Durham Fair

We went to the Durham Fair, we hadn't been to a CT fair all year. It was fun. We saw some great ideas in the 4H tent for pumpkin decorating, then we saw some pumpkins that weighed a ton, literally! I think the hit of the day was the trick dog show.

Family Picnic

The PES family picnic featured a brand new playground! The kids were pretty excited to use the equipment after not having had a playground all year.

Newtown Arts Festival

We spent a little time at the arts festival in Newtown. E and I made a few art projects. We also saw these lovely birds, and I think Ethan could have watched them for hours.

Cemetery Work Day

Gramps scheduled a work day for the Rock Valley Cemetery, so we went to lend a hand. If, at 84, he can get out there and reset stones, we can too. Ethan helped do some work, and helped Uncle Tom rescue a snake. When we were finished, we went out to Basket Lake where we waded in a bit, Uncle Tom took a swim, and Jonny did a little fishing. Then we had some good bbq at the bowling alley (no lie) and headed home.

Bear Scout!

Ethan is officially a Bear Scout now! Roar!

Day Off

Ethan had the day off school, so I took it off too. We went to Averill Farm and picked apples, then stopped at Settler's Park on the way home to fly our kite. We also took some time to play on the slide and take silly pictures.

Park Time

We spent some time playing at the park and riding bikes with Gavin and Max, then we went out for lunch.

Spy Party!!!!!!!!

Ethan's spy party was an epic adventure. He started the morning by noting the event in the fog on the bathroom mirror. We spent all morning setting up. First, they checked in as spies and were fingerprinted. They received their passport and donned any necessary disguises. Then it was time for spy training. We had a giant obstacle course featuring things to crawl over and under, tires to jump through, and water balloon target practice. They also had to defuse "bombs." Then we learned to destroy evidence- we ate cake. We also had TNT Twizzlers dynamite and krispy treat bombs. We had to fight Dr. E. Ville who was trying to destroy the favors and the world's candy supply. Don't worry, we found and diffused the bomb just in time. Then we had more target practice with our marshmallow shooters. The kids all took home their intact favors, safe from Dr. E. Ville. We then upheld our tradition and went out for dinner with Jeannie, Kurt and Elise. We headed to the restaurant at the airport.

Cake

The last of the spy party prep- suitcase cake.

Shirt

Ethan needed spy apparel, and I could find nothing suitable online. So, a blank t-shirt and a sharpie took care of that.

8th Birthday!

We had a fun birthday evening. Ethan chose Senor Panchos for his birthday dinner out (taco Tuesday, you know). For his "cake" he asked for Granny's peanut butter bars. In his words, "Granny was some cook!" He loved all his presents, thank you!!! That expression, bottom right, is when he realized he got Stevie Wonder tickets. We also took time to dance to the Beatles. You can guess which song.

Labor Day

We closed out labor day weekend at the Newtown Parade. There are always lots of great old cards, Shriners, and way too much candy thrown. We came home and had some pool time, and then I put the finishing touches on the duct work.

Coming Along

It's starting to look like duct work.

Blues, Views & BBQ

We went to the Blues, Views & BBQ festival to check out one of Ethan's favorite bands, the Funky Dawgz. They were playing in the afternoon so we spent some time before their set wandering around, eating bbq, and trying the bouncy slides. Several people spotted his Funky Dawgz shirt while we were wandering around, and one of them WAS a Funky Dawg. He stopped and talked to E for a while, so that was great for him. It was a beautiful day and a fun time.

More Party Prep

Spies need duct work to crawl through. Work is progressing nicely.

THIRD Grade!

How is it possible that Ethan is halfway through elementary school? I don't know where the time went, but here he is, a big third grade kid. He started BAS at the school for the first time, too. We're looking forward to a great school year.