November had us on the move
again as we spent a weekend in Ohio visiting the Vandervaarts and then went to
Connecticut to visit the Shafers for Thanksgiving. Another busy month has us ready to be home
for a few months for the holidays and early part of 2019.
The second weekend in November, we traveled to Ohio to
visit the Vandervaarts and also celebrate Grace’s birthday. We arrived on Friday evening and the kids
started playing immediately. On
Saturday, we stayed around the house and enjoyed watching college football,
playing on the Wii and catching up. For
dinner, we went to a hibachi restaurant which was Grace’s choice. The kids loved the experience of watching the
food be prepared and interacting with the chef.
We left early on Sunday morning to get back and do some yardwork.
For Thanksgiving, Debbie’s family decided to
head to Kyle & Julie’s house to celebrate.
This had our family flying to LaGuardia on Tuesday and we decided to
stay in Manhattan that evening. We
walked to Time Square and enjoyed burgers and beer at HB Burger. After a sleepless night (because our girls
are awful to sleep next to), we got up and hopped on the subway to catch the
Staten Island Ferry so the girls could see the Statue of Liberty. After that, we got on the subway again and
made a quick stop at the World Trade Center for a short visit and then went to
Time Square to meet up with the Shafers & Cyphers. We went to the Stardust Café where all of the
wait staff also sing songs during your meal.
The kids loved it and even sang along!
We then made our way over to Rockefeller Center to see the Christmas
decorations. By that time, we were ready
to make our way to see the Macy’s parade balloons. We met up with Shan Wade (family friend of the
Cyphers) and his family. We saw the balloons
and then went to dinner. After 2 subway
rides, a train and a car drive, we got back to the Shafer’s house in New
Milford at 9:45 and everyone went to bed shortly thereafter. We enjoyed a Thanksgiving Day by enjoying the
Macy’s day parade, plenty of football and a wonderful meal that everyone helped
out with except Randy and me! On Friday,
we went to see the Grinch movie with the kids and stayed inside as it was
pretty cold. Our flight was at 9:45 on
Saturday morning out of JFK, so Kyle and Randy drove us to the airport and we
were home by 1PM. Since we arrived back
on Saturday, we were able to see the Vandervaarts while they were in town along
with the rest of our Indy family and watch the ND vs. USC game at Mom’s.
Sarah’s Things of the Month
Sarah
had a playdate with Georgie this month. She
also started back at gymnastics this month and was excited to get back into
those lessons.
Allison’s Thing of the Month
Allison lost her 2nd top tooth- but this time she lost it while brushing her teeth! Allison went to Lilah’s birthday party this month and had
fun with the other girls in her class.
She also started with gymnastics.
We are also trying out a new basketball league (Castleton Christian
Church) that is very well run and is popular with our neighbors and parishioners. We had Allison’s conference with her teacher
and she is doing well, except for a few issues with speaking out and a little
loud. I have no idea where that comes
from…
A few more items from this
month:
- Jeremy, Foulke and I met out for some beers in early November. It had been awhile since we had gotten together, so it was nice to catch up.
- We sent to girls to a movie night in the gym sponsored by the PTO.
- I took Allison to a basketball game with some 5th & 6th graders that I had coached over the last 2 years.
- We met up with some other parents from church at the Blind Owl. We went to Harry & Izzy’s beforehand to watch some football and have some appetizers.
- Debbie went out with some ladies to celebrate Michelle Foutz’s birthday.
- I went over to a neighborhood gathering where we played shuffleboard and watched football.
- We went as a family to watch Ella Watkins as “Belle” in Beauty and the Beast. She was fantastic and our girls were very mesmerized by her performance. Sarah even dressed up as Belle for the show!
- We replaced our fridge in the basement which was the last appliance from when we bought the house in 2012.
- We went to Brandon and Diane’s for their annual Friends Thanksgiving. We arrived late since we went to a wedding for a friend of mine from work. The girls enjoyed spending the night with Grandma.
- I met up with some friends from Hurco and we shared some laughs and beers.
- Debbie had a girl’s night with her MOMs group from church.
