Sunday, October 26, 2008
Biking
The day here was so beautiful, there were lots of horses on the trails, lots of runners and other cyclists. We looked so athletic with that huge rack on the back of the van!!
After the exercise, we snacked on orange slices, pretzels and diet sodas. It was a terrific afternoon.
Last night was a lot of fun too! Alek and I went to a Halloween party at one of his friend's house, and Ben and Gary had a special night out. They started at the NC Museum of Art, then went out to a Japanese Steakhouse for dinner, then went to our favorite game store, All Fun and Games, and bought a 300 piece puzzle. They completed it this afternoon, so after the bike ride we stopped by and bought another. We have a special table that's perfect for puzzles, and my parents got us one of those felt puzzle keepers a couple years ago. So, if they put that down first, they can then move the puzzle at any time.
Right now, were taking baths early so we can watch A Series of Unfortunate Events tonight. Hope your weekend was great!
Saturday, October 25, 2008
Walking With Dinosaurs
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Rearrange: the play room
Rearranging: the play room
After arranging the living room, I vacuumed downstairs and was motivated to work in the play room. WOW, does it ever look different! Without the piano, I could move the couch against the wall, pull the 'train table/coffee table' out to the middle of the room, and add a side lamp on a small side table. Love it! Now it really looks spacious for Mom & Dad's visit next weekend.
I'm trying to load the video ... keep checking back for it!
Rearranging: the living room
Monday, October 20, 2008
Mountain Climbing. a. to secure (a person) by attaching to one end of a rope. b. to secure (a rope) by attaching to a person or to an object offering stable support.
Mountain Climbing. a rock, bush, or other object sturdy enough for a running rope to be passed around it to secure a hold.
Basically, we hold the bottom of the rope using a device so that Ben won't come crashing down off the wall. We're literally holding his life in our hands. This was a pretty serious training, and we learned a lot. We both passed, so now we can take Ben on the manual belay courses on the rock climbing wall any time it's open. This is great, because it's one of the few activities Ben enjoys.
After belay class, we head up to Duke University for their football game. We stayed through the first half. I have to say, I'm biased coming from the Big 10, because I had high expectations for an Ivy League school ... the stadium was old, the technology was old, and the band was small. Not too impressive. But a bit better than the UNC game we went to last year, which was more like a high school stadium. I guess NC State is the local place to see a great football game ... and so goes the local rivalry ...
Anyway, after the game we came home and had a quick dinner and ended the night with a few songs on Rock Band.
Sunday morning we slept in and then headed out to the North Carolina State Fair. What fun! We rode rides, ate corn dogs and stuff, walked through the exibits, held the baby ducks and ended the day at the Tractor Pull. It was rather cold, so we were ready to come home after 5 hours. We like going on Sunday morning because the attendance is low, and then we can leave early afternoon when it starts getting crowded.
We just hung out for the rest of the day and night, and went to bed early. Everyone was up and ready to go to school this morning ... we're hoping for the best ... later!
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
More Chicago Pictures










Pictures from Chicago









Lucas, Andrea, Ben, Ashley, Lauren, Alek
Crazy #3 (more car videos)
Monday, October 13, 2008
Crazy Car Rides
These are only 2 of the 10 crazy videos they made ... more tomorrow!
Alek eats a vegetable!
Anyway, here's the recipe!
Veggie Noodle Soup
6 C water
4 t low sodium chicken buillion
1 pkg creamy chicken Ramen Noodle package (seasoning & noodles)
1 - 14 oz can diced tomatoes
2 C frozen Brocolli Normandy mix (brocolli, carrots, cauliflower, green & yellow squash)
1 C Potatoes O'brien (afterwards, I decided this could be left out since the noodles make enough starch)
3 T basil
1 t Salamida's Pinch (or your favorite seasoned salt)
2 t pepper
Bring the water, buillion, ramen seasoning package, and tomatoes to a boil. Add in the vegetables & potatoes, and bring back to a boil. let it simmer until the veggies are soft as you'd like them, then add in the seasoning and noodles and simmer a bit longer.
I made this in about 30 minutes total tonight.
Friday's Lunch
Thursday Videos
Andrea, Ashley and Lauren picked us up at the airport, and were there as we walked out of the terminal. We passed Mark Consuelos on the way (btw, Andrea, he was on Ugly Betty this week! and I heard he was at an Obama fund raiser in Chicago Friday night, hosted by Oprah). We went directly to her house (Andrea's house, not Oprah's) and spent the evening there ...
I'm going to be posting several videos over the next few blogs ... many were made by the cousins, and can probably only be appreciated by the grandparents and parents and the kids themselves. They had a great time using the Flip Video - it's so easy to use and small - they could manage it themselves, and record their craziness!
Trip to Chicago

Ben, Ashley, Andrea, Lucas, Lauren, Marna, Alek
We flew into Chicago on Thursday afternoon and the kids spent the evening playing football and bikes at Andrea's house. We had perfect weather, perfect flights.
On Friday we planned to go to the Museum of Science and Industry, and our way into the city the kids saw the huge Sears Tower, so we took a detour and visited it! There were no lines, and the weather was clear and sunny - a perfect day to visit! We even got this wonderful picture of all 5 squirrely kids looking great!
I have many more pictures and videos ... stay tuned!
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Working too much
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Game Night
So we had game night. A fun round of KinderBunnies which Daddo won, followed by a round of our new favorite, Rummykub, which Daddo won. We were afraid Ben would never play again, because he played for the first time Sunday night and didn't even get to make his first play (your first play has to total 30 points or more) before Daddo won. Alek has won about 3 times in Rummykub. I've won once. We just started playing two weeks ago. It's a fun game.
We're also enjoying Bananagrams, which is similar to scrabble, although without all the rules. Ben and Alek have amazed me with all the words they can spell. It's really good for the 3rd grade and up learner.
Ok, time for bed ... goodnight!
(Reggie - I'm checking to see how fast your new blog updates the date of my most recent blog after I save this!)