Thanksgiving on Thursday (Field Trip #27)

When Mikie began reading The Magic Treehouse book #27, Thanksgiving On Thursday, about the very first Thanksgiving, I knew we'd be taking a field trip to Plymouth, Massachusetts. It worked out perfectly that the timing of this book fell in November and we spent Thanksgiving with the pilgrims, and Boagie, Grandmommy & Granddaddy came too!
It was a cold day to visit Plymouth Rock!

We were glad to climb aboard The Mayflower, but it was still COLD!

The pilgrims were on board to tell us their story.

Mikie shows us the clothes they wore in 1620.

Then we explored the Plimoth Plantation.

Then we had a tradtional THANKSGIVING FEAST with the pilgrims!

Mikie gets an autograph from Governor Bradford after explaining to him about how a "pen" works.

Along with the food, we enjoyed hearing the pilgrims sing as well.

There wasn't a lot of food that the boys actually ate, so when they brought out grapes for dessert they both gobbled those up.

Despite the cold, this was one of the most authentic and enjoyable field trips we've taken. I'm so sad that they are coming to an end, but cherish all the memories we've made as a family and hope Mikie is able to look back and remember all he has learned.

Boston

For our next field trip (post coming soon) we needed to drive north. Michael couldn't take that much time off of work, so my mom flew out to drive with me and the boys up to Massachusetts. Thanks to her creativity the boys were kept occupied for most of the drive and everything went smoothly. We met Michael's parents and spent a day in Boston waiting to pick Michael up from the airport.

We went to the Children's museum where they boys had fun climbing on everything.

Then we saw Christ Church where the lantern was hung to signal the coming of the British by land.

We stopped at a park to let the boys run and found the MAKE WAY FOR DUCKLINGS sculpture.
They watched a pair of squirrels chase each other round a tree.
And had a leaf fight with Boagie.

Zoo

We took a field trip to the Richmond Zoo with our friends The Shays. Mikie was on a steroid for his asthma which made this day "real fun!" At least Zachary enjoyed himself and even got to feed the giraffes. In the picture above, he is pointing out the word ZOO (one of the first words he learned to read).

Persephone

I've wanted a Persian cat (the cute kind with long hair and a smooshed face) ever since I saw the beautiful cat on the Fancy Feast commercial. While searching for the perfect kitten online, I was drawn to the "pointed Himalayan." The ones that are all white or cream with tips of color on their ears, paws, and tail. And then, I discovered a breed that they call "teacup kittens" and "minis." Teacups only grow to be 4 pounds or less and Mini's are between 4-6 pounds. The waiting list for these types of kittens fill up fast (in fact, while the mother is pregnant before the kittens are even born!) So I was thrilled, when I found this little 9 week kitten that was still available. She's a "blue cream point Himalayan Persian mini" and she was in Palm Springs, CA. The more I learned about this kitten, the more I wanted her. Luckily, I have a husband who can't say no to me and allowed me to fly all the way to CA to get her as my early Christmas present!

Here's my baby girl when I picked her up at the Palm Springs airport at 11 weeks: We named her Persephone, but the boys call her "baby girl" most of the time.

The boys woke up and welcomed our new kitten by giving her a tour of our house and their toys.

She brings such happiness to our family, especially to sick little boys.

Her eyes really don't look like this. She's much cuter in person!

She's a perfect fit for our family and has stolen all our hearts!

Clubber of the Month & cute sayings

Mikie earned "Clubber of the Month" in his Sparks Awana's class. He was slightly excited: I have so many cute sayings that Mikie said when he was 4 years old, but just never got around to posting them. Now's a good time:

When he tasted a homemade pizza that I had made he said, "The sauce tastes like germs!" 8/31/09

While discussing bodily functions, I said "everyone poops" to which he replies "Except for God. He doesn't poop!" 9/30/09

When he had a head cold and couldn't breathe out of his nose correctly he said, "Something is wrong with one of my noses." 9/30/09

I don't remember the story behind this one, but it's still funny: "I think that's why my pants cracked." 10/1/09

When he wanted us to remember something he would say "rememberize, Mommy...."

A random thought I heard from the backseat "Some people eat dogs."

While listening to Christmas music, he had a revelation: "Rudolph had a shiny nose. Is he dead? Did his nose catch on fire?" 12/4/09

When we tucked him into bed on his last night of being 4, he must have remembered our earlier conversation about his birth being at 2:26 am, because he said "I'll be five before I wake up!" 1/20/10

The reason he gave for not eating his slightly burnt grilled cheese: "It's all old and rusty!" 11/30/10