Monster's Hockey!

The kids earned free Monster's tickets through the summer reading program and we redeemed them last week. We got stuck in some traffic heading into the city so we were running to the stadium to make it in time for the opening but we did it! We had lots of fun, got lots of food, Paige and I got on the big screen TWICE, and no one got hit by a puck! It would have been perfect if the Monster's hadn't lost in the last second of overtime!!

Last Travel Game!

Pat's coaching duties are done for the season because Owen's team had their last game! The game went so well that they even put Owen in as the goalie at the end;) They ended the season with an undefeated record and won first place in their division. After the game, we surprised the kids with trophies, pizza and gatorade (Pat picked out orange and blue! Perfect!).

Pre-game talk

They got to play their last game at a stadium! That's Owen by the 30 yard line, about to kick the ball

Post-game picture!

Post-trophy picture! Look at all those colorful shoes!

Celebratory pose!

Coach/player, Father/son

The moms were there too! Although most of them had left by the time we took this picture:)

Paige and Owen!

Fried Rice

Yay! A new recipe! I've been trying to make things for dinner that are good reheated because we end up eating at different times or Pat takes leftovers in his lunch and I thought fried rice might fall into that category. I'm the only person who likes brussels sprout but I thought there was enough other flavor in Bacon Brussels Sprouts Fried Rice that nobody would notice too much. Owen thought it would be better without the brussels sprouts and Paige thought it would be better without the bacon! So, not sure if I'll make this again even though I thought it was pretty good!

Cedar Point!

Ah, Cedar Point! Pat and I hadn't been there in years and the kids got to visit for the first time over the weekend! We wanted to surprise the kids and we got maybe about 10 minutes away before Owen guessed it. So close! We started with the SkyRide, which took us through the air, a half mile into the park. After that, things were a mixed bag. We had some good rides and some where the kids decided maybe rollercoasters weren't their thing. Everyone liked the Corkscrew (took us upside-down 3 times!) but Paige requested I stop the ride in the middle of the Gemini:) Owen tried the Witches' Wheel with Pat and hated it!  I found out my reaction to adrenaline is to cry...so that made some of the rides awkward too:) Despite all the craziness, both kids ended the day saying it was one of their best days ever! It also probably helped that we got ice cream on the way home and watched Hocus Pocus!

Ready to ride!

A sunny picture waiting in line for the SkyRide

We were there too!

We weren't trying to take a family picture here but when someone offers to do it...

Owen hated this ride but it's such a good picture!

That's Owen in Eagle #4

Everyone liked the Eagles!

Violin!

I don't think I've put anything on the blog about Owen choosing to play violin this year! He had the choice between band and orchestra and decided he was most interested in the violin. He hasn't been assigned any specific living room performances (that we know of!) but I asked him to play the other day and was very impressed with his progress! Now I just need to figure out how to post a video!

Breakfast in Bed

Sometimes when it's hard to get up on a Monday, the best thing you can do is eat pancakes in bed.

Donuts

A family from Owen's club team has a donut day every year where they fry up donuts in a cast iron pot over a fire in the backyard. They invited the whole team this year and we were super excited to check things out. Usually it's a bit chilly at this point in October and the fire warms everyone up but we were dealing with a pretty warm day. Paige and Jaci put themselves right in the middle of things and helped shake up the donuts to get them covered in sugar, cinnamon-sugar or powdered sugar. They did a great job and the donuts were so GOOD! We stayed for a really long time but then left to catch some fireworks at the nighttime Harvestfest activities.

Harvestfest

Another year of Harvestfest and Paige's 8th year in a row! Owen had a soccer game so we almost missed but at the last minute Paige decided she did want to go trick or treating in the local shops. It was a beautiful day and even a little too warm for kids who had extra large costumes but we were pretty comfortable. We had to wait in a few lines but overall, it wasn't too bad. We ran into some friends and Paige got some good candy!

Ballboys

Pat canceled soccer practice last week so any kid who wanted to go to the High School soccer game could attend. These three attended and chose to be ballboys during the game! Owen took his duties very seriously and did an excellent job:)

You can't really have a posed picture without some craziness after...

Community Day!

When I was looking for events to entertain us while the boys were gone, I came across Community Day at the art museum. I thought Paige might like it because there would be a bunch of different dancers representing different countries and she'd get to see some styles of dance that she hadn't been exposed to before. I wasn't sure how tired she would be after Ballet Day so it was a "maybe" but she still had a lot of energy and wanted her friend to come over so I thought it would be even better to take two little dancers! Everyone was fun to watch but the girls enjoyed the ballet dancers the most (no surprise there!). We had quite a few people that came to us asking when the girls would be performing or if they already had! I didn't foresee that at all but I guess the buns and leotards were pretty misleading:)

Tournament!

I'm not going to have as many details about Pat and Owen's weekend but I'll try to hit the highlights! The tournament was in Michigan so they left after Pat got home from work and didn't have too far of a drive. This hotel was smart because they made the parents sign an agreement that there would be no running or playing throughout the hotel. No hotel tag this time! They won both of their Saturday games and then went to dinner at Bar Louie. Sunday started with another early game and they won so they were in the finals!! Up until this point, I think Owen had scored in every game. Unfortunately, they lost the last game and even though the team came home with a second place win, you can see in the team picture that there aren't many happy faces. So sad to be that close and play so hard and lose at the end.

Ballet Day!

I can't find any Ballet Day pictures from last year but this was definitely Paige's second year attending! The name "ballet day" is a bit misleading because it's actually an hour each of ballet, jazz, and acro, which Paige was relieved to learn:) I didn't get a ton of details but I know she had a great time and loved getting to dance with some friends who aren't in her training group this year!

Saturday

Owen had a soccer tournament in Michigan (more on that another day!) but Paige and I had to stay home so she could attend Ballet Day (more on that another day!). We decided to make the most of things and set about to keep ourselves busy. We started the morning with a breakfast and a bike ride to the post office, where Paige led the way! I love that the kids know where things are and can get themselves around the city, even if it's going to be a long time before they are going by themselves:) We made some lunch and then headed out to two different craft stores that were having special Fall craft days. Paige got to make a yarn spider, a Halloween bow, a ghost, and some pumpkin slime (all for free!). Then we stopped over at the mall to do some shopping and got ice cream. I had maybe the most fantastic cookies n cream ice cream I've ever had from Mitchell's and Paige got an Oreo blizzard that I think she was equally pleased with!

Cutting out eyes for the ghost.

Creepy bow

Ghost and yarn spider! That yarn spider took forever because it fell apart the first time!

Ice cream!

We bought a kit to make some more slime at home!