Pumpkin Carving

Today we decided to carve pumpkins! We had previously purchased two so that we could carve one for each of our children. I put one on our front porch and one on our back porch as festive decoration until we found the time to carve them.

Unfortunately, we had only one pumpkin to carve today because the one on our front porch had its guts spilled out by some ravage animals (probably raccoons). We were quite shocked to find it that way; so much so that I didn't take any photos. Thankfully, the kids weren't bothered by it. :-) The pumpkin on our back porch had two small bites taken out of it (you can see one of them in the carving photo below), but apparently wasn't as tasty as the front porch pumpkin so it was intact enough to carve.

It was raining hard this afternoon and we're expecting snow overnight so it was nice to have a fun family activity to do together while we stayed cozy and warm inside our home. You can tell the kids were truly comfy as they were already dressed in their long underwear.

Lukas and Isabel rolling up their sleeves to prepare for the dirty work

Papa dug right in (quite literally!)

Next was Lukas

Then it was Isabel's turn

I drew the face and Olli did the carving. You can see one little bite mark right in the middle of the left eye of the Jack-o-Latern.

The finished product before putting it outside again and lighting the candles. Take that raccoons!

Halloween Festival at Castle Island Park, MA

We joined some church friends for a couple of hours today at a Halloween Festival for kids. The children had a great time playing on the playground, running around together on the large grassy areas and eating cookies and drinking apple juice. The other "events" at the festival were totally uninteresting to them. It was a time of childhood fun at its purest!

Isabel the Strawberry

Lukas the Construction Worker

As you see here, we had a duck, a monkey, a goofy spider, a strawberry and a construction worker in our group

Blick auf Boston

These two photos were taken last weekend after a short walk we took through part of the Blue Hills Reservation.  The leaves are finally beginning to change color around here--although these photos don't really show that.  I've decided that fall is my favorite season in New England.  The crisp, cool air makes it a super time for outdoor activities and the beauty of the changing leaves is truly something to behold!

Lukas and Isabel standing on a ledge overlooking the Boston Skyline.  The city looked much closer to the naked eye than it does here in the camera lens, but you get the idea!

The kids and I taking a "funny" photo as Lukas calls it

Fun, fun and more fun with the Wildhabers

We had a wonderful visit with my sister and her family who came to visit us in Boston this past week.  Each day was filled with special outings complete with visits to the Children's Museum, a Music Together class, the Boston Aquarium, the Freedom Trail, a Cranberry Harvest Celebration and Honey Pot Hill Orchards for apple picking.  We made many special memories together and it was sad to see them return home today!

Isabel at the Children's Museum inside a child-sized bubble!

Isabel taking a turn on the digger--notice the backward-facing hard hat :-)

Lukas hard at work building the roof to a velcro and wood house

Isabel, Liam and Uncle Derrick playing with trucks and cars on ramps

Lukas the pilot

Liam in awe of the shark at the aquarium--"Wow, what a lot of teeth you have, Mr. Shark!"

Isabel being her friendly self--"Hi, Mr. Shark!  Hope you're having a nice day."

The Wildhaber Family in front of the cranberry bogs at harvest

Lukas chowing down on a fresh apple he picked himself

Isabel got her own apple too, of course (and so did Liam, just in case, you might be concerned that we left him out) :-)

My three favorite people

Our Family of Four

A Day Out with Thomas the Tank Engine

Many of you may already know that Lukas is a fan of trains--particularly Thomas the Tank Engine. I think he discovered Thomas at the library when we checked out some books about Thomas and his friends a few years ago.

So, when we discovered that Edaville Railroad has a few "Thomas the Tank Engine Days" in October, we decided to buy tickets and go as a family. We all had a lot of fun. Lukas' favorite parts were riding in a box car pulled by Thomas, getting a fake tattoo of "Henry", one Thomas' friends, riding the Ferris Wheel, and taking a photo with Sir Topham Hatt, the owner of the railroad where Thomas works.

Here are a few photos of our "Day Out with Thomas".

Lukas and Olli in front of a poster with Percy, Thomas and Rosie (I think)

Lukas and Isabel in the box car about to be pulled by Thomas

Lukas and his Papa on the Ferris Wheel

Lukas, Papa and Isabel with Sir Topham Hatt (Isabel was very tentative around Sir Topham Hatt, but at least she wasn't crying)

Thomas pulling the train

A close up of Thomas

Isabel riding her very first carnival ride all by herself--she LOVED it!