Exciting Fall Weekend!

Eleanor asked Daddy to take off her training wheels and within a half hour she was riding all by herself!?!!! She had positive peer pressure as 4 other children (1 older girl and 3 younger boys than her!) on our street recently took theirs off too. We are all SO impressed and attribute part of it to riding her scooter to learn balance as it has been her ride of choice as of late. Until now... Oscar being a "motorcycle guy!"
(note Eleanor pedaling solo in the background)

She had fun jumping in the leaves with our neighbor Riley.

AND, the other exciting news this weeknd is that Eleanor lost her tooth at school on Friday!

She pulled it out while watching in the mirror after lunch (I accidentally gave her a whole Granny Smith apple, honest!) The Tooth Fairy came and spoiled her, along with leaving sparkly fairy dust everywhere! We also had friends up visiting from Norfolk, so she was having a sleepover to boot! They were thrilled to wake up and she that she had come.

My brave big five year old!

I love you Eleanor Ann!

Thanksgiving Feast

Eleanor invited us to her school's annual Thanksgiving Feast. Her class made their own American Indian costumes, it was so fun to see each individual pattern of shapes on their vests, headbands & necklaces. Eleanor has learned so much this year about Thanksgiving, even re-teaching me about Venn Diagrams using food items eaten then and now.

Five is such a great age!

Happy Birthday!

Kristian & the kids helped me celebrate my birthday with a chocolate cake and too many candles to count! Eleanor was the photographer and Kristian the pyro, Oscar my snuggler & helper in fire-fighting crime! We also went out for Mexican, a dinner which I will never forget not only b/c of the excellent food and service, but Oscar slept through the entire meal, including the mariachi band!

Veteran's Day

Emma & Eleanor were so excited to see one another again.
Their friendship hatched when they were about 10 months old.
Veteran's Day was cold & rainy, perfect for meeting up with friends at the Children's Museum. It was a perfect "half way" drive for each of us, now that we live about 3 1/2 hrs apart.

Oscar enjoyed being a mechanic!

Water play

Eleanor as Cinderella & Emma the Narrator, it was a great play!

Oscar would have played in the water all day, watching the cubes float down the spiral river.

So tall!

Abbey & Oscar, EMT extraordinares, driving the ambulance.

Fisherman Oscar, taking after Poppa Ronnie.

Eleanor tried her hand at "milking" a cow.

Even though friends may live far apart, the sun will never set on their friendship.

Zoo Playdate

Panda Bears!
This was the best viewing of the pandas that we have seen. They are amazing to watch...

This was the first time we saw the orangutang's using their "O-line." It was a beautiful morning for walking the zoo, Oscar & his friend Abby Gould were so cute together. And no, we did not coordinate outfits!

Halloween 2009

Eleanor (aka: Hanna Montana) ready to rock the neighborhood!I want candy!

Spiderman digging in while driving home from Trunk or Treat.

Look at this Dad! One neighbor had full-size candy bars!

There was one house that had just run out of candy and Oscar said: "But I NEED more candy!"

Oscar was so brave at the "scary house."

He wanted to learn how everything worked: he found the smoke machine, inspected lights and even gave the skull a couple hits with his glow stick.

Enjoying their loot!

The kids had a great night despite the intermittent rain.