Thanksgiving Weekend

Well, this year, we were both off for Thanksgiving, though I worked until 7am Thanksgiving morning.
The day started out sunny and clear, an overnight storm having blown the smoke away.

After I napped, we headed up to Sonoma for Thanksgiving at the Greenbergs.
By dinnertime rain started again.

 

Friday, we spend the day reorganizing our office/guestroom while it rained all day.   We got some new furniture delivered on Wednesday, and spent Friday putting it all together/decorating.   We still need a picture or two, but overall it is looking great, I think!   Finally....this room has been a dumping ground for years, so it is really nice to have it all done!  Note to readers: come visit!   It is a nice place to stay!

Saturday and Sunday, Jason had to work.   The weather was nice and sunny, and the kids and I took advantage of it and went for a nice hike to Dawn Falls.   Such a lovely walk!

Smokey Weekend #2

Well, here we are again....the smoke has still not gone away.   On friday it was so bad here that school was cancelled (not sure why as the air in the class room is the same as the air in the house).  Of course soccer was cancelled on Saturday, and the kids were literally crawling up the walls.   

Best yet, we had our annual Christmas card photo soot scheduled for saturday--and no easy way to reschule.   Ugh.   Stay tuned for some smokey winners.

On Sunday, we took the kids to a local production of Les Miserables.   It was a youth production but actually quite good, especially considering how challenging many of the songs are.   The kids mostly enjoyed it.   But when I asked Ethan afterwards if it was something he would like to do in the future, he responded, "no, I'd rather shoot hoops."   Yes, he is aching to get back outside.

Smokey Weekend

Well, for those who haven't heard, a huge wildfire broke out in California, just north of Sacramento last Friday.   Because the winds are blowing east to west, the result is that the entire bay area has been blanketed in a thick cloud of black smoke.  Are has been rated as unhealthy, and the sunny skies have been shrouded in haze.  Going outside results in stinging eyes and burning throats.   I read online that one day's exposure is the equivalent of smoking 8 cigarettes.  

And, of course, thousands of people's homes have been destroyed and are displaced.   It is really awful.   And, there is no rain in the extended forecast at all.


In any event, the smoke kept us (and most of the rest of the bay area) indoors this weekend-the streets and walking paths were eerily quiet.   We had to find some entertaining indoor activities, which is unusual for us (Yes, I realize much of the rest of the country always has to have an indoor plan this time of the year).

Saturday, Jason took the kids to the movies.   Sunday, Alaina and I baked an apple galette.  

And Ethan, a friend, and Jason had a marathon Monopoly game.

So it goes.  I hope that the firefighters are able to get control of the blaze soon.  

Trick or Treat 2018

                

The kids had a fun time celebrating Halloween last Wednesday.    For the first time ever, they both were in the same Halloween parade, and I got to attend both Halloween classroom parties.  This will happen exactly once, as Ethan will attend middle school next year.   Sigh.  

This year, Ethan dressed up like his favorite NBA player: Kyrie Irving.  (Why an earth he picked him is beyond me, though he does have an obsession with Boston sports team since he “used to live there”).   

Alaina’s costume was a little more dramatic.   Two weeks before Halloween, I took her out to pick a costume.   She chose a character from the cartoon “Paw Patrol”. Unfortunately, the store we were at did not have the costume in her size.   I quickly looked it up on Amazon, found a bigger size and ordered it. Despite the fact that we have Prime, it was not due to arrive until the following Friday.   But, no worries, as the first Halloween party was not until Saturday.  Fast forward to Friday.   I walked into the house after a long day at work, to be greeted by Alaina, who immediately burst into tears because her costume did not arrive.  Aargh.   I logged onto Amazon and found it had been delayed with a new estimated delivery date of 10/30.   To close to count on.   I cancelled the order and promised her a trip to the Halloween store to look for an alternative choice the following day.

So, on Saturday, in the 90 minutes between soccer games 1 and 2 (of 3), the kids and I rushed to the Halloween store to pick something new.   Now, I have never been to the Halloween store on the weekend before Halloween before, and I will do my best to never ever do that again.   It was a mad house.   Alaina settled on a strawberry shortcake costume.  I found one in size 4-6…. but when I pulled it out of the package, the dress barely covered her bottom.   Such is the treat of being tall.   So, we frantically ran around the store to find another size.  Problem was, the only one I could find was an extra small adult size.   But since it was made to be slightly racy, it was short.   In fact, it just covered Alaina’s knees (yes, this was an ADULT) costume.   Though the chest was far too large, I decided that the best option was some home sewing and a ticket out of the Halloween store.   So that was exactly what we did.  But not before getting some tights—since of course the normal green and white striped tights didn’t come with the “adult” costume, and there didn’t sell them separately, so we had to settle on some Black and Green striped tights.  All in all, it made for quite the costume:

In any event, the day of Halloween was a lot of fun.   The kids wore their costumes to school, and had classroom parties,  and a parade, which Jason and I were both able to attend (another small miracle).   

    

In the evening, we trick or treated with some of Ethan’s friends.   

The boys were on a mission for candy, and the kids took home quite a haul this year.   Alaina kept up pretty well too.   Check out their candy count at the end of the night:

Good thing we have a dental appointment coming up!