Halloween

Alana was feeling a bit poorly in the afternoon, when we went to have an early dinner at Nothing But Noodles on Erie Blvd (kids in costume eat free!), but she recovered in time to go trick or treating. We went around the block while Grandma covered the door at our house. Then Larry got home and took Caleb to a few more streets. (Cal wanted to go with Philip, but he was not home!)

Yummy soup

Once the kids were settled, I cooked up this lentil soup using the rainbow chard that I bought at the farmer's market outside Natur-Tyme yesterday- this is James Beard's recipe, which I got online. I left out the lemon and the flour, and added some chicken broth to make it a little soupier. It was even better the next day - the garlic flavor became more pronounced.

ARE party

Spent an hour at the school Halloween party, but the kids, especially Alana, were disappointed that more of their friends weren't there to play with. We then met Grandma and Grandpa, who drove up from NJ and hadn't had dinner yet. We took them to Kirby's, which they enjoyed.

Caleb's party

Caleb was a lot happier than he looks here, at his classroom Halloween party. (The teacher asked that they not wear their costumes, but it was crazy hat day.) I volunteered to be one of the parent helpers, though, as usual, my help wasn't really needed. It's worthwhile because I get a kick out of seeing Cal and his classmates. (His longtime friend, and sometimes nemesis, Joey, made sure to get into the photo.) His teacher, Mrs Nelson, is terrific!!! She dressed up in an adorable pumpkin costume and she seems so genuinely interested in all the kids.

Autumn in the park

Though Caleb was home sick from school, he was much better in the afternoon and we took Roxy for a walk in park, which is carpeted, in some areas, with beautiful golden leaves.


Someone went to a lot of trouble to create a stick bridge across a low area that gets flooded when it rains.

Caleb and friends

Had dinner at the Eckhardt's house tonight. They suggested that we bring Roxy along since she's a member of the family (I thought that was so sweet). Neil and Larry each made chicken wings, as a sort of cook off. The next showdown will be steaks (Jeff claims that he's very good at it!)

Halloween prep

Gorgeous day! Here are the kids carving pumpkins in the driveway.

And a photo of the final result (in case you can't tell: a progressive series of fish, the larger eating the smaller).

Playground

Alana at the park. That's Caleb's elbow on the right.

Doggie entertainment

I got a bag of pecans from Kevin and Julie (they have a tree in their yard in Dallas) and Caleb couldn't wait to pound a few open using a hammer (using a nut cracker is so dull!) For some reason, Roxy was fascinated.

YMCA Halloween party

Caleb is Michael Meyers (from Friday the 13th) and Alana is a bunny.

Syracuse airport

Larry brought the kids to meet me at the airport when I finally got back from Dallas/Chicago. Here they are waiting for my luggage. Caleb is wearing the hat that were given out at the conference.

Chicago Airport

I got stuck in the Chicago airport for several hours on my way home from Dallas today. I ended up switching airlines to get an open seat on a flight to Syracuse, and I had to go from Terminal 2 to 3. Lucky that I did - the connecting corridor was decorated with wonderful art. This is one of a series of colorful resin "chandeliers" hanging from the ceiling.

Later I saw this dinosaur in the hallway.

Dan in Dallas

I didn't think to have a photo taken at Kevin and Julie's house, so we asked a fellow traveler to snap us outside the airport.

Racing Roxy

Larry took this shot of Roxy racing through the park.

Firewood

The kids helped Larry stack firewood that was delivered by Smiley.

Tooth #3

Caleb lost yet another tooth first thing this morning, this one is next to the first tooth (the one that came out last week). Three teeth in 8 days - the Tooth Fairy is working overtime!

Lost tooth

Caleb lost another tooth at school today, after getting very upset last night and again this morning that the tooth would start bleeding every time he ate something. Mommy and Daddy are both very glad that this troublesome tooth is out!

Party prep

Alana wanted a giant cookie instead of cupcakes for her class party, so I made one - here she is decorating it with sparkly pink frosting that she picked out at the store. She drew a cat and a dog and some hearts and I added some flowers later.

Alana put together all the goodie bags for her classmates.

Lost tooth

Caleb's tooth has been loose for awhile. Today it came out when he was eating a bagel!

Book Party

Book-ended the weekend with book parties! This one was at Barnes and Noble, for the 4th in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, Dog Days. Then we went over to our friends house - Kate, Benjamin and Noah.

Park

Alana wanted to sit on this tree branch in the park when we took Roxy for a walk. She's sitting pretty and you can tell that it's cold.

Manlius Fall Festival

The kids had a blast at this event. Alana had a dog painted on her arm. (Not sure why this came out blurry.)



Alana climbed around the fire truck.

Caleb put out the fire (he was supervised!)

Simchat Torah

The kids always enjoy this program at Temple Concord. I left my phone at home, so I didn't take any photos, but Alana and I were lucky enough to get into a shot taken by Marc Safran (the sort of official/unoffical Temple photog) - I stole this one off his website.

Lunch at McDonald's

Alana at the bottom of the slide.

The Pumpkin Patch

Wanted to pick pumpkins on this gorgeous day, but it turns out this local place that my friend Rachel recommended just has them displayed in the yard - they do the picking themselves. Too bad, but we had a good time anyway.

Junie B Jones

Alana had such a good time at this program at Borders, but I'm so mad at myself that I didn't get a photo - she and her friend Camrie were sitting up front and I didn't want to maneuver myself up there to get a shot of them.

In the park

Kids climbing the "dirt pile" in the park.

Sycamore Hills Garden

Took a tour of this terrific garden. I had bought the ticket at the Westcott Street Fair - it benefits Women Transcending Boundaries, a local interfaith group. Here the kids are feeding the koi.

Sitting on one of several bridges.


Alana hitting the gong.

Alana sitting on a rustic bench.

Alana hugging one of many statues.

More at the garden

The kids riding panthers!


Caleb hitting a bell.

Caleb riding a crocodile statue.

Caleb and the dragon!

Mommy in the garden

With the minotaur in the center of the maze!


Resting on a bench by the pond.



Kissing statue!

Birds of Prey show

I didn't take any photos, but we had a wonderful time at the Stone Quarry Art Park, which hosted Talons! "birds of prey experience," with falconer Lorrie Schumacher. We saw 2 owls, a hawk, a falcon and a raven. Fun and interesting. And the weather was great! We stopped at the Cazenovia farmer's market on the way home and got corn and tomatoes and some locally raised beef (it's what for dinner!)

Sukkot

Went to the temple tonight to decorate the sukkah, eat pizza (I brought leftover GF ziti), and attend the shabbat service. These photos are poor quality, but worth posting because it shows how much fun the kids had. Here Caleb is helping hang the paper chain (he's up in the choir loft).


After dinner, Alana was fooling around in the social hall - you can't tell but this is Geo Engel and Noah Satterlee with her.