I Love Halloween...Can't Wait for April Fool's!

Welcome Box Elder Bugs

Box elder bugs are crawling in every sunny window in our house.  They came out in droves today and will be sharing our home for the next two months.  It seems a little freaky and usually I have a really hard time with bugs, but when these guys get in the house, they're really not in a hurry to go anywhere, generally stay by the windows (so they're not lurking under pillows or in shoes like the cockroaches in Dallas!), and while they fly outside, they don't really fly at you in the house.  Guess they're pretty tame house pets.  We better be comfortable with them because they're here to stay for a while.

Enjoying Fall

 

 

A hay ride, apple picking and fresh apple cider at Farnsworth Farms.

Nicholas is Still Cruisin'

Last night Nicholas asked if we could have dinner 'like in a restaurant.'  "Bring the bread first.  And then we'll wait a really long time for the rest of the food."  Christopher has been requesting a candlelight dinner.  So at 5:30 p.m. we lit candles in the dining room and ate "restaurant style."

Today I asked Nick if he wanted an egg for breakfast.
Nick:  Yes, on a French muffin.
Angela:  English muffin?
Nick:  Yeah, an English muffin. Scramble it and make it like a sandwich.
Angela:  We don't have any English muffins.  How about toast?
Nick:  (Sighs) Fine.  Scrambled on toast.   With an orange.  And a bowl of cereal.  And some orange juice.

Anything else, Nicholas?

Disney Magic!

Two years ago when we returned from our first Disney Cruise, we had two families who said if we ever went again, they wanted to come with us.  Cruising with friends is the best way to go.  When all the kids have a friend to hang out with, it's a dream vacation for everyone!

So we started to plan.  And we started to tell everyone.  And friends told their friends.  In the end, 11 families came--22 adults and 36 children!  And we all HAD A BLAST! 

We met new friends and got to know friends better.  The kids got to run around the ship like they owned the place.  Christopher and 7 friends were able to run around with freedom that 8-year-olds only dream about.  Courtney's hang-out for teens was open with planned activities until 2:00 a.m!  Marty stayed out until midnight!  Suddenly we were thrust into teenage-dom full force--each night telling the kids to wake us up when they got back to the cabin!

We made stops in St. Maarten and St. Thomas.  The ocean was unbelievably clear and so fun to sit on the beach or play in the water.  In St. Thomas we fed the fish pieces of dog biscuits and they swarmed around waiting for food.  Just when I was beginning to wonder if they'd notice the dog biscuit in my other hand, a fish bit me!  Felt just like a puppy nipping at you.  Scared me to death, of course!  I chucked the biscuit and swam to shore as fast as I could.

We also visited Blackbeard the Pirate's Castle but unfortunately it was closed that day! 

Aaarrrgh Matey!

The last stop was Castaway Cay -- Disney's private island.  Our whole group hung out, swam and watched the kids play.  A torrential downpour interrupted lunch, but ended quickly and soon it was beautiful again.  A couple of hours later another downpour hit us, this time accompanied by thunder and lightning.  We had to grab our stuff and run for cover and everyone headed back to the ship.

When the cruise ended (still makes me sad that it's over!) we visited Kennedy Space Center with two other good friends.  We've been before but it's so inspiring and amazing to be standing in the place where man-made rockets actually fly into outer space.  A common quote seen around the Space Center is "Failure is Not an Option."  Love it!

We arrived home to Fall which is a wonderful welcome home present!