Happy Fall!! Oh wait, or is it Winter?!? I know, we took a month hiatus...again! So there's just a few things to catch up on. I started substitute teaching, which is a story all on its own, we took Haliaka on a worldwind trip to New York City for Thanksgiving, and Lillie went on her first school field trip. I thought I would post pictures of the most important event...Lillie's field trip, of course! (NYC trip will come later).

On November 4th, Lillie's class, along with the other 2 kindergarten classes went on a field trip to Green Street Gardens. I don't think Lillie had a clue how much fun she would have. After an exciting bus ride, we arrived at Green Street Gardens and the 3 classes were split into 5 groups. Our group's first activity of the day was planting a pansy to take home.

So concentrated, don't you think?!?
After Lillie's group finished planting their pansy, off we went on a hayride around the farm. What I didn't expect was that it was a "haunted" hayride. It was the middle of the day, so how haunted could it really be? But they tried.

Lillie and two of her classmates, Maniya and Jeremiah.

Scary, huh!

Once our hayride was done, we had a few minutes to wait while another group finished their activity, so we took a picture of the trapped prisoner.

I realize kids love slides, but this slide had a twist. They called it the "Underground Slide" and the kids LOVED it! As you can see, it was this big piece of hard plastic tubing. The part in the picture is exposed, but the other two thirds of it is buried under a hill of dirt and landscaping. The kids thought it was the funnest thing, especially when they discovered that if they made a little "Ahhhhh" sound as they slid, the ridges in the tubing would make for an melodious ride.

Following the underground slide, one of the guides took us in to a teepee where they read us stories about farming, animals, and teepees. The kids especially loved that their seats were bales of hay.

After storytelling, it was time for the kids to pick a pumpkin to take home. Outside of the teepee were scattered all these tiny pumpkins. They were so cute! And the kids enjoyed picking one of their very own. In fact, up until a few days ago, we still had one in our house. Lillie didn't want to part with her find.

The perfect pumpkin...found!

All over the farm, were free standing wood planks with paintings and holes for faces. We couldn't resist this one. Lillie called it her "Pioneer picture"

Here's Lillie and some of her friends. SO cute, and SOO funny! Then it was play time. There was the play tractor and slide.

The mini hay maze.

Then the large corn maze.

And we can't forget the one thing the ALL the kids LOVED...the sandbox...I mean the CORNbox!!

That's right, a big 'old box filled with corn kernals.

Yes, you guessed it, corn got into EVERYTHING! Of course, Ms. Clean played for a bit, but the corn kept getting into her shoes. And after the third or fourth time cleaning it out, she found other things to play on.

Like the tractor.

In the end, found more things to take pictures of. Meet Mummy Lillie

And Skeleton Girl

And the Ghostly Girl

So much fun!!

So Fall is here and we are LOVING everything Fall - changing colors, falling leaves, cooler weather (well, some days), and the pumpkins!

We visited a local pumpkin patch to see what they had to offer. I wish I took pictures of everything, but I just got this one shot of Lillie with all the beautiful pumpkins. They also had colored corn, white pumpkins, and a whole lot of Mums growing.

Harvest Festival

Lillie's school had a Harvest Festival today, full of fun things to do. The first stop was the gym, to watch the 2nd graders put on a play of the children's story, Stone Soup. Then it was outside to listen to Farmer John (that's not actually his name, but I don't remember his real name), talk about vegetables, planting, and harvesting.

As a little side note, from the first week of school, Lillie kept telling us about this boy who had hair like hers. We weren't quite sure what she meant, until I actually visited her class, and this little boy really did have hair JUST like hers - medium length bob, straight, and dark. Not a great picture, but there he is in front of Lillie. Funny!

There's Farmer "John"
Then the class went on a little hike in the woods, along a path the scouts made at the school. The kids were supposed to observe nature and see if they saw any animals. However, before going in, a few kids told me they were a little scared (including Lillie), so we went through the woods rather quickly.

After the hike, there was a small petting zoo. The highlight for the kids, I'm sure.

Bunnies were first up.

