Fall Activities

 The kiddos are in what has become "the usual" around here. Here are our fall activities!

Horseback

Lorelei has been thrilled to be back to horseback twice a month.

She also continues to take Polynesian dance once a week and asked to take Cotillion once a month. (No pics.)

Flag Football

Makin was very excited to play another season of flag football. We were a bit uneasy that he had to move up to the older age group, which spans all the way to fourteen, as well as take a risk with finding a coach other than David, who was staying with the younger group. While we definitely saw some huge differences with the age gap, we had three great coaches (David being an assistant who did a lot of coaching)! Makin also had Charlie and Isaac as teammates he knew. He made some new friends and worked hard on improving his skills even more this season!

OM

We had surprisingly low sign-ups for OM this year. Because of this, we have an amazing team of three sets of siblings! We haven't done this previously because our kiddos felt very strongly that they didn't want to have to try and get along on a team, but it became really the only good option for us this season, so we are just making it work! I'm thankful not to be coaching (I assist as-needed), and Brad loves having Britany and Christine who also help coach. ;) So far this is an amazing team of kiddos and I can't wait to see what the season brings.

We do plan to meet at the school this year, but due to Jaedynn playing volleyball, the season started out mostly at our house with a bit of a deviation from the typical schedule.

Lots of brainstorming and planning are involved right now!

Halloween

Treats

So thankful Trader Joe's keeps us able to have dye-free special treats, like Halloween Jo Jo's!

Decorating

The kids had fun putting cobwebs out again this year. I love that they have this little project that is just the two of them working together!

Lorelei made some Jack O Lanterns with chalk too.

Pumpkin Carving

A favorite tradition! I love to see what they come up with for their pumpkin each year. This year I heard a new idea of using a dry erase marker to trace the outline. Such a great tip!

Trick

The kids set up a trick this year where they lowered a spider down on the unsuspecting trick or treaters. They assured me they would only do it to older kids who "look like they want to be tricked." They didn't get to do this as long as they would have liked as it took a while before they were back from trick or treating but did have fun with it.

Trick Or Treat

This year they dressed up as Hermione and "A Hogwarts Student."

She was so excited when one person said, "Oh you really do look like her!"
She got several compliments specifically on her hair. ;)

Glad his cloak covers his legs so he can wear shorts. ;)

If you see a hint of evil in that laughing face you are right...we always let them eat a couple pieces of candy...so when she had a full-sized candy bar she was pretty excited to count that as her two. ;)

The usual candy dump to inspect the goods.

October Happenings

Barnes and Noble

The kids always love a chance to do some shopping at Barnes and Noble. :) They had birthday money to spend and we enjoyed sneaking away on a Friday for some fun.

Oktoberfest

We drove up to Munster to enjoy their Oktoberfest. We loved seeing Savannah and Rory Kate perform, and I especially loved a chance to see some traditional German dancing as well as music.

The boys played gellyball, just like in the German days of yore. ;)

Escape Room

For OM the team chose an escape-room-inspired problem. So naturally, we had to have a meeting doing an actual escape room! They made it out with only a second to spare!

A Day Off

I always enjoy having Columbus Day as a day off. It feels like it comes in just when you feel like you need a quick breather from the school busyness. We headed to the lake, Trader Joes and Half Price Books.

Field Trips - Fishery, Mounds, and Arboretum

A goal for this year was to have more field trips! We saw one field trip idea from Lorelei's Texas History book and decided it was drivable. I found a fishery on the way so we stopped there to round out our day. It turned out to be a great stop and was probably more fun than the Mounds. :) We are thankful the Scott's are always up for these adventures which makes it even more fun!

The fishery raises Texas fish and then places them throughout the state to keep the populations going.
They have made it into a fun education environment!

The dive show, where the diver talked and then answered questions!

An opportunity to try fishing!

Savannah was the only one who caught a fish. She was pretty excited!

We learned about the Caddoan tribe.
We had done some extra research before this trip as well.

The golf carts made it way more fun, even with some light rain showers. :)

The following Monday, we went with Christine and Kian (Ryker wasn't feeling well) to Pumpkin Science at the arboretum while the big sisters were at school. Makin seemed to love the chance to be in this science classroom environment! We learned more about pumpkins. One of our favorites was the pumpkin trivia!

After class we headed out to enjoy the rest of the arboretum!

This looked like a weeping willow but it was a type of evergreen tree!

The arboretum had 47 different kinds of pumpkins!

There is a theme for their pumpkin village every year.
This year it was bugs!

Looks like a pickle!

Kaleidoscope

There was a section in the childrens garden showcasing water, wind, and solar energy.

Pumpkin Patch

We headed to a pumpkin patch as a family one afternoon. We had fun finding our way out of the corn maze, the kids loved some roasted corn on the cob and we saw some animals too. Of course, I love the cute photo op spots.

Can you imagine these boys making fun of the photo op spots? ;) Never.

Ninja Run

The school had its annual run. This year Lorelei was the only one in the family to participate and she ran with her friends. We were so proud of her for all that hard work! We also used this opportunity to have a small OM fundraiser concession stand.