Evan's 9th Birthday

Evan is in his last year of single digits. I can't believe he's 9 already. That's pretty old. I need to stop viewing him as my baby. I sort of don't love doing big class birthdays anymore, and sort of encouraged Ryan to opt for no classmate party or very small gatherings for the past couple years. I wanted to do the same with Evan, but he's such a social bug and LOVES to be with his peers, it's hard to say no. As a result, he ended up gathering with 12 friends and family members to celebrate at a local pizza/ice cream/play place last week to celebrate his special day.

They make their ice cream with liquid nitrogen, which is fun to watch.

Burke made him a football cake! 

Nana sent a sparkler birthday candle, which was a fun surprise for him. The sparkler goes out on his own, so he didn't "make a wish." We asked him about that,  he said it was okay, he already made a wish. He said we wished for "sunflowers in his pants." I have no idea what that means or why he said that, but his friends all laughed. He's a lovable weirdo!

After the party, we went back to my parents to open a few more gifts from family. Ryan and Evan take a moment to investigate some new Pokémon cards. 

Presents!

card from Ryan

He was so exhausted after playing so hard at his party.

The next day, we went out to breakfast and then to Sawyer Garden Center, which may become a bit of a cousin tradition. We'll see...

Later, Evan tried out his new guitar - a gift from Nana & Lolo!

Reading his new I Survived book from Aunt Sue Marshall. 

New U of M rubik's cube from JCCE on table.

Happy 9th birthday, baby boy - even though you're not such a baby anymore. You are a smart, funny, sporty guy with lots of feelings and sass. Keep growing, and learning. We love you!

Thanksgiving 2018

We haven't traveled for Thanksgiving in many years. We were nervous about the Thanksgiving travel's reputation, so we left for O'Hare with tons of time to spare...just in case. Thankfully, everything went so smoothly getting to the airport and through security. We were at the terminal with HOURS to spare. Waiting was exhausting, but the boys handled it pretty well. 

I was in a different row from Burke and the boys, so I slept the entire flight. It was lovely. The flight seemed so quick to me. Soon we were in Denver to spend the holiday with the Lokey Family. We were very thankful to be with them for Thanksgiving. Burke and I couldn't recall a Thanksgiving spent with Keith & Karissa.

We ate at The Fort for Thanksgiving - fun atmosphere and beautiful scenery. Nice spot for a family picture.

We stopped at the quirky donut spot in Denver - Voodoo Donuts.

We took a festive holiday train ride in the Rockies on the Georgetown Loop Railroad.

The boys enjoyed this triple bunk.

Evan, always climbing, checking out the city view.

We walked around Denver a bit.

We stopped in Tattered Cover Book Store. This store was overwhelming in the best way - an amazing book store. Nana-claus bought everyone a book for an early Christmas present. So fun!

Before heading back to the airport for our evening flight, we spent some time at the Denver Art Museum, where Karissa is working. The boys liked this giant dust pan and broom, called Big Sweep, outside the museum. There was a witty list of sculpture dos and don'ts that the boys enjoyed. 

To connect with a Rembrandt exhibit, the museum offered some hands on creative experiences, which Karissa was eager to share with the boys. They had a super fun time with printmaking and sketching. 

It was a quick trip, but everything went smoothly, and we enjoyed time with family - so it doesn't get much better than that! Lucky us - Monday was a snow day for us! First one of the year.

Ryan made a pyramid of snowballs. 

Burke and the boys had a snowball fight. A snow man was built. All the fun wintery things. 

We hope you had a nice Thanksgiving too! 

Halloween 2018

Halloween is an odd holiday for our family. Ryan puts thought into his costumes, and enjoys the traditional festivities. On the other hand, Evan seems to not care too much about costumes. This year, he also talked about how he does not enjoy all the creepiness of the holiday. He was very happy for Halloween to be over, and for the decorations to come down. Even though our decorations are not the scary type. Sure enough, he had a hard time sleeping Halloween night. I guess it's just not his thing, and that's totally okay, it just makes it a little tricky to have a cohesive family Halloween vibe. Anyway...

Nevertheless, we celebrated. 

Ryan made this dancing skeleton in art class. 

We went to our traditional pumpkin farm. The boys were kind to let me take some pictures without them making gopher teeth.

They did a great job with their pumpkins this year. Both dug right in to scrape out the seeds. 

They also drew their own designs and poked guiding holes, so Burke could carve.

Ryan's final product

Evan's final product

At school, in 5th grade, one of the mom's came in with a fancy camera to take some festive pictures of our class.

Einstein and his beakers 

[this one's from my phone]

Back to fancy camera - She took an individual picture of every kiddo in the class, along with various group shots. She even put together this backdrop in the hall. Wow!

She was nice enough to take a picture of all the parent party helpers with their kiddos.

The entire school marches around the hallways and outside for our Halloween costume parade. I was able to snap this picture of spy Evan as his class passed by.

That same mom with the fancy camera snapped these during the outside portion of the parade. He was in character!

Even Burke [and his colleague Rachel] was in the holiday spirit. Though I tried to dissuade him, he dressed as Mr. Incredible for his bi-annual Halloween concert. Haha!

Finally, it was time to head out trick or treating.

Pondering science...

mustache added

serious spy

Sorting candy - Evan had to consider which types of candy he was able to eat with his expanders. No chewy goodies for him.

Happy Halloween 2018! 🎃