New Hampshire

We loved visiting with our family in New Hampshire! On Sunday, it was really wet, but the leaves were so beautiful, we had to enjoy walking in them, wet or dry! Believe it or not, the picture above is less than a block from Jake's brother's house!
Spencer and his cousin JuJu, loved walking around in the rain with their umbrellas! They really got along well, JuJu didn't mind our bossy Spencer, they didn't fight at all, and the only tattling was the older kids not letting the younger kids participate!
Spencer loved riding the zip line that they have in their yard. It was so much fun for the kids, and as long as you didn't look how high the kids were. . . You wouldn't get too worried!
We went apple picking and it was so pretty. The boys sure know how to indoctrinate their cousin Joseph into rough housing (He has two sisters before his younger brother) so he isn't as aware of it as my boys :).

On Saturday, the weather was PERFECT! I couldn't help but dive into a pile of leaves! I LOVE FALL!

My neice, Allie, was so kind to push Spencer around in thier homemade car (it was scoot car) that Spence insisted in being pushed all ove the yard. She did it very willingly.

My neice and nephew weren't quite sure what to think of us when we got there, but they liked us when we left! Thanks Sam and Jennifer for putting up with us and our craziness! We loved it!

My blog is messed up right now, I don't know how to remove pictures, but the kids did have a good time!

Philadelphia

For our fall break, we took the opportunity to find some "real" fall weather, and went to Pennsylvania and New Hampshire. In Philadelphia, it was rainy the whole time, but it was amazing to walk in the footsteps of our founding fathers.

Our first stop was the Liberty Bell. There is something about seeing this to really make you appreciate the age of our country and how far we have come. They really emphasized how the slaves and women embraced this symbol to fight for their freedoms.

One of our country's national treasures is the hall that is named Independence Hall, in this building both the Constitution and Declaration of Independence were formulated and signed. You can't help but feel the thrill of the history that was made is the square.

We were able to see original copies of the Declaration of Independence and Constitution. Amazing. It was so interesting, the one that we saw, had editing marks on it. Can you imagine life without XEROX?

The leaves in Philadelphia were beginning to change -- the were BEEE-UTIFUL!!

One of the things in my life that I am attempting to do is visit all 50 states. This does not include flying through the airport, but really being in the state -- insert location of Philadelphia -- Philadelphia is very close to New Jersey and Delaware. We were carless, or we probably would have hit both states on this visit, but we traveled across the Delaware river and went to New Jersey. It was kind of an adventure, as we couldn't find a taxi on the way home, and it got a little exciting, walking in the rain and it getting dark. Fortunately, we were blessed and a taxi drove by and took us home. The driver was so nice and made the comment that he couldn't believe we were walking in the murder capital of the world in the evening!!!! So, yes, ignorance is bliss when you are on vacation :).

We took the opportunity to visit the Franklin Institute, which is an amazing science museum (think Science Center but on steroids) -- it was so fun. The kids were engrossed with all of the stations they could tinker at. Spencer loved watching in the health room a little video on the blood system -- I think actually he loved the idea of army guys in his bodies. Jacob loved the mission control area and figuring out some of the solutions to the "problems" they were having. Ryan and Spencer and Jacob, actually all loved the airplane section and them getting to figure out how planes fly.
On Saturday we went to New Hampshire, but that will have to be a separate post!

Craft Night

Ok, so we are going to have a craft night on November 19th, if you want to come and craft with us, go and check out my blog. It is www.craftnightingilbert.blogspot.com -- If you are interested, we are glad to have any and everyone!

Halloween Party

Tomorrow is our annual neighborhood Halloween Party! We would love to have you join us, it is at 6 pm in the street in front of my house! If you want to join us, bring something to share and a bag of candy! We would love to have you join us, there will be some games, a bounce house and tons of really nice people (at least we think we are nice :))

You're Going to Miss This?

Sometimes I just have to laugh at things that happen with kids. This past week was filled with those, "You've got to be KIDDING me!" situations! On Tuesday, the boys had dentist appointments. . .No worries, I will pick them up at school and run them to the dentist right after school -- just a note to tell the teachers! Well, I get to school, granted about on time, but I wasn't in a hurry, because I was just making sure we would be to the dentist on time, we don't need to be early and I had more than enough time. The boys go to a school of choice school, so there are fewer buses and more car traffic than any other school I have ever seen, maybe an exaggeration, but I digress. So, I go, find Ryan but there is no easily identifiable fifth grade area to pick up the kids, no teachers, nothing. So, I don't see child number one and go to the office, they do an all call on the intercom, and his first and third grade teachers are in front of the office, laughing, they love Jacob. Sometimes, I wonder though, no Jacob. Then they call the bus, yep, he's on the bus, but they have a stop not far from the school, so they will wait for me at the bus stop. The secretary tells me where the bus stop is and the quickest route there. Ryan is in the car, and I ask if this is right, I think so. . .We go and pass some kids walking home, I get worried when he says let's ask the walker where the bus is -- no bus where the secretary tells me, we try again. They have the wrong place noted on the paper for the school. Great. We find the bus at the school a half mile from the place where they send me, we are holding up the kids and I am one of those parents that has to WAIT PATIENTLY on the other side, love that part and I felt terrible this day. Apparently, he remembered but they had already left the school, so much for teachers reminding kids with notes, and the office had just e-mailed a request of no calls, just notes. . .I like the phone calls, he remembers longer. Oh well. Dentist visit went ok, one child has a cavity, but it is going to fall out soon, and it isn't bothering him, so why fill it? I love my Dentist, that is HIS philosophy, not a cheap mom's. Wednesday, no stress day -- RIGHT? WRONG. My phone rings about quarter of four. The school -- oh great, what teacher can't bear my children one more instant? Mrs. Allison on the other end. Ummm, Mrs. DeGraffenried, this is Linda Allison, (I think, oh great, she already doesn't love me, what now?) Hello, I respond. Jacob wasn't happy about something in class today, and stayed after to talk to me, and has missed his bus and needs a ride home -- Jacob has tutoring right after school, and it is ten minutes to get him from school and then I would need to get him to the tutor right away, and Ryan is on the bus and it drops off at our local elementary school. . .How do I become wonder woman and get both kids and get them where they need to be? No worries, I will get Jake to help, he agrees he can go get Jacob at school and meet me at the tutors, Ryan has just started going. . .I pick Ryan up and drop him off at Mrs Sylvester's. No Jake and no Jacob. Oh dear. I call Jake, he is STILL AT WORK -- he figured Jacob could wait at school! GREAT! I go and get Jacob and apologize for picking him up nearly an HOUR after school gets out and do my regular routine. . .

I can't wait until I miss this. Life is so fun, and I truly can't wait until I can look back and laugh about this point in life.

On a funny side note, that has been a big topic at our house. We are going on a family vacation this next week -- no "family" vacation this summer -- Jake couldn't or wouldn't take off, so this next week we are going on a fun one. But Jacob has been opposed to going since we started talking about it. "I am not going!!!" is about how any conversation goes, I finally asked him WHY he wasn't going? He said: "It doesn't have an Amusement park, or a Casino so I am NOT GOING!!!" A casino, huh?! Since when did casino's enter into our decision process?! I think he has been i one when he was about three in Las Vegas while we walked through the town on our overnighter. . .Kids, they are always an adventure!

 

Mary Jordan took this picture during the summer. This picture pretty much summed up my boys feelings about pictures that day, but really she is AMAZING! If you live around Gilbert, you might CHECK her out!