Vacation: A Beach Trip For Thanksgiving Break

The trio have been working incredibly hard this fall so we decided to take a quick trip down to the beach for a few days over Thanksgiving break. We really needed some time on the beach to play football, read, and dip our toes into the Gulf. 

Due to Hurricane Michael, we were unable to stay in our usual town(s) and instead opted for something low key in Destin. We had very intermittent Internet and cellular service (due to tower damage), but the emerald coast is still stunning! We settled into a lazy routine of enjoying the breakfast bar, spending the morning lounging on the beach, breaking for lunch and maybe an errand, and then spending the afternoon on the beach. The trio read a LOT (Lauren read 1.5 books), and they played a lot of football, volleyball and badminton. Due to some warmer than usual temps, they were able to take a dip in the pool one day. There were lots of people in the Gulf, but the trio opted to stay in knee deep water. 

We purchased Trivial Pursuit to do research for a project Grace is working on for school, and we spent an evening in the lobby with a heated game. Grace won, but we were close on her heels. George  - unassisted - was the reigning champion of Uno. We also made good use of the hotel's outdoor fire pit. 

We walked along the boardwalk and looked at boats, and we did a little shopping.  

By our last day, we were completely relaxed, and we are looking forward to our next trip.  

House Day

These two Ravenclaws were decked out for House Day at school. Also, Lauren was super excited to win the class spelling bee and qualify for the school-wide competition in a few weeks. 

November Snow

For the first time in my lifetime, we had snow in November. Granted, this was only a "dusting" and not measurable, but it's still noteworthy.  

Lauren was especially livid that they had to go to school, although we explained that school closures are based solely on road safety. Clearly, the roads were fine, but she was still outraged.  While she loves school, she loves snow more.  

2018 Fall Pics

So once a year, I beg and bribe the beautiful children into fall photos. This year we had to really make it work to find the right day to capture the right lighting.  We were able to coax a few smiles and laughs out of the trio, and they enjoyed getting to run round on some hills. 

Fun fact: We have "borrowed" a few minutes on some farm land that is in our neighborhood for the past couple of years' photos. This land is home to turkeys, deer and lots of other animals. Accordingly, we have to slow down when we pass "the meadow" in the car to check for deer each morning at dawn and each evening at dusk. Every now and then, we see a deer mid-day. The trio always remind us to "slow down for the meadow"!  

Fall 2018

Pixie's Makeover

Someone got a makeover today at the salon.  

Veteran's Day

We were a little disappointed that beginning band members were not able to play in the Veteran's Day program, but they will absolutely be ready next year.  

To all veterans, thank you for your service.  

Halloween 2018

For the first time ever, the trio were able to dress up for school for Halloween. George dressed as Harry Potter for book character day, and Lauren and Grace got to dress up as well. Lauren went as a Ravenclaw student, as an  homage to her assigned "House," and Grace went as Hedwig. 

Unfortunately, I had a bit of a mom fail and did not get a group pic of costumes, except the above, hurriedly taken at 6:30am at the girls' bus stop. This is what happens when children are put on buses before the sun is up. I need sunlight to think!

I recovered enough to be able to get a pic of George before he left for school. Although Halloween parties are not allowed, George's teacher was kind enough to let me drop off some cupcakes as a special snack. 

After school the girls had some friends come over for a small party. After pizza, cupcakes and crafts, we went trick-or-treating. Our neighborhood has really grown over the past few years, and there are now tons of kids and tweens who love to trick-or-treat the neighborhood. There are hayrides, haunted trails, and one neighbor even handed out homemade marshmallows.  Our neighborhood has come a long way from when the girls were two, and we were the only kids in the neighborhood going door-to-door. Well, technically, there was one other family, but that was it.  

We had so much fun trick-or-treating and catching up with our good friends, and we got a commitment from all of the tweens to do it again next year! Long live the candy!

Halloween 2018, you were awesome!