November was a busy busy month!

Before and after Isabella's "birthday week," we took several trips - near and far~

Mid-November, we went on a farm tour.  It has been awhile since we've done one, but we wanted to go to this one because this tour was on a portion of the farm that we have been buying fruit and veggies from through our CSA membership all summer.  The farmer, Mitch, provided hay-rides along the back of this tractor.  We got to wander around some of the fields and pick some carrots as well.  Obviously Isabella is too young to take it all in (although she has eaten a lot of the veggies from the CSA as mushed up baby-food).  But - the real reason to cram in a visit on an already busy weekend - to expose Mercer to the farm.  He was mostly interested in the tractor and running. 






















The third week of November, I had a conference for work... the same conference I was at in California when Isabella was born.  This year, the conference was held in Philadelphia, PA -- only about 1 1/2 hours from Todd's sister, Tonia.  All of us packed up and hopped on a plane (Isabella's first trip.)  Tonia and Rose Marie met us at the airport, we all went to lunch, checked into a hotel, then they took the kids back to her house so that Todd could go to the conference too. 

It's always good to go to the conference, get new information about the green building industry, but also being able to share the experience with Todd (who could also use the continuing education credits) was pretty cool!  It consisted of some long days and nights (one evening, 
Hillary Clinton addressed our group about the importance of energy conservation in buildings).











Here are some goofy "public art" pictures I subjected Todd into posing for / I posed for just outside the conference center.  It was 7:30 am.  There was no one around that we knew (hopefully!)

The highlight our trip does not really have anything to do with the conference or our work.  Exploring the  Barnes Family art collection inside of these monolithic walls was fantastic!  Barnes collected pieces for close to 40 years -- amassing the largest collection of Renoir paintings, a great number of Matisse drawings and paintings, as well as others by Picasso, Van Gogh, and Cezanne.  He even collected antiquities and mixed them into his more modern collection.  I had not seen paintings by Soutine in person - someone who one of our favorite (living) painters studied under.  I was not familiar with Prendergast, but was really drawn to his work.   The collection rivaled some of the famous museums we visited in France.... but it's relatively close to home.  I'm SOOO glad we made time to visit!  Thanks to Tonia for letting us miss our first train and catch a later train so we could finish walking the museum (as if she had a choice!!)    http://www.barnesfoundation.org/collections/art-collection/about-collection

We went to the 30th Street station and tried to figure out how to make it to NJ.  The place was bustling... there was no clear place to buy the tickets we needed.  We had to ask someone at a different train system's ticket window, then buy them from a machine.  Thankfully the woman at the ticket window said "you will not know which track to go to until 10 minutes before the train is to take off; watch that board"  It was one of those boards that clicks as the numbers turn over.  The air was full of sounds of passengers talking, people making announcements over the intercom, and the constant clicking of the train board.  We are happy that we did not have to navigate this crazy "system" with the kids in tow.  If we had to do it again, we would be fine, but glad we did this our first time solo!!)

Mercer and Isabella both gave us great receptions once we met back up with them, although Isabella had grown pretty fond of Tonia and seemed a little torn who to go to!  Both kids enjoyed playing with their cousins.  Isabella loved terrorizing the dogs as well.  

Tonia and Rose Marie found a solution for containing her~  put her in a giant Rubbermaid tub so she could look at the dog while contained! 

Both of Todd's brothers came -- bringing two more of Mercer and Isabella's cousins (9 of the 10 were present).  One of Todd's cousins came for the weekend too.  It was quite a reunion under the one roof. While everyone was gathered together, we celebrated Rose Marie's birthday.  I think she's only 39 years old.  (or that's what she was "holding" at a few years ago~)

We had a great time with everyone, but once we made it back home - we realized that it was nice to put our heads on our own pillows.  We were only at home for a couple of days before it was time to leave again and head to Florida. 

