Hugs

"Cumpins"

Makett and Tanzen loved all things Halloween. We loved expanding (well, technically, creating) their Halloween vocab, and they loved finding pumpkins, witches, and ghosts around town. Pumpkins, aka "Cumpins", were their fav, and they were ecstatic when we bought some to bring home.

The squirrels kept nibbling on them, so we figured we better officially carve them before the squirrels finished them off.

They were shocked when Brandon started cutting into the pumpkin- I love the look on Ket's face.

Tanny was brave enough to get his hand gooey in the pumpkin...Ket watched with a look of trepidation. He doesn't like getting his hands (or feet) dirty. Really-- has the same issue with play dough and sand.

They wanted a happy pumpkin and were very pleased with Daddy's smiley Cumpin.
Lighting them became a nightly ritual, they loved putting the fire in and then trying to blow them out.

It's been 3 weeks since we had to throw the pumpkins away, and they're still asking for them. If Halloween decor was so much fun, I can't wait till Christmas!

Light Drift

There was a 3 day, interactive lighting installation along the banks of the Schuylkill river which we loved seeing. There were light chairs along the banks with sensors in them, which interacted with the floating orbs in the water.

The artist, J. Meejin Yoon, described the installation:

"The resting state of the field is a constant state of green. When a visitor approaches a land orb, the orb will start an “enticement mode” by pulsing between blue and green. If a visitor sits on the orb, the pulsing will transition to a blue state. The water orbs that align with the land orb will change colors at the same time, creating a linear extension of blue lights in the water."

Tanzen and Makett wished we could take one of the land orbs home!

Walking the dog

Yes, we still have a dog...Khylo just isn't featured as prominently since Makett and Tanzen came into our family. They love taking Khy for walks.

The great kite rescue

Our fantastic kite flying days had a tragic ending a month or so ago. Not to worry, Brandon came through for us! Makett and Tanzen were pretty traumatized when we had to leave our kite in the poison ivy covered tree it got stuck in. Brandon was determined to rescue it, so, armed with his rock climbing rope we headed back to the park.

The boys watched in breathless anticipation...the tension was palpable, could Daddy do it?

Brandon's Search and Rescue training paid off-- after several attempts, the kite was freed!

It was a joyous reunion.

Brandon paid dearly for this rescue...turns out the kite was in the tree long enough to get poison ivy, so Brandon had his fourth or fifth case of poison ivy since we've moved to Philly. What dedication!

Linvilla Orchards

We splurged and took the boys on a hay ride with some friends...I thought the overpriced ride was well worth it! Tanzen and Makett have talked about riding the tractor to the witch's house for weeks, about seeing pumpkins, stars in the sky (something these city kids hadn't really seen!) and eating cookies and apple juice.
Days before we took Tanny to have his egg allergy challenged, and much to our joy he can now eat eggs! He was so surprised when the witch was handing out cookies and I gave him one. He turned to me and said, "What's this?!"

We roasted marshmallows after the hay ride, I'm not sure what Tanzen was thinking...

Random...

Nothing like kicking your feet up on a car and relaxing while you drink your morning milk.

Ket and Tanz love driving their cars along this overpass over Rt 1...makes me nervous, which is probably why they love it so much!

Brandon and Tanny braved the rain to pick the grapes Brandon planted. Made some excellent grape juice!

Hanging with Daddy at the park

Birthday boys!

They were all about blowing out the candles...the cake, not so exciting, but the fire? Loved it! I have more pictures from family birthday parties somewhere (seeing as I'm pretty behind on pictures I figured I'd at least get these going). They were lucky enough to celebrate with both sides of the family, thanks!