November Phone Pics

We enjoyed lots of beautiful weather in November. Checked out Germantown Metro Park and were lucky enough to see a snake, a toad, and a snapping turtle although the pictures of the first two didn't turn out so well (see below). It's a bit of a drive, but I think it's my new favorite place to hike.

Natalie always asks me to "size" her on the scale at DLM

gingko leaves at Smith School

MOMs Group field trip to Whole Foods.
Olivia got to make her own hummus and applesauce!

Lesson learned (hopefully): Don't give Natalie a marker in the backseat!

Getting very "hands-on" at art class

Yusaku and I enjoyed a tasty dinner here in Cincinnati before the Ben Folds' Concert

before the concert

Paw Paw Camp

Olivia and her best friend from kindergarten coming to our house after school

Thanksgiving 2015

Can't believe I haven't updated the blog in so long! To make myself feel better, I'm going to back date this post. ;) Here are some pictures from Thanksgiving!

Eating cinnamon rolls while watching Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

Enjoyed the nice weather by taking a walk

Playing with Ojiichan

Watching Daddy carve the turkey

impressing her grandparents with her reading skills

We had a very nice Thanksgiving, but we did miss seeing Sarah and Yosuke, Manami, and Lemi. Hopefully, they can all come next year.

Halloween

The kids had a great Halloween! We started the celebrations on Friday with Olivia's Halloween parade and party at school.  As one of the room parents, I got to be there to help with it. It was really fun to get to see all her classmates in their costumes and to get see Olivia in this environment.

That night, we headed out to the Stoddard Avenue Pumpkin Glow. We had never been before but had heard that it was really neat, so we wanted to check it out. We stopped at Panera for dinner beforehand.

On Saturday, we carved our pumpkins. Yusaku made a neat Hello Kitty pumpkin for Olivia and I attempted an Olaf pumpkin for Natalie, which somewhat resembled Olaf. For a "spooky" dinner we had eyeballs (aka meatballs with mozzarella and black olives on top) and spaghetti.

We lucked out with the trick-or-treating weather this year and the kids had a great time (and look how cute they are!). Natalie really got the hang of trick-or-treating and it might be her new favorite thing ever!

Pop Pop's Memorial Service

We had a memorial service in North Carolina last weekend to celebrate and remember my Pop Pop's life. Although the reason for the trip was sad, we really had a nice time visiting with family members we don't get to see very often. The girls, in particular, were pretty enamored with Daniel.

Since it was such a quick trip (leaving Friday, coming home Sunday), we decided to fly. This meant we had to drag the kids out of bed at 4:30 am to head to the airport. They were so excited for the trip and for the most part, were great travelers (aside from the initial 10 minutes of screaming from Natalie before the first plane took off).

at the Fayetteville airport

 Yusaku booked a room for us in this beautiful old historic home in downtown Wilmington. We usually stay on Topsail Island when we visit but since the service was being held in Wilmington, that's where we stayed. To be able to stay in a house like this is a dream of mine. It was beautiful!

we walked from our house down to the ice cream shop with
Aunt Patty, Uncle Rick, Kaitlyn, Mike, and Daniel

hanging out on  our awesome front porch

playing doctor with Aunt Sarah

they had so much fun playing with Daniel 

St. Mary's, where the service was held

beautiful inside and out

at the reception following the funeral - me with Steve-o, Daniel, and Sarah

my mom with her aunt (Pop Pop's sister) and her sister in the center,
their cousins on either side

all four of Pop Pop's grandchildren

beach time at Wrightsville with Daniel -
it was a cold day but it didn't seem to bother either of them

Uncle Rick, Yusaku, my dad, and Daniel

she didn't want to get anywhere near the water,
very much like her sister at this age

so she snuggled with Daddy instead

hanging on his every word

We didn't have to head to the airport until about 4:30 on Sunday so after breakfast, we headed out to Topsail. Saturday night I read a story on the news about people finding Megaladon shark's teeth (the size of a man's palm) in Surf City, which is the part of Topsail we go to every summer. We thought we'd see if we could get so lucky. No huge teeth for us but we did find lots of little ones and the kids had a great time playing in these awesome tidal pools. Natalie got over her fear of the water, thankfully. We didn't pack bathing suits so by the time we left, the kids had stripped down to just their diaper and underwear (the sign of a good time)!

Even though it was a quick trip with a sad purpose, we all had a nice time, which is the way I believe Pop Pop would want things to be. Topsail will always hold a special place in my heart and make me think of my Pop Pop every time we visit. We will always love visiting although it will never be quite the same.