January

Here is Jack reading one of his poems at school.

"Pandas

Cute, fluffy

Climbing, eating, playing

Loves to eat bamboo

Bear"

Enjoying some outside time on a 70-degree day.

Starting to build a snow fort a week later.

We brought Jack to Monster Jam.  His buddy was able to meet us there.

It was very loud.

For Chinese New Year we went to the Peabody Essex Museum and

enjoyed the dance and drum performances and checked out the new wing.  

 - S.

December

Here is the December summary.

This year, due to the aforementioned short, chubby tree, 

Jack was able to put the star on top

ALL BY HIMSELF.  

Cookie feast for about a week.

This year we checked out the Christmas parade which happens 

about a block from the house on Christmas Eve.

Christmas morning dash.

Just a cardboard go cart, with a panda sign, of course.

NYE we stayed home, mostly due to Derrick injuring his leg at Sky Zone.  

We got some junk food and watched old cartoons.

Jack insisted he wanted to stay up until midnight.  Though it got a little dicey 

around 11:00, he did make it until 12:00.  

Here is the proof! 

- S.

November

Back from an unintended lengthy hiatus, I thought I'd just do a brief photo dump of November, December, and January in order to catch up, then hopefully resume as before. 

Making a leaf angel in the leaf pile. 

The Fall Family Forest Festival at Mass Audubon.

Waiting for the doctor to tell us Jack had a sinus infection.

Making a nebula jar at STEAMfest at school.

Waiting for the Salem tree lighting the day after Thanksgiving.

This short, chubby tree was Christmas tree winner this year.

(This detail will be important later.)

December and January will be in the queue and should pop up soon.

- S.

Halloween

Jack requested a shark costume this year, and for some reason a hammerhead shark really spoke to him, so that was his choice.  

Derrick and Jack won the costume contest at the school party.

Trick or treating on a warm and windy Halloween night.

 Organizing and counting the loot.

 The weather allowed us to sit outside, watch the crowd, and hand out candy.

- S.

Fair

The Topsfield Fair came and went last month.  The weather was not so great this year, but we managed to squeeze in a couple of visits.

During the parade, Jack gathered enough candy to fill a shopping bag.

He forgot about it within a few days and I made some co-workers happy 

by bringing it to the office.

Derrick joined in on the fried dough making this year.

Delicious!

There were lots of rides.

Mostly rides that go in a circle.

Maple cotton candy.

 Sand sculpture in progress.

 Some hot buttered corn.

A giant pumpkin.

Four and a half feet tall.

 See you next year, Fair!

-S.

September

The rest of September was spent getting back into the school routine with some weekend activities mixed in.  

Of course we did some apple picking which included tree climbing this year.

Jack had his 7-year checkup.  Healthy as a horse.

He is closing in on 70 pounds and is hovering between 4.25' and 4.5'.  

We learned about compasses and how to use them with Mass Audubon.

And how to use a compass with a map.

We helped out at the annual Fall spruce up at school.  

Here is Jack in front of the tree we planted at school three years ago.

- S.

Birthday and Grade Two

In an effort to continue catching up on past events, here is some news from September.

Jack had a birthday last month and he turned seven years old.  

We had a small family gathering to celebrate and gave Jack a few gifts ahead of time.

Oh, the birthday theme this year was cats, hence the ears.

 Cake time.

Cat box cupcakes.

 Cat piñata.

Then a quick two days later, Jack started second grade!

More to come!

- S.