Ralph: Book Parade!

A few weeks ago Ralph came home from school announcing he wanted to be a Dalmatian for the book parade.  I look at the enclosed sheet in his backpack describing the book parade . . .dress as your favorite character and bring the book to parade around the school. 

  . . . okay, game on.   Being THAT mom that wanted to make her son happy I accepted the challenge.  The simplest way I could think of to make a Dalmatian costume was to get a white sweatsuit and put black dots on it.  Easier said than done.  It is nearly impossible to find a white sweatsuit.  Plan B or maybe C or D . . . I did an online search for no sew puppy costume and came across directions to make a no sew fleece puppy costume using the tying knot technique for fleece blankets to make the seams.  It required me to take measurements to know how big to cut some pieces and a lot of fringing/tying.  All in all, not too painful and a little fun to try something new.

The parade was the past Tuesday.  By the time I arrived the chairs lining the hallways were filled with parents and grandparents.  I found a great place to view the parade that allowed me to see him one direction and turn and watch him in another direction.  The parade made two laps around the school. . .at the end the students celebrated with juice boxes and cookies; the parents went back to work.

Fingerprints Fall Program

Fingerprints hosted their annual Fall Program on November 14.  Rather than a Christmas program they do a Fall Program so there's one less activity going on in December.

As the kids were waiting behind the curtain Henry and a few friends ended up near an opening and kept peeking out to see the crowd.

Ralph's school-age group started the program with a welcome rap and then the rest of the center joined them on stage.  We got lucky with the boys being positioned near each other; lucky because Ralph was supposed to be on the other side of the stage but someone in his group got in trouble so they moved some kids around.  Ralph was moved and ended up close to Henry . . .close enough to get them in the same frame. 

After a few group songs the kids sang songs the classes were broken down into a pairs and each "sang" a song.  Henry's group sang "Thank You Lord."  Henry had been singing and practicing at home leading up to the program I was curious how he would do on stage.  He did great!  He had his hips swaying, hands clapping, and toe tapping throughout the song.  He is such a ham at home it was fun to watch him not be too timid on stage.

Ralph's group did "Supernatural", a song with some high energy jumps and twists. You could tell it took some energy for him to keep up . .by Thursdays he is usually spent, still adjusting to no naps and maybe sleeping until 7:30 pm.  He looked like he was having a good time.

It was a fun program, even watching the kids in the other classes we do not know.  There's always some unpredictability that keeps things interesting and entertaining.

Halloween Happenings!

Ralph and Henry had plenty of opportunities to wear their Halloween costumes this year.   The boys were Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.  The decision to be Turtles was a bit tough - I didn't want to show them any costumes or books but wanted to hear it from them.   There were having trouble being creative and thinking outside the box so I broke down and showed them a costume booklet/ad.  Ralph opted for Ralphael, of course; Henry was Michaelangelo.

Last weekend I felt blessed to be done with October and to begin November!

Lincoln Children's Museum
While Ralph was busy a few nights Henry and I went to a few events on our own - the first was at the Lincoln Children's Museum.  It was the first event of the year and Henry was not quite sure about all the costumes (both children and adult). He also turned super shy without his fellow ninja turtle with him.  We had a good time in spite of his going solo.

Morrill Hall - "Fright at the Museum"
We attended this event two years; they did not have it last year.  The first two levels are geared to all ages.  The only "game" they had was a candy catapult in the great hall - the kids would pick up candy after it was catapulted to their area, other wise the trick or treaters just walked along trails stopping to trick or treat.  They also had volunteers with various small insects/spiders to provide education and a disco/dancing room with balloons to toss around.  We did visit the disco rom for a bit.

Women's Basketball Game/Haunted Hoops
We happened to go to the women's exhibition basketball game on Sunday, October 27.  They had a costume contest during halftime. Ralph surprisingly participated . . and ended up standing next to Lil Red.  He (along with all the other contestants) lost to an infant dressed like a Chick-Fil-A cow.  He understood it's hard to win anything when you are competing against a Chick-Fil-A cow.  There was supposed to be trick or treating along the concourse; we couldn't find it.

