Christmas is done and all of the decorations are put away. Jack had almost two weeks off from school and had a lot of family time and watched a lot of movies.
The annual placing the star on the tree.
We went to an event at the library hosted by the Saugus Garden Club.
Jack learned all about poinsettias and got to make his own flower arrangement.
We got a cat over Thanksgiving weekend, so I though it important to finally document it before the Christmas craziness starts.
We adopted her through a small rescue/foster program. We were told she was rescued from a pet hoarding situation, so she had some boo boos that are almost healed and she has a wonky eye, but otherwise is really friendly and likes to play and has magnificent whiskers. As Jack summed it up, "It is nice to have a cat that likes us."
We collectively decided on Cleo for a name and she seems to actually respond to it, though after the discovery of the scar on her eye, Jack pleaded to rename her Kylo Ren. I guess only a few of you will get that reference, but we nixed it anyway.
On Veteran's Day I had to attend a work training, so Derrick took the day off and he and Jack had a big city adventure. Jack really enjoyed learning all about the Mayflower in school, so to continue on the historic ship theme, Derrick and Jack went to see the USS Constitution and museum. It seemed fun was had by both parties and now the door has opened to visit other historic sites.
Soccer ended last Sunday. Jack was so excited, he scored three goals.
Jack made it clear he does not like playing soccer and we should not try to trick him (!) into playing in the future. He was open to thinking about another activity he might want to try, but we'll wait until after the holidays to venture into something else.
We were pretty lax with the photos and didn't get one of the finished products,
and now they are moldy and wrinkled, but they were delightful on Halloween.
Jack was a Siamese cat.
Candy dump
Candy sort.
It was nice weather on Halloween again this year and Jack had more stamina than past years so we went beyond the typical trick or treat route. Jack was excited to acquire 97 items in his treat bag.
Time for the usual Fall activities. This year we did not go apple picking, but Jack and Derrick picked up a 1/2 peck of apples at the farm when they went to get pumpkins while I was working. So delicacies such as apple butter and apple crisp have been made.
Oh, cider donut too at the farm.
Pumpkin patch
Silly selfie at the pumpkin patch.
Leaf pile jump
Leaf pile snooze
Also, recently we went to the Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary for a nighttime Halloween celebration. The setup was that a wizard broke their wand and now all the animals in the woods were human sized and could talk. We walked through the woods with our group to see who was out there. The trails were lit with jack o lanterns.
Wizard and story about the broken wand.
One of the "animals" we came across and learned about.
One of Jack's favorite pumpkins.
When we were done with the hike, we got to sit by a fire outside and have cider and a cider donut. It was a relatively warm night and a fun time.
Finally some photos from the Topsfield Fair. We managed to go to the fair three times this year as the weather was very nice both weekends, which is generally unheard of. We also got back on the usual schedule of watching the parade at great-nana's on the first Saturday and having fried dough afterwards.
Watching the parade.
Excited for fried dough.
With the giant pumpkin. A new record, I believe.
Annual ride on the panda. Might be too big for this one next year.
The big slide with dad.
Playing the fish game which we then realized the prize was not stuffed fish,
but actual fish.
Meet Bubbles (L) and Goldie (R), new residents of the playroom.
Jack also won at the "launch the shark into the moving bucket" game.
Meet Pan Pan, who was quickly added to the panda collection that lives on Jack's bed.
Wizard dog has yet to be named.
Other games were played and a variety of rides ridden. Junk food was eaten, but we at least avoided a request for cotton candy, so that's something. We sufficiently celebrated the 200th anniversary of the fair and look forward to next year.