We go to my dad's every other Thanksgiving. For many of the family members down there, this was the first time they were seeing / meeting Isabella (aside from dad and Charlie, of course). 

The family gathered on Thanksgiving day, but one was asked to leave.  My step-brother, Brad, was "not behaving" according to Mercer "and he had to go."  A little life lesson for the 5 year old:  behave or you are asked to leave!

One thing that was great, however:  Mercer making cookies with his cousin, Kaitlin.  He actually stayed engaged and helped through the whole process (I think because she let him eat chocolate chips throughout the prep work).  It was cute to watch her with him! 

Also it was really sweet to watch my other step-brother, Freddy, hold / sway / dance around the living room with baby Isabella.  He really loved her!  Charlie enjoyed dressing Isabella up.  (She DOES love jewelry) 

In fact, the day after Thanksgiving, we took Mercer to Universal Studios - Islands of Adventure theme park.  Dad and Charlie watched Isabella.  First thing they did... broke out a stash of costume jewelry!  Oh boy!!

We visited the LEGO theme park when we were down in Orlando 2 years ago -- when Mercer was 3 years old.  Charlie graciously offered to watch the baby so we could take Mercer to a theme park this year as well (and not have to drag the baby around everywhere).  Good call!  She would have enjoyed the people watching, however, she would not have enjoyed sitting around while everyone else got to go on rides.  The weather actually was a bit chilly and there were some babies there that were not adequately prepped for cool Florida weather / seemed miserable.  Next time we are down there, we will take Isabella to a park.  (I imagine Disney will be in our future at some point?)

 

Todd and I thoroughly enjoyed the cool 4D roller coasters with a lot of computer-animated scenes and bursts of flames / real warmth during explosions.  We thought the Spider Man ride was a lot of fun and Mercer seemed to like it.  As soon as he got off, he puffed out his chest and yelled "that was awesome!"  We waited in line for a Harry Potter ride because Mercer was just the exact height as the board said you had to be to get in... but we lost sight of how young he is for his height!  Once we boarded and started to ride, both Todd and I realized that it was too much for the poor little guy.  Again - we thought it was great - but there were some things that we were afraid of was going to be scary.  As soon as he got off of that 4D ride, he stormed off saying "Why did you take me on that ride?!"  We should not have taken him.  For future reference -- we need to research the theme parks + rides BEFORE we go!  He admitted, too, that the Spider Man ride was a little scary. 

We made it over to the Dr. Seuss area which he liked the best.  Agreed... it was cute and MUCH more his speed.  He likes super heroes and rough-and-tumble boy stuff, but it is heart-warming to know that deep down inside, he's still a Mickey Mouse club-house / Dr. Seuss kid!  There were a couple of things that he wanted to do over-and-over again in the Dr. Seuss area. 

It was a LONG day, but we made the most of it.  We are grateful that we had the opportunity to spend the time with him and just "let go" and play all day!!

We have been celebrating Isabella's 1st year this week.

On Sunday, we had a ladybug party for Isabella complete with little girls from the neighborhood, grandma from North Carolina, cupcakes, ice cream, and ladybug games (for the older kids).  

Mercer was involved in planning the party.  He told us which little girls in the neighborhood should be invited:  two little 2 year olds. Then he realized that there were no boys at the party, so he wanted to invite someone from baseball that has a 3 year old sister and another neighbor boy + his older sister.  (both named Jackson) There's a picture of the dueling Jacksons above~

It was a nice crowd of people that celebrated Isabella's first year with us!  The weather was beautiful and the party spilled outside for awhile.

Isabella seemed a little apprehensive of the fire.  She got her first taste of cake (with dye made from beets instead of artificial colors) and her first taste of ice cream.  She did not get upset like Mercer did.  No crying for this birthday star.

She did not make a very big mess at first, but kept at it -- slowly and methodically - 'til she had it ALL over her face!

 

Here are some more photos from the party -- the last one is my favorite!

