Thanksgiving

We spent Thanksgiving in Chicago and Wisconsin. It was fully of family, food, and fun.

Storytime with Grandma

The boys reading their own books. 

Milwaukee Science / Children's museum. We went with Grandma and Kristin's boys and had a blast. The kids all tried the flight simulator and laid on a bed of nails!! 

And the big guy was there! Somehow, Aaron didn't cry sitting on Santa's lap like every other kid in the history of Santa has done. 

The kids by the large fish tank. 

Grandma love. 

In Chicago, cowboy Jedi night Aaron has come to town. 

Cowboy Yoda Jedi Night Aaron. 

The kids loved playing with Caper and Berkley, Aaron and Emily especially. 

Someone got ahold of my phone

Aaron loves taking pictures when he gets ahold of my phone. Selfies especially. 

Way up high in the apple tree

My little surfer blonde baby is singing with a southern accent... His teachers definitely have southern accents so that is how he hears the songs he is taught at school. But if you showed him an apple and asked him what it was, he would say "apple" without the southern accent. 

Aaron's evolution of dessert

Aaron's speech continues to come along nicely. Dessert started off as "wurt". It then became "zert". And now it is a very emphatic "ezzert"!!


On a separate, yet entertaining note, when he counts he emphasizes the e. Ten, eleven, e-twelve, e-thirteen...

Slam dunk Aaron

Umstead

The kids had the day off school in observance of Veteran's Day. It was a gorgeous day so we made sure to get outside for some fresh air. We took a walk in Umstead and it was wonderful. Leaves were turning colors and falling. The kids enjoyed running the trails. We went about 3 miles round trip. Aaron was a bit of a hot mess at the end and just fell into a puddle of tears because he was just so done. I picked him up and commented, "Wow you sure are in a state. What state are you in? Alabama?" He paused his super fatigued sobs to say, "No, Raleigh!!"

Clarkus

Clark is here visiting from San Diego. Today we went up to Duke so he and Jeff could revisit their old stomping grounds together. Crazy to think that it's been 15 years since they were both at Duke together. It's really cute seeing the kids with Clark. When Kyle and Em were little, they would climb all over him and just have a great time with him. Now they still have a great time with him and play Guitar Hero and ping pong with him, they just don't climb all over him. Aaron has taken over that duty. Aaron just adores Clark and wants to sit by him and hold his hand and sit on his lap. 

Aaron singing

Back when Kyle and Em were little, we would sing songs with them before bedtime. We just started doing that with Aaron and he is loving it. One of the favorites with Kyle and Em was the Hawaiian version of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" as sung by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole. And Aaron is now starting to remember the lyrics. I managed to catch him singing it and recorded for a little bit. There isn't really any video to it so the link below is merely audio. It's sweet to hear his little voice singing. Nevermind him getting silly at the end and him starting to have a southern accent... 

Happy Halloween!!

And now for the full neighborhood Halloween party on Halloween. Our neighborhood sure likes Halloween. 

Aaron hitting baseballs

Not only does Aaron love shooting hoops, he also loves hitting baseballs. For a stretch, he had to hit baseballs before going down for his nap. He's got some pretty decent coordination to connect. One of the hits, he hit so fast and hard back at me, it bounced right off my forehead. Thankfully these are just soft, squishy balls and a wiffle ball. Interestingly, he tends to prefer to bat lefty. From what we have seen, he is generally right handed so it's interesting to see some left handed tendencies appear. Then again, Kyle throws lefty, plays basketball lefty, soccer lefty, but plays tennis right and writes right. Em is very much right handed except for gymnastics skills, she prefers lefty. My confused little kids. 

Aaron shooting hoops

I love basketball. I've always loved playing pop-a-shot. And last year for the holidays, the kids received one. I was so excited!! It was just as much a gift to them as it was to me. Anyhow, last year, Aaron could hardly get the ball to reach the hoop so he would use a little foam ball and baseball throw it. This year, he's been doing some growing. And now he can make some shots. And he loves it. It gives me such joy seeing how happy he is shooting hoops. And when he makes one, it's just too much. Such a sweet boy. 

