Halloween Happenings

 

Happy Halloween!  Our neighborhood went all out this year!  We had haunted pathways, haunted garages, full size candy bars, yards decked out to the gills.  It was great! 

Lacey was a royal with her royal cat.

Tanner was a Ghoul

He was originally dressed as the Robber in Home Alone and was going with two other friends who were going as Kevin and Buzz.  It was so cute!  But at the last minute they changed (sigh.... and I never got a picture of the Home Alone outfits!  Boo 😞)

Riley was an Arabian Princess

Ella was a Knight

Ella's loot at the end of the night!

Other Halloween Festivities.... I went to see Ella in her elementary school parade.

I taught a special, fun halloween-themed seminary lesson with my early-morning seminary class.  Aren't they cute!  I love these kids.  

Riley went to her first middle school dance.  She went with her friend Izzy.

Riley performed in a halloween chorus concert.  

The concert was Middle School and High School combined.

See the banana?  That is Parjita who is currently on The Voice.  Riley is just one row in front of her and one person to the left.  So, I told Riley that if Parjita makes it big, Riley can always say she performed on stage with her 😜

It was like we were treated to a professional concert listening to Parjita sing!

And we also did our church's annual Trunk or Treat.

And Dave and I went to a halloween party with friends.  I was Marion the Librarian from The Music Man and Dave was, fittingly, Davey Crockett.

Happy Halloween! 👻🎃

Lacey's Driving!

 

Lacey's had quite the week!

In Maryland, you have to be 15 and 9 months in order to get your permit.  She turned 15 and 9 months last Saturday, so this past week, we got her to the DMV to take the online test and she passed!  We now have to log 60 hours of driving time with her.  So, here we go..... 😱🚘

She also had her end of season Tennis banquet. 

Hugging her Coach (Handler)

And walking away with her pin that goes on her Varsity letter. 

She's off to States tomorrow at the University of Maryland!

And she got a season pass to go to Six Flags with her friend Katie.

National Fall Lax Fest Tournament

 

Riley and Ella both competed in a National Lacrosse Tournament this weekend.  Riley competed against some of the best teams in the State as well as surrounding states.  They had a really tough bracket playing against some extremely talented and competitive teams including the Eagle Stix, who flew in from Georgia to compete.  When all was said and done, it was Riley's team and the Eagle Stix who remained undefeated after three games.  So then it came down to goal differential to see who would advance to the Championship.  As you can see, the Eagle Stix scored one more goal than we did so they ended up advancing.  Major bummer to win every game and still not be able to advance, but so exciting to see these girls compete at this level and do so well!

Riley taking the penalty shot.  And she scores!

Although it was the same tournament, the teams were spread out all over the state in order to have enough fields to accommodate everyone.  So Dave drove an hour North with Riley (getting up at 5am and out the door by 6am yesterday) and I did the same with Ella, only I drove South.

Ella had lots of fun with her teammates in between games.

Game time!

Ella wins the draw then runs down for a goal!

At the end of the Tournament, Ella's coaches presented her with the "Grity" award.  This is a play off their Club Team Name (Integrity) using the last five letters of the club name to encourage the kids to play with "grit."  To play hard, to never give up and give it all you've got.  Ella scored 4 goals and had 2 assists yesterday and did most of the draws.  And her coaches awarded her with the "Grity" award at the end.  So even though they lost their final game against Maryland United 3-9,  I think it made Ella's day to be awarded with the "Grity" award.

And then I threw Ella in the car and drove another hour away to make it to her soccer game in Columbia.  It was a looooooong day of sports!  I think I caught Ella mid-jump here but it looks like she's levitating or something 🤣

Her lacrosse/soccer buddies.  These girls all play hard together and it's so much fun to watch them excel in all their athletic endeavors.  

The Room Where It Happens

Hamilton premiered on Broadway in 2015.  We've seen it dozens of times on Disney plus, but we are just now finally getting around to seeing it in person.

The Hippodrome Theatre in Baltimore. Ready to be transported back to the 1700's. 

I knew Ella wouldn't make it through, so she and I had a mother/daughter date night eating Mezeh and cheesecake and watching a movie together.  But Dave and the older three all loved seeing Hamilton in person.

And Tanner may be the luckiest person on the planet because just 48 hours after seeing it with the family, he got invited to go back and see it again with his buddy John!

 

Lacey is going to States!

 

Lacey's arm is blocking her medal, but rest assured, her gold medal is happily around her neck.

Lacey got some great news this week!  I'm actually not sure how many kids are on the Unified Tennis team, but only 35 of them were selected to compete at the County Tournament this past Tuesday.  Lacey was lucky enough to be on that list.  And her team was the only one from her school to get first place and advance to States!  They will head to the Junior Tennis Champions Center at University of Maryland College Park on Nov. 1st.  Excited for Lacey to have this experience.  Go Falcons! 🎾

Assateague

 

Tanner had the opportunity to go camping with his Scout Troop to Assateague last weekend.  Assateague, and its sister island Chincoteague, are famous for their wild horses that roam the beaches. 

Before....

And after.

Bonfire beach selfie.

Letting the cinders burn after a great weekend with the scouts. 

Fall Festival

 

Yesterday was our Elementary school's annual Fall Festival.  I say "annual" but due to Covid, they haven't held this since 2019, so Ella was only in 1st grade the last time we had one.  So glad to see this fun tradition return!

Practicing her golf game.

And Lacey was awesome enough to step up and volunteer when they asked for more help.  She volunteered at the "tattoo" booth and helped at the cotton candy station as well.

And one of the highlight of the day was meeting Parijita Bastola, a SPHS student (she was actually in Lacey's drivers Ed class) who is amazingly talented and was recently featured on NBC's The Voice.  All four judges (Gwen Stefani, Blake Shelton, John Legend and Camilla Cabello) turned around for her and wanted her on their team.  She went with John Legend and will be featured again this week as the "Battle Rounds" start. 

Bounce houses and slides for days!

Perfect weather and so fun to squeeze in this fun time with my girl between lacrosse practice and her soccer game (where she was goalie the first half and didn't let any goals in -she had some pretty amazing saves! - and then scored an AWESOME goal during the second half).