Happy Halloween 2012

We managed to snap a few pictures before the kids headed out trick or treating with their friends around the neighborhood.  Aunt Jackie stopped by on her way home to wish the kids good luck in their candy collections! 

Abby had planned to be Cinderella, Alex wanted to be a knight.  Both had their costumes ready to go.  Both decided at the last minute to recycle costumes from years past, and that's ok too.  This Tigger costume has to be the hottest thing on Earth.  Alex wore it two consecutive years in Chicago.  Abby slowed down after about 5 houses and we put her in the wagon, figuring she was just tired.  Eventually I looked at her closer and her cheeks were bright red!  She was hot as could be.  Once we took off the costume, she cooled right off and enjoyed riding around in her chariot the rest of the evening.  Alex loves this zookeeper costume and says he'll use the knight next year.

Hurricane Sandy

 Abby and Celia couldn't agree on who got to wear the pink pajamas.  I think this was a good compromise!

So, Hurricane Sandy has come and gone along the east coast and our area was spared.  They predicted the worst, closed schools ahead of the storm for Monday and Tuesday, and urged people to just secure their homes and stay inside.  As we watched the coverage on Monday, we decided it would be potentially safer, and slightly more fun, to ride out the storm with friends.  We had taken all steps to ready our home, prepared meals, and urged the cats to find a nice warm spot to sleep under the steps. 

Monday afternoon, before the wind became too ugly, we packed up and headed over to stay with our friends Sam and Amie.  We played lots and lots of games and just hung out.  We stewed less about the storm while in the company of others.  The power lasted until about 9pm, at which point we all headed to the basement and hunkered down.  Still no power in the morning, brr,  but it is amazing what you can cook/warm up on the grill!  Much of our area never lost power, including the movie theaters!  As we were leaving to see Hotel Transylvania on Tuesday afternoon, the lights kicked on at home and all was well by 3pm here.  Aside from the abundance of leaves and branches across our yard, you would not know that a hurricane had blown through.  Many along the coast were not so lucky.  Watching the coverage of a childhood vacation spot, Seaside, NJ, destroyed, is heartbreaking.  Virginia was spared, but our thoughts and prayers are with those in New York and New Jersey right now!

Wine Tour

When we moved here we were anxious to schedule a wine tour in Virginia wine country.  We'd seen RdV where Jackie worked and knew there were hundreds more beautiful wineries to check out!  The Prices and the Claytons joined us for an afternoon of fun on Saturday.  The plan was to do tastings at three vineyards and eat lunch along the way. 

Well, we had a fabulous tasting at Naked Mountain Winery in their barrel barn, with gorgeous views of the Blue Ridge Mountains.  This led to us enjoying our picnic lunch on their deck, coupled with several bottles of their tasty Chardonnay.  Needless to say we skipped the second winery on our tour and hit Barrel Oak Winery mid-afternoon.  The place was packed with families, dogs, groups, people in costume, you name it!  We grabbed a few bottles of wine there and sat outside a while, enjoying the views, the weather and the company.  Needless to say, we were all thankful for the limo by the end of the afternoon.  This was the fastest five hours ever and I can see a few more of these tours in our future here in Virginia!

BOO!

 Abby at Burke Nursery's Pumpkin Farm

We were BOO'D!  This is something I do not remember seeing before, but it's pretty cute.  There was a pumpkin on our front porch one morning full of Halloween goodies and a paper to hang on the front door so you are only BOO'D once.  The kids had a good time returning the favor to other friends and trying hard to keep the secret that it was them.      

Afternoon At Burke Lake Park

After the Fun Run, we enjoyed the spectacular weather at Burke Lake Park.  The trees were a sight to be seen and the kids had fun playing football and soccer.  We stopped for ice cream and just sat in the fresh air for a while. 

Fun Run

Alex's elementary school hosted a Fun Run fundraiser that trekked right past our house, around the circle at the end of the street and back up again.  All in all it was about 1.75mi.  Alex jogged the race with his buddies, in costume, and all we had to do was walk out the front door!  Brad pushed Abby in the stroller and we met Alex at the finish line.  We had a few of his friends over before the race for a breakfast of champions too. 

Leaves!

It's gorgeous, just gorgeous this time of year.  Each week prettier than the one before!

Tyson's Corner

I had a return to make to L.L. Bean and turns out there is an L.L. Bean store in our backyard!  It was a neat place to check out and it is located in the coolest mall around, Tyson's Corner!  I can't imagine navigating this mall on the weekend, but in the middle of the day, parking/traffic was no issue and we were in and out of there with no problem.  There is an American Girl Doll store at Tyson's, and Abby showed little interest in the big girl section.  She could care less.  But then we headed downstairs to the Bitty Baby collection and she had a blast pushing the babies around in strollers, carrying one on her back, and eyeing all of the accessories.  It was a surprisingly fun morning out!

Sharks' Teeth

Gigi and Great-Grandpa collected sharks' teeth through the years along the Florida coast.  She recently sent Alex a bag of them, along with a cheat sheet, and he is fascinated.  The morning after receiving them in the mail, I found him on the couch, magnifying glass in hand, examining the teeth before school.  I think that magnifying glass also belonged to Great-Grandpa and he'd be happy to know that these things are bringing Alex such joy!

Fall Camp Out

The fall camp out was a raging success, phew!  We were a little concerned about leading 10 scouts and their families in something we know absolutely nothing about, but it all worked out.  Turns out we have 2 Eagle Scout dads in our den who were more than willing to lend a hand with meal planning and making the day run smoothly. 

We set up camp in the afternoon, played flag football with the other Wolf den, at spaghetti/meatballs for dinner, and roasted marshmallows for s'mores.  After dark, we joined up with all the other dens from our pack for a big campfire, complete with skits and songs.  Abby and I ducked out after all of that excitement to sleep in our nice warm beds, but Brad and Alex stayed and had a blast sleeping in the woods.  Alex had my camera for the most part and the pictures he took of his friends were really goofy!  Abby had the camera for a while in the tent so there were twenty pictures of the inside of the tent too!  You could really tell these kids had a great time with their families and with each other.  We were relieved that it all went smoothly! 



Photogenic

There is no shortage of photos around here, especially of Abby.  She spends a lot of time posing in dresses, dance clothes, funny glasses, etc!  These are a few of my current faves!

Columbus Day Weekend

 A little "Scrambled States of America"

 Rescreening the back door...I'm pretty sure we have a similar photo from Houston!

 Abby and her new friend, Eme, at a My Gym birthday party

 There she goes, up and down the hills!

 I guess we could just take him to the tennis courts to practice, but where's the adventure in that?

Grandpa and Patti visited over Columbus Day weekend!  Abby was excited to show them how she can ride her bike around the cul-de-sac and Alex practiced serving in the front yard.  The only current project they had to work on was rescreening the back door.  The rest of the time was spent visiting with Jackie and Scott and playing board games (Alex's favorite!).  Abby and I left for a few hours Saturday to go to a birthday party and when we returned, they were still engrossed in a game of RISK!  It was really windy that weekend so the leaves were starting to fall.  The last picture is of the kids and I trying to catch the leaves as they were raining down.  This was only the beginning, it hasn't stopped raining leaves since that weekend!