The Story of Thanksgiving

I'm thankful for my sweet conversations with Kyri (and now Tessa, too) on my long, tiring rides home from work each day.  I love preschool days because then we have a lot to talk about.  Today, when I asked her what they did in class, she said, "Oh, we learned about Indians and that big ship called the Mayflower."  When I heard this, I immediately got my phone out and geared up the video.  She told me they learned the "Story of Thanksgiving"...  so here it is...  (Sorry about the horrible quality.  I took it while driving, so I wasn't looking at what I was shooting I WAS LOOKING AT THE ROAD, I PROMISE!!)  But, since it was in the dark, you can't see Kyri for most of the video.  It's her sweet voice and story that I wanted to remember.

I really could not believe how much she remembered.  The retelling that she gave is what I only hope to get my third graders to understand about Thanksgiving.  I guess K.J. is paying attention in preschool.

Halloween Happenings

A few weekends ago, the kids got to do some early trick or treating at Blackberry Farm.  We met up with Bryan and Kay and the kids, as well as the Bostons and the Dolls.  It was a beautiful fall day!

The three oldest cousins

Thing 2 and Thing 1

Train Ride - I think we took up the whole first car!

Front Row:  Tatum, Aubry, and Kyri

Row 2: Reese and Mia

Row 3: Shannon and Leslie

Row 4: Kyle, Tess, and Me

Row 5: Brian and Jeff

Row 6: Bryan, Kay, Morgyn, and Grady

All the big kids 

(M & G were asleep and we couldn't get Tessa to stand still)

She was all about posing!

Two bees!  We didn't even know Mia was being a bee, too.

Hay Ride

Then, the next weekend, we went up to the lake.  We were hoping to go for one last fall boat ride, but when we launched the boat into the water, we found that the battery was dead.  Bummer!!

So, we humored Kyri and fished at the launch for a little while. 

 Luckily, Lake Summerset was hosting a Halloween party for the kids that same weekend.  So, the girls had a lot of fun dressing up and playing games.

They got a lot of prizes.

Did a craft

And had some treats

Kyri also participated in the costume contest, and she won for the 3 and 4 year old division!!!  She was so excited and put her hand over her heart like she just couldn't believe it when they announced her costume.

Some fall fun in the leaves...

The next day, we went to a small apple orchard/pumpkin farm that was about 20 minutes from our lake house.  There was a petting zoo, pony rides, some fun tractors to climb on, and of course apple donuts!!

We found the perfect pumpkin and planned to carve it Tuesday night before Halloween.  But Kyri fell asleep on the way home from my mom's, though, and never woke back up that night.  So, we sent the pumpkin with the girls to Larry and Laurel's the next day since they were spending Halloween at their house.  Apparently, Kyri was all business about cleaning out the pumpkin, but Tessa didn't want anything to do with it!  For such a bruiser, it's hilarious that she doesn't want to get her hands dirty!

Then, on Halloween night, we had my parents, Kyle's parents, Bryan, Kay, Aubry, Morgyn, and Grady over to go trick or treating.  We also had a delicious meal of chili, corn bread, apple pie, and lots of candy!  The best part was that our parents brought the food so we didn't have to worry about cooking when we got home from work!

Tess was a little unsure about going to the houses at first, but once she got the hang of it, she was very into it!  We made it up and down an entire block this year!  

These cuties were troopers the whole time, despite the cold!

Kay was the Cat in the Hat to fit the twins' theme.  : )

After each house, Tess had to stop and look in her pumpkin to check out what she got.  We ended up trailing about two houses behind the rest of the group.  By the end, Uncle B offered to carry her to speed up the pace.  : )

Our crew

We met up with the Stasch family, too. (You can see them coming towards us in the distance.)

And here are Kyri and Aubs checking out the glow of the pumpkin at the end of the night.

We all had a great night.  The kids are at a really fun age for trick or treating.  I loved watching Tess figure it all out!