Thanksgiving Quote

Elsinore's teachers at school asked all of the children in the class what they are thankful for and then wrote down each of the quotes in a Thanksgiving newsletter for the parents.  Below is a sampling of the responses.

"I'm thankful for books." - A
"I'm thankful for my teddy" - L
"I'm thankful for my toys, my family, and Wilbur." - T
"I'm thankful for ice cream and jello, they make my heart happy." - I
"I'm happy about my birthday!  I live to eat chocolate!" - O
"I'm thankful for my mommy and my recycling trucks." - S
"I'm thankful for my sister and my daddy and my mommy." - M
"I'm thankful for my teachers and my sister." - K
last, but not least....
"I'm thankful for my garden.  I like that there's no vegetables in it.  Just dirt." - Elsinore

"Dad, should we go and save the day?"

The Long Awaited, Much Anticipated, First Motorcycle Ride

Halloween 2013

"Goblin Girl" and "Lightning Girl".  Olive and Els both determined their own unique Halloween characters and announced who they wanted to be to their Mother's.  Luckily, our crafted versions of their imagination met expectations and a fun day was had by all.

Jack-O-Lantern

Fall hiking in the foothills

What a fabulous Fall weekend in Boise.  Saturday morning we met Scott and Marney for a walk around the lower foothills trails.  We had a total of four snacks during the 1.25 mile stroll.  Sunday afternoon, Scott took Els for another hike higher in the hills to see the Fall colors.  Meanwhile, Steve and I went for a fabulous mountain bike ride together, also enjoying the Fall day.

Calling All Superheroes!

 Jana and I co-chaired the TCS Fall Carnival this year.  Somehow, someway, the event came together spectacularly. What fun was had by all!  Thanks in large part to the extra sweat of many of our non-school friends.  They helped us sew 160 superhero capes and felt masks.  They followed that heroism by showing up at the event to volunteer at various games for three hours straight.  Dave donated home brewed beer and he and Denise sold and served all night long.  In all we beat our goal and raised almost $4,000 to benefit teacher professional development.

Picking leaves from the Linden Tree

make your own pizza

Els opted for all of the meat options

Valentino Rossi

Olivier and I had a FaceTime with Els this weekend.  This is how our conversation went:

Me:  "What are you going to do this weekend?"
Els:  "Be a grown up and go motorcycle racing."
Me: "What will you do after you race?"
Els:  "Watch Valentino Rossi."
Me: "Why do you want to watch him?"
Els:  "Because he's fast."
Me:  "Is he safe?"
Els:  "Yeah.  And he's fast."



Scoreboard:

Motor Heads: 6
Climbing Bums: 1

Gardener

Els garndening at Denise's house.
Scott and Marney took Els to breakfast at Moons Cafe this morning so I could go for a run sans stroller (Steve is attending the last motorcycle race of the season this weekend).  After feasting on eggs, bacon, and toast with jam, Els helped harvest from Denise's amazing garden.  Then, they went to the park to play.  Thanks Scott and Marney for a super fun morning adventure!

pizza and a new sweater

Here is a great picture Steve took when he and Els dined at Whole Foods this week (we eat there a few times a month now).  Notice the sweater too.  Grandpa Bruce and Colleen vacationed in the San Jaun Islands for a couple weeks.  Elsinore received the sweater (with a bear face and ears on the hood) upon their return.  She has worn it every day and asks everyone if they've seen it yet.  She even woke up early one morning and asked that we bring it into bed with her. 

Car Show

Art In The Park

First Corn Dog - a little uncertain at first, but ate the whole thing.

 Grease pencil drawing in the art tent - by Dad and Elsinore

Quotable Three Year Old part 2

E: "I have a BooBoo on my shoulder!"
A:  "How'd that happen?"
E:  "From the Wall!"
A:  "Which wall?"
E:  "????.......NO!  There weren't any witches on the wall!"

While playing at home one afternoon Els hit her head twice.  She was rubbing it and moaning and said, "this house isn't right.".

Tia's Last Night In Town

hanging with mom

Sock Sisters

First Time Bowling

 

Princess Ballerina Warriors

performing in front of stinker station

not sure why but she needed a little rest
all of a sudden

brave and strong

changement

swan run

passe

tutu fitting

rehearsal

Bagel Buddies

Aunt Calli came by for a quick visit before heading back to Portland so we shared bagels and cream cheese together.

Off to School

The Fancy Freeze Experiment

If you ever hear anyone being critical of parents who will not give their children sugar, I highly recommend you force them to take a three year old (or two) to the local ice cream parlor or shack and order a frosty cone.  What they will witness will change their thinking forever.

I, who am not necessarily  against cutting sugar out of a child's diet but who has reserved the right to break all rules when in town, took part of something that might just convert me into a rule follower. ("might")  

I won't give much more on the detail but I think the pictures give an adequate sample of the transformation.  What I should note is this happened within minutes.  The effects, however, take hours to wear off.

sweet, wide eyed child, just hours before 

showing signs of feeling relaxed
inhibitions lowered

 euphoria

loose muscle tone in the face
glossy appearance to the eyes

experiencing double vision
loss of motor coordination

weakened balance
slower reaction times

second life, energy restored
mental preparation for raising hell

complete and total loss of hearing any adult
inability to discern sidewalk from middle of busy street
sudden craving to chew on something & any ol' human arm will do
screaming all the way to car
refusal of putting on pajamas
awake for hours past bed time

Donkey Days

City of Rocks, Climbing and First S'Mores

Elsinore had a blast at the City of Rocks.  When I asked her what she liked best she said, "camping." I don't really think she slept much but she remained happy and active the entire time.  Mountain air is good for three year olds!  And having 10 adults for two children is about the right ratio.  We went with Olivier, Lynette, Andria, Scott, Marney, Abbie, Steve, Jordi and Ju.

Some of my favorite parts were seeing her "teach Uncle Scott how to climb" and S'More making.  She was scared while climbing but she kept on and managed to make it to the top the first day.  I was very impressed with her tenacity and loved seeing her and Olivier do their thing.  I also loved how much she wanted to make S'Mores. As soon as Steve started the fire Els announced, "let's roast something!"  

Another hilarious comment was when I was alone with The Nut and Lindsey on the boulders that they had been climbing with Steve on the day before.  Since it was two on one I attempted to make boundary areas, which did not go over very well with Elsinore.  I said, "I need you to stay on this side, away from the ledge."  She looked at me, sighed, and stormed off to camp announcing, "I'm going to go find a grown up."

I was also surprised at how well Lindsey and Elsinore got along.  They never tired of one another, nor did they fight, although Elsi did yell out on the last morning, "I'm mad at Lindsey."  When asked what for she said, "She broke my Lara Bar."  And then that was pretty much it.  They were back at playing together.  

It was a real treat to have the girls with us.  It really does make camping something special.

-Tia

climb on!

S'More Making

pool party