B-7----BINGO!!!!

PTO had our Annual Family BINGO Night to benefit the Plainville Food Pantry tonight.  It was a great turnout and we collected lots of food for the Pantry. The kids had fun, won little prizes, and ate some snacks and juice.  It was a great night for all!  :)

Next PTO Activity will be the Gingerbread Shop in December!  Fun, fun, fun!!  :)

SNOW!

Halloween Storms...

Weather is a very crazy thing!  

 Last year--October 29th, 2011, we experienced a crazy winter storm.  We got TONS of snow, trees were down all over, power was out for about 5 days--more or less depending where you were--and Halloween was Canceled!!  It was crazy.  

Who would have thought it could happen again........

Hike with Grandpa in NH

This morning we decided on a quick trip to visit with Grandpa in New Hampshire.  I drove, since Shaun drives so much during the week, and off we went!  We got to Grandpas just in time for lunch at one of my favorite places--Bob's Clam Hut!  YUMMMMY!

After eating some scrumptious seafood, Grandpa took us on a fun fall hike!

We went to Stratham Hill Park.  Stratham Hill Park has a cool Fire Tower that we could climb and see the beautiful fall colors all around us.

It's a pretty cool little park with lots of history.  Click Here for the history.

 We did a little caching and enjoyed each others company.

  It was a beautiful day for a hike!  Thanks Grandpa!!  :)

Harvest Time at OSV

This morning, we decided to take a trip to Old Sturbridge Village in good old Sturbridge, Massachusetts.  The kids weren't exactly thrilled, but I love it there!  It reminds me of my childhood, when my mom used to take us there to walk around and sometimes just get cookies!  :)  Shaun had never been so I thought the fall is a wonderful time to go and explore the Village.

 It was Harvest time so they were pressing apples...

 The kids got a chance to try out a hand apple press....lots of work to get apple cider...

 The kids also made an apple pomander.  It's an apple with cloves and cinnamon.  It sure smelled great!!!

 Here are my city kids fooling around in the barn, pretending to milk a cow.

 Here I am making a broom...

 Check it out!  Here is the broom I made.  I think it will go PERFECT with my annual Halloween Witch Costume!

 Here is a picture of Anneli reading in the school house!  I love her outfit that she decided to wear this morning!  :)

 The beautiful OSV Covered Bridge with the beautiful colors of fall all around us...

 The kids getting a little crazy...

 The kids carding wool.  It sure kept them quiet for a little while.  I think we may need to buy some sheep....  ;)

It was a great day to explore the Village as a family.  I can't wait to take them back when it's cold and snowy...they will LOVE it!  :)

Phoenix the Bearded Dragon!

Since our poor dear Bearded Dragon friend Hercules passed away this summer, we decided that we would purchase another bearded dragon after our August Family Vacation.  We did lots of research this time and found a reputable Bearded Dragon breeder out of Southern CT.  We emailed him and told him what we were looking for and he suggested our new friend.

Our new friend, Phoenix arrived on Thursday, September 6th--after a long wait by poor Christopher.  Phoenix was shipped to us and was very happy to get our of his bag and box.  He is a beautiful 'sunshine' dragon and we hope he adjusts quickly to his new home and his family that loves him dearly already!!   

First Day of School!!

It's that time again!  The summer just flew right by and it's time for school!  

It's hard to believe that my baby girl is in 2nd grade and my big guy is a 5th grader!

Where does to the time.......

 Here is to a great year of Elementary School at Linden!!!  Last year at Linden for Christopher....

Hercules!

A Colorful Day!

Today we got started a little late, but it was nice to take our time and relax!  Isn't that what summer vacation is all about!?  We decided to to jump in the mini-van and go to the Crayola Experience Museum in Easton, Pennsylvania.  It was a fun day.  The museum is full of hands on craft activities for the kids to do. We decorated turtles with melted crayons.  We saw how they made crayons and markers and even got to take home a freshly made red crayons andorange  markers.  We also got some model magic clay---one of Christopher's favorites.  The kids didn't use it at the museum, they decided to bring it home and create a larger project with additional clay they purchased at the gift shop.  One of the coolest exhibits, I thought, was the Doodle in the Dark.  It was pretty cool.  We were able to draw or write on their giant glow boards.  I'd LOVE to have one of those at home!  Shaun was checking out how they were made....I'd love one!  :)  It was a great day!  I've always wanted to check it out when we come to town each year, but we just never got around to it.  I'm glad we did this time, with Shaun.  Even Shaun, Memere, and I had fun!  :)


**Stay tuned for pictures--I will upload these when I get home! **

Newt.....Newt Gingrich?!?

