Who's That!?!

Why it's the girls, of course!
Emma was a little perplexed--people mistook her for a tomato, a flower, a strawberry and a leaf (really? c'mon) but we liked her apple & worm!!

Somehow Sophie decided she wanted to be the King of Rock when we spotted this costume in a catalog. She had a whole routine when our party guests arrived...emerging from her room and dancing cooly down the stairs singing 'you aint nothin' but a hound dog..."
She even had the plan to say "Trick-or-treat, uh huh" and "Thank you. Thank you very much" (in her best Elvis voice) when they gave her the candy.

Julia had a hard time choosing between Sandy from Grease or a kitty cat. We decided to combine them both so she became 'Fifties Kitty.' The best of both worlds!

And off they went...

Happy Halloween

(from our snow-witch & her snow-kitty)

Snow Day

Today was our first snow day of the season. We did a whole lot of lounging-

A little bit of trespassing...

For a few minutes of chilly sledding-


Then back home for warm baths, hot stew, and cookie decorating. Who says a foot of snow can't be fun!!

Happy Fall, Ya'll

Where's Waldo?

Arsenal

Today was the Refuge Roundup at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal--National Wildlife Refuge. So we headed on over for some bison chip tossing (yep), face painting, hawk demonstrations, crafts & a Buffalo Soldier demonstration. It was fun and interesting to go back in time a bit out on the prairie!
We can never...ever...pass up one of these!!

Dissecting owl pellets

Bison Chip Tossing---surprisingly fun!!

Karen tried her hand at shooting an old musket-style gun

Some coyotes are so crabby!

Sophie Degas

A cardboard ballerina statue Sophie just made for her friend, Megan...

oops

Sometimes when we're running around getting everyone all put together for school, my mind goes on auto mode and everyone ends up looking alike...today is a prime example...Emma picked out her outfit and I randomly pulled Julia's out of her closet...
Matching is ok for 6 year old--not so much for 10 year old

But after the initial shock of it all--they were both fine with it...and darn cute if I do say so myself!

Slice & Dice

Julia's class was scheduled to make applesauce today. A fun, first-grade activity until the volunteer helpers decided to let 6-year olds use real knives to cut apples. It went something like this.
Ring, Ring. Hello, Julia is here in the office with us. She has just cut her finger and we think she might need to be seen by a doctor. Since I was at work, and 1/2 hour away, I called Grandma & Grandpa to run over to school to rescue her until I could get there. I was able to make a trauma appointment at our doctor's office right away (while driving too fast on the highway). They determined she didn't need stitches...just some new fangled skin glue, tape over the glue, a gauze bandage over the tape, and a metal cage to keep it all snug and secure.

She was very brave until she saw the blood again at the dr's office but that soon passed...nothing a Happy Meal from McDonald's couldn't fix. She was sad to miss school--(and I was scheduled to help the teacher serve the sauce) so we decided to go back to school--just in time for some warm, freshly made (and just a wee bit bloody) applesauce.
She couldn't miss that after all that trouble!!

Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader...?

In Emma's class, they are allowed to share their thoughts if they make a connection from what is currently being discussed in class to something outside of class or to something they've previously studied.

The other day during a math lesson, her teacher was explaining 'lattice math' versus another math technique. He told them he would teach them both, but it was up to them which path they would choose to take. Emma raised her hand and said "I have a connection to a Robert Frost poem I read."
Her astounded teacher said, "Emma, which poem is that?" To which she replied, "it's the one that goes '...two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the one less traveled...'" He then ooh'd and aah'd and said he was thinking the exact same thing (um yah-me too).

When she told me this story, I asked her where she saw that poem and she said "oh, I read a book of Robert Frost poetry in fourth grade."
Um, yah. Me too. Not. You go girl.

tourists

Today the plan was to run around and do some of the tourist'y things we've never done...or things we hadn't done in a long time, anyway!! But first, we had to make a stop at the music store to pick up Emma's trombone for band...which starts on Wednesday. Yes, the trombone. She could have stopped there, gone home and been perfectly happy, but the rest of us wanted to see some sights.

So, we got Emma all squared away and headed up the hill to Buffalo Bill's Grave. It was great weather and we enjoyed walking up to the grave (with our ghost meter, of course..which beeped a couple of times thanks to the nearby radio towers), watching the hang gliders off in the distance, perusing the massive (and I mean massive) gift shop and eating yummy buffalo stew and burgers in the cafe...

ghost hunting...


Once we had our fill of Bill, we drove down the hill a ways to the Mother Cabrini Shrine...and hiked up the stairs (373) all the way to the top! Some view!! Some day!!


Girls (with downtown Denver in the distance)