 

Wednesday (yesterday) was her actual birthday.  I've been taking photos of her every 3 months with the doll that Mercer gave her at their first meeting.  Here are a few shots with the doll.  

Also, we had dinner at home and celebrated with her, then gave her our gift:  a custom-made walker / stroller.  She got a little more ice cream, but we were not brave enough to try another cupcake.

Today, when Isabella returned to daycare after being at home for a couple of days, she got to partake in one more celebration.  She and her classmates enjoyed muffins.  (most of which ended up on the floor).  Mrs Angela is still there... still one of the most loving care-givers we've met!

Obviously, Isabell did not understand what's going on with all of the celebrations, however, we think she had a great time. 

Hopefully she feels lots of love and the joy that we've received from having her as a part of our life this past year!

Halloween, Baseball, and some Miscellany

We recently went to a dear friend's house to celebrate the 2nd birthday of their son - a true miracle.  Christopher was born prematurely at about 1 1/2 lbs.  He was in the NICU for almost a year - they did not openly celebrate his 1st birthday because, honestly, things were tenuous for awhile.  We were THRILLED to go to his 2nd birthday party... honored and very very happy for our friend and his wife.  

(You may recognize this cute little boy from our adoption finalization party earlier in the year.  That was the first time we met little Chris which made Isabella's party all the more special.)  Chris is 2, however, he's about the same size as Isabella.  It will take some time for him to "catch up."  The two of them played sometimes together & sometimes independently!  It was cute to watch the two of them interact (or not interact).

Mercer went on his first field trip at school on the day before Halloween.

They went on a little hike along a stream at a farm, the kids got to pick pumpkins (they were store-bought / placed on the ground and they were microscopic -- Mercer's was about the size of a golf ball -- but he's proud of it), they saw chickens and pigs, and they took pictures with a woman in Indian dress who gave them all arrowheads.  I heard from one of the chaperons that it was not that nice of a place, but Mercer seemed to enjoy himself.


Later that evening, Mercer went on his first field trip at church with his Mission Possible Kids group.

I went with him on this one.  He and about 25 other elementary school kids + 20 middle school kids piled on the church bus.  We went to a nearby nursing home and passed out goodie bags with sugar-free candy and personal items.  This "mission" was called reverse-trick-or-treating.  Some of the patients were really happy to see us.  (Others were asleep or confused why we were there.  Several of them told us that they had no money / couldn't pay us.  So sad that they felt they had to pay when we were trying to give them something).   I had to do most of the talking because he and his friend (our neighbor Edith) were really apprehensive to talk.  Overal, it was a good experience for the kids.

The next day was Halloween.  Here are some pics of Mercer carving a normal-sized pumpkin and a couple of photos of the kids in their costumes.  Isabella's ghost costume turned out being a bit big.  But - take off the smiley ghost face next year and she's got a white tutu!

Isabell made a new friend at the neighborhood party -- a baby girl who just moved here this year.  This girl, Madison, is a month younger than Isabella.  Her mother and I have plans for a play date soon.

 

Isabella did not trick-or-treat, rather, got pulled around in a wagon / making an appearance at certain neighbor's houses.  Our neighbor Mike kept trying to get a rise out of her with his scary costume but she didn't budge.  She kept her eyes on him the whole time, though.

Mercer did trick-or-treat.  He kept grabbing handfuls of candy and toys out of our bucket once he got home because he said he was trying to fill his basket.  Thankfully for all of us - he only filled it about 1/2 way!  He is definitely "into" Halloween this year!

The Saturday after Halloween, Mercer had his final baseball game of the season.  Todd coached this team -- called the Ninja's.  This division is a step above tee-ball ("farm league").  The games were coach-pitched from a pitching machine, however, if a child could not hit the ball from the pitching machine, they were allowed to use the tee. 

Here are some photos from the team party. My favorite one - when the kids are goofing off!  They did have a lot of fun... the most important outcome of playing this fall!