Pepere hung around Hawley for an extra day!  It was nice to have him here an extra day.  The weather was a little damp, cool and windy.  WE decided to grab our coats and head out to Lacawac Sanctuary in Lake Ariel, Pennsylvania.  We hiked the blue trail or the Lake Lacawac Trail around the sanctuary.  It was a nice walk in the white pines.  As we walked, we learned a lot about the trees and other plants and rock formations along the trail.  Luckily, we didn't see any bears!  Don't worry, we were prepared with our bear spray, but thankfully we didn't have to use it!  We did see a TON of Orange Spotted Newts.  The kids had fun counting them.  We counted 127 or so!  The kids loved to spot them and to pick them up too!  Even Anneli picked them up!  I was quite surprised to see her pick those creatures up.  I wasn't surprised to see Christopher picking them up since he is trying to get us to buy him a bearded dragon after vacation.  It was a nice walk and we even found a geocache!  Fun, fun, fun!

Whitewater Rafting on the Lehigh River

Today we went Whitewater Rafting on the Lehigh River.  Last year we went rafting on the Delaware River.  It was fun so we decided to do it again, but to step it up a notch or two.  It was class 1 & 2 rapids with a class 3 for a little challenge.  It was fun.  The kids did a great job helping to paddle the boat.  Even Anneli did a great job!  They certainly are growing up!

We left our condo and headed out to the Pocono Whitewater company.  We checked in, got our lunches, put life vests on, listened to the safety chat, and then boarded the bus to the river.  There were probably about 150 people on the adventure.  There were guides that helped guide us down the river.  We got on the boat at about 1:10pm and we didn't get back in the car until about 6:30pm.  It was fun, but it was a long, long day.

It was a beautiful day to be out on the water.  It was warm, but not terribly hot. It was perfect.  Unlike last year, we didn't get sunburned at all.  It was perfect weather for an afternoon of Whitewater Rafting!

Dumpster Diving!?!

Yes, that is a bear dumpster diving just feet away from us on our resort property!  Pepere spotted the bear after taking a walk--right by the dumpster--with the kids!  We thought he was joking, but then we saw it!  The bear was playing peek-a-boo with us and then he just climbed right into the dumpster to check out the trash.  He was a pretty good sized bear--maybe 300 pounds or so.  We have often been warned about bears here around the Lake, but we never saw one on the resort property.  Last year we saw a bear and two cubs crossing the road, but other than that we usually just see deer, tons and tons of deer.  It was pretty cool. 

**I will post additional photos when I get home.  The above photo is a cell phone picture of a photo on my camera!  I just couldn't wait to share it!!**

I guess Christopher & Anneli won't be putting the trash out this week!

Lake Wallenpaupack

We started off our morning by going to swimming lessons.  I figured we should go this morning, since we would be away on vacation next week.  The kids did a great job and were glad to be back in the pool again.  I love watching them swim!  They are doing a great job and look forward to working hard this summer.  They also are looking forward to watching the US Swim Trials next week and all the swimming events in the Olympics in August in London!!

The rest of the afternoon we ran errands and got our bags packed for our annual trip to Lake Wallenpaupack in Hawley, Pennsylvania.  The kids left with Memere & Pepere while I waited for Shaun to get home from work.  We then had dinner and drove to Hawley to catch up with them.  It is always nice to come to Hawley, where it's in the middle of nowhere, pretty laid back, and where things tend to stay the same.  We are looking forward to a nice relaxing trip....and the best part of our trip this year is that Shaun will be joining us for the whole week and not just for the weekend!  YIPPEE!!!  I wonder what super fun things we will do this year.....stay tuned!

Another School Year has Come and Gone....

It's hard to believe that another school year has come and gone! Christopher is now a Fifth Grader and Anneli is now a second grader.  Where does the time go!?! 

Christopher and Anneli both had a great year!  They both got an award today during the school awards ceremony for being the Most Consistent students in their classes!  Way to go Christopher & Anneli!!!!  We are so very proud of both of you!!  Keep up the great work! 

Christopher had fun reading, writing, learning about National Parks, and even doing MATH!  Thanks Ms. Zajaczkowski!!  Anneli had fun reading, writing, doing math, and singing in her class!  Thanks Mrs. Olson-Bartley! 

It was a great year, but we are ready for Summer Vacation!!!!  Woohoo!!!!

Merry Christmas!!