Explore & More

The boys and I headed to the Explore & More museum Sunday afternoon and I discovered something very important.

They can entertain themselves! I spent most of my time at the museum reading while they spent as much time at each exhibit as they wanted. It was wonderful!!

I don't know what it is about locks, but every time we come across something like this both boys love it.

Ryan figured out an easier way to fish...

Ta da!

I think this is going to be a picture post because I don't have much to say... I was reading!

We had a great time at the museum!

Picture Day

It is that time of year so off we went to get our pictures taken. This time we didn't travel an hour to my favorite studio and I regret that we didn't. Maybe this experience is what I needed for motivation to get a decent lens and learn how to take my own pictures. I'm really not pleased with what we got and I had to fight to get it. You would think that a place would want to do what the customer wants, but you would be wrong.

Howe Caverns

After spending a relaxing Thanksgiving Day at Grandma and Grandpa W's, we headed to Howe Caverns on Black Friday.

The tour started with a very strange introduction by Mr. Howe explaining how he found the cave via his cows. I'm not sure the boys knew what to think. Very creepy. His upper lip moved...

Finally it was time to descend 156 feet into the cave. Not much has changed since my first trip to the cave about 25 years ago. Cool stuff!

Unlike the Lockport Cave, this is a natural cave and it does have bats!! We didn't see any, but Tyler still held on to Grandma's hand tightly!

The boys may have been a bit young to appreciate the stalactites and stalagmites, but once they got on the boat ride they were cave fans.

Cheese!

Isn't it cool?

Humoring me.

He's done humoring me...

Beautiful.

The boys enjoyed the heart at the bridal alter. Tyler figured out that there was a light bulb under the rock and identified the bricks that were part of the door so it could be changed. He's no fun... he just had to take the mystery out of it all... I wonder where he got that from.

On the way out Grandma said something about checking the cave off my list... I guess it is checked off for a few years, but we'll have to go again so that Ryan will remember!

Team Trek

This post is for me.



I returned from Team Trek in Arkansas on Friday, 11/11. Team Trek is a beautiful 800 acre site in the middle of nowhere. This experience can now be added to the list of gifts I have received from my employer over the last 10 years.

When I left my family Sunday morning all I really knew is that I was going on an outdoor leadership adventure. The specifics are kept secret to protect the experience of future participants. While this was frustrating as a future participant, I now understand how important it is.




I won't say that I had any major revelations during my week in the woods, but I did learn more about myself, my capabilities and areas for improvement plus I had the opportunity to reflect on my priorities and purpose in my life. An added bonus was getting to know co-workers in a way that never would have happened without this experience.



I spent time thinking about where I was at this time last year... weak in every sense of the word. I don't know that I would have believed I'd be doing the physical challenges that this week brought if you had asked me while I was bald. I didn't believe I would do it looking at it Monday morning. But, I did.

Three!

Technically we celebrated early since Ryan's actual birthday isn't until tomorrow, 11/7, but we all wanted to be there for cake and presents. He won't know!!

I'm struggling with the realization that my baby is 3. In my mind this is our last year of babyhood. By the end of this year he'll be potty trained (or else!!), will start dressing himself, and will be in his last year of pre-school. Sob! But, it also means a whole other world will be opened to us. The stroller will be retired and little legs will be able to handle longer adventures, right?

Aunt Donna spent a few hours with us and brought Ryan his first gift... a race car! It was exactly what he wanted. Thank you Aunt Donna!

We also made a cake this year. From scratch! Yummy!

Cleaning the frosting bowl is hard work.

But, worth it. Yum... chocolate cake with chocolate peanut butter frosting. Grandpa W's favorite.

We had two very happy boys. And, a few finger holes in the frosting by the time we were ready to sing.

What could be better than cake, fire and a pile of presents behind you?

Yummy!

Ryan loved his gifts. In addition to the race car (a clear favorite), he now has his own Lego bin, the Cars 2 movie, the hot wheels Chevy 5-pack from Tyler and super comfy PJs from Grandma and Grandpa W that got put right to use last night.

At the last minute we decided to save Aunt Sara's gift for his actual birthday. I think he's going to love Mater's car wash!!

Happy Birthday Ry Ry!!

Happy Halloween!

I have to start this post by explaining Ryan's eye. I think we all grew up hearing that we were going to poke our eye out with something and it actually almost happened here Friday night. In our case, it was the tip of a model airplane that caught Ryan... an airplane I bought him (guilt!). Luckily it was right below his eye, but it caused quite a shiner. Too bad he wasn't going to dress up as Rocky! In all seriousness, it was very scary, but he is ok.

Yesterday we enjoyed a beautiful day at the Genesee Country Museum with Grandma and Grandpa C. They had a trick or treat event so we had to check it out.

It was a chilly day despite the sun.

I discovered that it is really hard to get a decent trick or treat picture. I always get their backs. This will have to do.

Pretty day.

The village did a really neat job with the event. Each home was staffed by someone in period dress and they were all great with the kids.

In addition to treats, there was a house where you could roast a marshmallow inside, another where your fortune was told by counting the seeds in an apple, a schoolhouse where you could play the magic pumpkin and another house where Jack told the spooky story of the Jack-O-Lantern. Fun!!

Overall, it was a beautiful day with family.

Today I took the afternoon off to attend Tyler's school party and parade. I'm really glad I did. The room moms did a nice job planning the party. They had candy corn bingo...

Decorate (and eat) a cookie.

And, check this out... a mummy with openings where you could feel eyes (grapes), guts (spaghetti), bones (celery), teeth (candy corn), nails (pumpkin seeds), and toes (hot dogs). Very cool!

Here is the whole class. Tyler's teacher was dressed up as Mr. Smarty Pants with smarties taped to his pants... that is my kind of costume... simple!

Here he is waiting for the parade to start.

The parade itself was absolute chaos so we won't share any pictures of that.

On the way out, I snapped this picture of Tyler's locker. Tyler had to describe himself on the ghost and I think he did well... except for "tall" and "fast." The rest is right on... cool, smart, lucky and talkative. Funny stuff.

We picked Ryan up on the way home to get ready for tonight and wait for Aunt Donna to join us. Upon arrival we had a bit of a tragedy... Tyler's front zipper on his costume broke!! It is a long zipper right up the front and it was completely non-functional!! I still haven't figured out how it broke (according to Ty the rug broke the zipper pull in half... that darn rug!), but it caused quite a stir. Dan reminded me that these costumes aren't made for durability and tonight was our 5th Halloween event. I guess I can't complain.

Tyler didn't want me to pin him in his costume so he was looking at other options. His plan to be a vampire didn't pan out so we started going through the dress up bin. Unfortunately Ryan then decided that he didn't want to be a race car driver. Aaaaahhhh! Madness!

In the end, Ty allowed me to pin him up and Ryan selected a train conductor costume. It wasn't the plan, but he's a cute conductor!

Here is the crew, anxious to get started.

Bruiser. This is our rough and tumble boy for sure!

Trick or Treat!

This picture is blurry, but it tells a story. Pure joy.

Two hours of trolling the streets and it was time to check out the loot!

Both boys brought in a large haul. We'll be bouncing off walls for quite a while.