Polar Bear Plunge

Dearest Colt & Jackson,

Some sort of scheming between the two of you brought about a determination to swim in the pool today.  The conversation went as follows, in which M = Mom, C = Colt, and J = Jax.

J:  Can we go swimming?
M:  It's too cold for swimming.
C:  It feels so good outside. [It was 71 degrees.]
M:  Well the pool temperature is lower than the air temperature and look at all the leaves in the pool!
J:  It'd be fun to swim with leaves!

So my gears started turning and I thought 1) it sure is hard rationalizing things with you after you've been at Grandpa & Grandma's house for the night, 2) the best way to learn a lesson is to experience it, and 3) I can totally use this determination as leverage!

M:  If you boys eat a healthy lunch and then have rest time, I'll let you step in the pool for a few minutes.

Well, wouldn't you know it, the minute rest time was over you were both putting on your swimsuits!

J:  This is chilly! [It was 66 degrees!]

C:  It feels better here.

J:  I think I'll just sit here on the side.

 

....5 minutes later...

M:  Come get your towels!

 

After passing along the stubborn gene, neither of you admitted how frigid the water was...but I think it's safe to say that you won't be asking to swim again for a few more months.  : )

Arboretum

Dearest Jackson and Colt,

Now that fall sports are done, we have our weekends open again.  The first thing we decided to do on a completely free Saturday was go to the arboretum.  It's a bi-annual tradition and I think we now need to visit 3 or 4 times a year instead because we only saw half of the gardens this time!  They recently opened up a special section geared towards children and it dominated almost our entire morning.  I am copying and pasting this little blurb from their website just to give you an idea of its grandeur:

"This 8-acre, outdoor, "museum without walls" features 17 galleries designed to demonstrate scientific concepts for children in preschool to middle school, aligned with state and national curriculum standards for life and earth sciences. Whether your child already loves science and the outdoors or you are looking to increase his/her excitement about learning, this is the place to visit this year.  More than 150 interactive exhibits are in place including a 500-linear-foot trail, adventure bridge, 30-foot tree snag, canopy walk, 9100-square-foot Exploration Center, plant lab, soil lab, the fascinating OmniGlobe and so much more." 

Of course, we made time to visit the pumpkin houses first.  

 (Jax, you told me that you wanted to take a picture and I was impressed!!)

  

 Crepe Myrtle row is one of my favorite places ever!

 

On to the Adventure Gardens...

You two experienced hurricane-force winds together!

 It was neat watching you put these magnetic pictures in sequential order.

 The whole family worked together to assemble this flower puzzle.

 

Two hours later and we were all worn out!  We ate a quick lunch and headed home for rest time.  Now I'm off to look up membership prices as it seems logical for the future ; )

Costumes

Dearest Batmen,

The Halloween season was a mad dash this year and we found ourselves buying costumes just days beforehand.  We had a lot of fun in the costume shop and found plenty of things NOT to buy:

Eventually, you two both decided that you wanted to be Batman.  However, you picked 2 very different styles.  That same day you spent the night with Grandpa & Grandma and they took you to a fall festival in their neighborhood.  I am grateful for the cute pics they snagged of you two that night:

 

 

On Halloween night, we were one of the first families out as we started walking down the street a little after 6.  If it weren't for my numerous pre-trick-or-treating picture requests, we would've been even earlier!

  So many of our neighbors had their porches decorated.

 But the best porch was the one we drove to to end the night...

It was such a fun night and you two both looked adorable!  

Now I just need to stop reaching into your treat baskets!!