Halloween

The kids are always super excited for Halloween!  The day before, we Trick or Treated at St. Andrew's Village.  We stopped by the office first to show off our costumes:

 

 

Halloween morning, Abbey had her 4 Year well-child check-up with Dr. Feder.  She was perfectly healthy, growing well and about the height of the average 5 1/2 year old!  Dr. Feder gave the OK to move her into a booster seat, so here is a picture of Abbey on her first ride in a booster.  She was squealing in delight with every turn!  It was so cute:

We went to the Library's Halloween parade that afternoon.  Abbey wanted to be a shark, Josiah wanted to be a Navy pilot, and Ben wanted to be Minecraft Stever...which definitely posed the greatest challenge!  They were all happy with their costumes:

 

After the parade, we went to show our costumes off to Nana and Uncle Jim and Aunt Linda, and then headed over to the Trunk or Treat event.  They had about twenty car trunks decorated, two bounce houses, a pony to pet, hot dogs and chili, the fire department had a fire engine and there were barrel train rides.  It was a blast!  Only got one picture the entire time:

As usual, Logan and I were exhausted at the end of the day. :) 

Wabanaki Fieldtrip at the DRA

We had a fascinating field trip to the Damariscotta River Association today to learn about the Wabanaki people.  When we first got there, they let the kids pet and play with a duck, who seemed to like Ben more than any of the other kids. :) 

Because it was a very rainy day, we didn't go down to the yurts along the river, but stayed inside and heard some stories from a man who grew up learning the Wabanaki boat building and basket weaving crafts from his father and grandmother, who were among the last Wabanaki master craftspeople.  And then he helped the kids make a birch bark etching by soaking the pieces of bark and then scratching out designs.  It was fun!

Despite the pouring rain, the kids ran around outside afterwards!

And here are a few pictures from Co-op this week.  Abbey practicing for The Pokey Little Puppy:

And Josiah and Ben's engineering class building structures with straws, paper clips and tape:

Laser Tag Birthday Party

We had a blast at Justin's 30th birthday party!  His wife, Kelly, surprised him with a laser tag rental in their backyard, and everyone at the party was from our church.  So much fun!

Baby Lane was trying to stay warm.

 

Jess and Jen mugging for the camera:

The Orange and Green teams getting ready for battle:

Abbey insisted on participating:

Cris, Amy, Danielle and Jen playing with Lane

 

And some birthday cake!

October Snapshots

Here are some random pictures from October.

The kids love to sit on the tractors at Home Depot:

Abbey stayed in this costume for about five days straight after Grandma bought it for her. :)

 

 

These two play together so well.  They're always up to some kind of mischief!

We drove over to Harpswell to visit Brooke and her four kiddos one afternoon. 

Left to right: Macy, Toula, Siah, Quinn, Charlie, the Andrade girls, Ben and Abbey

 

That same afternoon, we made cider with the Karys:

And then I rushed home to host a bag party for Melissa!  A busy day!

 

Here's a picture of Abbey in her dance class:

And everyone getting into the Halloween spirit:

Snuggling with Molly:

And snuggling with Grandma: