The beginning of Fall...kind of

Everyone was hoping for cooler weather, once October started. We were sadly disappointed, that the 90 degree weather continued. The kids were so confused why the outdoor pool wasn’t open!

Dorothy and I went on a field trip to the Stowe Dairy Farm. Usually, we have jackets on and boots, but this time we had to go in shorts! We did something new this year: we shucked sorghum plants and watched the canes being juiced. Then the farmers let us taste the syrup, and try some sorghum cookies.











The kids and I have been trying to stick to a routine where we have piano lessons once a week (given by me) and then do some art tutorials online once a week. One day we drew a Pokémon character. Dorothy went more abstract!




For the past couple years, Dorothy has been waking up several times in the middle of the night, so her pediatrician recommended a sleep study. Her sleep doctor is fantastic, and hyped her up for a “robot sleep over.” I cannot believe all the wires that were hooked up to my baby girl, but she was such a trooper. She was diagnosed with restless leg syndrome, and since starting some new meds, she has been getting better sleep. She has even slept through the night a couple times!






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All About Lincoln

Dave and I decided that when each child turns 10, they could go on a trip with just us. Lincoln chose to go to Magic Kingdom and Universal. Mom and Dad came down to watch the others for us.

We left early Friday morning, so we could get to the Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween party at Magic Kingdom. It’s a costume party with trick-or-treating and special Halloween shows and parades. We dressed up as Phineas, Ferb, and Candace.





Waiting for the Philharmonic show to begin.




Waiting to ride the mine train coaster in the rain.




Phineas!




Space Mountain was what he was really looking forward to the most, but he didn’t want to ride it again.




There was a lot of people, a lot of sounds and he felt pretty done, even before the parade and fireworks. Even though I wanted to “do it all,” this trip was all about Lincoln, so we left to get some rest for the next day.

Saturday, we woke up late, ate a huge breakfast and went swimming before going in to Universal. We wanted to take things a bit slower for Lincoln.

The park was pretty crowded, and lines were long, so we bought 2 express passes. We were able to do all the Harry Potter stuff Lincoln wanted to do, plus a few other things.

We figured out that Lincoln likes the 3 D rides better than the actual coasters, but he was still very brave and went on all the big coasters.

The hotel cereal sign had HP on it.




Man, it was hot and the sun was bright!




Using Sirius Black’s wand to do magic.




Hagrid’s shack.




Enjoying frozen butterbeer! We also had lunch at the Leaky Cauldron.







Checking out Fred and George’s trick shop.




I loved this shirt we saw coming off the Transformer ride.




When we saw him fading, we decided to head
back to the hotel for dinner. Before dinner, we made a stop at Voodoo doughnuts.










We ordered pizza and ate by the pool. We all played a good round of keep away with a beach ball.

Since we had a good night’s rest, and we figured it would be cooler in the morning, we got an early start Sunday.

There were no lines, and we were able to walk on everything. Because is was cooler and the lines weren’t long, we were able to do a ton, and Lincoln really enjoyed it.
















We took a break at lunch, and stayed at the hotel until it got cooler again. We went to the Islands of Adventure side of the park, and had a similar experience to our morning. We got to ride everything we wanted to plus some. At first Link didn’t want to do any water rides, but he changed his mind at the end of the night. We closed the park down, soaking wet!




Although it was wonderful to see the littles, it was hard to get back to reality the day we got home! I’m so glad we had this opportunity to make fun memories with Lincoln!!

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Black Eye and a Concrete Truck

Its always jarring when the school name pops up on caller I.D. I would know because it happens so frequently. Most of the time a kid has forgotten their lunch or chapstick or library book. It’s the calls that start with “This is not an emergency, but...” that are my favorite.

Drake was getting really into a game at PE, and ran into the wall with his eye. I was actually on my way to the school to volunteer when I got the call, so I was able to get to him quickly.

It was pretty swollen when I got to him, so we iced it and I gave him so ibuprofen. I also stayed at the school and had lunch with the daredevil.





The pretty purple colors didn’t show up until the next day.











The good news is that the same week, we had a visit from the concrete truck. We are one step closer to having a garage for Dave!








Also, this cute lunch date happened. I was helping out a friend, so I picked up 2 preschool friends and we had lunch. Dorothy and L are good buds, who both go to Speech, and sometimes together. He is a sweet sweet boy, and I’m crossing my fingers they will continue to be in each other’s class through the years!






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Happy Birthday Lincoln!

My firstborn turned 10! I clearly remember when I turned 10, so it seems strange that my own child is this old.

The Saturday before his birthday, we had a combined party with Ethan, since they are only 2 days apart, and have the same friends.

The boys ate pizza and cake before bowling. We had to rush them through eating to make it to the bowling alley on time. They weren’t too happy about leaving the house, so after bowling, we took them back.

They all played so well together. They encouraged each other while they bowled, and it was just a great time!

Even the dads had fun playing basketball in the dark with the boys.























Dave made a Nintendo switch cake, per Lincoln’s request. He also does a good job; it’s such an act of love that he gives to the kids each year.



Reading his cards so intently...oh, how I adore this 10 year old!!






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Florence

Hurricane Florence was projected to hit us hard. We were expecting tons of rain and wind, and to lose power. The stores were empty leading to to the weekend. Everything was canceled. Good thing for wonderful neighbors! We had people to hang out with all during the rainy weekend.







Dorothy slept with her brothers during the storm. Lincoln thought it was so cute that she fell asleep reading one of his books.




Our beautiful tree got a bit torn up, but we didn’t get the winds that were projected. We kept power all weekend.




The Tuesday after, the sky was so blue. It’s hard to feel completely happy that we were ok, when there are so many still struggling on the coast. On a positive note, it is an opportunity for people to serve others. I know many from our church has been able to go down and clear trees. This will continue all through October.



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