St Mark's Trunk or Treat
The same night we trick or treated at St. Mark's Trunk or Treat.  The weather was beautiful; the boys had a good time. 

St. John's Trunk or Treat
On October 30, we trick or treated at St. John's Trunk or Treat.  It was a little cooler than our previous trunk or treating at St. Marks but it could have been worse.  We also got a bit later start and it got a bit dark before we were done.

Halloween night
On Halloween, we picked up Tyson and his mom and journeyed to Waverly for their trick or treating at businesses.  The boys had fun with Tyson, and they ran into a few friends here and there.

The carving of the pumpkins!

In between all the Halloween related events we attended we found time to carve the pumpkins.  This photo does not really illustrate how much the enjoyed pulling the pumpkin guts out of the pumpkin and saying "ewww".

Ralph did draft how he wanted his jack o'latern to look on paper prior to the cutting but still had to provide some last minute instruction on the pumpkin.

 

In addition to carving these two pumpkins the boys also colored on two smaller pumpkins, unfortunately they were cropped out of the photo.

Ralph: Pumpkin Run 2013!

Ralph participated in his first mile run on October 19 at Pioneers Park Pumpkin Run . . .Runners were divided into 2 divisions with 6 heats in each division.  In all there were over 3700 runners.  I think a mile was longer than Ralph estimated but he made it through - probably didn't help I overdressed him just slightly.  We will begin training for the Mayor's Run early next spring . . just kidding.

Fall Festivies!

This entry could probably be broke into 3-4 posts as we kept busy this fall.  With the exception of the weather turning cooler and eventually meaning snow and winter, fall may be one of my favorite times of the year.  (in an effort to minimize the photos posted I selected ones the boys were in together.)

Apple Jack Festival
The boys and I traveled to Nebraska City in September for the Apple Jack Festival.  We did not venture to many of the weekend activities, mostly just the Tree Adventure at Arbor Day Farm.  We got an early start, before it was too crowded, and had a good morning on the nature trails - stopping to read signs and learn along the way, climbing 50 feet to reach the top of the Canopy Tower, playing/learning in the "nature explore classrooms", and climbing on a larger than life spider web.  We went through a corn maze; luckily we followed another family in as we both took our turns getting lost and finally found our way out.  After eating our picnic lunch, we spent quite a bit of time watching/attempting to pop larger than life bubbles.  On the way back to Lincoln we did stop at Kimmel Orchard which wasn't the best idea as it was the peak of the day and they were busier than busy.

Vala's Pumpkin Patch
Grandma and Grandpa took the boys and I to Vala's at the end of September - so nice that Ralph is in a booster so we can finally fit in one car!  Again, we arrived early to beat the crowd but still met a line at the entrance.  Luckily the lines were minimal most of the time.  The newest attraction was a "Big Slide" - reminiscent of the carnivals of my youth - the kind you walk up the stairs on the side and slide down on a burlap bag.  Ralph was quick to head up the stairs; I followed with his bag and one for Henry & I.  The boys could have slid down the slide many more times but after 4-5 times we opted to go on to another activity.  We also ventured through their corn maze which we did not do last year, along with the Barnyard Adventure Ride (similar to the barrel train but able to accommodate adults)..  The boys took their yearly horse ride; the few times I asked them at the zoo this summer they passed but happily agreed to ride the horses at Vala's without much hesitation.    The boys enjoyed many repeats from last year including the storybook barn, peddle trikes, ducky derby, jumping pillows, various play areas, corn play area, and the family country crusin.  Ralph did spy the apple sling shot and wanted to try it.  It's on the list for next year.

Bloom Where you are Planted
The boys and I, along with Grandma visited Bloom Where you are Planted in early October. It really is a great place for little kids.  Ralph remembered the mini wheelbarrows took one through the haymaze a few times.  They enjoyed helping us dress a scarecrow and the rubber ducky races.  They had a great time on the haybales and a new "slide".  We had the corn box to ourselves for awhile which worked out well since they only had two trucks in it. . .and luckily were under cover during a quick rain.