Fall Fest

The kids and I attended a homeschool group-sponsored event on the day before Halloween!  This gave Max and Simone a great opportunity to do a dry run of their costumes!  Simone was Merida from "Brave" and Max was a policeman, complete with a mustache!

Move over, Tom Selleck!

There were 50 homeschool parents and children and there were so many crafts and games to do!  What did my kids do first?  Eat!  They were not really into doing crafts other than decorating their pumpkin.  The activity they most wanted to do was play on the playground!

While playing, Simone pretended to shoot her bow and arrow and this attracted the attention of one young knight.  Max was asleep on the job and did not see the admiration burgeoning.  Michael thinks he should have some workshops for Max that will help him better detect unwanted (unwanted-by-Daddy) suitors.  

Greetings, milady!   

Max and Simone have made friends with another pair of siblings who are the same age!  

Brrr ...

This is the coldest weather the kids and I have experience on a day to day basis.  To Michael, I'm sure, this is nothing.  The mornings have greeted us with mid 40s temperatures, but sometimes the day gets pretty sunny and, depending on our activity, it can get warm!

The only time the kids really have to experience the cold is in the morning when we have to go to the bathroom.  By the time they have to potty later on, the weather has warmed a bit but they still wear their jackets.  At around noon, the sun will usually come out and their frolicking warms them up in addition to the radiation.  

Right now there are clouds menacing the skies, but our Halloween seems as if it'll be dry enough for some trick or treating!

Camping Heaven

We have been enjoying camping here!  Our setting is breath-taking.  These pictures were taken last month and at a different spot in the campsite, but it emotes the same peaceful living we've been experiencing.

Morning on the Potomac

Breakfast on our "porch"

Twilight colors

Firestarter

The firewood they sell at the campsite is chunky, but Michael makes a nice hearth

Family Time!

We have a fire about twice a week.  Michael would love it every night, but sometimes he's tired and many times I'm tired of being bit by mosquitos.  Although the weather is getting colder in general, we have periodic spikes in temperature that make for a wonderful evening by the fire, contemplating the semi-rustic life we're leading.

Little Baby Jones

When Simone was little (under 2, I think), Alicia gave her a book called Skippyjon Jones.  "It is so fun to read!  You can use your best Mexican accent!"

It was indeed fun to read!  It is about a siamese cat that thinks he is a chihuahua.  For the other characters in the book I gave them southern accents.  Max ate this up when I read to him.  He has a great ear and can reproduce sounds so well.  One day he changed "Skippyjon Jones" to ....

"Little Baby Jones"

(said with a southern accent).  Simone and I thought it was funny at first and laughed every time he said it.  This approval only spurred his constant repetition of the phrase and what was something cute turned into something annoying.  Max is not deterred.  He loves to say little baby jones every day, even when we ask him to stop it.  Michael doesn't mind but that is because he isn't around all day when Max has said it for the 20th time.  

In the future, I'm sure we'll hear this phrase and laugh again.  For now, we are thankful when he doesn't say it more than 30 times before noon.  

Art Gallery Review

I was very excited to see an art exhibit at the National Gallery of Art that showcased the works of Degas and his contemporary Mary Cassatt.  They were buddies and influenced each other's paintings.  Before we arrived I tried to tell the kids about how revolutionary the Impressionist Art Movement was.  Their eyes were glazed but I hoped the information was sinking in.

When we got to the museum, it took a while to get to the exhibit that we passed several sculptures on the way.  The kids liked the sculptures!

I had been telling them some Greek Myths, but the only one that Simone knew of and who was in a sculpture was Hermes / Mercury.  We talked a little bit about "Painting and Sculpture" a piece that anthropormorphized the two methods of artwork.

Painting and Sculpture

That was the peak of their interest,  We got into the Cassatt Degas exhibit and the kids were booooored out of their minds.  And frankly, I had become bored of it too right after seeing the highlight, "Little Girl in Blue Armchair."  But I may have been influenced by the kids because I'd like to return and look at all the paintings at my leisure.  I'm not crushed about the exhibit being over, because the rest of the museum looked intriguing - at least what little blurs I saw of it as I ushered the kids out.  

