The fun of Thanksgiving week- part 1

The week of Thanksgiving started on Sunday with our annual trip to the train display.  Bug now towers over the railroad display.  He loves watching the trains and pushing the buttons.

His favorite spot- the firehouse.

Outside the train display- looking so much older than his 7 years.

Bug and I had school/work on Monday and Tuesday.  Tuesday night, we went to the movies to see Wreck-it-Ralph.  Great movie, great message.  definitely one we will look to purchase in the future.

Wednesday started early for me, I woke up at 5 am and was unable to go back to sleep.  So I got up and started the things to do to prepare for Thursday.  I had potatoes to peel, apples to peel, 3 pies to bake and onions and celery to chop.  The prep for the feast took about 6 hours.   Then after a quick nap/rest, we packed up and headed off to the zoo.

At the zoo, we met one of our local weather forecasters.  Bug refused to have his picture taken with her, but Mam was game.  Michelle is so sweet.

The tree- 2000 lights on it to be lit up later in the evening

We saw some animals, rode the rides

had some hot chocolate

and watched a peacock eating crumbs from a stroller parked at the train station.  It was too funny. The owners of the stroller were on the train that we were waiting for.  It makes me wonder how many times the peacocks snacked from Bug's stroller.

Riding the train

We saw Lulu, the 6 week old giraffe.  She was resting and snacking while Momma was visiting with Papa over the fence.

We walked thru the Twinkling Path

sat and waited for the tree lighting

and saw the tree all lit up.

tomorrow the family is due here for Thanksgiving- the day of being together and being thankful for what we have, what we have gone thru and what is still to come.

Love and hugs,

Deb

Balloon glow 2012

Bug and his buddy, N.  I need to come up with a nickname for N since we have spent the last 3 weekends with him and his mom. The boys are sitting on the wall at the park. We were at the park, waiting for the balloon glow.  We get there early to get a good seat. 

The boys played some soccer and found a friend and then saw SANTA.

and a skunk

N and his momma Julie.

Me and Bug

The balloons, almost ready to go

And the glow starts

There were 11 balloons- one is hidden behind the 2 on the right end.

AWESOME!!

I really like the balloon glow.  The boys reported that they liked playing ball the best, N said playing ball at home today was the best thing, Bug said playing ball before the balloon glow was the best thing today.  Mam, Julie and I all agreed the balloon glow was the best. The weather was perfect today for the balloon glow- temperatures in the 50's, a little wind that calmed down as the sun set.  Perfect- not too hot, not too cold. 

We had a great time.  Bug and I have 2 days of school/work and then we are off for the Thanksgiving holiday.  I am so happy to get the holiday season started.

Love and hugs,
Deb

update from last week and this week

Part 2 of last weekend was N's birthday party.  It was a gym, so Bug got play gymnastics some more. Balance Beam

Still rings

More balance beam

very low parralell bars

Trampoline

And time with N

This weekend, we headed to the park, and by 'we', I mean all of us

including Pablo

The twisty slide

With N

Some walking in the woods

The boys and their dogs

Today, we headed to the zoo to meet up with N and his mom. We visited some tigers

live and fake

walked in the Bamboo forest

hung out

Tried to touch the Polar Bear

Tried again

and rode the train

It has been a good couple of weeks with friends.

Love and hugs,
Deb

The weekend part 1- Saturday

We headed to the farm on Saturday to hang out with Mireya's boys and families.  Our annual get together of all the boys fostered by Mireya and her family.  One of the moms posted the yearly pictures on FB and I copied them down.  Let's wander down memory lane

The boys in 2007- Bug and hermano were just 2 and D and C were 3 years old

The boys in 2008, now 3 and 4 years old

The boys in 2009- now 4 and 5.

The boys in 2010, ages 5 and 6

The boys in 2011- ages 6 and 7

The boys in 2012- ages 7 and 8.   So many changes in the last 5 years

This year the boys started playing from the time they all were together.  I started a 'camera war' by stalking them for candid photos.  The boys started hiding and come out to look for me, while I hid in places to jump out and take quick photos of them.

The girls- sisters and friends

I was sitting on the stairs and got the boys racing away from me as I snapped pictures

Then they all hid in the bathroom- all lined up right behind the door.  I should have sent vaca dad in to get this photo- he has the height to get the heads of all the boys.

The boys are big enough to eat in the kitchen alone, while the parents and older siblings eat in the dinning room.  Of course, we had to have one of the dads on alert to check on the boys throughout dinner.

one of the multiple photos of the boys from the night

The silly picture of the boys

.

.We had a great time at the farm.  8 hours of fun and family.  Pablo even got to go.  I am not sure he enjoyed it though. When we got to the farm, the day was cloudy, but after tying Pablo up in the calf yard and coming back into the house, the hail started.  Pablo refused to go into the calf barn (the 2 calves were there) or in the calf shed.  So, much to Pablo's dismay, he was put in the wood room in the basement.  He barked and whined most of the night.  When he got to go back outside, he was not happy.

But, he and Bug were worn out after our day and they both slept late this morning, even with the time change.

More coming on our Sunday adventures later.

Love and hugs,

Deb