Wednesday, November 12, 2008

If you were wondering...

what I have been doing every night for the past few months...
Let me introduce you to... The Seng Mural
The basement before the mural...a blank slate.
They had this idea that the exposed support could be a tree.
And what a delightful tree it is.
And, to go along with the tree...a beach.

And the Seng Surf Shop.
Which is a perfect little store under the stairs for the kids.
A few nice crustaceans on the beach.
And a sign just in case you get lost.
This was a big project but it is finished now so...anyone for a girl's night out??

Monday, November 10, 2008

Boo!

Our favorite holiday...Halloween!!
Shawn decided to be Dracula.
The "Politician" smile on Dracula.
Austin wanted to be a werewolf but they were sold out so we ended up with the swamp thing. It was the best costume!
Note the really funny tongue sticking out of the mask.

My daughter was...of course...a princess.
Oh, wait...not just a princess...she was a Fairy Princess.
It was important to her that you say "Fairy Princess" every time.
First we had the annual school parade.
Austin was the hit of the parade. He loved posing with his class.
Ella and I enjoyed watching with friends.
Then it was off to trick or treat on the nicest Halloween I can remember.
It was about 70 degrees and just gorgeous.
Ella had the best time. It was the first one where she really got the connection between running around and getting treats.
She had to share something at each house she visited. Mostly she told people that she was a princess, her kitty ran away and what she wanted for Christmas. She was a hoot!
We stopped to feed the horses up the street.
Then we hit Papa Rick's house for the traditional campfire and dinner.
Of course we spent the next few days on a sugar high at our house. Thankfully, we are out of candy! Happy Halloween...

Science & Industry Museum

We had the wonderful opportunity to spend the day downtown at the Museum of Science and Industry. I must admit that it is not quite as exciting as I remember it from my own childhood. I will never forget the babies in the bottles showing fetal development. I had nightmares about that one.
We got free passes from another Freecycler and we were so excited. The whole trip cost us the $14.00 parking fee and the kids had a blast. (See honey, it does pay to give away a ton of stuff on Freecycle!)
Of course, there are some things we just cannot visit like the coal mine and the submarine because they are not accessible for Austin. They did have another submarine exhibit that was accessible and they all had fun driving the sub and learning morse code.
The boys loved the trains and the airplane that was stripped down so you could see all of the parts.

My daughter loved the kids area complete with water activities.
After the museum we visited Ed Debevics. I had not been down there since I worked downtown...so many years ago. That place is still a hoot. The food is horrible, as is the service. Hey wait...why did we go there? Oh yeah...the wait staff cracks you up. Our waiter kept looking for some guy named "Kevin" and he and my son Austin got into a knife fight. Another waiter called Shawn a "nerd" and I had to explain what that meant. I guess people just don't use that term any more. The boys thought it was hysterical.
They also got balloon stuff which always makes them happy!
A great day in the city with my gang!

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Pumpkins and Haunted Houses








It was Fall fun at our house the weekend before Halloween. We carved our pumpkins...
Ella was very excited about the carving.
She took over the big pumpkin and was concentrating so hard.
She did pretty well with the big knife.
They even all pulled out the gook inside.
Then we made a Haunted Gingerbread House.
Some of us just snuck the candy between decorating.
When the black frosting was opened, I could not resist decorating Shawn.
Of course I had no idea that this stuff would not come off...oops!

So he had a black mustache for a few days...