Breakfast with Santa

I think this is the 3rd year we've done breakfast with Santa at same restaurant.  We'll see if all gift requests are granted, the kids were pretty quiet for the most part -- they each made a couple of reasonable requests that may show up under the tree.

The boys

Dylan and Steele are a perfect match.  Both are non-stop, bumps/bruises and spend roughly 4 hours a day running around the house in boxer briefs.

The girls

Maddie and Sienna meshed well together, played the whole time -- only a little bit of mischief.  It was tough to separate these two, especially when we had to leave.

Trip to Phoenix

All of the cousins got together for Thanksgiving in Phoenix.  These were taken on the last day, the kids had a great time with each other!

Self Defense

Madison's girl scout troop went to self-defense class last weekend.  During class the instructor taught the kids some key maneuvers (Brazilian Jiu Jitsu style) in the event of stranger danger.  I was impressed with the class, kids had a good time too, I really enjoyed the fact that he didn't water it down -- taught the kids well.

Red Wings Superfan

I think this guy may be the most dedicated Red Wings fan out there (for his age group at least)!

We watch every game together -- usually catch entire 1st period and half of the 2nd before he has to go to bed -- then he checks highlights in the morning once he gets up.

Dylan checks NHL.com almost every morning as well (I give him 10 mins of viewing time each day) -- you can tell when he mentions that the Red Wings are in 8th place.  First thing he does before watching highlights is check where the Red Wings rank overall in the league.

Here he is listing off the entire roster in random order.

Halloween'14

Weather wasn't the best, but that didn't stop the festivities -- kids made a killing at night, two full bags of candy.  From there we went over to Madison and Dylan's friends house for a small gathering -- for the kids and parents.

Fall'14 Season - Dylan

Dylan wrapped up his season as well.  Maddie likes to play defense, Dylan - offense.  Smallest kid out there, 2-3 goals per game (best on his team).  The only "red shirting" going on for this kid is his jersey.

Fall'14 Season - Madison

Another season complete, Madison improved quite a bit from the prior year.  I can tell the teams are starting to get more competitive now, along with some over-the-top parents (already).  Maddie's team is still together playing indoors now, keeping fresh for spring season.

Quick change

As weather always does in the Northeast, we quickly shifted from Summer to Fall... and the leaves started to come down.  For the kids, it's 30 minutes of fun -- for the parents, it's 8 hours of raking exercise.

Red Wings Game

The whole family went to the Red Wings game last night for a late birthday party for Dylan.  His birthday was the first day of school and we promised him after a month that he could have a party at our house with new friends from Kindergarten.  Then we gave him an option:  Red Wings game, or party at house with friends -- not much thought was required.

Everyone had a blast, however the Wings gave up a late goal with 23 seconds left and lost 3-2.  It didn't matter for D, he got to see Nyquist score his 2nd goal of the season right in front of us (sweet wrist shot, top shelf), octopus was thrown on ice right in front of us and Madison made it on the scoreboard twice!!  The octopus happened to get tossed on ice right as Cathy was going to the concession stand -- which led to questioning as to whether she was the guilty party or not!  The crowd went crazy... and for the record, Mom was innocent.  We all had a great time, hopefully we can make this a tradition!

Family in Town

Avery and Chelsea came to visit last weekend and the cousins played together the whole time -- kickball, legos, dolls, laser tag, etc...   Of course we also took the time to go out to dinner and visit the local watering hole after the kids passed out for the evening as well.

These pics were from a nearby cider mill, we took a quick trip out there right before the gang left.