Pumpkin Heads

 As expected we carved our pumpkins this week!  Caden wanted a scary face, Cole picked the bat picture that came with our new carving knife, and Cora's got to be a girly pumpkin with beautiful lashes!

 This was the smoothest pumpkin carving adventure we've had!  The kids were all really into it, and played a role in the cleaning, face picking (for the most part) and then the carving.. such fun!

Cora guards her carving spoon!

 This is the first year Caden has willingly touched to guts to the pumpkin... it made things much easier!  We also made pumpkin seeds at his request... although I think he has only eaten about 3 of them.

 Even Cora wanted to get in on the action.. obviously, she wants to do whatever her brothers are doing!

Whoever thought up this carving thing anyway?  the insides really are slimy!

 Caden's pumpkin had started to rot at the bottom.. so we cut that portion out to create a pumpkin tunnel.

Last year we got this battery operated carving knife on a clearance rack after the holiday.. let me tell you it is fabulous!  Cut down on the cut time by more than half!

I carved two with the new gadget while Rob kicked it old school.. old school being the other pumpkin carving tools that we didn't have back in our day!  Not the traditional knife that we used :)

Caden was very intense about picking out the perfect components to create his pumpkin!  His eyes are actually modeled after the eyes on the pumpkin guy on Pumpkin Head beer... hence the title.

Not my idea!  Rob decided to let Caden try carving with the knife ( I cringe!)

But Caden thought he was the coolest cat in the house for getting to do this.

And here they are!  Our masterpieces!.. and again below with their "scary faces"

And after the kids went to bed, work continued to make these little goodies for Cole's preschool party!  They give me the heebie jeebies just looking at them!  But they sure did taste delicious!

Head of the Charles 2010

Since 1996 Rob and I have been going to the Head of the Charles, whether it be competing or being a spectator.  The kids look forward to going to the boathouse (which is the starting line of the race) running around on the dock and watching the boat races as well as hanging out with all our old college friends.  Once they get a little older we'll venture down to Week's Bridge, which is where all the action occurs as far as potential for crashes!  But it is a bit of a hike for the little legs just now.

This year we ran out of time to take them in on Saturday before Rob and I had to go in for some night activities with alumni, so we went back in again on Sunday with the kids.  Unfortunately it was a little bit drizzly during parts, but that didn't spoil the fun.. just the pictures ;)

The kids cozy up with Dad on this bench which is under the overhang so we could be outside but not get wet.

Best seat in the house to watch the BU boats go by.. how sad is it that they don't chant the "Ooogie" anymore during the boat launch?!  The girls chant some B-O-S-T-O-N- U. song.. it's just not the same!

Caden tries to corral Cole in for the group picture...

 Cora wasn't cooperating either!

Here they are!  the best we got.. and we failed to get a family picture for the first year since Caden's first HOC.. sniff.. tear!

Jack-O-Lantern

No Carving required!  Caden lost his 4th tooth today!  His first top tooth without the help of the dentist.  His bottom two are growing in quite nicely,  but the tooth that was pulled clearly was not ready because there is no sign of another tooth starting to grow, you can barely tell the way his top lip falls.. Looks like the tooth fairy will be visiting tonight!

Jump in for fun!

Last weekend we finally had enough leaves to make a leaf pile for the kids to jump in.  Cora's first time really enjoying the leaf pile more than just sitting in it, she just loved throwing them along with Cole...

Caden is a worker right to his core... of course getting to use power tools makes anyone work.. at least for a minute!

 Throw, kick, hide, roll, dive, tunnel.. you name it, it was done.

 Caden for some reason thought it was hilarious that this leaf stuck to him and asked me to take a picture of him and his leaf.

Cora was not a fan of falling down in the leaves and getting swallowed up by them!  She didn't like putting her hands down to help herself up.

 Two out of three ain't bad

The sun was warm... the coats came off. 

Caden had to keep fixing the pile so that he could jump in it, but Cole and Cora spread it around faster than he could rake.

 We did a few other things too.. bubble blowing, hill rolling... it was a nice afternoon.

 Hooray for leaves! Who knew dried up plant matter could be so fun?

Our Three Hour Tour...

Rob's birthday was on Columbus Day, all he really wanted to do was use his smoker to do up some tasty meat while drinking beer and relaxing... before I knew this great wish I signed us up to tag along with the Sevin's on a  hike of Pack Monadnock... Oops! My bad!

We took the Wapack Trail up which is a very steep trail for the most part with lots of climbing with all fours.. especially when you are four feet tall or shorter!  On the way up Caden and Cole S were trailblazers with Rob with Cora on his back.. all Rob really wanted to do was get to the top, get to the bottom and go home... who knew it was going to take TWO HOURS! to get to the top! and the boys were having a grand old time following the "clues" (trail markers) and looking for bears.

Buddies on the trail

Here they go!  Up one of the steeper, rockier portions of the trail .

These yellow triangles are what kept us going.. although we were really wishing for a "you're almost there" sign!

Mr. B had Charlotte on his back as well.. The guys didn't need a gym workout after that days adventure.

One of the views on our way up, it seemed the foliage hadn't peaked much.  This was actually only about 15 minutes into our hike.. interestingly the views weren't much better from the top, you have to hike the ridge trail to get the views, but no one was in the mood for extra walking (I lie.. Kelly and I probably would have :) )  But we did go to the top of the fire tower where you could see much more than if you stayed on the ground.

The trailblazers

Patriots fans (yes Caden's is Randy Moss, he was actually wearing it the day he got traded)

Cole decided he wanted his picture taken.. how could I say no?  We though up all sorts of words ending in the "eee" sound to get him smiling, as "cheese" is NOT the look we are going for anymore (wide fake smile looking anywhere but at the camera)

Cole's imagination is giant... he loves seeing shapes in the clouds, in his ketchup on his plate.. and here is his turtle rock.. I see it! do you?

Cora was working so hard she fell asleep

Cole started getting really tired on the way up.. I carried him the last 1/4 mile or maybe less, but we found this cool branch so we had to go under it.

We made it to the top!

and some of us are still smiling!

We opted for the trail down.. we could have just walked down the auto road, but where is the fun in that?

Before we headed down we went to the top of the fire tower.. can you see Boston in the middle of the horizon?  Cool!

On the way down Cole wanted to point to EVERY trail marker.. and while I was enjoying myself a lot, i did want to get to the bottom before dark!  Cole was getting tired of walking so maybe he was just using the markers as an excuse to sit down!

Rob caught wind that Cole was getting tired and wanted to be carried and this image was the last time I saw them!  Daddy scooped him up with Cora still on his back and headed to the bottom with Mr. B and Charlotte.  So Kelly and I headed down with Caden and Cole S.. we were the happy half of our hiking group! (Charlotte and Cora were also perfectly happy.. but they were stuck on the backs of those who might not want to be hiking!)

Caden is a tree hugger (haha!)

We got to the bottom in half the time it took us to get to the top.  Lunch was sitting out waiting for us! Perfect timing!  And we had brought Daddy a chocolate peanut butter birthday cake.. Mmmm.. now that should put a smile on any one's face!

And here we are.. the whole hiking bunch.  Thanks for having us along!  It was a beautiful day for a hike, and a lot of fun (I thought!)