The trips take a trip

I had to go to Canada on a business trip and decided to turn the trip into a little vacation for the entire family. I grew up in Rochester, NY and the seminar I was attending was just a few hours north, so the logistics were perfect. We started our trip north by stopping in Lynchburg, VA to visit with Season's family -- and it was especially perfect timing since her brother Kendall was home visiting from New Zealand. Here is Kendall with the kids.

Season and Kendall took the kids out shopping and they found some really great Halloween costumes on sale. Check out what they picked out!

The kids were so excited to see their Poppy and Grandma Gail. What was really cute is that they thought we were going to their "Beach House" because the last time we saw them was when we all stayed at the beach. I had to keep telling them that Poppy and Grandma don't live at the beach house! Although it was a really short visit, we all had a great time.

So next it was off to NY. The kids did really well in the car -- a lot better than I expected. Of course, having a DVD player in the car helps tremendously! We brought some of their favorite movies and toys and they did great. We stopped at a rest station and let them run around for a while. They didn't really want to get back into the car, and in the end we used bribes of toys and sweets. It was supposed to only take us 8 hours or so, but with some traffic delays and stopping it was more like 12.

When we finally got to Rochester, we split up and I went off to Canada and Season and the kids made the rounds with friends and family. We hooked back up after a few days and had some fun with our friends Laurie and Mary. We crammed a lot of fun stuff into a short time and boy did we wear them out!

On the way to my sister's house Will announced he didn't feel well and then proceeded to puke all over himself. Having gone through this before on our beach trip, Season and I were prepared and had him and the car all cleaned in up in no time and we were back on our way. He had (still has) a bit of a cold, so it was hard to say if it was car sickness or something else.

We had a great time visiting with my family. Lily especially loved playing with her older cousin. I think the boys would say they liked the cupcakes from Aunt Kathi the best. And, we had a fun time getting some good family pictures of all of us! But, once again the visit was all too short and it was time to hit the road again. We really wanted to stay longer, but we thought it would be better to split up the trip back too. So, we left after dinner and just drove as long as we could stand it. Will did get puke one more time, but after that it was smooth sailing.

Of course there are pictures of everything we did on flickr (use the link below). I arranged the pics in groups, so be sure to check them all out - like the pumpkin patch, preschool field trip, vacation fun, etc. http://www.flickr.com/photos/weethree/

Dance class and wee3 antics

The kids have been taking dance classes and they really like it. They especially like having ballet and tap shoes. They don't let parents in to watch and I'm dying to see what class is like. It must be just adorable to see all those little 3 year olds dancing! They do have a few times when parents get to watch and I can't wait. I'll definitely be video taping that (if they let me I guess -- and if not, I'll still try to sneak it!) They are also going to be in the Nutcracker. They are cast in "Maypole - Act II."

Other cute stuff: We've had our first case of faking sick to get out of school. I couldn't believe it. It was Avery and he faked coughing and said, "cough cough...I too sick to go to school....cough cough." Nice try though. I'm in serious trouble with that. I was worst about not wanting to go go school. Karma and all I guess.

We also were having some regression with the potty training. We realized the accidents began right around the same time that the reward incentives stopped. So, we instituted a new "poop in the potty and get a balloon" system. The kids just love balloons and will do most anything to get one. So that has really worked. So far anyway!