Road Trip!

We took a road trip to visit some friends in Cincinnati last weekend! We headed up after Paige's last day of soccer and arrived a couple hours before we had to leave for a Miami hockey game. The kids stayed home with a sitter while Pat and I and our friends headed to campus for the hockey game and some pizza. The arena was built after we graduated so we had never been there before and it was really, really nice. They lost the game but Pat won a free Chik-fil-A sandwich so we all left happy:) Afterward, we headed uptown to get some warm, freshly baked cookies (at Insomnia Cookies! so good!) and even though it was around 10 and still a bit early to be out, by college standards, we did get to see a lot of students wandering around in costumes.  The next day, we feasted on doughnuts and brought the kids up to campus to show them around. A lot of it was new to us too so it was fun to see what had changed and what hadn't.

Owen fell asleep on the way down!

SDS pizza before the game!

The kids had no trouble picking up where they left off when we last saw them in July.

Paige made friends with their two big Weimaraners.

Pat and I had to pose in Upham Arch because there's some sort of Miami tradition where people are supposed to do that?

We needed a map!

I made everyone go into King Library because it was one of my favorite places:)

Lunch Time! Pat and Owen chose Jimmy Johns and yes, Pat naturally sits like this and was not coerced for the purposes of this picture

I tried a new place called SoHi and got this fantastic roasted veggie sub! So good!

On the way home, both kids fell asleep this time!

Ballet/Tap

The second day of dance is Ballet and Tap and not the favorite:) It's on a Friday when all the girls are pumped for the weekend and they have to slow down and concentrate on the flow of ballet. Not an easy thing! I was super impressed with what they can do and how far they've come. At one point the instructor had them sit in straddles and, without using their hands, lean forward and touch the floor with their nose and sit back up! I was also very excited to see Tap. There are no windows in the tap room so I hadn't yet seen any of the routing they've been working on. So impressive!

Jazz acro

Paige's dance studio had a parent observation week last week so I was able to get close to take some pictures and see some of the routines that we haven't been privy to. Her classes are two hours and I thought that would be a long time to sit and watch practice but it didn't feel that way, those girls work really hard and it was amazing to see what they can do. The pictures below are from Paige's first class of the week-Jazz and Acro. I'll post her second class tomorrow!

Last Day of Soccer

Paige's last day of Fall soccer landed a couple days before Halloween (as usual) so the kids were allowed to wear costumes! Paige wore her cape but shed it partway through the game because it was slowing her down. They had beautiful weather and all received medals after. It's been great watching Paige grow as a soccer player, I can't wait to see what she does next season!

Butternut Squash Pasta Bake

Another new recipe?! That's the sign that it's getting cold around here. I start enjoying cooking again! It was a strange meal because the kids started off raving about dinner and then by the end were both claiming that it was gross and didn't want to finish it...Pat and I both loved it! Things took a crazy turn the next day when the leftovers tasted even better and the kids decided it was good after all. This ones a keeper! Butternut Squash Pasta Bake!

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Movie!

Ok, so Owen and I didn't get all dressed up but we had our own fun night! Owen was still recovering from being sick so we dozed on the couch for a bit and then went to a movie. He wanted to see Middle School and had read the book the week before so he had a pretty good idea of what he was in for...and so he awesomely revealed the big secret of the movie without realizing it! It made for a pretty funny moment and ultimately allowed me to watch the movie from a different perspective.

Daddy Daughter Dance

Paige and Pat got all dressed up to attend their 3rd Daddy/Daughter dance! Could these two be any cuter? Nope. Adorable. In the past, Paige would always abandon her corsage at the beginning of the dance so Pat gave her a bouquet of flowers before they left instead. They also had a special dinner together the night before at the Olive Garden, a restaurant Paige had been asking to go to for awhile! The details I heard were that they danced some dances, ate a ton of junk food and had a great time!

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Hot Chocolate!

These two needed some hot chocolate after a cold morning of soccer!

Pancakes, Please?