For now, I don't think I'll take the kids to 2D art exhibits anymore.  I noticed they liked the sculpture.  Maybe we'll go to some modern art museum that has mixed media and the like.  On second thought, that stuff bores me and I might be the own whining to leave early.

Can we go now?

Downsizing

When we left Tampa, we fit everything we own in our bus and in a 22' long truck.  When we arrived in DC, we were so pooped and were easily persuaded into putting our belongings in to a 10' x 25' storage.

4 months of staying here and visiting our storage periodically has made us realize that we could totally downsize even more.  So this past weekend, we purged more and then squished everything into a 10'x15' room.  It felt like magic!  But as usual, Michael planned the whole thing in his head and we didn't have to let go of our favorite chairs nor of our washing machine & dryer, which I thought for sure were going on Craigslist.

Michael erected a loft!!

The kids tested it out!

At a height of 6'-7 1/2", we were left with 3'-4 1/2" in the loft and nearly doubled our spaced!

Camp Creature

I finished laundry at the utility house and started to walk down the hill back to the bus.  I heard crazy laughter coming from small children.  Of course it was my children laughing so hysterically.  I thought they were just sharing a funny joke, but upon nearing them, I saw there was something else inciting such hilarity.

These two crazies decided to go out into the cold using a jacket big enough to warm both of them!

Pumpkin Picking 2014

I realized that we never went to a pumpkin patch while we were in Florida!!!  I hypothesize that we didn't feel the change in seasons and didn't feel compelled to do this Autumn activity.  In DC however, we are definitely feeling the Fall and the kids have been excited to attend a pumpkin patch all October.

For this year, I picked Cox Farms because they were close to us and they had pumpkin picking and hayrides.  It has been praised by local papers and upon arriving I could see why.  The grounds are beautiful and there is so much to do that it's like a little Disneyland!

Don't let the country decor fool you.  This place had an area just for charging your cell phones!

We arrived hungry and enjoyed their baby burgers and other fair food.  After that, it was a whirlwind of activity.

Climbing Hay Bales:  pretty self-explanatory

Hayride:  This was THE best hayride I've ever been on.  It rivals the tram tours of Universal Studios! 

Off to the next adventure!

Break time for the oldies:  While Michael and I sipped pumpkin spice lattes and ate homemade apple cider donuts, the kids oddly enough turned down their sugary sweet of cocoa.  They could not resist the numerous play areas surrounding us that all had slides.  Kids have so much energy.  Parents do not.

Whoa Nelly!

The temperature, by the way, was mid 60s and wind speed was 25mph, but the kids did not need their jackets.  They were running and sliding continuously that they generated so much heat!

After a few rides down with Michael and me, the kids were brave enough to go by themselves.

Photo Op Cutouts!

Simone finally lives the Cinderella tale.

She must be dreaming of her prince.

Max is a serious farmer carrying dinosaur eggs.

Simone is seriously considering a career as a coffee model.

Simone finally sees what hippies look like.  

I told Simone that, despite the long hair, the brunette hippie is really a boy. 

She altered her face accordingly

Train Ride: these cars were so lovingly constructed!  They were sanded and shellacked carefully to avoid any sharp edges for the kids. 

Hog Farm: this corral has broken down motorcycles

The two wheels beckon Michael and he is ready to careen down the farm!

Already doing tricks!

Farm Animals:  We did so many slides that we didn't have a lot of time to see the farm animals.  Luckily we saw piglets!  

Pumpkin Picking:  We got free pumpkins with our admission, but they were too tiny to carve anything other than three holes.  While Michael was getting a 56-pound beauty, I came across these odd, textured squash.  

In case we don't have our Halloween costume yet, we can get a mullet wig!

This place was so huge that we explored only half of the grounds!  We told the kids we would go next year because we all had a really good time.