Dagny and Molly

Our neighbors across the street have two boys (5th and 7th grade) that are Finley's idols, but Dagny much prefers to spend time with their sweet dog, Molly.

With two parents who aren't dog people, this dog fits perfectly on Dagny's wish list :)

LAX for FHF

Finley's been trying out a new sport this spring, lacrosse! He and his buddy, Sean, are taking a lacrosse clinic at a indoor sports place near us and they have been having a blast.

 I just can't get over how much like a little transformer or robot once he's got all the gear on.

We are a little fuzzy on the rules, but have been tuning into ESPNU to watch some college lacrosse to learn more.  Finley's signed up for another session and perhaps he'll spend a little more time throwing and refining his skills this time instead of just chasing the ball!!

Finley's Fairy Tale

On Friday morning, we all joined Finley in his kindergarten class for a Fairy Tale Tea.  His class has been reading, studying, and creating fairy tales for the past month and this was the celebration of all their hard work.  He was so excited for us to be there with him and the first this he did was read us his story "Sir Ben and The Wizard."

 Then, he showed us some artwork he created.  A cattle with sponge paint blocks, a princess and the pea paper collage and a portrait that he painted of his friend Henry who was dressed as a knight.

 Here is the portrait that Henry painted of Knight Finley. Love the idea that they painted portraits of each other!!

It was a magical morning of knights, castles, princesses, stories, donuts, and artwork.  What fun!

Halloween 2015

This year, the kids were both finally into the idea of Halloween and trick or treating.  In previous years, there was a lot of talk and planning - but very little action.  I attribute this change to two things:

1. Finley's love of outer space furthered by the great shirt made with real NASA patches that his Grammy made him months back that only needed gray sweatpants and a homemade paper bag astronaut helmet to complete the look.

Oh and Dagny was a "police astronaut with a fire fighter water pack on her back"

2. We went daytime trick or treating with our friends whose town closes down its Main Street and all the shops pass out treats. This non-spooky experience really got them excited!

Dagny and her friend Sadie could be twins, right? Though they are a year apart and clearly have different interests!! So adorable!

Kids made our like bandits and were totally tuckered out by the time we made it back to our car at our friends' house.

The next day, Finley got to wear his costume again for a school parade. Dan and I did not take off work to see the event, but luckily I've made some nice mom friends in his class who supplied me with some photos!

Love the hands in pockets look!

Finally, the main event-- Halloween night! Dagny opted to be a worker in a tutu without her space helmet (since she said would not need to call mission control while we were trick or treating). Ha!

 We made it quite far into our little neighborhood, saw some great jack-o'lanterns, and got some nice treats (though many were peanut filled and not Finley friendly) before making it back to our front door to hand out candy to a few late stragglers.

 Finley said he wants to make sure we keep his helmet safe since he wants to be an astronaut again next year!

Pajama Shabbat for One

Now that Dagny's at ELC on her own, she was the only lucky duck that got to dress in her pajamas for Pajama Shabbat on Friday.  She was thrilled to wear some new horse themed pajamas and she chose to bring her beloved police dog, Gloria, with her to school.

I couldn't get her to pose in her pajamas before we left the house, but she did request that I take a picture of Gloria once we got to school.

To her left you can see a book, Officer Buckle and Gloria, which is where we got the name Gloria.  As soon as she arrived, she asked one of her teachers to read the book (to her and Gloria) and I left as kids and teachers, all in PJs, were snuggled up for a breakfast time story!

Shelburne Farms 2015

We have been so busy this fall that we didn't make it to our favorite orchard, Shelburne Farms, until yesterday!  While we waited to pick apples until Dan could meet us there after snow blower shopping, we headed for the pedal tractors.  Last year, Dagny wasn't quite big enough but this year she beat Finley and I to the track and was off and zooming around in no time!

Both kids love these tractors and could have raced around all morning.

 But we did need to climb the hay mountain...

 And get into the bouncy house!

 1 - 2 - 3...

 JUMP!

 A new feature this year :)

 Dan arrived and we got some cider donuts and hot chocolate before heading to the orchard.

 First stop, the rows of Honeycrisp apples--Finley's favorite apple of all.

 While it was clearly the end of the apple picking season, we got plenty and the kids took Dan on a hayride before it was time to go!

 There they are all the way on the left :)

Hay Maze

We were back in our old 'hood last week and stopped into Wilson Farms for some delicious produce, warm cider donuts, and a trip through a great hay maze. 

There were some seriously tall piles of hay!

 Thankfully we made it out and got a free apples for our efforts!