Christmas in Idaho

Football party

Sam's birthday party on Saturday may have been our favorite one so far. We had about 10 kids over, and the main event was a touch football game at our neighborhood park. Dads took turns at QB. They had a great time playing, then came back to our house for snacks, cake and presents.

Tourists In Our Hometown

We headed downtown on Saturday for some holiday fun, beginning with a SSO kids concert at Benaroya Hall. Lunch at the waterfront Ivar's followed, along with some shopping and browsing some interesting shops near the ferry terminals. Our photos show several Seattle landmarks: Andrew and I in front of Benaroya Hall, Sam and Andrew in the Ivar's lobby, the waterfront looking out towards the Olympics, and Sam in front of a SAM (Seattle Art Museum) sign. It's lucky when your name makes an acronym that is on signs all over the city!

One nice November day....

....we went to Camano Island, played on the beach, uncovered some interesting sea life and felt the sun for the first time in ages. Our visit was complete with hot chocolate and coffee from C.I. Coffee Roasters.

Thanksgiving!

Had a wonderful Thanksgiving day with the Harvey/Sumida families! The eclectic spread of food was truly a sight....all of the tradional Thanksgiving favorites, plus homemade ravioli, homemade mac & cheese, Japanese rice, shrimp, leek rings (like onion rings), 4 kinds of pie and homemade almond roca. We have collapsed for the night in a food coma.

Andrew's Book Review

Andrew had to review "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" as part of an assignment, and use certain vocabulary words that will be obvious:

Jeff Kinney is the author of Diary of a Wimpy Kid. I read

all of the books in the series because they are a

HILARIOUS PHENOMENON! I think kids like

them because they are hilarious. Dog Days is the

sequel to the debut and prevails over all other books!

Etc....

Soccer party - Lightning

We're done with soccer, just in time for cold/rain/wind to really hit our area this week. Sam's team was undefeated, even though we're not supposed to keep score. :)

Preview

Andrew and Sam, with their friends Ben and Dylan got to try out their Halloween outfits this afternoon at our local high school's Haunted House. Earlier in the day, Sam and Andrew mounted the spider web and giant spider which effectively block our front door. But, since we're planning on trick-or-treating with the Harvey's in their neighborhood, it doesn't matter too much.

Sam says that Andrew's light-up glasses, worn without the hood, make him look like a mad scientist!

Pumpkins 09

Alan has outdone himself yet again....we have the UW Husky, Ichiro in profile, and

the National League champions logo, which will be ceremonially lit before each World Series game.

October update

It's been forever since I've had a chance to get on the blog, and I'm sorry for our absence. We're no busier than usual, but our normal life keeps us in the fast lane. We had a great visit last weekend with Grandma Rita, Nate and brave Ian who came without his Mom. After they left on Sunday, we headed to them pumpkin patch and got the 3 largest pumpkins they had (I'm pretty sure). Plans are being made to carve them next weekend....Alan's got his sights set on a big "P" for the Phillies as they head towards another World Series.

Seward Park

A couple of weeks ago, I took my bike up to Seward Park in Seattle for a ride while the boys were at school. It's a nice 2.5 mile loop around, with views of Lake Washington, Mt. Rainier and downtown Seattle.

Travels

Here are a few pictures from our trips this past week to Mt. Morris, NY and Pullman, WA. We're thankful that both trips went smoothly and we all made it back safely.

Ventress and the Battle of the Darkside

Andrew completed his latest Lego movie today and it's his best yet. This one has a soundtrack! It lasts about four minutes. Check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gH2k-zNx6_o

Elation!

Last night, we took Ben and Emma to the Rainiers game. Ben's soccer tournament ended close to gametime, so we were walking in during the first inning. We were about even with first base, still on the outside, when we heard the roar of the crowd, and then the radio broadcast saying that Bryan LaHair's home had just barely cleared the right field fence. Nobody was behind us. Could the ball still be there? We HAD to find out, right? (If you can't tell, this is Dad's account of the story.) So Andrew, Sam, and Ben ran back 100 yards and launched a hasty search. Sam spotted it between two trees, right behind the wooden fence, raised it in the air and sprinted back to show Mom and Dad. It was pure joy for a six year old boy!

First day

Yesterday was the first day of 1st grade for Sam and 4th grade for Andrew!

At Meredith Hill, there is a tradition of having an opening assembly and the first flag salute of the year outside. The 1st graders get officially welcomed to their first day of all-day school by getting to walk through a big balloon arch while dramatic music plays (I think it was movie music from "Star Wars"). Sam thought that was great!