Turkey Trot 2014

We started out Thanksgiving Day the same way we did last year - by participating in a local 1 mile race!  Our day started out extra-early for some reason so we were feeling a little slow with some cereal and Disney Jr before getting bundled up for the race...

 

Clare was excited for the race, but not for pre-race pictures:

This year's race was a little warmer than last year but thanks to the Nor'easter that had just cleared out, the trail part of the course was super-muddy!  Clare started the race on Mommy's back, but the promise of stomping through mud and puddles got her running in earnest:

Sean and Daddy were way ahead of us - I got a snap of them finishing from across the track - see if you can pick them out:

Clare took a break to pose by the 3 mile sign for the 5K race:

After finishing, Sean double-backed to see how Clare was doing.  She was pretty tired when rounding the last bend, so Seanybear helped her out:

And he walked with her and helped her to the finish!

With their prizes:

And with their post-race hot chocolate - Sean shared his with Clare after she dropped hers :-) 

After refueling, we went home to watch the New York and Philly Thanksgiving Day parades on TV before spending the holiday with our families.

Gobble Gobble

The kids have done so many lessons and projects this month about Thanksgiving and sharing - Sean's class had a "feast" today in which each child brought a snack to share - Sean brought Pirates Booty  yum!  Clare's class had lunch over at the middle school in the cafeteria - she said it was so fun! And here they are showing off just a few of their crafts- necklaces, hats, and a big sign :-)  

Happy Thanksgiving!

And I can't resist a quick flashback to 2010 when Seany was 18 months old:

Gobble Gobble! 

Sean Sooy, soccer star!

This past weekend was Sean's last weekend of soccer in the town's Under-6 league.  This year he was on the "Green Eagles" (boo Eagles!) and he had a great season thanks to a great team roster - a bunch of his friends from his Pre-K class!

The very first game of the season was a beastly hot day.  The game was at 8:30 am, but the poor boys (and the spectators) were melting on the spot!

We enjoyed other games in the autumn weather with only one game getting called off for rain.  Seany's really improved over the past year and he's found that he especially likes to play defense.

Clare is an amazing cheerleader - she loves to watch Sean play (and help eat the halftime and post-game snacks).  But she'd really like to join the town's Girls' Under-6 league next year when she's FOUR!  :-)

This is a picture I snapped right after Sean scored a goal :-)

The last game of the season was super duper cold!  So cold!  Seany wore his purple minion hat to keep his ears warm and give him energy:

But after a banana break at halftime, he turned his hat to the yellow minion:

For the second half of the last game, the parents played against the kids!  Sean had a rough go of it - one player's mother hip-checked him to the ground (whoops) and his own Daddy scored on the kids (whoops again).  But after the game...

...trophies were handed out to the boys!

 

Sean and some of his pals - he's known these guys since they were 2 years old - or younger!

 
After the last game, the coaches hosted a little party at Dunkin Donuts!  Sean was thrilled because he got to eat a doughnut with his friends and Clare was thrilled since she got to sit at the super-cool "sister table" with two other sisters of the players:

We tried to get one last team picture and this was probably the best shot I could get:

Hello again

We took the kiddos to Old Navy this weekend to get Clare a winter coat and some long-sleeved shirts for Sean.  The line at the register was super-long and the kids were starting to lose their composure, so I took them up to the front of the store for a change of scene.  The kids started to pet and "feed" the dog mannequin...

Then they moved on to chatting to the people mannequins...

  
...and Sean was reunited with the little friend he met back in the fall of 2011  :-)

Crayons

Two kids and two very different pronunciations of the word "crayon"...

Sean says "craylon"

and Clare says "crown"

Happy Halloween!

We kicked off our Halloween 2014 by going to a parade in a nearby town last weekend.

There were Mummers, of course...

and lots of Lego floats...

This was Sean's favorite float - the Monster Jail!

The kids brought their buckets, of course, to collect lots of candy!

"Trick-or-treat!" the little doughnut and her protector, Venom, would shout out!

Sean said that Clare got more candy than he did because she was so cute and he was too scary :-)

Thursday night, we went to a fall carnival at Sean's school.  The kids played games like ring-toss pumpkin:

And this pumpkin-broom game:

And pumpkin bean-bag toss:

Next-up was a doughnut on a string game - the kids waited patiently together for their turn:

And then they were off!

And a little video:

After a few more games, we went home and the kids were excited for the next day - Halloween!

Clare's parade was first thing on Friday morning - the little doughnut was so excited for her parade and her party!!

Here comes Clare's class - full of Annas and Elsas!

The whole school was prepared to recite a poem for us - "Five Little Pumpkins":

After the poem, the kids went inside for their parties.  A little after lunchtime, Mommy and Daddy headed over to Sean's school to see his parade.  The Kindergarten classes paraded separately from the rest of the school...

...and they set up to recite a poem for the spectators...

"Five Little Pumpkins!"

After the parade, Mommy got to help out with Sean's class party and I got to take him home right after school!  After getting Clare from her school, Daddy helped the kids carve our giant pumpkin and turning it into a giant jack-o-lantern:

And then it was nearly time for trick-or-treating, so after a quick dinner, we met up with our neighbors and went around the neighborhood to fill up the kids' buckets!  We stopped to admire this elaborate display:

The whole gang:

And the kids liked playing with this spider decoration that would jump out at the kids when they got close to it...

Posing with Mommy (a bank robber).  The kids are already talking about what they want to dress as next year - either Power Rangers or characters from "Wreck-It-Ralph."

Happy Halloween!