A cute little goat, which I cut out the head. Too bad, since the goat's horns were all wrapped up in colorful tape.

This was by far my favorite animal - a tiny brown sheep. He was so super soft and as cute as could be. Keeping him company was a hairy little pig, also cute.

The favorite animal for the kids was this miniature pony. I will admit, he was pretty cute as well. The kids were able to brush the pony and they loved it.

Then, to tie in with the play from the beginning, the kids "made" stone soup. Some were able to pour in some canned veggies, broth, and seasonings, and all were able to stir.

Then, last but not least, the funniest part of the morning. The kids played a relay game where they were to scoop popcorn from the bag and empty their spoon in a bowl. What made it so funny?? It was a tad bit windy. Popcorn was flying all over the place, but the kids were having a blast! Lillie's next to go, but notice in her right hand...yes, leaves that she collected throughout the morning.

Steady, steady now. (See the hair flying behind Lillie, yesiree, it's the boy with Lillie's hair)

You're almost there, Lillie.

Concentrate, concentrate.

So after seeing all the pictures from today, I noticed 2 things: There are but a few pictures that Lillie is actually looking at the camera AND today was not a fashionista kind of day!! ha ha

Such a fun day!! So much so, that even with a 2 hour early dismissal, Lillie wanted to stay at school instead of just coming home with me. That's my girl!

Ok, so this will date this slightly, but here is Haliaka and her roommate when they first arrived for the daring student teaching experience in the HOOD!

They had a day or so to play, so we took them to the national archives to view the constitution and other important U.S. documents. Then after meeting up with Keola, we jetted off to lunch.

After spending the weekend with us, Lillie headed off to school and Haliaka headed back to DC

Just a random picture of me my girl.

I know, it's been a LONG time. Uploading pictures seem to take longer every time I do it! ha ha

Anyway, here are some fairly "recent" pictures - we'll say within the past monthS!

Lillie has really gotten into this ribbon dancing kind of thing. I'm not exactly sure where she's picked it up because I don't believe she's ever seen a real ribbon dancer. One day she asked me to tie this really long ribbon onto a plastic "wand" she has. I waved it around a few times, and the rest is history. She flits all over the house like she's in the olympics or something. It's really cute, but it's also really FUNNY! Just imagine some beautiful, slow, lyrical music playing...in Lillie's case we'll say "Part of Your World" from The Little Mermaid. Then scroll through the next set of pictures.

Did you enjoy the show?? Can you just see it?!??! If anyone ever gets brave enough to travel, you COULD actually see it in person!!

Purple Falcons have arrived!

Lillie's school is divided into 4 colors and birds since the school mascot is an eagle. So Lillie's class, along with one class from each grade level, are Purple Falcons. The others are Orange Orioles, Blue Herons, and Red Hawks. Here's a look into Lillie's classroom.

Here's Lillie's table where she is doing her morning work.

And this is Lillie's very nice teacher, Mrs. Merillat. Today was class color day, so you'll notice the purple abundance. Lillie is REALLY loving Kindergarten!

Kindergarten is the BEST!!!

Hold on to your seats...Lillie is off to school! Can you believe it?? I can't. Tuesday, August 24th was Lillie's first day of school. She was so excited to start school. She picked out a dress from the stash Nana sent, grabbed her lunchbox...

and put on her cute new backpack, and she was ready to go.
Keola took off of work Monday and Tuesday to join us for the meet and greet at Lillie's new school. Then on Tuesday, both of us were able to take Lillie to her first day. Unfortunately, we were sort of shewed away and didn't actually take Lillie to her classroom, but instead just to the hallway outside her classroom. The teacher's assistant took Lillie into the room.

Keola and I were a little surprised and walked back to peek in on Lillie anyway. Here she is sitting at her table.

At 3:30pm (Yikes! So late), we both went to the school to wait for the "car riders". We heard Lillie's name announced over the intercom with all the other kids who were being picked up. Then, there she was...our Baby!

All in all, the first day was quite a success! Lillie loved her class, loved her teacher, loved recess, loved the activities, and LOVED SCHOOL!

Go Calvert Eagles!