Oma & Mommy's Birthday Celebration

 A delay in posting but wanted to share.  In September Oma came up to help out with the kids while I took my Neurology certification boards.  This was right over both her & my birthdays and so we were able to celebrate together.  There is a great bakery near us which have cakes ready to pick up and personalize.  This was a choice which is not often seen.  I was told it was an order that was canceled that day and they were trying to 'get rid' of it.  What an opportunity.  The cake was gorgeous and I knew everyone would love it.  Izzy especially did as the flower were edible.

The best birthday present was..... I PASSED! (though I didn't know about that then)  

 A surprise was a beautiful Indian summer day.  We took the opportunity to drive up to NH in the White Mountains.  We took a short day hike through Franconia Notch State Park to view Flume Gorge and the beginning of autumn with the leaf changes.

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Christmas Cookies

 During Oma & Opa's visit, we partook in the tradition of decorating Oma's Christmas cookies.  This year was Victoria & Micah's first time.  The both liked to simply dump the sprinkles.

 Izzy loved it.  We had to have a contest of who decorated the best one.  Opa & Izzy decorated snowmen with some fine details.

 Micah nibbles on a cookie while decorating.  The rest of us also had a taste before they were stored in the freezer for later.

Thanksgiving with Oma & Opa

 We were grateful to have Oma & Opa visit for Thanksgiving.  On Thanksgiving we celebrated as well with my upstairs neighbor, Michelle, and her parents.  It was fun celebrating with friends and family.

 In true Thanksgiving celebration, we went to the place were the 1st Thanksgiving originated... Plimoth Plantation.  It was great to learn the history of Thanksgiving.  We were able to met members of the Wampanoag tribe who still reside in this area.

 Anything with water is always fun.  Even these out of commission canoes.

 Inside a traditional Wampanoag hut.  There were nice because it was so cold outside.  But I have no clue how anyone can stand the amount of smoke the fires produced.

 Then it was off to the English village of Plimoth.  The villagers kept to the 1600 times in speach, dress and demeanor.  It was exponentially funny to her Opa say 'Merry Chirstmas' just to be told to keep that to himself.  At that time, religious holidays were not celebrated outwardly.  However, she smiled and said that anything could happen behind closed doors.

 The final stop was visiting the Mayflower II.  A replica of the original Mayflower.  Hard to imagine 102 people in this boat crossing the ocean.

 On Thanksgiving, we headed out to the park.  It has snowed a bit the night before which lead to an impromptu snow ball fight with Opa.

One night the adults took in a very humorous show... 'Shear Madness'.  We were still laughing one the way home.  We also enjoyed some traditional German food at Jacob Wirth Co Restaurant.  On the menu was beers from Bitburger Brewery; memories from Di and Shane's stay in Germany.

Happy Halloween!

 Happy Halloween!  As with every other year, LCSH held their annual Halloween party.  We've been going to it since Izzy started there.  Though she's now in Kindergarten, she came dressed ready to party.  The party is always held in the park across the way.  While Izzy was Elsa, Micah & Victoria were dressed in the theme of Grease.  Micah was a T-bird and Victoria was a Pink Lady.  It was a good choice since the weather was a bit chilly this year.

 A preview to come of how many Elsa's were to be out there trick-or-treating.

 Every year Wayne comes and plays.  His songs are known by heart in our family.

 We then met up with Izzy's friend, Bonnie, to trick-or-treat in the neighborhood.  There is a street that closes to car for trick-or-treating.  That neighborhood really has the spirit of Halloween.  Izzy & Bonnie did well getting candy.  Victoria was very observant and figured out quickly that she could get candy by walking up to houses.  Once she figured this out, she kept repeating 'I walk' to avoid the stroller.  Unlike her, Micah preferred the stroller for 1/2 of the trick-or-treating.  Victoria was a great sister always bringing him a treat back for his bag.  When he was done eating a sucker, he then wanted out to get some more treats with his sister.

 Even Santa was out handing out candy instead of presents.

 Doing well once they figured out how it is done!

 The best house was decorated like a pirate ship.  There were all sorts of moving parts, lights and sounds.  Quite a sight.  A bit scary to go up through the treasure chest area to get the candy but the lure of candy out weighed the fear.

Neurology Halloween Toy Box

 Every year the Neurology Department (as well as other hospital departments) create a theme for Halloween.  There is then a contest between departments with a winner declared later that day.  This year's theme was 'Toy Box'.  Everyone dressed up as something you could find in a toy box.  Other themes included Star Wars, Toy Story and Welcome to the Jungle.

I decided to be a Rubik Cube.  Izzy asked what that was.  More adults got a kick out of the costume.

The hit of our department was Barbie & Ken.  Truly very funny and fun to be at work.  Yet another reason why working in a pediatric field is a blessing.

Fish, Fun & Fright

 This past week, the New England Aquarium held their annual Fish, Fun and Fright night.  It is a costume party for all with prizes for both adults and kids.  There are several trick-or-treating stations throughout the aquarium.  Throughout the night there were activities such as a hula-hoop contest, drink contest and freeze dance contest.  Scattered throughout the aquarium were items on a treasure hunt list.  To enjoy the holiday spirit, I took Izzy and one of her best friends, Bonnie, to the event.

Just as many other little girls this year, both Bonnie & Izzy were Elsa from Disney's Frozen.  In addition, there were many other Elsa's running around the aquarium making keeping track of them slightly hilarious.

 Saying hi to the baby seal who was more than happy to play for the crowd.

 At the trick-or-treat stations, you had to earn the treat.  Each station included a sign of what was required to receive the treat.  They were all related to an aquarium / water theme.  They had to squawk like bird, run in slow motion like Baywatch, dance the hula and balance a ball on a tray.

 In the main aquarium, there were divers and carved pumpkins everywhere.  The diver above saw Izzy & Bonnie and tried to get them to act out part of the move Frozen.  When she got out, she saw Izzy and said hi.  She wanted to know if Izzy knew what she was.... Fish 'n Chips!

The finale was Freeze Dance in the DJ tent.  There was so much action that even my camera couldn't keep up.  Everyone did so well the DJ had to change the rule to freeze standing on one foot and then freeze standing on no feet to finally get people out of the game.  Though the girls didn't win, they had a great time.