I mentioned a couple posts ago that Owen had caught a cough. Well, it turned out to be a little more serious. He went to school Monday and we got a call from the nurse around 1 saying he had a fever and needed to be picked up. When I walked into the school clinic instead of seeing Owen I saw Paige! Turns out that she had been involved in a collision at recess and bumped heads with another girl. They were in the clinic getting checked out and getting some ice for their bumps. The nurse knew I was there for Owen so she was a little confused about why I was comforting some other kid...It was pretty funny when she pulled back a curtain and Owen was sitting behind it happily sipping a juice box. Paige and Owen were basically right next to each other and had no idea! He ended up missing school the next two days and had a fever that got as high as 103. One night I couldn't sleep and Owen woke up talking to me about wanting pancakes and how soon could I make them? He was very surprised to find out it was the middle of the night but went back to sleep and I made him the pancakes the next morning:)

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Fries

I used the spiralizer again! So that's a total of two times. But both times have been very tasty. Very tasty indeed. This recipe was super easy and yummy but you have to like your fries crispy!
Crispy Baked Curly Fries

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Pie!

I've been doing a really terrible job with CSA ingredients this year...we've thrown out a few things and given some away. But we have one more week left and I was feeling guilty about a bag of plums that no one was eating. That brings us to this Vanilla Plum Crumble Pie. Because I need more reasons to make pie! And Paige helped! The problem is that I don't like plums all that much (hence, why the whole bag was sitting untouched in the fridge) and this pie was very sweet. The best part was the crumble on top! I wouldn't buy plums just to make this but it was a decent way to get rid of them!

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Leaves

Fall seems to be arriving late this year but Paige and her friend found a leaf pile last week and jumped right in:)

Sleepy Kid

Last week, Owen finally caught the cough that's been traveling around school and ended up napping two days in a row! We had a packed weekend and he didn't want to miss anything but he made it through with help from the extra sleep and some tea!

Harvestfest!

Paige and I were on our own for Harvestfest again this year while Pat and Owen went to the high school soccer game (we went without the boys two years ago and I don't know what happened last year...no pics on the blog!). Her Batgirl costume turned out great and the day was so nice that she ended up being too hot. Hopefully it's that nice on Halloween! Paige had fun picking out her pumpkin (the third she's managed to collect this month!) and then trick or treating through town. The lines for the inflatables and face painting were too long but she was a good sport about it and was mostly excited to eat some candy!

Batgirl pose before we left!

Yes, the cape and mask are reversible.

This was the only special picture that Paige requested while we were out:)

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Mapleside

It's mid-October and we finally made it to our first apple orchard of the season! The kids didn't have school on Friday so I thought maybe it wouldn't be so crowded. Nope. Super crowded! We still managed to fit in a lot activities before we had to leave. We started off with the giant slide, watched some pig races and went on a hayride before we stopped for some food at the corncession stand. Owen ordered an overpriced burger that ended up being amazing and Paige opted for some nachos, some of which were the same color as her hoodie...apple cider and kettle corn rounded out the meal. Totally balanced. After eating we worked our way through a giant corn maze and ended the afternoon at the jump pillow. That's right, the only apple-related portion of the afternoon was drinking cider!

Waiting for our turn on the slide. 

I was there too!

The Jump pillow had the longest line but it was a good way to end the visit!

Friends

I found these pictures from last week when I tried to get a picture of Paige and her friend! We were about to go watch the high school boys play soccer and these two couldn't stop being silly for a second:) So fun to see them together!

Pumpkin Picking

In the middle of tournament games on Saturday we stopped at an outlet mall for lunch and to use up some time. The boys all walked around to play Pokemon Go and to play at the playground but me, Paige, and a couple of our friends took a train ride around the complex and picked out a pumpkin! Our ride took us past the playground so Pat took a picture when he saw us.

Soccer Tournament

Owen's travel team played in a tournament last weekend (the same one they won last year!) They had a game at 11 on Saturday and won 6-1! Paige had her own soccer practice so we missed the first game but we joined up with them for lunch and the second game at 5. The second game didn't go as well so they were essentially out of the championship game after that but still had a game on Sunday morning. The boys were pretty dejected after another tough loss but we were really proud of how they stuck with it and didn't give up! It was beautiful soccer weather too!

Action shot, sort of. I didn't get a lot of game pictures!

We had a Jimmy John's feast on the way home Saturday night! Paige and I ordered the food while we waited for Pat and Owen to arrive.

We drove one of Owen's teammates to the game on Sunday.

Cupcakes and donuts were given out to celebrate a teammate's birthday!

Batgirl

Paige got some new pajamas! And they're awesome!

Walk to School

Last week we participated in that wacky school event where we drive past the school to meet up with other people to walk to school even though it's something we do every day from our house! But it's always fun:) We get to walk with friends who normally take the bus and McGruff the crime dog is usually there too!

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