Golfing with Aaron

Aaron had the day off of school today. With his recent obsession with basketball, baseball and golf, I took him miniature golfing. He had such a great time playing putt putt. He is equal opportunity righty and lefty with golf. He grips lefty but will hit righty or lefty. After golf, we went into the batting cage and I helped him hit a few balls. He was pretty stoked to play golf and baseball in such a short span. 

Halloween party

Our neighbors have hosted a pretty rockin' Halloween party on the culdesac each year that we have lived here. All of the neighborhood and more came out to partake in the festivities. Last year, we were meeting people for the first time. In masks and costume. Made for a beast of a year trying to figure out who everyone was without a mask or costume on. As if we weren't already bad enough with names. This year, we are starting to get it all figured out. 

Ninja warrior

We have enjoyed watching American Ninja Warrior over the summer. A classmate of Kyle and Em told us about a ninja warrior clinic at a local gymnastics facility. Emily went and had a blast running parkour style through some obstacles at a local gymnastics facility with 2 classmates of her and Kyle. 

Star Wars practice

Because you know, you have to practice your light saber fighting skills. In costume. Before Halloween. Anytime. 

Darth Vader v. Yoda & Princess Leia

Darth Vader v. Luke Skywalker

Halloween prep

I'll give you one guess as to what we are going to be for Halloween. We figure our years are numbered for doing a family coordinated Halloween costume set. So we're making the most of it while the kids will still allow it. For now, they aren't too cool for us. Our days are numbered though. So yes, Jeff is Darth Vader, I am Padme Amidala, the twins are Luke & Leia, and Aaron is Yoda. 

Aaron practicing his light saber skills with our neighbor. Brett taught Aaron how to use the force. Mind blown. 

I think Em's costume is the best one. Isn't she adorable? 

Darth, you may be my father, but I will still light saber your. 

Darth Yoda. Never seen that one before. 

Kyle's monkeys

Miko and Albert are Kyle's monkeys. They are his prized monkeys. It used to just be Miko. Then Albert came along from Grandma Sondra and Auntie Judy and broke into the inner circle. Other monkeys had tried, but Albert has been the only monkey that has successfully become part of Kyle's inner circle of monkey(s). Each morning, he brings them downstairs as he starts his day. They eat breakfast with him. Before leaving for school, he sometimes sets them up for the day. Here is how they were left today. On the couch, with a blanket and a remote. And notice that Albert's tail is wrapped around the back of Miko. What love. 

Visiting the swamp

I had a relatively last minute escape to Florida to visit Spike for a weekend. Sadly, I hadn't been down to Florida since she moved there too many years ago to admit. I drove down on a Friday and got to spend the weekend seeing her stomping grounds and escape the cold that was running through everyone at home. 

We met some gators in the swamp. Yes, those are real, live gators near us. That was as close as we got to them. And then we got out. We also did a nice 20 mile bike ride. It was the first time I had ridden my bike since before we moved to NC. Believe it or not, I (thankfully) did not fall off my bike, foot clips and all. And Sunday morning we went for a 6 mile trail run. Then I hit the road back home to come home to the cold waiting to nail me that week. 

Gator selfie!

Track out

Kyle and Em were off for the better part of September. This was essentially their summer break. Kids on this track actually get June off, but the new school year starts in July so they didn't get the June break because that was technically last school year's break when they were on a different track. 

Anyhow, we had some fun over their break. We went ice skating several times. We sure were missing Simon there. The second time we went, our friends came along with us and they all ended up skating for 3 hours (with breaks of course). 

We also visited a pumpkin / fall farm with friends. The kids had a blast seeing the animals, riding the slide, burying themselves in corn, jumping on the magic pillow and panning for rocks. 

All the kids buried in corn

Aaron pushing Annie on the swing

NU v Duke football game

Duke was playing Northwestern at Duke this year. Being a divided house for this game, we went to the game to support both teams. Aaron and I had on both NU & Duke gear. Kyle and Em don't have NU gear that currently fits them so they were decked out in Duke. And Jeff was in Duke gear of course. The game was loads of fun despite the blazing temperatures and zero shade. Northwestern pulled off a great win though Duke did look good. 

Family football game selfie

Aaron with his NU shirt and 5 Duke hats. Because you need 5 hats. 

Emily reading to Aaron

This is just cute. Emily reading with Aaron at home together. Some Curious George. LOVE.