Soccer Class

I am woefully behind on posts and have lots to catch up on, but that will have to wait for another day. Today, however, we have video and a picture to share from Alex's first soccer lesson. He had a great time but complained on the way home that it wasn't really soccer because they didn't play a game. He kept watching the older kids on the field next to us and wanting to play with them.

In his uniform, getting the hang of being on the field.

Click here to see him doing a jumping drill.

Click here to see them working with the ball, freezing, and then kicking and running when the "avalanche" comes. Alex is on the left of the screen.

Back Seat Driving

Alex often likes to help point out parking spaces, but yesterday he went in to full-on back seat driver mode. We were in heavy traffic on the expressway when I hear this from the back seat: "Mommy, we need to be in a different lane." Then, a few minutes later, when I hadn't moved I hear: "Why haven't we changed lanes? That lane is moving faster."

Happy Halloween

Traffic conspired against us, but we made it home in time to do some Trick-or-Treating. Or, as Alex likes to call it, Happy Trick or Treat!

We weren't quite sure what costume Alex would wear tonight. For the last two years he was a monkey. That costume is a bit too small for him, but when we went to the Zoo's Halloween festivities, he wanted to wear it. He and Dave also built a robot costume a month or so ago that we thought would make a great Halloween costume.  They labeled it the XF-17 after a Curious George episode called "Robot Monkey." (I think you can see where this story is going...) So, on the big night, he decided to go full-on George and dress as the Robot Monkey. Even though he regularly took off the robot part of the costume to make it easier to navigate candy collection, he loved being a robot monkey and was a big hit in the neighborhood.

At the start of our night

Trick or Treat!

Robot Monkey

Enjoying the spoils

Big Boy Bed

Alex has graduated out of the toddler bed and into a real big boy bed. He loves it! Of course it is decked out in Toy Story sheets, so we stacked the deck a bit. Now the next project will be wall paper removal and new paint.

Day Trip to Michigan

We had a fun adventure traveling to Michigan today. Our friends Dan and Reva gave us a heads up about a Harvest Festival at an orchard in Union Pier. We made a day of it and spent about an hour hiking in Warren Woods State Park, made a quick stop in Sawyer (where Alex saw the tallest scarecrow I've ever seen -- it was about two stories high and had two pumpkin heads), and then headed to the festival. The festival had apple pizza, apple pie, and homemade ice cream. We had a tractor ride, picked apples and pears, and listened to some fun music, including a jug band. It was a great way to take advantage of this wonderful weather we are having.

Hiking with a stick

In the "cave" made by a fallen tree

Checking out a spider making its web

More fallen trees

Apple picking

Having fun in the apple trees

Tractor ride!

Birthday Party Fun

We had a fun party at the house for Alex's birthday with some of his best buddies: Cecily, Nicholas, and Owen, as well as Owen's sister Maddi. Alex had been asking for a party at Pump It Up for months. We weren't going to go that route, but we were fortunate enough to have a friend who has a reasonably sized bounce house that we could fit in our basement (after moving the couch and coffee table out of the way). Bouncing was a big hit! We also had a book exchange (that did not go as smoothly as I had hoped, which was my fault), and the kids did an art project to make bookmarks, keeping with the book theme. The other theme of the party was Toy Story, which Alex loved, especially the cake.

In the bounce house with Cecily

Even Maddi spent some time in the bounce house

It didn't take long for Nicholas
and Owen to find the trucks.

Busy crafters

Alex made a circus bookmark

Owen even joined in!

The Toy Story cake

Alex was "hiding" while everyone sang

Alex and Cecily enjoying cake

Phase 1 of the book exchange

Happy 4th Birthday Alex!

Hard to believe it, but the little guy is now four years old. Here are a few pictures of today's fun, with more to come. (We recently changed operating systems, and the pictures are giving me some headaches.)

Passing out birthday cupcakes to his classmates.

The happy birthday boy!

More cupcakes. This time with frosting and a candle.