Snowtober: Part I

We are alive and well and have survived our second major storm in as many months without any property damage.  Unfortunately, we are part of the more than 750,000 CL&P customers (households) in Connecticut without electricity and have been told to prepare for another week to ten days (it has already been 42 hours hours).  Statewide, we suffered five times more damage than from Hurrican Irene; this time around, there is significant damage to the transmission lines, which is very problematic when it comes to restoration efforts.  100% of our town and the surrounding towns are currently without power.  The storm also took down almost 200 AT&T cell towers, so we don't have cell service, except for sporadically when we happen to drive to a place that has working cell towers.
The girls are in good spirits, but it was 52 degrees in the house this morning when we woke up, so we know that their spirits will dampen.  My office is open and we are hopeful that the Y will open by tomorrow - so that Lee can work and so we have a place to shower.  Gasoline is at a premium.  With no power, there is no way to get gasoline out of the pumps.  Stations that are open have lines that are 1/2 mile to a 1 mile long - and CL&P trucks are given top priority.  Apparently, the gas station situation is reminiscent of the 70's gas lines.

Field Trip

On Tuesday, I was one of the chaperones when Emily's kindergarten class took its field trip to Halfinger Farm.  After five consecutive years of chaperoning a fall field trip to Rose's Berry Farm, I was so happy to be going someplace different!  The trip was great and I couldn't believe how much there was to do!  There were three different "stations" for the classes - hay ride, corn maze and play area, which included a meet and greet with a chicken.  It was a great opportunity to meet some of Emily's classmates and see how she interacts with her friends.  Plus Emily, even more than Elizabeth, really enjoys having me all to herself - and although there were plenty of other children around, all that really matter was that Elizabeth was not!  I have to say, I really enjoy being a chaperone - my mom chaperoned every field trip that I ever went on and I hope that I can do the same for our girls.

On the bus. 

Walking over the bridge from the road to the farm. 

Indian corn.

Meeting Sunshine, the chicken. 

Eagerly awaiting her turn to meet Sunshine. 

Meriel and Carrie. 

Meriel 

Entering the corn maze. 

The type of corn they grow for the corn maze can grow up to 12 feet tall! 

Picking the perfect pumpkin. 

Mrs Newton puts her pumpkin on her head!  The class loved it! 

Halloween Party

Last Friday night, we went to Emily's school Halloween party.  Both girls had school parties on the same night, but they decided to go to Emily's because they both know more people at Emily's school.  They had a great time - of course - running around in the chaos with all of their friends.

The witch and the gypsie. 

During the costume parade.... 

Emily abandoned her witch hat early in the evening, but Lee looked good in it.

Fashion Show!

On Saturday, I surprised the girls with a trip to Boston and tickets to the American Girl Fashion Show.  We met up with Auntie Kathy (another surprise) early Saturday afternoon and headed to the Hyatt Regency Boston for the show.  The Fashion Show was sponsored by the Junior League of Boston and we heard about it through my friend Janet, whose sister Karen is a JL member.  Karen was able to get us a VIP table, so we were right up front, next to the stage.  As many of you know, I am a huge fan of the historical AGD, and they did an excellent job of telling the story of each historical doll before the outfit (for girl and doll) was modeled - even Auntie Kathy, who should have been bored to tears, was interested in the historical background of each doll.  Elizabeth was filled with excitement each time she recognized a character (we could see backstage from our seats) and Emily was relieved that the Fashion Show included outfits for Bitty Baby (although, truth be told, she was very bitter at the amount of 5 year olds that had AGD).  The girls loved reconnecting with Sophie, Janet's brother's little girl, and Sophie was just as enthralled with the show at the Elizabeth and Emily.  It was a lot of fun.

Part of ballroom at the Hyatt. 

Elizabeth, Emily and Sophie

Sophie and Mrs. Bourque 

The adults were served finger sandwiches and the girls had miniature cheeseburgers and french fries. 

Enjoying a cupcake. 

Doing the hula with Kanani (Girl of the Year) 

Kneeling right up close to the stage. 

The grand finale. 

Emily and Sophie on stage. 

Walking out with Auntie Kathy. 

Hugging Bitty Baby extra tight.

Halloween Festival

We belong to a really great parish and although we've wrestled with switching to the parish affiliated with Elizabeth's school, we are not ready to make the change.  The great events put on by the Peer Ministry are just some of the reasons why we can't imagine leaving.  On Sunday, we attended the annual Halloween festival and the girls had a wonderful time.  There was a pumpkin patch, cupcake decorating, face painting and a lot of other great activities for them and they were really bummed when the afternoon ended.

The hay ride - getting ready to leave.

Even Lee and I had fun (do you see the hint of a smile on his face?) 

Emily could barely hold her pumpkin, even for a few seconds. 

Elizabeth picked a great pumpkin. 

They found a grasshopper in the pumpkin patch. 

"Please put the camera away...." 

Pumpkin painting. 

Cupcake face. 

They were thrilled when they found Miss Stephanie and her sister running the face painting. 

Pin the smile on the Jack-o-Lantern (run by Emily's Sunday school teacher).

Roarrrrrrr!  Could she be any more adorable??? 

Ghost bowling.

BOXTOPS

This is a shameless plea on our part to get some/all of our blog readers to cut out those little box tops that you see on all sorts of food packages and collect them for us. Each box top is worth 10 cents and over the last year, we have collected hundreds of them - from Nature's Valley granola bars, Gold Medal flour, Pillsbury cinnamon rolls, Cheerios, Land 'O Lakes butter and eggs, Kleenex, Ziplock and hundreds of other companies.  We split them between the girls and they bring them to school and along with the box tops collected by their classmates, those little box tops result in thousands of dollars for their schools ever year - and prizes for the classroom that brings in the most.  At Emily's school, one boy saved 1,200 over the summer - and many of them came from family and friends from across the country.  It's a great way to help their schools without spending any extra money.  So cut out those box tops, save them and send them to us or give them to us next time we see you!!!  Thank you!!

Columbus Day

On Columbus Day, we met up with a bunch of the girls' friends and their parents for a hike at beautiful Wadsworth Falls State Park.  The day was simply beautiful and the kids had a great time hiking - we went to Little Falls and roundtrip, it was over 3.5 miles.  The parents really loved how the kids seemed to have no idea that they were getting so much exercise.

Getting ready to head out. 

Bill found a pretty large frog and let all of the kids inspect it. 

Emily touches it. 

A few moments later, the frog started puffing up and she got a little nervous and decided to hide behind Summer.

The kids at Little Falls. 

Next time, we'll go to Big Falls. 

Afterwards, the kids hung out near/in the brook at the edge of the park.