Costumed Capers

Our dinner table now lays buried beneath the plunder from the evening's trek about the neighborhood. The personas this year were Alex as a hobo (try to hide your surprise), Abigail as a chef, Amanda as Princess Leia , and Aidan as a Bumble Bee.

Blessed with a star-filled sky and a refreshingly crisp fall breeze in the air, we enjoyed the added bonus of Uncle Jason and Aunt Debbie bringing cousins Nick as Buzz Lightyear and Brianna as a princess over to accompany us. And as if that wasn't enough, Grammy, Nana, Poppop all tagged along too.

Star of the Month

Yesterday at Chapel, Amanda was presented with the Star of the Month award at RLCA. The award recognizes "Excellent academic achievement and outstanding Christian conduct."

Congratulations, Amanda. We are SO proud of you...!!!

Williamsburg Field Trip

As the kids are getting older, and their personalities are becoming more their own, I really want to have them post their own perspective on their own happenings more often. So, in that spirit, here is Alex recapping the 8th grade class trip to Williamsburg, VA on October 14th & 15th:

We got on the bus at 5:00 in the morning and drove to Jamestown for our first tour. (With a detour into D.C.) It was just a re-creation of the fort… the only REALLY cool thing was a guy firing a gun. Then we went to the site of the real Jamestown. It was mostly piles of bricks 2 rows high forming the outlines of where buildings were. Then we went to the hotel, got settled, and chilled for 2 hours. (coffeecoffeecoffecoffeecoffeecoffee) Then we went to Applebee’s and waited a half hour for a server, another half hour for our drinks, and then ANOTHER half hour for our food… by then we had about 10 minutes to eat before boarding the bus to go to historic Williamsburg. It was a night tour and we went through 3 or 4 shops then went back to the hotel. Then we wound down for the night… well… everybody except my room… (it was REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY disturbing…) We woke up, packed up our stuff, ate a big breakfast, (doughnuts… OMNOMNOM) and then headed out to Williamsburg. This time we could see where we had gone the previous night. We walked around with the tour going through various buildings (including a woodshop built over a creek… who DOES that??) then stopped to eat pizza and Dr. Pepper. (through a coffee cup lid…) then roamed for another half hour … and got a pound of jelly beans… OMNOMNOMNOM. Then we went on a scavenger hunt. After that mom went into some store (with me behind her) and we bought… a pencil. Then we boarded the bus then left… with a pound of jelly beans… OMNOMNOMNOM. And guess what? It rained both days!! And guess what else? OMNOMNOMNOM.

Milburn Orchards

Milburn Orchard's Fall Festival has become something a tradition for our family, having attended the last 3 years.

This year, Mom hooked up with a dear friend of ours and her 2 girls (whom we've had outings with before) and took a day trip over to the magical land of pumpkins, corn mazes, and goats.

Fall Sports Mayhem

Back in May, due to the volume of activities vying for our attention, I referred to the end of the school year as "the silly season" . Clearly I had forgotten what the fall season was like around here.

Aside from the GRPC non-comp soccer league which I mentioned in my last post, and all our usual busyness (school, home work, church, bible study, youth group, house church, etc, etc), we are also splitting our time between RLCA Middle School Soccer for Alex and RLCA Middle School Field Hockey for Abigail.

This is Alex's third season playing soccer for Red Lion. This year's team is quite young, comprised of a slew of 6th graders and Alex and his friend Zach (8th). As such, there's a lot of growth to be had. But the kids are having fun and improving with each outing. Alex's team's schedule and record is available here.


For Abigail, this is her debut year playing field hockey. And you wouldn't know it. She has gotten plenty of time on the field and has been caught up in the action quite a few times. Abigail's team's schedule and record is available here.