Halloween

This was our first year actually making it all the way up and down Ledgelawn Ave. They shut the whole street down to cars at 5 pm so kids can trick-or-treat the area. It gets pretty crazy, and, of course, cold. This year though, the kids stuck it out. 

Nell went as a bunny. I wanted to do some makeup on her cheeks, but once the eyebrows were done, it was all I could do  to get the nose on.

I went as 6-year-old ME! Yes, the haircut is real. I won Most Original at our church party.

A couple months ago Madie asked me what kind of person would have pink eyebrows. 

"I don't know. A rockstar, I guess."

"Great." 

A day later she came in the house and announced she'd be a rockstar for Halloween. I didn't put the connection together until later I asked her why she wanted to be a rockstar and she said, "Because you said it was a rockstar that would have pink eyebrows." When it came down to it though, she didn't even have me do the eyebrows.

At least we didn't have to buy anything special for it. Or make anything for it. That's a win in my book.

Mike, as a last-minute costume, went as Evan McMullin. We ran into some Mormon mafia while we were there, which was advantageous.

For the party we dressed Nell up as the rapper Nelly, which I thought was hilarious, but most people didn't get. It would have helped if we'd had the little white bandaids, or if she had kept the do rag on. Or if Nelly was a lot more popular.

I tried to get a pic of Finn's eagle costume, but he kept spinning around so it's just a blur, so this group picture will have to do.

Deck the Halls and Dress the Toddler

Finn wants to get a kick start on decorating this year. He's been concerned about my lack of prerogative thus far in making a wreath. Today he told me we should spend some time on Pinterest (not quite in so many words) looking at ideas for Christmas.

"Ideas like what? Like--decorations? Or toys?"
"Well, let's just look at Christmas things and then I'll tell you what I want to look at." This means he'll tell me what to click on when he sees a picture. Of course, when you only type in "Christmas" it generally brings up decorations or inspirational quotes. So that's what we started with. But even before we got going he had some pretty good ideas.

"Maybe we should put ribbons in the hallways. We could put ribbons downstairs too. Oh! We should decorate downstairs!"

"Finn, what do you think of these candles with the wreath around them?"
"Yeah. Maybe we can put it in my room."
"Well, maybe we'll keep the candles out here. But we can put lights in your room."

I saw a cute idea to clip evergreen branches to trim and keep in vases. I suggested we put one in his room so they could have some decorations on a "tree" in there as well. He liked that idea, too.

Eventually we did move onto toys, but only for a few minutes before we had to leave if we were to watch the Halloween parade. He's always a fun kid to hang out with, no matter what we're doing, but his love of Pinterest is cute. He likes to make things look nice. Even his baby sister:

Finn picked all of Nell's clothes this morning and then insisted on getting her dressed himself, even the tights! Finally she ditched him and came to me with the toes flopping a foot in front of her.

Petya's Birthday

Our Lady P just turned two years old. I can't believe it. She got some stellar gifts, like a camping chair, two hats, a stuffed doggy, a book, some crayons, bubbles, and rolls of paper. She also got some shoes and snow boots. She is such a cute girl. Here are some fun things she has been doing or saying lately: 

1. Calls Elvis 'Gog Gog'
2. Says 'Please', 'milk', 'Anna', 'Caroline', 'Nana' (banana), 'water', 'up', 'thank you', 'cup', 'boots', 'bock' (chicken), 'moo' (cow), 'ook' (look)
3. Still obsessed with ears, and proudly sucks her index and middle finger on her left hand
4. She always wants to help cook, or clean whatever Mom or Dad are working on. Even to the detriment of the food or cleanliness of the concentrated area. However, she is very conscientious about certain tasks such as cleaning up the bath toys after a shower/tubby. Without asking, she always puts every single toy away as the water goes down the drain
5.  She has been mothering a dolly lately ('baby'), and carries her most places with her. She insists that baby is safely buckled in the car and won't let us drive away without fulfilling her demands. Her demands are 'baby buckle!', repeated until complete
6. She laughs at a lot of her own antics and faces
7. She loves to be outside and play fetch with Elvis, push a baby stroller. She freaks out when you try to bring her inside
8. Loves snuggling with Elvis and his big velvety ears
9. Has fun playing violin, piano, and harmonica. Always wants a turn
10. She colors, draws, and loves to show what she has colored
11. She still eats just about everything
12. Her current nicknames are 'Baby Taco', 'Baby Bean dip', 'Taco Sauce', 'Peso'
13. She generally likes nursery, but is a bit more attached and is harder to drop off than the other two
14. She likes to play with Finn, but likes to sit on Madie's lap

Labor Day

Labor Day was gorgeous. We drove to Blue Hill for our (newly promoted) ward's annual party, and enjoyed lobster rolls. We arrived early so we could hike up Blue Hill Mountain. We didn't get all the way up, but it was a beautiful hike and a new one for all of us. Blue Hill is a beautiful area. If Mike's work wasn't an hour away from it, I wouldn't mind living there at all.

