Pumpkin Carving

Al's First Snow

Pumpkin Patch Party

Halloween Howl

Pumpkin Picking

Feeding The Tiger at Topsfield Fair

On Saturday, the girls and myself ventured off to the Topsfield Fair - they had a great time - but the highlight was getting the chance to feed the tiger!

First Day of 4th Grade and Kindergarten

Today was the first day of school. I can't believe how fast these girls are growing. Olivia is starting 4th grade and Lexi is starting Kindergarten.

Meeting Alabaster

Two hours before we needed to be there, the kids couldn't wait any longer to meet Alabaster. Finally, just after 4pm he arrived on this truck. We meet a very shy Alabaster for the first time.
Al enjoys belly rubs.

But, he doesn't know how to go down the stairs, here PaPa tells him how much fun he can have running around the yard.

Al finally enjoys running around chasing the kids.

Alabaster

After discussing with the kids, we decided we needed to add another dog to our family. The kids were very sad to lose Mackenzie. So, here is our new little guy when he was a young pup waiting to come home to us from Arkansas.

A more current picture of Alabaster with his buddy Rooter.

RIP Mackie August 2000-August 2011

After an agonizing week, we decided that it was time to say goodbye to Mackie. Mackenzie lived a great life and experienced a lot with me. He was a good boy and will be sadly missed.

Chinese Culture Weekend - Day 2

After breakfast on Saturday, we enjoyed an introduction to acupuncture. Then, we learned to cook some traditional chinese dishes.
The kids made some chinese crafts in the kids clubhouse.

Before dinner, we took the kids down to the beach at the harbor.

After dinner, the kids enjoyed a round or town of ping pong.

Lobster dinner was served, my family ate mac and cheese and hotdogs.

Ellen enjoyed her lobster though!

We ended the night with many s'mores by the fire.

Chinese Culture Weekend - Bay Leaf Cottages

Left work early on a Friday and headed up to Lincolnville, ME with our friends Ellen and Anna for a chinese culture weekend. Hosted by Ask Jane in China!! Here is a picture of our cabin, luckily it had a/c as this was the end of the week that the temp went well over 100 degrees.

Big BooBoo

That is an awful big boo boo for a little girl. She slipped on her scooter and landed on her chin. OUCH!

Swimming in the Deflated Pool

The girls enjoyed swimming in their pool in the backyard, I am just not sure if they realized it was deflating. When I asked Lexi to show me going under water, she jumped up, held her nose and dunked down - unfortunately she never went under water as the water was too shallow.

Day 4 Jamestown & Williamsburg

I must say this area is very beautiful and definately worth visiting. Olivia dips her toes into the James River and they collected some sea shells
We saw a demonstration on how they made glass back in the day.

Here is a pic of the boats from a distance.

These are a few pics from Presidents Park - we tried to go there 3 times but they were never opened, so they may be permanently closed. This place is kind of neat, I could only get a few pics from the fence. This George Bush.

And of course, George Washington

Then, we spent a few hours walking around Colonial Williamsburg, which you don't really need a ticket for. This is the shoemakers house.

When we got in to town on Saturday, there were thousands of these tents set up, with the British invading and thousands of red coats.

This is the governors palace, set up for Governor Dunsmore era.