Black Friday

My sisters and I have the tradition of going black Friday shopping together every year.  We started doing this years ago when I lived in Valdosta.  Back in those days, the stores didn't open on Thanksgiving Day, so Friday morning was a real rat race.  These days it's calmer because a lot of the die-hards shop overnight on Thursday.  I like it much better with the lighter crowds.  We had a great time this year, got a lot of our shopping done, and scored some good deals on the things that we bought. 

Cotillion

This year I signed Olivia up to participate in the National League of Junior Cotillions.  I did cotillion when I was in high school, and I loved it.  I really learned a lot about etiquette and how to do some formal dances.  These are skills that are nice to have when needed.  So far she has attended three classes and has learned how to introduce herself and others, how to sit pretty, and other general niceties.  She has also learned how to do the foxtrot, east coast swing, and various line dances.  She likes the dancing part okay, but is not exactly thrilled that she has to dance with boys.  She says it's "weird".  There will be two balls this year with the first is coming up in December.  Those should be fun.

Olivia's Pumpkin Patch Field Trip

Olivia's class recently took a field trip to a local pumpkin patch. There they participated in many "farm-themed" activities.  Olivia's favorites were the corn pit, ninja warrior course, bouncy "thing", and feeding the goats.  Olivia was chaperoned by Granny Mel who also had a good time.  I actually sent a camera on the field trip with Olivia so that she could take pictures, but when I went to look at them I saw that the only pictures she had taken were selfies of herself and her friends on the bus- not exactly what I had in mind when I sent the camera.

Owen's St. Augustine Field Trip

Owen recently took a field trip to St. Augustine with his WINGS class.  During the trip they saw an IMAX movie about Lewis and Clark, took a narrated trolley tour of historic St. Augustine, and visited Ponce de Leon's Fountain of Youth.  Owen was chaperoned by the lovely Gigi, who took pictures.  Both Owen and Gigi reported that they had a great time.

Halloween, I choose you!

It has finally happened.  The kids have reached the age where they want to pick the theme of our family Halloween costumes.  And so, we dressed as Pokémon characters this year.  At first I wasn't sure how this theme would come out, but it actually ended up being pretty cute.  If you can't tell, Owen and Brian are the Pokémon trainers (Ash Ketchum and Brock) while Olivia and I are Pokémon (Eevie and Pikachu).  We had a lot of fun trick-or-treating with our family.  The inflatable Pikachu costume was hard to walk around in, so I spent a lot of time riding on the back of Kelly's golf cart.  Pikachu got a lot of attention, though.  I took pictures with, high-fived and hugged dozens of kids as we went around the neighborhood.  I even had a couple of not-so-nice kids come up and punch my Pikachu costume in the back (one kid did so repeatedly).  They better be glad that I could barely walk in or see out of my costume.  Our crew was successful in acquiring loads of treats and spent the last part of the evening swapping candy.  I love Halloween.  It is definitely one of my favorite days of the year.