October Part 2

Tate got to go to his first Cub Scout Day Camp. He loved it! I must say I really do enjoy my calling as a cub scout den mom. I know some moms are not to hip on this calling, but I like it. I get to work with Tate. After a year of this calling I'm starting to understand the cub scout program. The boys are at a great age where no matter what you plan for the activity they think it's awesome. Like last week we learned about keeping the earth clean and we picked up trash around the church - they loved it! Anyways, scouts is awesome and I'm glad Tate thinks so too!


I got real lazy about Halloween costumes this year. I waited until week of to attempt to figure it out. Fortunately for me, Old Navy marks down their costumes BEFORE Halloween, so Joslyn scored a cute butterfly costume for CHEAP! (Did you know SALE and CLEARANCE are my favorite words?)
Tate was insistent that he wanted to be the Luke Skywalker that trains in the swamp because he wanted to wear his Yoda backpack that he got at Disneyland this summer. We came up with what I thought was probably the lamest and most embarrassing costume which consisted of ace bandages, pants 3 sizes too small, and a cut up and spray-painted undershirt. He thought it was great, and asked me repeatedly if I thought he'd win the prize for best costume at the ward party. I'd respond "We'll have to see", but truthfully I was thinking, "Heck no! This is the worst costume ever!" I could not believe it when he actually did win one of the prizes for best costume. He was thrilled! I was shocked, but glad that his silly (expensive) Disneyland souvenir paid off!
We had a fun spooky dinner on Halloween night.
Dad pulls out all the stops for Halloween. Blow-up scary thing. Fog machine. Black lights. Fog bubble machine. Skeletons. Bones. Etc.

So glad grandma Jeanene had a firefighter costume Jack could borrow! He loved that it glowed every time I took a picture.


We had a fun Halloween!

October Part 1

John and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary with a cruise up the east coast. We started off with a red-eye flight to New York and tried our best to see the entire city in one day. We did pretty good and saw most of the major touristy stuff, including gigantic rats in the subway!

We attempted to figure out the train/subway system. We did pretty good until we decided to try to use it to get back to our hotel at 1AM. We finally bailed and wound up paying a very shady taxi driver who dropped us off in the middle of the road across the street from our hotel? At least we made it back!
We saw Lady Liberty by riding the Staten Island Ferry out and back. Kinda fun, and free!
We saw all the protesters. What a mess!
This was all we got to see of the 911 memorial. We didn't know we needed tickets for everything else.
We took a pedicab thru central park at dusk. It was so pretty. I'd love to go back during the day.

We walked thru Grand Central Station. AMAZING! And also bought some of the most delicious chocolate cheesecake while we were there.
Of course we saw times square. CRAZINESS!!!
We did Empire State Building at night. The lights were spectacular and I am absolutely positive the building was swaying!!!
Leaving New York heading for New Port Rhode Island.

There were several tall ships in the harbor at New Port. They were so cool.

We visited two of the Vanderbilt mansions in New Port. They were incredible. You could fit our entire house in just the entryway. The design, wood, stone, gold and marble work were absolutely breathtaking! I wouldn't mind living in a house like that!


Our second stop was in Boston. We spent alot of time walking thru faneuil hall. We did a duck tour of the city which showed us cool places by land and by water. Our favorite part of that was the duck whistle they gave us at the end. (cheap thrills, and cheap souvenirs for the kids!) We ate at the Union Oyster House, one of the oldest restaurants in the US and then went at got a cannoli at Modern's pastry.

Our next stop was Bar Harbor Maine. John was especially excited as this area was part of his mission and he hadn't been there since his mission. We rented bikes and rode thru Acadia National Park. It was so beautiful. The leaves were starting to change and all the colors were amazing. It was really fun to bike too. I'd love to do that again!




Then we went for seafood at a restaurant that was right on the water. John opted for a whole lobster and ate just about all of it including an eyeball! I played it safe and had the lobster roll. All very delicious!



Our next two days we stopped in Canada. There wasn't much to do. It was pretty chilly, and it was in the middle of the week, so things were pretty dead. We wandered around some museums and shops and checked out some old ships, and then just went and hung out on our cruise ship.



We had a wonderful trip and have decided we definitely won't be waiting another 8 years to take our next cruise!!

September

Our Labor Day camping trip was WONDERFUL just as it always is! We added a few new friends and families to our group totaling up to around 60 people. The kids had a blast riding the quads and getting filthy dirty. We all got our fill of yummy food and intense card games. Happy times had by all!


These crazy boys have so much fun together!
Later in the month......

Cute little Jos got sick but still looked adorable sleeping it off.
Joslyn stared tumbling class and LOVES it! I think mostly she loves wearing her tutu!

(the elephant is not part of the class, it's just outside of the studio and she loves to sit on it. Pics of the actual class are forthcoming!)

Tate and Jack are playing soccer again. Tate has really gotten into it and tries so hard to help his team be successful. He goes to school with all of the boys on his team and they have such a good time together.


Jack puts in a decent effort and looks forward to the treats at the end.

Tate's teeth continue to come out. He looks like quite the Tate-O-lantern!

August

We celebrated grandma Jeanene's birthday with a night at Amazing Jakes with the McDowell clan. Good times were had by all(even dad)!!!




The boys started school. Tate is in 3rd grad with Mrs. Hauskens and Jack is in 1/2 day morning Kindergarten with Mrs. Bornowski. They love their teachers and so do we. We have been really happy with Franklin and are excited for another wonderful year.



Tate is really enjoying cub scouts and was so excited to earn his Bobcat award.

Dad got to paint his face with Bobcat prints.