Looking back on photos from the fall of 2022 I’m remembering there were brief windows in between dealing with various germs. The second half of September was covid. Then we had the kids’ birthdays! Then it seems like we caught a series of colds through October and were healthy again by Halloween!

I did take a moment to admire my favorite foliage across the street.

Here’s a pic the principal sent me from a day when Blaine was proud to show off he’d written more than he ever wrote before!

Sarah’s Wednesday tennis continued weather- and germ-permitting, and after one lesson her friend spotted this red-tailed hawk sitting on a fence by the restrooms! So cool.

Now into the Halloween pics! The kids got their costumes on for the annual Ragamuffin parade in Larchmont on 10/22. It was fun to walk through town and trick-or-treat at all the stores, which we hadn’t done for a few years thanks to covid.

On 10/29 we enjoyed my favorite fall tradition, the corn maze! This year we went to Castle Hill Farm in Newtown CT. The maze was fun, and we got some pumpkins! Sadly no apple cider donuts, though. But there was a pumpkin trebuchet?

On 10/30 we carved the pumpkins!

Monday 10/31 was Halloween! The kids got to walk in the Chatsworth Halloween Parade — Blaine for the last time (since he’s graduating?!) and Sarah for the first time since Kindergarten.

That night we went trick-or-treating in our neighborhood with some friends!

Before we knew it it was birthday time again at 9 Wendt Avenue. I think in past years we’ve spread out the birthday celebrations to two weekends and it’s always felt endless. This year we crammed it all into one weekend and it was overwhelming! I’m not sure which approach is better.

It all started on Friday, October 7th, with Blaine’s birthday at school. The school was allowing birthday treats again so Blaine opted to bring in Dunkin Donuts for his class. He also go to take a “birthday walk” and deliver extras to specials teachers and others including the principal who sent me this cute pic. I can NOT believe that Blaine is into the double digits.

Blaine’s actual birthday was on Saturday this year, so he started the day with his favorite activity: video games. Then we baked a cake for his birthday party later that day. Cake #1 was chocolate cake with chocolate frosting. Plus m&ms for garnish. Yum!

Next up was lunch at Shake Shack before the big birthday party at 5th Dimension VR in White Plains. We had a little extra time and stopped to see this park where the Battle of White Plains had occurred during the Revolutionary War.

Then we headed into White Plains for the virtual reality party. None of us had ever done VR before so we all had a blast! The place was fantastic, really well run with great employees and an awesome facility. Very impressed with the staff and setup.

After about an hour of VR the group went into the party room for pizza and cake.

Back at home after the party Blaine opened his presents and then we must have had dinner of some sort, I can’t really remember! Is it possible Blaine asked for burgers? I guess it is since he never gets a burger at Shake Shack.

After dinner it was time for cake #2: a delicious chocolate chocolate ice cream cake from Bona Bona. Double Yum!

The next day was Sunday and thus time to move on to Sarah’s birthday. Her party was scheduled for that afternoon at the Rock Club in New Rochelle. So we started the day making cupcakes! Let’s see, this was cake #3: yellow cupcakes with chocolate frosting.

Sarah really liked the small parties she had due to covid and wanted to keep this year’s party small, as well, so she only invited three close friends. She also invited one of Blaine’s friends who is the older brother of one of Sarah’s friends! It was nice because with the small group it meant lots of climbing time.

Then more pizza, and cupcakes, in the party room!

Then it was home for presents and downtime! I think we managed to have a regular healthy dinner that night, most likely with leftover cake of one sort or another!

The next day was Sarah’s actual birthday, and the kids were off from school for Indigenous Peoples’ Day. Sarah wanted to spend most of the day putting together legos, of course, but she took a break to have lunch at Walter’s. And I’m pretty sure we also squeezed in a trip to Flint Park for some outside time! But then it was back to more legos. She put together both of these dragons before her birthday was over!

We also made yet another birthday cake! Cake #4 was the classic yellow cake with chocolate frosting.

For dinner Sarah requested her favorite, filet mignon, with kale chips and a baguette. It’s pretty rare that we have red meat anymore for various reasons, so this was a real treat!

The birthday extravaganza came to a close on Tuesday with Sarah’s birthday celebration at school with more Dunkin Donuts! Actually if I recall correctly she stayed home on Tuesday with a cold and then brought in donuts on Wednesday! It was a very special birthday weekend for both kids, I can’t believe they are getting so old!