Halloween 2024

Our Halloween season does not officially start until Moose and the family make a pilgrimage to Lowe's Halloween decorations and animatronics! 

Moose was very pleased that he saved his family from scary pirates, clowns and skeletons! Oh my!

Moose got to play a little dress up before Halloween to see which costume (from Diesel & Oscar) would actually fit him! 

He's a little larger than the extra-large!

This was a sight to see! A family in our neighborhood dressed up as ghostbusters - complete with the Dad dressed in a 12 foot inflatable costume! 

Brock and Kade were not sure what they were going to dress up as for Halloween. Kade talked about wearing his soccer jersey and shin guards, but at the last minute, they both settled on the costumes from last year. Fine by me! Brent and I walked with the boys for a bit, but then let them go off to houses together on their own. 

It was warm (high of 82!) that day so as soon as we came in, Kade took off his costume to count and eat his candy! 

We don't go all out for Halloween - nothing like my brother! - but we did have a few new decorations this year! 

Kade decorated the pumpkins this year - definitely the way to go! No carving required!!

A nice bowl of candy for the trick-or-treaters so they don't have to ring the doorbell. 

At the end of the night, Moose had to try out Kade's glow necklace. It made spotting him in the dark backyard a lot easier! Happy Halloween! 

Random October Things

Kade and I attended the Tui Sutherland Author event in Pinehurst early in the month! Really, Brock was the reader of these series of books - Kade only read one graphic novel - but it was a great opportunity nonetheless! 

Every ticket came with one autographed book - we decided last minute to purchase one more ticket (book) for Kade's librarian at school too! 

Tui sat for a Q & A session before setting up to personalize some of those books.  It was late enough (especially for our drive back to Wake County), so for that reason we headed out right after that. 

We did score awesome comfy seats in the auditorium!! 

One of my favorite things to do in September/October is attend the Parade of Homes! And the best part was Kade was excited to accompany me!! We toured two homes - the "smaller" 1.45M house and then the BIG 5.3M home in MacGregor Downs! 

He was already impressed with the "only" 1.45M home and went back and forth if either A) our family could move there or B) explaining to me that this was the type of house that he was going to purchase - and live in all by himself! 

Kade was surely enjoying himself!

On to the big one! So many people came to tour this one, you had to park a block up the road and then walk down to the culdesac. 

Loved that it was staged! There's a secret room off this bedroom - see the door to the left of the bed - Kade loved that. He had many ideas!! 

Kade went on and on about the home, he inspired Brock to go see too! So, the next day I took my Brock to visit the home! 

This is the master closest!!!

I hope it inspired them to keep doing well in school and they can buy a house like this one day! 

October 15th was Moose's 7th Birthday! 

Brock picked out a fuzzy stuffy of Moose's favorite animal in the whole wide world - a SQUIRREL! 

He's patiently waiting for his birthday cookie!

We love you big puppy - protector of our home and personal bodyguard!

Boys' Fall Sports

Brock and Kade have their year-round sports of swim and taekwondo respectively, but we add in the seasonal baseball and soccer too! This year we signed them both up for Fall Sports - a shorter season, but it's still a whirlwind of practice and game days! 

Kade entered the 9-10 year old league which required a skill assessment prior to a draft. Unfortunately we missed it as we were in the mountains that weekend, still Kade was placed on the Bandits team (maroon shirts). 

Playing at the new Pleasant Park field has its advantages - a turf field meant there was never any rain out days! Most games were quite sunny and I would pack my umbrella for shade from the sun!

 

Kade going up against someone from his old team, now on the opposing team!

Brock's Fall season also required a skills assessment - luckily he was able to attend and was selected for the Aqua Docs team. Brent stepped in as an assistant coach. 

Brock took a 1.5 year break from baseball as he did not play this past Spring. He was a little rusty on his game-day batting, but seemed to pick up everything else really quickly! 

I think the thing Brock loved most of all was the one on one time with his Dad. Many a night they would stay a little longer after practice and hit some balls or practice pitching. 

After a few weeks of rainy weekdays, October seemed to warm up! Even a night-time soccer game had Kade all sweaty!

Finally after several weeks of practicing for the Goalie position, Kade determined he was ready to go! He played one full quarter!

The Bandits ended up placing 8th place and were paired with the 9th place team for the end of season tournament. It was a really competitive game, unfortunately losing 1-3. Good game Bandits! (Kade is on the far right)

Brock's last game of the season was October 24th due to a rain makeup. Fortunately, the head coach was out of town for work so Brent was able to step up as Coach for that game. He was determined to win! 

Brock's at-bat was not his best that day. He got on base only due to walks. He was able to pitch two innings of that game and did a pretty good job. Alas, no pictures of him pitching. 

Brock on Third Base

Brent got his win for the Aqua Docs with a score of 22 - 3! 

Of course you can always make a game out of anything! Here's what happens when you cross baseball and soccer! 

Quick Trip to Connecticut

Early in October, Kade and I hopped a flight to JFK to go visit Aunt Beverly in Connecticut over a long weekend. Brent treated us to first class. 

We stopped in White Plains to visit Katherin - so lucky we were able to fit in a quick lunch stop with her! 

On our way in to Connecticut, we stopped at Stew Leonard's - this time spending a little time visiting the petting zoo out front!

Treated Kade to a soft serve ice cream (and a ride in the cart), which made shopping a little easier. He still wanted to press all the buttons! Picked up our rainbow bagels too!

Their pumpkin and mum outside display was gorgeous - wish we could have shopped for a pumpkin for ourselves! 

Aunt Beverly wasn't quite up for visitors just yet, so we ended up eating at Outback - Kade was very curious to see what the hubbub was all about - apparently lots of Outback commercials on YouTube. 

Kade even offered his own review of the restaurant! 

The next day, we stopped for a few things before heading up to St. Michael's. Kade picked out a halloween-themed Hello Kitty stuffy and I think it was perfect to give his sister. 

Kade had asked me about the bear we brought here last year and I responded over-confidently there was NO way it was still there. Guess what was still there when we showed up. Definitely made me tear up. We brushed off the grass clippings and overall cleaned up the area. It's a sad thing as I'm reminded how much I miss all of them, but makes my soul happy that we visit when we are there. 

We had a bit more time so stopped in to visit my Great-Aunt Bessie in the mausoleum. 

Back on the Post Road in Fairfield, I treated Kade to a Starbucks chocolate chip cookie and a Fairfield University sweatshirt. We posed for a picture with Mark Twain!

After visiting with Aunt Beverly for awhile, she wanted to nap so we took a grand tour of Fairfield - driving by my old family home where we lived from 1989 to 1992. 

Chick-Fil-A JUST arrived in Fairfield December 2023 - the town approved the fast-food restaurant, but under the agreement there would NOT be a drive-thru! 

Finally we ended up at Gould Manor Park. 

I remember playing there and I remember my mother telling us stories about her playing there and ice skating on the pond! Kade settled right in and found a group of boys to play with. 

Alas, time to eat! Picked up the pizza at Pepe's pizza at 6:15 - we were a bit early which worked out well because we got to watch them make the pizzas and send them into the wood pizza oven! Incredible how many pizzas this place churns out! 

Kade got to spend a bit of time with his third cousin. 

It was a really nice, but quick visit. The past two times we've gone up to visit have been in the summer, so it felt welcoming to be there for Fall and see the leaves just starting to turn.