Our Fall and early Winter were just as full of activity as the rest of the year. One of the October events here is the Feast of the Hunter's Moon. Jack helps staff a booth for the local historical society via his Scout Troop. Some of our friends also have another booth, so Kate got to dress up to help them in their booth. Anna and Kate both kept busy with ballet. With Anna's role in the Lafayette Ballet Company, she danced in the Fall recital / performance. The performance went well, and Anna was great (as usual)!
Jack's soccer team in the Fall season picked up the pace to finish the season, and they made it through the tournament to the finals. Due to some scheduling challenges, only the head coach was available for the semi-final and final game, so Coach Markus asked Dad to help out as an assistant. Dad was pretty well behaved (he usually is pretty vocal at the soccer games), but he did yell a little bit. (Disclaimer: Dad types up these blog posts, so you might have to ask others for a more objective opinion.) In spite of Dad (or maybe because of Dad - it's possible you know), the team played well in the semis (winning easily) and then held their own, but lost 2-1 in the final game. The team all got second place trophies.
Kate got a new set of contact lenses, so she can dance in the Nutcracker without wearing glasses. The contacts were much easier to use this year; Kate is getting used to putting them in and taking them out.
In early November, Jack's scout troop went to a "via ferrata" (loosely translated as "iron way") camp out, where the troop did rock-climbing along an established path with cables and hand holds - hence, the iron way. The troop could use a little extra help, so - in part, because of Dad's schedule - Mom got to go with Jack on the trip. They had a great time.
For Thanksgiving, it was just the five of us this year. We've often tried to do some kind of Black Friday excursion. This year, we stayed local and visited Black Rock Outlook, which is an outcropping along the Wabash River. We also thought we'd visit a nearby nature preserve, but the preserve was closed to allow for a deer hunt (we decided additional hiking was not a good idea).
Jack also participated in First Lego League with some of his home-school co-op group. They did really well at the regional competition and advanced to the Northern Indiana competition. Dad and Jack went to Ft. Wayne for that event; Jack's team had fun, but they seemed to have a little more challenge getting the robot missions to work as well as they did at the regionals. It was still a great experience.
As we got into mid-December, Nutcracker rehearsal took lots of time from Kate and Anna, but they both enjoyed the effort. There was a Winter piano recital in which both Jack and Kate performed. We had a nice Christmas, also with just the five of us. We knew that after Christmas, "Tech Week" for the Nutcracker would start and there would be lots of dancing for Anna and Kate. Mom volunteered to help with props, so she was busy during the last week of December, too.
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| Kate and Jack before Feast of the Hunter's Moon |
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| Anna in costume just after the Fall ballet performance |
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| Jack receiving his Fall soccer league second place trophy |
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| Kate ready for Nutcracker rehearsal |
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| Mom on the via ferrata |
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| Jack on one of the via ferrata climbs |
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| Anna and the company during one of their ballet rehearsals |
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| Dad participated in no-shave November. One of Mom and Dad's friends had a recurrence of cancer, so Dad wanted to show his support. |
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| Jack's First Lego League team at the regional competition. |
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| Jack has a quick discussion with Mom after one of the robot competition rounds at regionals. |
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| We have a harness and leash for Oliver, so he gets to go outside with us. Here he's in the back yard with Jack and Anna. (Look at all the leaves that Dad will need to pick up...) |
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| We gotta have crescent rolls for Thanksgiving! |
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| On our Black Friday excursion to Black Rock |
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| We have our Christmas decorations up. The lights are all working on the sparkle balls and the wreath. |
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| Kate is waiting for her ride to the Nutcracker rehearsal |
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| Jack and his team getting ready at the Northern Indiana First Lego League competition. |
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| Dad made Kate laugh as we are all waiting to start the Winter piano recital. |
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| Jack and Mom waiting for the piano recital to start. |
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| Getting started with the Christmas gifts |
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| Kate is ready for Christmas morning. |
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| Jack says: "Dad, look at Mom!" Dad says: "Why?" |
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| Jack says: "Look what Mom is doing! She's Santa!" |
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| Granny and Grandpa sent Nutcracker themed treat tins to Kate and Anna in anticipation of their performances. |
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| This was the Christmas of socks. That's good, because we're all getting too old for naked Christmas! |
