October

 Fall Break Cont:

Fall Break, after we returned from NYC was busy and full of friends. We went to Universal Studios for the day to meet up with the Green family who were there for their Fall Break. We lost Cruz but gained Hayden for the day!

Howl-o-Scream:

Both boys attended Busch Garden's Halloween event with groups of friends. 

Cruz and friends.

Rowan and friends. 

Homecoming: 

Homecoming festivities made for a busy week in mid October. Rowan went to the dance with Hayden and then to an after party at his friend Hunter's house. Cruz went to the dance with a group of friends and then they went to Popstroke to mini golf afterwards. 

Hoco Proposal 

I got these two photos from the school photo page from one of the homecoming week pep rallies. 

Handsome Senior! 

Rowan and Hayden 

Sweet brothers. Cruz threw his clothes on for this photo for me since he was leaving a couple of hours after Rowan. 

I have this same pic from Rowan's sophomore homecoming. 

Such a great group of sophomore boys. 

Soccer:

Rowan decided to play soccer for his senior year. I'm excited to see him out on the soccer field one last time! 

 

  Tremaine Houston: 

It's the time of year again... convention season! We kicked off the season with a trip to Tremaine's very first city. Houston was fantastic. Cora danced her heart out and was a scholarship finalist. Can't wait to keep it up! 

Fun dinner with our friends Lila and Lindsay. 

While Cora and I were away, the boys were busy golfing! 

Bible Study: 

I am involved in two Bible studies this year. I am on my 6th (I think) year of BSF and am really enjoying this year's study and my group. I am also doing a small group study with some moms from school. My sweet Kyle is always a big help when I'm trying to get my homework done. ;) 

Halloween: 

Never too old for a treat basket! 

Coco trick or treated with a huge group of 7th grade friends. 

Cora's friend Aleyah's new puppy was a shark to go with their lifeguard outfits. 

Trick or Treat #1. We first stopped at friend Haven's neighborhood as its mostly older people and they love a group of trick or treaters.

Then we headed to friends Harvey and Caleb's neighborhood and met up with the rest of the 7th grade gang.

Trick or Treat #2 

Cora and Hadley 

Spice Girls :) 

Best I got of Rowan and Hayden who went to the high school football game and then a Halloween Party. They were dressed up as Squints and Wendy from the Sandlot.

Cruz went to the football game as well and then to his friend Robin's house. No photo evidence exists. :) 

Fall Break: NYC

We basically had the equivalent of a long weekend (Sunday through Wednesday) to get away this year during Fall Break. The kids are busy and I am trying to respect Rowan's time during this senior year. I'm thankful we had the chance to get away together even just for a short time. 

Sunday:

Our hotel was very centrally located in the middle of Times Square. It was a fun place to stay! 

 

We landed and headed straight to walk around in Times Square. We had fun people watching and looking at the lights and billboards all around us. 

We had a lunch/dinner at Carmine's which is a family style Italian restaurant. It was delicious.

My sweet grown up baby boys

World's largest Macy's! 

We found the Empire State Building! 

We spent the next few hours in the Empire State Building. The views were spectacular and the weather was gorgeous. 

Monday: 

Monday started out with a Subway ride. The NYC subway felt super easy! It could have been that the signs were all in English- not always what we're used to on public transportation. :) 

We boarded our cruise to see the Statue of Liberty. 

There she is! 

Honestly, the kids were only semi impressed with this stop. They thought the statue would be larger. 

We walked down Wall Street...

saw the famous Charging Bull statue although we did not wait in the humongous line for a picture! 

 

Lunch was slices of pizza at Joe's and they were fantastic! 

We spent the afternoon at the 9/11 Memorial and Museum. It was such a beautiful memorial and a really incredible and informative museum. 

The mall across the street was a great place to pick up a few souvenirs. 

Tuesday: 

Our final day was a lot of fun. We started out with a bike tour of Central Park. 

Central Park had so many gorgeous spots. I had no idea that the park was so expansive with so many different fountains, bridges, green spaces, etc. 

After the ride, we were ready for another pizza experience. 

We walked in the fancy areas. The kids wanted to see the Plaza Hotel, setting for everyone's favorite Christmas movie, Home Alone. 

The giant Louis Vuitton store was on Coco's "must see" list. 

Our final activity before we headed home bright and early Wednesday morning was a visit to Yankee Stadium to see a Yankees v. Blue Jays play off game. What a cool ballpark, cool atmosphere and incredible experience. 

Love this bunch so much! I'm so grateful that we got to spend a chunk of Rowan's last high school fall break together.