Trick or Treat!

Inspired by our vacation last summer, these guys went with a Roman theme for Halloween this year.  Brady was a Roman gladiator and Rudy was Emperor Vespasian.   Brady opted for a purchased gladiator costume, even though we all really liked his homemade efforts a few years ago.  He did design his own helmet, but opted not to wear it in the end.  Rudy's costume consisted of a white shower curtain and red pillowcase from Goodwill, tied with a rope and topped off with a purchased laurel wreath crown. 

Mary Emma (Annabeth from Percy Jackson) and Kate (Katniss from Hunger Games) joined us again for trick or treating this year.  These guys covered some serious ground in the neighborhood this year.  Best guess for total candy collection between last night and tonight is somewhere around 16 pounds!

 

Trick or treat, round 1

For the first time since we've lived here, the university had trick or treating on campus the day before Halloween.  We've never been able to make it before, but the kids were glad to try it out.  We were able to get there early and beat the biggest crowds.

Next up was dinner - Mexican as requested by the kids.  Rudy and Memma were so excited to get to share an enormous plate of nachos!  We finished out the night with the mens' soccer game...we stuck it all the way out through two overtimes to still see it end in a tie!

Fatty hummingbird

I loved watching this hummingbird fatten himself up before his long flight south for the winter.  

Does this sound good to ANYONE?

How is this comfortable?

Homework and hot cider

Anything you can do...I can do (but probably not better...)

Now that the weather has cooled, the strategy of leaving the basement door open for the cats doesn't really work anymore.  The draft coming up is just too cold.  I measured and the door to the laundry room (where the litterbox used to be) is the same size as the basement door.  I decided this was a project I could tackle on my own.  (Man, that basement door is HEAVY!)  

All went swimmingly until the exchanged door wouldn't catch.  James didn't want me to mess with it, and went so far as to almost indicated that I couldn't fix it.  Challenge accepted!!

So there.  Installed and closed!

Soccer games, butter making, pumpkin carving, and birthday cake

Wow - we squeezed a lot of fun into one Saturday.  Brady had an early soccer game and played superbly in goal - he received lots of compliments from teammates and spectators on his efforts.   

Rudy had a late afternoon game, so we came home in between.  The boys went out exploring with Oma and Papa and wandered through a thicket of "stick tights"...which was followed by the great fun of removing the stickers from clothing.  

Somehow it came to my attention last week that they boys had never made butter.  This seemed like a rite of passage to me, as I very clearly remember doing it in elementary school.  We made our butter, but kind of cheated by using the stand mixer.

 Next, it was back into town for Rudy's game.  Rudy played some solid defense, but also showed some skill on offense.  He prefers defense, but I really hope he doesn't limit himself to fullback.

The boys had planned a meal for Oma to celebrate her birthday.  Brady made pot roast with veggies and gravy and Rudy made a lemon bundt cake. 

 

Last on the agenda for the day was  pumpkin carving.  

Deep in thought, considering his options?

River walking and rock climbing

Oma and Papa came up last night to watch Brady's school soccer game and then to spend the weekend with us. The boys had a half day of school today. The weather was beautiful, so we went to the river for a few hours.  Rudy took his r/c boat and we passed a pleasant few hours skipping and throwing rocks. 

 

 

 

 

 

 Oma's birthday present this year was a trip to the local indoor rock climbing center.  It's hard work, but we all had fun trying different routes.  Brady is a natural monkey, and scales the walls  like it's a piece of cake!  Rudy is a bit more cautious on the vertical climbs, but loved any opportunity to swing from the ceiling!

 

 

Time for a haircut?

Rudy is pretty impressed with all of the tricks his hair has right now...particularly this one:

Old Rag

Another open house and a beautiful, sunny Sunday meant the perfect opportunity to head to the mountains.  We decided the boys were old enough to try Old Rag.  We really could not have asked for more perfect weather!  We got a later start than we wanted, not arriving at the Old Rag parking lot until noon.  This meant that we couldn't linger as long at the top or go as slowly as we might have wanted at times, but it also meant that we missed any bottlenecks of hikers on the rock scramble.   

We parked at the Old Rag lot, which meant a .88 mile walk to the trail head.  We decided to do the loop, which meant that we descended the other side of the mountain almost to the White Oak parking lot, before finishing the hike with a 2.25 mile trek on a fire road.  That fire road was pretty boring and a bit of a drag at the end.  I think we decided that next time, we'll try parking at the White Oak lot and starting off on the fire road. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The rock scramble was a HUGE hit with the kids! We all had some creative body contortions to leverage ourselves up and over the boulders.

 

 

 

 

The colors may not have been quite at their peak, but it was pretty close!  Combined with the weather and the fact that we actually had a free Sunday, I'm glad we snagged the opportunity for the hike.  It's a tough one, but the kids did great and we'll definitely do it again.