Waiting for the slow-pokes.

The view from about halfway up the mountain, looking out over Mt. Desert Narrows.

The kids are great hikers. Madie loves being in the lead, and can really maintain it without much effort. Of course, Finn helps that by stopping every 10 feet to eat berries. Seriously, the boy's like a bear.

Mallory's Birthday

This was the big one. Mallory entered a new bracket this year, with the rest of the 30 year olds. I decided to go big for it. For me, it's thrilling to concoct secret plans and surprises for people. I have quite a record for doing these throughout our marriage. Even our engagement took Mal by surprise, dropping 'The Question' two days before Valentines day. So to start off, I took Madie and Finn on camping trips for their birthdays this year. I planned it with them, and we did whatever they wanted, wherever they wanted. Mal mentioned how she would love to do that for her birthday (multiple times). It got me thinking about how I could make that happen. It's challenging to do things like that in Maine, because we don't have a ton of family around to watch the kids. In fact, Mallory and I have never gone on an over-nighter alone together since we have had kids. Almost our entire marriage. 

I made reservations for a 'family' camping trip on Mallory's birthday in Baxter. I tried to sell it as a fun family excursion for her birthday, which she wasn't too hot on. But, being the trooper she is, she felt she could play along for the time being. In the background, I worked out the details with Alexa to come and watch the kids for Mallory's birthday. Alexa graciously took two days off to come and manage the house while we went north. A month leading up to Mal's birthday, she was jokingly telling friends/family about this fun birthday (sarcasm) that I had planned for her with the whole family up in Baxter. Specifically, this was at Grammy Haskins house when Levi and Raquel were visiting. Alexa (who was already in the plans at this point), jokingly told Mal, "So, I guess I'll see you around your birthday?" Mallory laughed and dove into our plans for our trip. Alexa and I smiled at each other, rubbing our hands together in an evil, plotting sort of way. 

Two weeks before Mallory's birthday, the kids were pretty wound up. They were stressing both of us out, but Mal was taking the brunt of it at home. She seemed like she was getting anxious, especially since it had been a couple of weeks since we had a date and this looming 'family' trip coming on her birthday. A week before her birthday, I broke. We were sitting on the couch on a Monday evening, and I spilled the beans. I really didn't want to, but I felt it would make the week go by much smoother with a light at the end of the tunnel. When I told her, her eyes lit up. That was almost as good as what I imagined her face looking like when I called a last-minute audible for our trip on Friday. But the week was much improved, and it was fun planning some details with her leading up to it. 

On our way up to Baxter, we stopped by this new Cuban restaurant, Cubita Libre. Dude...that was amazing. Finally, someone decided to invest in a decent latin food restaurant in the Bangor area! It's been killing me not to have any. Now we have a refuge for the storm with our new favorite restaurant in Bangor. We got to the Roaring Brook campground, had a peaceful campfire, and retired to bed at a decent time. After we laid in bed for a few minutes, Mal noticed a flickering of light toward our campfire. She jumped up to unzip the tent and look out the window to see our campfire had fired itself up again. I was totally passed out, but she took care of it, got back into the tent, and sat there staring up at the tent ceiling for the next four hours before she could fall asleep. Not quite how I imagined our first night away from the kids, ever. I was thinking more, sleep at 10, up at 8 sort of thing. No interruptions, not screaming. Just the silence of sleeping in Baxter. Not the case!

I woke up early, got the fire going, and we had a nice blueberry cobbler for breakfast, along with sausage and yogurt. Breakfast of champions. We packed up camp, and started hiking toward Chimney Pond. The colors were brilliant along Roaring Brook, and the views as we approached Katahdin were amazing. It loomed over us for about half the hike. I hadn't been on that side of Katahdin before. I had always summited from the back side. This way was very impressive, and offered many views. We didn't catch much wildlife, unfortunately. The Ranger mentioned the moose population took quite a hit over the last few years. But it was such a fun little adventure. Now that we've been able to sneak away for a night, I'm hooked. We definitely need to do this more. 

Oh yeah. On the way back home from Baxter, we stopped by Cubita Libre for round two. So good. 

Katahdin 2016

The fourth consecutive September pilgrimage up to the top of Maine was another great success. Every year is unique in it's own way. The first year was somewhat damp and foggy. The second ascent we saw the northern lights. The third ascent was the sunrise summit. This year was no different. A cold front came in, and significantly dropped temperatures. The summit was 15 degrees with wind chill. Fellow bearded hikers had ice fixed to their facial hair. Of course, I didn't realize how cold it was until I came home and checked the temperature. I think the boys had a fun time, but didn't expect winter-like conditions at the summit. In previous years, we have had lunch at the top, enjoyed the view. Great trip!

Sunday Excursions

Finn has done well on his bike this summer. Hopefully next summer the training wheels will come off.

She's getting to be a speedster on her bike.

Elvis is one of the biggest fans of Sunday excursions.

This walk was a little too close to nap time.

Rock climbing Great Head.