Turkey Day

Two days before Thanksgiving, Charlie started planning the traditional Thanksgiving Day football game. He and Grandpa picked teams, but since Grandpa thought they were picking teams for Celebrity (a guessing game we like to play), they wound up with all the men on one side. It took some convincing to get Charlie to agree to post-draft trades, but eventually he relented and allowed an Auntie Caroline/Uncle John swap.

Charlie spent the next 48 hours writing plays in a play book and calling (poorly attended) team meetings and practice sessions for his side. His daddy, always up for a game, practiced with him Wednesday and worked on some flashy plays. When I asked Charlie to write a play for the opposing team, he offered a play called "The Interception." Which he found quite funny.

Unfortunately, Thanksgiving Day brought freezing rain and a vicious stomach bug that pretty much wiped out both sides in a matter of a few days. The big game was postponed.

Finally, Saturday afternoon a few brave souls ventured out with the old pigskin. Grandpa and Allison took on Charlie and Sarah. Charlie's team prevailed, 28-14. Victory, sweet victory! And Charlie still hasn't intercepted the stomach bug.

Charlie. Auntie. Uncle. All else have fallen. Who will be the Survivor?

On the Road - Part 2

We spent the day in the car and arrived in Scranton about 8 pm. The hotel has a pool and a game room, so the kids couldn't decide what to do. When we walked through the game room, David saw all the video games and machines and said, "Cool!"

We opted for the pool:




The kids love "Crazy Vacation Rules" -- they were swimming at 9:00 pm, then came back to the hotel room for a pizza dinner!

On the Road - Part 1

We set off on our drive at 7 pm and drove until 11:30 pm. The kids watched two movies and were very content. When we got into the hotel room after the long night's drive, Sarah wrote on the note pad, "This is the best trip ever!" and on the other side "Thank you Mommy and Daddy."

Allison amusingly observed, "Hey! We watched 'Cars' in the car!"

In the morning, Charlie went in search of milk at the hotel breakfast buffet and came back with a full glass, saying, "All I could find was this. It's 2% milk, 98% something else."

Go Flying Dragons

The Flying Dragons' successful season came to a glorious close on Saturday, amid goals and medals and cupcakes. Coach Daddy continues his post as U-6 League Commissioner but is happy to mark the end of the season.

Charlie's team, the Coyotes, also played their last game of the season Saturday... but it started at 8:00 which is far too early for anyone to be expected to remember the camera.

Not So Special

Me: You're special.
Allison: No I'm not, I'm regular!

Are We Cute or What?!

Look at us in our new clothes! Thanks Pop & Liza!

Random Dialogue with Sarah

Sarah, making Auntie Caroline's birthday card: How old is she turning?
Me: Uh... I'm not sure.
Sarah: Well, how old is she now, and I'll tell you how old she is turning.
Me: Well, that's the part I don't remember. Why don't you draw something else and don't put the numbers on there?
Sarah: OK. I'll draw Sydney and Jack. (long pause) Would you say Sydney is a red-haired person?


Fake talking on a toy cell phone in the car on the way to church: Allison and I are a one-to-one correspondence. That means we match.


Me: You know, when I was a kid we used to walk to school.
Sarah: Why? Were cars not invented yet?
Me: No, cars were invented, that was just how we got to school. And the grown-ups didn't even walk with us -- the kids just walked by ourselves.
Sarah: Were you scared?
Me: No. There was nothing to be scared of. That was just how it was.
Sarah: Weird.

The Perils of the Internet

Sarah came up from the play room knowing every single word to the chorus of Britney Spears' "Oops I Did It Again." We asked her where she learned that song, and she smiled sheepishly and said, "Barbie.com!"

Cub Scout Camping Trip

In mid-October we went on a camping trip with the Cub Scouts and their families. There were 100 campers in all.

Here is our Cub Scout ...

and our Eagle Scout and his helpers setting up our tent...

The tent is awesome, with plenty of room for two adults, four children, a queen-size air mattress, a double air mattress, a pack-and-play, and a small bear.

The favorite song among the cub scouts at the campfire was "Three Jolly Fishermen" because you get to say the "naughty word" (Amster-dam!). We brought Allison's potty on the camping trip, which was tremendous to have around given the out house facilities. During the campfire we were really far away from the tent so I took her to an outhouse, which she referred to as the stinky potty. She utterly refused to go in there, so I tried to let her just go in the woods but we wound up having to change clothes. When we walked all the way back to the campfire in dry clothes, she said, "I have to go potty again. But I would be very happy to use the stinky potty." Considering the alternative, she handled it very nicely!

We came back to camp and Bryant made a new campfire and we made s'mores.

And a good time was had by all!

More Halloween Pictures

The Mackadorables' Halloween

The Mudge family's blog is such a great way to keep up with Rowan that we decided to try our hand at a blog! Halloween seems like a great way to start! The kids had a great time trick-or-treating. Charlie and Sarah went fast, along with Bryant, Sarah's friend Alice and her mother, and many others from our street. Allison and David went at a slower pace with me, and two other little girls and their moms. Charlie was a ninja, Sarah was a mermaid, Allison was a cow, and David was a giraffe. (Although David followed Allison's cue of mooing, so he was the world's first mooing giraffe!)