Soccer Party!

Soccer season is over until spring! John's team, The Gold Stars celebrated with a party at the West Point Bowling Alley! They were the only undefeated 4 year old team! John really improved throughout the season and scored a goal in almost every game! I predict many more soccer seasons in our future!

John enjoying his soccer cupcake...

Showing off his soccer medal!

Awesome Soccer Season, John!!!

Big Boy Underwear!

Luke's first day wearing his Big Boy Underwear! Luke has been doing a great job going potty! I love how he says, "Mom I need to "T"! I need to "T"!!! So I told him next time we went to Target he could pick out Big Boy Underwear! He really wanted Backyardigans, but since they didn't have any Backyardigans underwear he settled for Thomas the Train! He was super excited! As soon as we got home, we put them in the washing machine, and right after nap he made sure I moved them to the dryer! So cute!

Showing off his new Thomas underwear...
And that cute little behind...
Such a Big Boy!

A bitter sweet moment.... so happy, but a little sad that he is my last baby to potty train! My sweet little Luke Bear is growing up!

Pumpkin Carving...

...is something that Katie remembers doing with Uncle Justin...she even remembers that he carved cat once...which got me thinking that I must have pictures of that somewhere...and I did...Katie, 3 years old, carving a pumpkin with Uncle Justin...
John, 1 year old, just watching...

Katie & Justin with their finished jack o'lantern...A Cat!

...to "Remember Justin" on this birthday we carved our pumpkin today...

Our finished jack o'lantern...

Pumpkin Faces...

Happy Birthday, Justin! I will always remember the fun times we had together...and help Katie, John, & Luke remember the fun times they had with their Uncle Justin...

Halloween Party...

after a lon day at the NY Aquarium & Coney Island...Katie's Girl Scout Troop had a Halloween Birthday Party to celebrate Juliette Gordon Low, founder of the Girl Scouts! She was born on Halloween, and what better reason to dress up and have a fun party! The kids were VERY excited to wear their Halloween costumes before Halloween!

Kitty Katie with The Spider-Men!

We Did It!

...that is what we can say about the NY Aquarium and Coney Island!

The kids had Friday off school, so we decided to take the opportunity to see something on our "To Do List in NY". We planned a Road Trip to Coney Island with our favorite West Point friends, The Wilkison's! Brooke & I have taken the kids on little road trips in the past, but this one was a little longer due to some traffic and a short detour past the Wall Street Bull...but we made it! Thanks or no thanks to the Garmin! We did miss the Shark feeding that we had promised the kids they would see at 10:30am. Who knew it would take over 2 hours to get there! Yikes! Let me add it was a chilly, windy day in the low 50's! And when getting out of the car (after over 2 hours) with 5 kids, 2 strollers, snacks, drink cups and everything else you need...I said, "Leave your jackets in the car, since we will be inside!" Thinking that would be one less thing to keep up with or carry! WRONG!?! Much to our surprise, the NY Aquarium is a small group of building with some outdoor exhibits! All that aside, we were all pumped to be out of the car and at the aquarium seeing the seals!


This little baby seal was super cute! The kids loved this little guy!

Brooke, Brady, & Anna Belle happy to be at the aquarium!
Now, let me add that within minutes of our arrival...at least two preschools showed up and a TON of screaming middle school kids with what appeared to be zero chaperons! But that didn't stop us from having fun! We saw a giant walrus, fur seals, otters, seahorses, penguins, sharks, an octopus & lots of different fish!

Luke checking out some of the fish...

John showing me what the blow fish looked like...

The best picture we could get of all the kiddos...

One of the kids favorite exhibits was this tidal wave...they were so amazed each time the water came crashing down on them!

Katie looking up waiting for the water to come...

...it suprised her...

John & Brady watching the water...

After a late lunch, and freezing outside long enough to make each kid a flat penny with an aquarium animal, we were ready to go to the 4-D movie. But... not before a seagull pooped on Brooke! So gross! I am so glad it was you and not me, Brooke! You handled it much better than I would have...and we all had a good laugh!

4-D movie adventure, The Curse of Skull Rock...

I love Luke in his 3-D glasses!

Our family picture on Coney Island...We Saw It!

While I wouldn't recommended seeing the NY Aquarium or Coney Island on a chilly fall day, I am still glad "We Did It!" It is days like this that I will look back and remember forever...the craziness of 5 kids in the car, laughing and having great conversation with a dear friend (that I will miss like crazy in 7 more months when we aren't neighbors anymore and the Army has moved us somewhere new). It is days like this that I will miss most...thanks for being a wonderful friend who I can live & laugh with, Brooke!

Thursday Playdates...

John is loving Pre-K, but he LOVES his Thursday playdates even more! Every Thursday John and a few of Pre-K buddies have a playdate after school! This Thursday was our day to host the playdate. The boys have lunch, and then play outside, X-Box, Wii, GeoTrax, Batman, Helicopters, you name it, they play it! I love listening to them play together! It is so cute!

John, Caden & Luke enjoying the sunny fall day on the playground!

The Great Jack O' Lantern BLAZE...

at Van Cortlandt Manor in Croton-on-Hudson, NY is something everyone should see! We went our first year here at West Point and decided to make another trip this year! We are really trying to pack in all the fun we can our last year here! We want to see it and do it all! Katie got to invite one of her new friends from school, Cora to join us! Katie really enjoys playing with Cora! It is so sweet watching the start of a new friendship! I love to listen to their "girl talk". After dinner with our friends, The Grimming's we were ready for The Great Jack O'Lantern Blaze! There are over 4,000 hand carved pumpkins at the Blaze! Some are "real" and others are "art pumpkins", but all are hand-carved by volunteers at Van Cortlandt Manor.

Katie & Cora ready to see some pumpkins...

A few of the jack o'lanterns displays we saw at the Blaze...

The giant spiderweb is made out of jack o'lanterns too!

Dinosaurs...

Dragons...

Group Picture Take 1....

Group Picture Take 2 because Mommy wasn't looking at the camera in the first one...

Showing off their Halloween Treats for the camera...

Katie & Cora...

My little pumpkins...

We all had a really fun evening...laughing, being silly, eating treats, and seeing all the amazing jack o'lanterns at the Blaze! This is my favorite picture of the night...Silly Faces!!!