Halloween

We love our Halloween tradition!  In the past, I've gotten really stressed out about costumes-- wanting to be that mom that makes her children's costumes and not buying a box store model, but never having enough time to really be that mom.  

This year, the kids absolutely blew our minds.  They each came up with their own idea months ago.  We got some ideas online, but they each really put the costumes together on their own.  

Cally made the wrist guards, belt, and headband for her costume.  When the blue skirt with stars did not arrive on time, she crafted her own shorts out of jeans and sparkle duct tape.  A string of LED lights helped make her lasso of truth look alive.  And when I balked at the idea of buying red boots, she came up with her own creative alternative.

Hazey did most of his costume on his own, as well.  Cally helped with the headpiece and John helped with some cutting.  I purchased the lights, but he made it all come to life.

And then John decided to purchase a Kermit the Frog costume while we were in Canada the other weekend.  So I was the only one without a costume this year.

We also managed to hit our favorite "Pumpkin Glow" on Ciley Hill in Jericho the night before Halloween:

Hazey decided to wear his costume both night.  We figured it was safe to have those lights on with all the cars that frequent the glow.

We had a bit of a pumpkin tragedy this year.  John helped Hazey carve a Boston Red Socks pumpkin.  Then he carved an elephant for Cally..... but the elephant pumpkin had a fall on the night of our party.  So Hazey scooped out a new pumpkin for Cally, and John carved a spider in the half hour we had before heading out to trick-or-treak.

We were lucky enough to be invited to ride the hay trailer on Bolger Hill again this year.  The Dowd's invite a bunch of families and the kids have a ball:

One of the flaws in Hazen's costume design was that he could not unwrap and/or put candy into his mouth, because of the placement of his arm holes.  

We ended the night with a trip around the Jericho Center.  The library was giving out books, the fire department was giving out flashing lights, and lots of the neighbors gave out generous amounts of candy.

In the end, the kids got lots of candy.  I offered them 25 cents for every piece that they were willing to give up.  Cally gave me 38 pieces and Hazen gave me 50.  My high school students are going to be psyched!

A Dream Come True!

Twelve years ago, John and I had one of our first "dates" while skiing down Bolton Mountain.  It was October 28th.  It wasn't bad.  This year, I noticed from some social media posts that there was snow in the high mountains.  With the hecticness of our life, it can be easy to ignore such posts.  The snow wasn't on the ground here in Jericho, so it was an "out of sight, out of mind" kind of thing.

But, on Sunday morning, when we woke up with a mostly free day in front of us and an urge to ski was itching at both John and myself, we decided to motivate the troops.  It didn't take much to get them fired up to ski.  We just needed to get the gear together.

This was easier said than done. John had acquired several old pair of alpine trekkers last year.  We had tried them out on the kids skis, but even the smallest size wasn't smalle enough for Hazey's binding.  You slip them into the bindings and use the regular skis and boots.  It's a heavy set up, but they were so excited to give them a try.

Cally giving the new set up a try in the yard:

John had to hacksaw the metal off of part of Hazen's bindings and I had to cut skins for both kids, but we made it to Smuggs.  There was snow....... barely.

We used to get the kids down the mountain with skittles.  But this adventure involved 2 Milky Ways, a Samoa Cookie, and a donut.  Whatever it takes!

The kids did such a great job.  It was steep at times, the snow clumped to their skins, and the trekkers came out of the binding a few times, but they persisted. 

The ski down was nothing to rave about.  But, we got out earning our turns as a family! This is a dream come true for me and John.  After all those years of passing the baton or missing turns all together, we are at the point where we can travel in the backcountry as a family!

Harvest Party

The kids and Lila wanted to have a party.  They started thinking about this in September and did a great job making invites, planning activities, putting lists together and then organizing the event. They invited a bunch of friends and then we decided we should invite more.  It turned into a big bonfire party for everyone.

There was an obstacle course, ziplining, apple bobbing, and donut on a string eating.

donut on a string

bobbing for apples

And here is Cally in her first Very Merry Performance-- Frankenstein.  She was cat woman:

A fall day at the "bus stop":

Date Weekend

The kids got invited to go to Boston with Tom and Cara for a weekend.  We took the opportunity to go on an extended date!  It was the perfect weekend. 

Upon dropping the kids off with Tom at noon, we hit the trails in Waitsfield.  We rode for three hours (which is long for us).  It was such fun!  Then we had a drink in Waterbury and headed up to Stowe.  We decided to eat at Flannel up at the Top Notch Resort.  We highly recommend the warm cookies!  Since we were still sweaty and know where the locker rooms are at the resort, we decided to go for a soak in the hot tub.  I wore my bra and underwear (both black) and John wore his baggy bike shorts.

We woke up on Saturday morning, went for another ride, and then headed to Montreal.  I booked a last minute room at the Gault Hotel on "Hotels Tonight".

We arrived in time to ride bikes along the waterfront in the Old Port:

Then headed to Tapas 24 for a most amazing meal.  The eggplant, tuna, flounder cerveche, and calamari were all so amazing.

I reserved tickets for a light show I had read about in the New York Times called Aura at the Notre Dame Basilica.

It far exceeded our expectations.  It was absolutely amazing!

We wondered around the old port after the light show and I saw my old friends:

  On Sunday, this guy wasn't feeling great, but headed up to the top of Mont Royal.  It was overcast, but the leaves were amazing.

 We rode some bikes again and made it back to Vermont by late afternoon.  It was such a treat to be together, doing so many fun things together for a whole weekend.  It made us appreciate our relationship and each other more than we have in a long time.

Meanwhile, the kids were having a ball with Cara, Tom, and Julius.  They ate sushi, went to a diner, visited the Children's Museum, the Aquarium, and the Boston Tea Party Museum (per Cally's request).  They got to eat lots of junk food and were allowed to buy a stuffed animal if they showed enough kindness during the weekend.

The kids rolled into town at 9:30 pm.  John picked them up at the Park and Ride.  They were fired up with all that they had done and seen and eaten.  We got them down by 10pm.  At 10:30 came downstairs to inform us that Hazen had just thrown up.

Per our prenuptial agreement, John got to approach the scene of the crime.  Apparently it involved a blue goo like substance (perhaps from gummy whales that were eaten in copious amounts?).  I stayed as uninvolved as possible.  Fortunately, it was a one and done sort of event and he was fine right afterwards.  I guess it was a dietary indescretion. No big deal in the grand scheme of things.

Nana & Grandpa

We had a great weekend with Art and Peg!  The sun was shining and they got to see the kids try the new zipline!