expectation was to see the fall colors settling in and enjoy the transition time before the cold weather came. To our surprise, it was one of the coldest October weekends on record and it was wet and rainy with a touch of snow one morning, but we still had a great time! The steam train was running, but was much more expensive than the regular old train, so we only took a picture of it as it went by. Anna was the one who was actually the most excited by the trains.

The train we rode on had no heating. It has been around for over 100 years and was like an ice box. Alex wanted to load the kids with hot chocolate before we got on, but I nixed the idea as there are no bathrooms and the ride was around 2 hours. I was glad I made that decision as I couldn't imagine trying to have one of the kids go off of the back of the train in freezing weather!

Bundled up and ready for a ride!

The train stopped on an old bridge and it felt rickety and insecure, but it also was amazing.

Mark managed to jump in the window while Alex was taking pictures and it is one of my favorite from the trip.

Just to give an idea of the town.

After this town we drove a few towns over and went to one of the longest running mines in the country (no longer in operation). Below is the entrance.

We loaded on to an old mining car and headed in.

Apparently they do a Halloween tour and we were there a couple of weeks before Halloween. Because of this, they forgot to put in some of the lights they normally have during the regular tours and some parts were pitch black. I got a little nervous at one point. It is fascinating how people were able to make the tunnels and systems in that environment.

The boys didn't seem to mind the dark too much.

Alex thought he captured a ghost. What do you think?

A Few Outings

There were quite a few weekends in October that were fairly gloomy and there was a family festival in Bethesda that hardly anyone was at because it was drizzly. We are not the type to be intimidated by such things or else we would go insane in our apartment, so we had full reign of the stations and games. The kids loved it. They had tickets for the moon bounce and stayed on for half an hour, since no one was waiting behind them. Anna likes to do what everyone else is doing, so since Mark was getting his face painted, she wanted hers, too.

Don't ask what this is. I think Mark requested a dragon or dinosaur or something to that effect and this is what he got. He was happy and that is what counts. What can you expect for free?

Christopher was the only one who enjoyed the horse rides. Anna was too scared and Mark didn't seem too interested.

Our annual trip to the Rescue Squad open house. The kids love the helicopter that lands.

Anna and Christopher even got to sit in the helicopter.

Anna got her hands on an old tape and did what anyone in her position would do. She loved every minute of it.

Just too cute, so I had to post it! This was after her haircut which is now starting to grow out again.

Some Fun

We had some random outings. This one was with a neighbor. Right after Christopher started school, I was trying to keep Mark and Anna entertained. There is a great little (mostly flat) trail that the kids enjoyed not too far from the temple. It took all of an hour to complete the loop, but that was about right for them. Anna enjoying the outdoors. She has a lot of tomboy in her because of having two older brothers, but there is never any doubt that she is a princess as well!

There was a monarch festival at which they released a monarch every 10 minutes. My kids chased after this one, but fortunately left it alone and only observed.

They had lots and lots of chrysalises (how is that plural?) and we even saw some emerging.

They put on some silly show with these adults who dressed up and told about the life cycle.

And then there was this. Christopher was very upset that he had to be the chrysalis as he thought it was the most boring. We got a milkweed plant for free while we were there and they thoroughly inspected it to make sure there were no monarch eggs on it. We don't have a yard, but we do have a balcony, so we put it out there and low and behold, a few weeks later we had monarch caterpillars eating our plant. I would like to think that maybe a monarch came and landed and laid its eggs there and that they weren't overlooked. We watched them get nice and fat and Christopher even took them in to school as they were learning about life cycles of butterflies at the time. Then, one day we saw a trail of their droppings and assumed they were off to build their cocoons. We never knew where they went, but we are hoping that we helped with some monarch butterflies out there!

We have had a lot of rainy weekends and this one was one of the first ones, but we ventured out anyways to an Agricultural Farm about 45 minutes from our home and heard a bluegrass concert and rode on the tractor. It was really easygoing and a lot of fun.

First Days of School

Alright, now I am moving into late August and early September. Mark started school about 2 weeks after Christopher which was difficult for him, but boy was he thrilled when he could say he was going to school, too! With some of his buddies on the first day.

Mrs. Ott and Mark. Can you tell he had no problems leaving. In fact, it is a co-op school and the first couple of times I was there, Mark was very disappointed that I wasn't just dropping him off that day. He has since adjusted.

Christopher's first day of school.

This is one of the things that I like about living in an apartment. There is a whole group from the building that ride the bus together and play together in the morning. It is great!

Mark and Anna playing until the bus comes.

Oops, sorry for the double dose!

Summer Blur

I haven't blogged in so long that I am doing a quick summer blur and then I will try to get into the fall and school beginning. Alex was gone a lot this summer with various things, so the kids and I tried to stay busy. We went to the local water parks a couple of time. This time was with friends.Christopher is gaining a better appreciation for Anna and she for him. They really enjoyed each other on this day and he was helpful in bringing her through the waterfall. It is interesting to watch that even when we go out with friends, my kids still play with each other a lot. I love that.

I never win anything. I always put my name into drawings hoping, but never. Until we put in for free Oriole tickets at the library. We actually won just the right amount for the whole family. So, we drove up to Baltimore and had a great time. They were playing the Angels, and boy did the Angels stink! We weren't sure whether we should cheer for Baltimore or LA. If it had been the Dodgers, there wouldn't have been a question, but the Angels were so bad, I sided with the Orioles, but Alex stayed loyal to LA!

It is a beautiful field with a great view of the Baltimore skyline.

We went to the museums on the National Mall a few times and hit the Carousel only once. It is a fairly pricey one, but something to do at least once.

Inside the Smithsonian Castle. It was a fairly mild summer in my opinion, but this day was very humid, so we found some relief indoors.

We also visited several farms and did lots of berry picking. Mark thought he wasn't seen since he was eating instead of picking.

Christopher wanted to make sure that he filled up his bucket, so he did less eating.

Alex had taken a last minute trip to Vietnam and I was a little worn out, so the kids and I walked over to get some pizza and it seemed that this fountain that we passed on the way home was popular. I should have taken a picture of the sign that read, "No playing in the fountain."

It was a hot day and I wasn't as prepared as some of the parents who had their kids in swim trunks!

My mom also flew out for a week at the end of July and we saw a few things with her. The National Arboretum is beautiful and a great place to run.

These are actually pillars that used to be at the Capitol Building and when they renovated, they preserved these and placed them at the National Arboretum.

And there was a very green (if you know what I mean) fountain, but Anna couldn't resist.

My mom with the kids at the farm picking berries.

My mom at one of the fountains at the National Arboretum with the kids.

And that's about it. There are lots more pictures, but I will spare you. Notice Anna's hair here though because she gets a major haircut in September!