NYC...by boat!

Today we took the train into NYC to meet Mommom Lenor and Poppop Ladd at the 79 Street Boat Basin so we could go for a boat ride around Manhattan. It was so cool to get to see the Statue of Liberty so close! Here are a few pictures.

Overnight in VT

This weekend we went to Vermont to check out the fall leaves. It's about a 4 hour drive so we decided to leave after my soccer game on Saturday morning (that's where I had an AWESOME sliding save--Mom and Dad wish they would have taped it!). After the game we drove up to East Hartford where we went to Cabella's to shop for Dad's birthday present. We spent about 3 hours there! It was such a cool place! They had tents for us to play in, a shooting gallery, fish tank, and stuffed animals everywhere! Once we finished there, we headed up to VT. We got to our hotel at about 5pm and checked in. From there we went to have dinner at a restaurant called "The Back Behind"-- a bar-b-que place that used to be "back behind" another building (it's not anymore). After dinner, we went back to our hotel and changed into our bathing suits so we could hit the pool! The pool was outside and was heated to 96 degrees so it was perfect in the chilly 30 degree weather! After swimming for about an hour, it was time to hit the sack. The next morning, we got up, checked out, and headed to a restaurant called "Sugar and Spice". They had the BEST pancakes!! I ate an entire half order of silver dollar pancakes (it was HUGE!), and about half of Dad's order of "maple-walnut" and "sugar & spice" pancakes--plus bacon! Once we finished eating, we drove over to Pico Mountain. At Pico, during the "off season" they have a place open called "adventure land". Adventure Land has a mini-golf course, a rock climbing wall, a trampoline type bouncy thing (yes, that's the technical term) and alpine slides. At first, it looked like we might not get to go down the slide because the line for the ski lift wasn't moving. But once inside to buy our tickets we learned that the line had stopped because it had started snowing on top of the mountain and they had to be sure that it stopped to let people continue to ride--which it did. The ski lift ride was interesting. It was REALLY cold and pretty windy and we didn't have hats and gloves. Mommy rode up with Emerson and I rode with Dad. Once at the top, we switched partners to ride the slide down. It was SO fun! If it hadn't been so cold, we would have gone again!! We headed from Pico to Belmont for the "Cider Days" fair--a really small little town with an even smaller "festival"--but well worth the drive for the hot apple cider! We even got to pick out our Halloween Pumpkins there! Once we finished looking around in Belmont, we started to head back to the highway. We made a stop for lunch and another stop to check out the Vermont Country Store (where Dad bought us each a treat that we picked out--I picked a magic duck and Em picked a candy necklace). It was a nice drive home from there. Dad bought 2 "Interstate Bingo" cards so we had something to do on the drive home, but it ended up entertaining him and Mom the longest. :) When Mom and Dad asked us what our favorite part of our trip was, we both told them that the Alpine Slides and the pool were tied for 1st.

Congratulations Aunt Melissa & Uncle Chris!!

Tonight Aunt Melissa had baby Andrew "Lawson" Hayes at 7:50pm. I guessed the right time, Mommy guessed the right length, but Daddy guessed the right weight! Lawson is a teenie tiny thing and weighs 6lbs 3oz and is 20.5" long. Here are a few pics of our new "cousin"! Mommy is so lucky because she gets to fly down to NC on Thursday for the weekend to meet baby Lawson. I hope we get to meet him sometime soon too--maybe when he can be around us "biohazards" as Mommy and Daddy call us. :)

My 1st Soccer Game

Today was my first soccer game at West Rocks Middle School. I am on Team 2 and I've only had one practice. I was a little nervous, but VERY excited too! I did great though...I scored 6 goals today!! Mommy was so proud of me! Daddy couldn't be there because he has a big work project he's doing at his office, so Mommy videotaped me playing for him. He can't wait to watch it!

2nd day of 1st grade....

and I have to report that I fell asleep in school. I wasn't bored or anything, I just was tired because Emerson woke me up at 6am this morning. I laid my head on my desk and my teacher told me to pick my head up...she didn't know I was asleep though. Mommy says if it happens again, both Emerson and I will be grounded from all video games for a week! I told her that I'm going to bed at 6:30pm tonight! (All this even though Mommy had us in bed at 6:45pm last night to read to ourselves and then turned our lights out at 7pm!!)

1st Day of 1st Grade

Today was my 1st day of 1st grade at Marvin Elementary School. My teacher is Mrs. Kovlakas. I really wanted to ride the bus on the 1st day of school this year so on Monday Mommy took me over to my school to find my classroom, B-3. I knew right where it was! So today we went outside to take a few pictures around 8am before I caught the bus. We waited and waited and waited and no bus came. Finally a woman drove past us and saw that we were waiting and asked Mommy if we were waiting for bus 422, which we were. She told Mommy that the bus was broken down just down the street and that they were sending another one. We waited a few minutes more and then Mommy decided to run in the house and get her purse and keys to drive me to school. I waited on the front steps and saw the bus come around the corner so I yelled "MOMMY!!!!". She came running out the door and walked me down the steps so I could get on the bus--at about 8:40am (the regular time is about 8:20am)! WHEW! I had a really fun day and got a new homework folder too. When I got home, Mommy was waiting for me on the front porch. Mom and Emerson even made brownies as a special treat for us for going back to school. Yum!

Back To School!

Today was Emerson's 1st day in Miss Rosie's 4's class at First Step Christian Day School. He was so happy to get back to school and see all of his friends! I don't start school until tomorrow, so Mommy took me to Orem's Diner in Wilton as a special "Big 1st Grader" treat. She told me how proud of me she is! I'll be back on the bus tomorrow and I can't wait!