The Bayer Update: November catch up

Man....I think my only New Year's resolution should be stay up with my blog! Here's a little November catch up...

Veteran's Day: the first time we've actually done something other than rejoice at a day off of school. Ryan's cub scout den got to help with the flag take down ceremony at the local Vets Hall. I think the meaning of it went beyond the boys heads, but it was good review of what it means to be American and the Constitution for the parents that evening.

Dzia Dzia's Birthday...a big milestone this year. The big 7-0! And he makes it look so good. Instead of celebrating at a villa in the hills of Tuscany, as we had originally hoped to do, we settled on dinner in Lafayette and then our annual trip to Fenton's for ice cream. Not quite like Italy, but hey, almost as good. :)

Eddy was at work one day, and I wanted to get the kids out and burn off some steam as well as fit in a run for me. So we hit up the state park down the road. And this was the FIRST run for me, with kids in tow, in 7 years, that I did not push a stroller. Kaitlyn was able to ride the entire 5 miles herself. And it made my heart soar. On to new endeavors! (granted, I still push her in the stroller to walk Ry the 1/2 mile to school so that we can get home in time to get her preschool, but whatever)

The Big Game: the Cal vs Stanford game. Given Cal has had pretty terrible teams for the last few years, it's never really a goooood game. But when it's at Cal, we go. Because college football is fun. And this year was no different. Except for the torrential down pour of rain the ENTIRE time we sat there. But the kids were troopers, and it made for soggy feet but good memories.

lunch with Nonni and Nonno beforehand -- they were smart and decided to skip going to the actual game. Wonder who these kids are rooting for?

these pics make me laugh. We were SO wet! Not a good time to learn your older raincoat is not actually waterproof anymore. Good thing Christmas was coming...

Thanksgiving vacation week:

both kids did a Lego club day camp the first day of vacation. Because why not? KK made Thanksgiving crafts, and Ryan built the sinking Titanic out of Legos. Money well spent. :)

Both kiddos had friends over one day -- at the same time! Such a novel idea for them, and pretty great for me. KK's preschool friend Audrey was here, and Ryan's buddy Matthew came over. All kids had a great time. And I think I got some stuff done around the house as well.

Thanksgiving Day: I had to work, which was not ideal but a fact of life around these parts. But it meant we did not host the big feast this year. Eddy's sister Andrea was in charge. So the kids and Eddy relaxed in the morning, and then went to her house to "help" early. My friend Cristen was working that day with me, so she joined me in arriving at Drea's just in time for the feast. Delicious food that I did nothing to prepare. Can't beat that! Super thankful for great family (my parents were there too, so nice to have them in town this year, despite not taking one picture with them) and friends to celebrate the day with.