On Sunday, 10/28, we carved our pumpkin.  The kids wanted to make it scary, like a vampire, and subsequently named it, “Monster.”

Sarah did not have school on Halloween, so she decided to wear her costume all day.  We did some errands in town and played for awhile at the fire truck playground.

We also observed an artist painting this mural, getting ready for a mural exhibition starting on Nov 4.

At 2pm we went to see the Chatsworth Halloween parade.

After school we were invited to a “pre-trick-or-treat” Halloween party nearby.  We trick or treated on the walk home, and then did some more on our own street.

Happy Halloween, everyone!

On 10/20 the kids put on their costumes and we walked in Larchmont’s Ragamuffin parade.

One day the kids asked Daddy to do an experiment involving baking soda, vinegar, and a balloon.

Sarah went to an awesome birthday party with dinosaur bone replicas.

I got to volunteer at Blaine’s school to help out when his class learned about composting and cover crops at the school garden.

I was also able to chaperone Blaine’s class field trip to the Sheldrake river walk.

Sarah’s multisports class moved on to lacrosse!

She also enjoyed playing with her new Spirograph Jr. set.

And she has been riding her tricycle all around town.  She is really ready for a bicycle, we think… maybe for Christmas…

Sarah turned four on Wednesday, October 10th.  Daddy made a batch of vanilla cupcakes with chocolate buttercream for her celebration at school.  I got to join the class for cupcakes and to read a book (Sarah chose Gram’s original story, the Panda Who Went for a Spin, for the second year in a row).

After school I took Sarah to Polpettina for a birthday lunch.

After dinner we had another delicious Daddy-baked cake!

Sarah was very excited about this panda-unicorn she’d asked for.

On Friday Sarah’s multisports class moved on to t-ball!

Then on Saturday, Mom-Mom and Aunt Molly arrived for a weekend visit.  We went out to lunch at the Larchmont Tavern.

On Sunday morning Daddy made his final batch of cupcakes for the birthday season, and Sarah helped to decorate.  All told there were 5 batches of cupcakes and one 3-layer cake, and a whole bunch of buttercream frosting.

We had Sarah’s birthday party on 10/14 at Creative Corner, a children’s art space here in Larchmont.  There was face painting, and the kids got to choose a wooden item to paint.  Sarah and Blaine both chose a mini fire truck.

There was also a game of hot potato!

Happy Birthday, Sarah!  We love you!

We kicked off the birthday week with Blaine’s birthday party on Saturday, October 6th.  In preparation for that event, we taste tested some smores (delicious!), and the kids helped put together goody bags.

The birthday party didn’t start until 2pm, so we spent the morning at Memorial Park.

Blaine’s party was at the Rye Nature Center (same as last year), and started out with an “animal extravaganza” show, featuring a bearded lizard, turtle, corn snake, guinea pig, and a pigeon.

Then the kids burned off some energy with a nature hike.

We came back inside for some snack, and then headed out to the campfire for (homemade by Andrew) cupcakes and smores.

Blaine turned six on Monday, the 8th, and had off from school for Columbus Day.  So, we headed to the Bronx Zoo to make up for our last visit and enjoy the Nature Trek.

The zoo was pretty crowded with Halloween events, but we got to see this neat pumpkin carving exhibition.

We also rode the monorail again, of course!

That night Blaine switched things up by requesting an ice cream cake from Longford’s.

The next day, 10/9, Blaine celebrated his birthday at school.  Daddy made chocolate cupcakes for the occasion with plain and chocolate buttercream frosting.

That day was also Blaine’s first official day with homework!  He did a great job.

Happy birthday to our sweet six-year-old!