Hi All!
Checking in again…
Halloween here was fantastic. Riley went as the Transformer Bumblebee, Tessa as Elsa from Frozen, Emmett as Merida from Brave, and Baby as Puss-in-Boots. Pop-pop arrived that afternoon, so he came trick-or-treating with us too. The weather was amazing. No rain and in the 50s. Perfect for making a loop through the neighborhood, which was PACKED with kids.
We started across the street where we saw our friends (who were dressed as Harry Potter and Sherlock Holmes). Emmett’s main goal was to see and speak to as many Elsa’s as he could. We’d recently been at Disney on Ice (where a great time was had by all, except for the scary Disney villain Halloween number), and his focus there was a similar one. On Halloween, he got his wish, as well as branching out a bit with the Disney Princesses. He saw Ariel, Snow White, and Maleficient.
Riley was mainly focused on the candy, and–as such–he was a speedy Transformer trying to hit as many houses as he could. We would have done well tying a bowling ball to his leg, or making him carry Baby. As it was, he had to be asked several times to slow down and wait for his brother and sister.
Tessa mostly wanted to hold Pop-pop’s hand while making the rounds and she fell behind.
Asher took it all in with both looks of wonder and puzzlement.
The candy haul was marvelous. We each got to pick 5 to keep for ourselves. The rest went into a bag that we aren’t even sure still exists. Sometimes candy appears after dinner, or for a special treat. But not often. And never from the same location. So…
We loved having Pop-pop visit again. In addition to Halloween trick-or-treating, Pop-pop joined us as we went hiking in search of Bigfoot, played with all our toys, and had a lights-out dance party. This was something we did nightly at our old house. Its harder to do here, with the size and all, and we ended up breaking a beer bottle–at which point our party was moved upstairs to the loft where no glass exists. (We should say the lights-out dance party is both about music and our bouncy, light-up balls, the latter of which hit and shattered the bottle.)
We’ve started swimming at a new pool (jury’s out on that one) and rock climbing classes at the Y (which we love almost as much as playing in the human Habitrail located in the next room over). We’ve got a few trips planned: one to a hotel for Thanksgiving (we LOVE hotels, and this one is on the Hood Canal and has a tree lighting the first night we’ll be there) and a tentative trip home to Colorado for a short time just before Christmas. We’ve high hopes for both.
For now, most of our school-at-home consists of a lot of dramatic play. Like hours of pretending we are pirates or princesses. We’ve totally taken our Arts and Crafts to the next level too. Painting and coloring and drawing. Playing with kinetic sand, play dough, Shrinky Dinks, and yarn. And we are spending a lot of time outside. We’ve discovered a few new waterfall parks, and we like to pretend there is a dragon that lives in the bottom of the river there. So we are very sneaky…
Check back next month. So far, s’all good.
Love,
The Pigs