Sunday

Today was a lovely day. 

I took a walk in the morning while having my weekly phone call with my good friend Laura, who now lives in Vancouver.

Our neighbor Linda took Alice out to pizza with the dogs.

Simon played with the neighbors, including gathering kindling for our fire pit.

I planted the winter flowers we'd bought yesterday.

I did laundry. Here is a picture of all of Simon's clothes for 7 days. Notice anything strange?

Not pictured: Zac put up Christmas lights outside, did yard work, and made turkey and dumplings for supper with the Thanksgiving leftovers.

Christmas Tree

On Saturday, we went to the nursery where we normally buy our tree, but they weren't getting their delivery until Monday, so we just bought some winter flowers for the yard and let the kids each pick out something. Simon really wanted a giant cabbage, and Alice got a cool squiggly plant.

Then we drove to the State Farmer's Market to get a tree. It was a madhouse there, and it took us a long time to find a suitable tree. Simon was freezing, since he had not heeded my warning to wear pants and a winter coat. So he was quite whiny. But we eventually managed to find a tree.

Zac put the lights on it after sadly watching OSU get beat by Michigan.

Simon decorated it with his pipe-cleaner decorations that he'd made over the summer after getting some craft supplies for his birthday. We decorated it with the official ornaments on Sunday morning.

The kids also made their Christmas lists.

I like how Simon is straight up asking for cash and Alice is asking for money for her in-game purchases. And by "like" I mean I do not like it. But you gotta respect the attempt.

Schenck Forest for Black Friday

 On the day after Thanksgiving, we did our usual avoidance of shopping centers and headed for the trees. We went to Schenck Forest for a hike after breakfast. It's a very pretty hike through a fern-filled forest. The first half of the hike went well, but Simon, wearing a watch, had arbitrarily decided that we should turn around and head back at precisely 12:00pm. So when Zac and I insisted we continue until the end of the trail and we didn't head back until 12:26pm, Simon had cried and been very upset with us. Alice was also very moody. The pictures always make it look like we're having fun, and often times we are, but there's a lot of strife and misery as well.

***

Simon was very happy again once we were home, had eaten lunch, and he could play Jenga on our front porch with the neighbor while wearing a bicycle helmet like a totally normal person.

Thanksgiving

 We started off Thanksgiving right: having pumpkin pie for breakfast! Then Zac and I cooked and cleaned the rest of the morning to prepare for hosting Thanksgiving. To give credit where credit is due, Zac did most of the cooking. I just put the ingredients in the bread machine and started it on time.

The meal was delicious!

Simon spent most of the day with his chosen family: the neighbor kids and their visiting cousins.

In the evening, we had a bonfire (not pictured).

Yates Mill Pond with Izzy and Natasha

 Because I absolutely love fall hiking, I try to schedule as many hikes as possible this time of year. On Saturday, Alice and I met Natasha and Izzy at Yates Mill Pond for a fall hike. Then Alice went home with them for a sleepover. Here are the obligatory tree pictures we take every year at this place.

Leaf Pile of Fun + Fire Fun

 Simon and Liam had great fun playing together in the giant leaf pile this weekend.

Later that night, Simon invited the neighborhood kids over for a fire in our backyard. It wasn't very relaxing for us, as we had to keep them from stabbing each other with their fire spears, but they had fun.

Basement time!

 Now that it's dark and cold out after supper, the kids always clamor for "basement time." It's when Zac goes in the basement and plays with them in that brief time between supper and bedtime snack. They play a version of soccer with a giant yoga ball, and various other improvised games, plus lots of general rough-housing. Sometimes they blow up the bounce-house.  As I'm upstairs cleaning up supper, packing lunches and cutting up fruit, I always hear lots of squealing and screaming.

School, at home

 When I was sweeping, I found this little set-up Alice made on the floor of the art room. Apparently Darth Vader is teaching class.

I found this on the desk: Simon had made his own color-by-number picture.

Jordan Lake fall hike - New Hope Trail

 We went hiking with Jess, Rosa and Anna on the trail we hiked on all last winter: New Hope Trail at Jordan Lake. It's a truly wonderful trail. It's not too far away, never crowded, plenty of parking, a restroom...Plus, the hike itself is the perfect length for an afternoon excursion: it's about 3 miles long (although it always feels like at least 5 miles). It has great views, fairly interesting terrain, and a variety of places to stop and let the kids play for a bit. 

Simon practiced his rock wall climbing skills on the bottom side of a fallen down tree's root system.

Simon is really good at skipping rocks.

Neighborhood litter pick up

 Our neighborhood HOA organized a community workday for Saturday morning. We volunteered to pick up litter. We went all up and down the main road where people might just throw trash in the woods (as opposed to someone's front yard). Zac had the foresight to have us bring the two wagons. We had one adult and one kid plus a wagon on each side of the road. We got A LOT of trash, even although a lot more must've been obscured by the fall leaves. We stopped to unload at the dumpster a couple of times. The funny thing was that Simon wanted to keep all the best treasures he found, such as a small bottle and a couple of balls. It was a beautiful day and we were glad to help keep our neighborhood clean, in addition to teaching the kids about doing volunteer work.

Simon's weird meals

 We will never not be amused by Simon's bizarre self-prepared meal combinations. He's like that hungry caterpillar in the Eric Carl book.