Friends and Family Weekend

In September when school was starting for Gideon, he was very busy, including almost every weekend.  To keep the girls busy and to not go stir crazy I planned to take them to Santa’s Village and to invite our friend Christy and her daughter Kylie to go with us.  When I got an email saying they were having a friends and family weekend where season pass holders could bring a friend for free, I knew that was the weekend for us. 

We crowded into my car with poor Kylie stuck between Hadley and Malia’s car seats.  It is a bit of a drive, but we all thought it was worth it once we got there and jumped on all of the rides.  We also looked for all of the Elves in the Elfabet Hunt. 

Our normal first ride, the carousel

Visiting Santa

Hadley didn't want to ride the power tower

Kylie is 5 here and Hadley thinks she will be as big as Kylie when she turns 5

You can't tell, but Hadley is behind Kylie

Decorating their Gingerbread Men

Silly girls

We all had a lot of fun and it was a great way to spend a weekend with good friends.

The Tradition Continues

Keeping with tradition, we went apple picking again this year.  While I love having all of the apples for baking, the real reason I love apple picking is for the memories we create.  The first year we went, Hadley was just over a year old and Malia wasn’t born.  Over the years, the girls have grown and I always look forward to autumn and apple picking.

I still don’t know how I did it, but I forgot my camera.  Luckily, I did have my cell phone, which I normally never have and if I do the battery is usually dead.  I had never used my phone camera before so it took me a while to figure it out and the delay was very frustrating.  I’m just glad that I was able to get some pictures to capture the memories.

Malia is still more interested in eating the apples than picking them

Protecting his head from dropped apples

Jump Around

During the summer, Hadley attended a one week gymnastics camp.  It was a way to keep her busy and to see if she was interested in taking lessons.  Not surprisingly, she loved it.  Malia also had a blast playing on all of the apparatus when we would drop off and pick up Hadley. 

When lessons started, we signed Hadley up.  We considered signing Malia up for the Mom and Tot class, but decided she would like the open gym option better as it was longer and she got to do what she wanted. 

They have each gone three weeks, and they both love it.  Hadley’s favorite is the balance beam and bars.  Malia loves lying on the trampoline while I bounce her and swinging on the rings.  I’m happy that they have so much fun while getting exercise and burning off energy.

Warming up

Bear crawl

Block pit

Playing under the parachute

School Days

Even though the calendar may not agree, to me the end of summer and start of fall is always marked with the start of school.  A few weeks ago, Hadley started her second year of preschool.  She was just as excited as last year to start.  Hadley was also very excited to be going full-time this year.

At a parent-teacher conference last year, her teacher told me that if they started something new on a day when Hadley was not there, Hadley would demand that they start at the beginning for her so she got all of the information.  With that in mind, I knew she would do well with full-time. 

She still loves school and is excited to be in the big kids group with Mrs. Tetreault.  This year she is much better at telling me what she learned at school and what they talked about.  Her teacher said she is a great listener and always wants to learn more. 

I’m so glad she likes school and hope she always keeps her love of learning.

Walking up to school

Malia also started “school” this year.  A good friend started an in-home daycare/preschool.  Malia and I have never been apart, so Gideon and I decided it would be a good thing for both Malia and me to have some time on our own. 

She only goes one day a week for a few hours, but I was still worried how she (and me) would do.  I talked to her about going to Ms. Christy’s house by herself and how much fun she would have.  When her first day came, she was very excited and ready to go. 

Malia’s school is close to Norwich, so Gideon dropped her off.  He said she was excited to hang up her backpack and jacket, take off her shoes and then run off to play.  She didn’t cry or get upset at all.  I kept myself busy and did okay too without her. 

I’m so proud of her and love that she is learning to go off on her own.  My babies are growing up so fast!

Very excited for her first day

Heading to school with Daddy

Worn out after her first day

Princess Play Group

For over a year now, our play group has been just little girls.  We didn't do this on purpose, but the people who come only have girls.  As a way to end the summer and send off some of our older girls who would be starting school, we had a special princess play group. 

Christy decorated her house in pink and purple and I made each of the kids’ individual mini cakes.  The girls came dressed in their best princess dresses.  Christy now watches two little boys, so we had some princes at our party too. 

We started out with decorating crowns. 

Next we moved on to the cakes.

After their bellies were full, they played pin the princess on the castle and then posed on the throne for pictures. 

It was a lot of fun and a great way to celebrate our princesses starting school.