Octoberfest 2011

October went by super fast, and a big reason for that was because Steven and I were on a cruise for the first 8 days of the month! Yes, we finally got to get away for a week long vacation, just the two of us, thanks to CiCi and Grammie who both flew up for the entire trip to stay with the boys. It was the first time we had been away since before Lawson was born, so it was a much needed vacation and we had a blast!

It was a New England cruise (and yes, we actually were the youngest couple on the ship!) that left from Boston and went to 2 cities in Maine (Portland & Bar Harbor) and 2 cities in Canada (St. John, New Brunswick and Halifax, Nova Scotia). It was a 7 night trip on a Royal Caribbean ship. We actually left the day before so we could spend a night in Boston....we stayed a couple blocks from Newbury Street, and although we had fun doing a little sightseeing, 24 hours there was definitely not enough! We did walk through a good bit of the town though, ran the freedom trail and around Fenway park, and rode the subway several times. Steven got a taste of Boston and definitely wants to go back again which definitely makes me excited because I love that city!

Walking down Newbury Street

Catching the subway....took these pics for Lawson since he loves the idea of subways!

Strolling through an historic and beautiful park in Boston

Eating at "Stephanie's on Newbury Street" and watching the Aggies win (the first half, that is :) before boarding the boat!

Steven with his new Boston Red Sox hat....hope to visit again soon!

Other highlights of the week included riding on a fishing boat to a quiant island in Portland to tour a 19th century fort, bike riding in Acadia National Park, seeing the reversing falls in St. John, visiting the Titantic cemetery & museum in Halifax, and relaxing on the boat and at every meal! This was our second cruise and we loved it just as much as the first! Here are just a few pics from that wonderful week....

Above is Fort Schammel, below is the other side of the island....after touring the fort, we got to have a lobster bake inside the home you see below...so fun!

This fort was amazing....the fact that they built this 200 years ago was incredible. It was built by the US government for defense purposes and then was used again in WWI

Our first Lobster bake! Good thing we sat next to Maine natives who walked us through the process....those boogers sure are messy!

View from our room balcony in Bar Harbor, ME

View from a dock in Bar Harbor...this was our favorite stop because the town was so cute, the scenery so gorgeous, and the food so yummy!

This was actually one of the prettiest days of the whole cruise which was perfect since it was the day we signed up for a bike ride. The fall foliage was a little late this year unfortunately, but it was already pretty here in Acadia National park!

Above is a very historic city market in St. John New Brunswick....fun place! The picture below was taken in front of the Reversing Falls there...a unique phenomenon that occurs due to the 25 foot rise and fall of the tides in the Bay of Fundy, the highest in the world. Basically the river flows into the ocean for half the day and then the other half the ocean flows back into the river. This picture was taken when they were changing directions...Google it and you'll see much better pictures

Above is the grave site of the real life Jack Dawson from Titantic. Below is Steven walking through the cemetery....the weather that day was appropriate for the occasion....cold and rainy. I have always been enamored by the Titantic tragedy, even at an early age, so it was pretty neat to be at the place where so much of the history lies....Halifax was the closest town to the tragedy so it was where all of the rescue/recovery efforts came from and where all of the victims and artifacts went immediately after. Most families couldn't afford to have the bodies shipped back home so they ended up being buried here.

Above and below are pics from the two formal nights on the ship. Dinner every night was one of our favorite things....to be able to sit and enjoy each other and our meal without any distractions, not to mention not having to cook or clean was divine!

Other highlights from October included.........

Going to the Pumpkin Patch

This year we went to a farm north of town and it was loads of fun. They had a big bouncy dome, a slide, pony rides, a train, tire swings, and a barn full of animals---what else could you want?!

Steven said this pig itself was worth admission and I agreed! It was hilarious...it was huge first of all and just came running through the barn like it owned the place. We found him later cooling off in this mud hole....so funny :)

A Visit from our Good Friends, the Shepherds

We hadn't seen them in 3 years since they left Las Vegas so they stopped by to say hello on their way up to Alaska, their next home! We each had another baby since we last met so it was fun to meet the new kiddos and see how much the others had grown....time sure does fly!

Cooking Class

I went to a cooking class with my friend, Jenny, which was a lot of fun. We went to the Healthy Living class and learned all sorts of good tips. That night we made grilled fish with seasoned quinoa and lemon zest asparagus---yummy!

Trunk or Treat

A few days before Halloween, we participated in the first annual Trunk or Treat at the AF Academy. It was fun and gave the boys a taste of trick or treating before Halloween!

There was a real fire truck there that night so we had to take a pic of Lawson with it :)

Halloween Party at Lawson's School

Lawson had a good time making caramel apples, playing pin the nose on the pumpkin, coloring a mask, and some other games. Here he is drinking gummy worm punch!

Halloween Night

As you can see, Lawson was a fire fighter and Peyton was a Tiger :) They had a great time trick or treating this year. Lawson knew exactly what to do and Peyton watched him from the wagon, but then Lawson got tired and Peyton took over...he caught on really fast and would run down the sidewalk and up the next driveway while saying "GO!" It was so cute!

Below is a video we took of Peyton after we got home. He was wired so we tried to get him to show us what he did while trick-or-treating....watch for the "Go!" and then the cute run with paws flapping that follows.....

As for an update on the boys there is not too much to report this month...so far everyone is healthy and happy and doing well this fall! Here are 2 more random pics for you....the first is of Lawson raking leaves...he went and got the rake all by himself out of the garage and started raking so that he could jump in a pile of leaves. And the second is of the 2 of them being silly in the bath tub :)

See you in November! Happy early Thanksgiving!