Happy Fall Y'all!

Lots of leaf jumping

Trying beef vegetable soup for dinner...one of these days the kids will catch on that soup season is the best time of the year!

Scooter, the guard cat

She was insistent that we have one boy and one girl scarecrow.

Nature Quest

Abby is a decorating machine around here!

The den leader mummy-wrap contest at the fall camp out last weekend.  Brad is a good sport.  It was pretty chilly at night and Alex even commented that he slept in his winter hat!

Cox Farms

Abby and I spent a super fun Monday morning at Cox Farms with friends, the Mikkelsens, who were in visiting from TX.  We also met up with the Jakubs and Pettreys, for lots of swinging, sliding, tractor-riding fun!  Cox is a great fall destination for the younger crowd with ample slide options, animals to see, a fantastic hayride and yummy food to try.  I'm so glad we were able to see everyone and visit this pumpkin farm on a weekday, rather than a hectic weekend day!

Schoolwork

Alex's homework has jumped from not much to off the chain this year.  We have projects, worksheets, flashcards, writing assignments, reading, and online coursework.  He enjoys what they do in class but doing homework is like pulling teeth.  This was his Whale Shark habitat diorama project.  Neither Brad nor I was enthused about a diorama project, nor was Alex, but we muddled through.  I think he did a fantastic job, meeting all of the requirements and doing his research thoroughly.  Phew, glad that's done!

Field Trip to the Quarry!

Abby's class at school is called the "Busy Builders", so when the notice for a field trip came home to go to the Vulcan Quarry, I wasn't surprised.  The quarry charters a small bus for the kiddos to ride down into the quarry and they get to watch out the windows as the trucks do their thing.  Apparently this quarry was established in the 80s and there is enough rock left to continue mining the quarry for 85 more years!  It was very interesting, even for the parents to watch the large chunks get loaded into dump trucks for the ride up to the top of the quarry and then unloaded into crushers.  The rock eventually is used in road construction work.  Abby loved the fact that there was a female dump truck driver and the manager giving the tour said she is the only female...but the best driver he has!

Exercise

Alex continues to take instructional tennis class at the local racquet club and enjoys this new hour long class now that he is 8.  His strokes are developing and they sure do run them all over the place!  He has two friends in the class too which has been a treat.  Abby looks forward to joining the 5 year old class in January when she turns 5.  Rain or shine they can practice as it is indoors so we never miss a week!

Abby is taking gymnastics through the park district and last week I was thrilled to see them using BOSU balls!  He had the kiddos jumping across several of them and then later in the class he was trying to teach them how to do pushups on the ball.  Too cute!  He also runs them for the full hour.  They seem to do best in classes where there is little downtime to get distracted or bored.  We usually hit the playground for a bit afterwards depending on the weather.  

As it gets cooler we will go back to swimming once a week with friends at the rec center pool.  I took them both on Columbus Day and had to drag Alex out when it was time to go.  It is a great way to burn off a little energy and keep up those swimming skills they worked so hard on this summer.

Tigger, Again?

Without fail, the Tigger costume comes to the rescue for any chilly Halloween occasion.  It says "Size 4T-6" but my kids have both worn this garage sale find at age 3 and age 4.  It is nice and toasty.  There are plenty of backups in the costume bin too at this point in case of a freakishly warm Halloween.  We love watching what they pull out to get dressed up, not even on Halloween!  Abby went to a costume party at Burke Lake Park on a rather chilly fall day recently, so Tigger won the coin toss.  She rocked it, whiskers and all!

Ten Year Anniversary Trip

Brad and I spent last week in the Dominican Republic, at the Excellence Punta Cana.  We had never visited an all-inclusive resort previously and were eager to try that out for our ten year wedding anniversary.  Grandma Eileen flew in on Saturday so we knew the kiddos were in good hands.  Both kids are old enough to help show other adults or babysitters where things are, which makes all the difference in the world!  I left pages and pages of typed instructions and we were off to paradise very early on Sunday.

In Miami, FL we met up with our good friends Dave and Becca Talley as they prepared to celebrate Becca's milestone birthday.  We were so glad to have traveled together as we had a blast playing cards in the evenings on the patio, dining out together and floating aimlessly in the ocean waves.

The food and drink were both very good and there was plenty of variety among the restaurants onsite.  I'm sure there was more to try around lunchtime but we opted for the 12:30pm pizza drop on the beach most everyday due to convenience.  It was about an hour van ride from the airport to the resort and we were so glad to have set that up with a reputable company prior to arrival.

There were SO MANY honeymooners!  It was very sweet to be around so many newlyweds.  The beach was very quiet, much different from this summer's beach trips.  An adults only resort is definitely the way to go on a grown up getaway.  I think we remember saying the same thing over and over again in Napa, CA a few years ago too..."It's just so quiet here!".

Wi-fi was spotty but usually available, sometimes even down on the beach, although there was a lot of just sitting in the shade reading books.  We were able to FaceTime with the kids most nights and they had a blast here with Grandma.  

Brad and I took a kayak out one afternoon briefly but luckily there are no photos of that debacle.  We spent time in the pool, in the lounges, at the nightly show (think Michael Jackson tribute show), but mostly at the beach under a palapa.  It was nice to just slow to a snail's pace for a few days and reflect fondly on the last ten years.

By Friday we were ready to see our kiddos and began the lengthy trek home.  We were thrilled to see them Saturday morning, bright and early!