Report Card Time

First quarter report cards came out at the end of October and we are happy to report that they were fantastic once again!
It was Emory's 9th quarter of Straight A's !!!   That is especially impressive this year as it has been a little touch-and-go with his fifth grade teachers.  He started out with two teachers and as of the beginning of the second quarter now only has one.  Fortunately for Emory, it is the one that he preferred (and definitely the better teacher of the two, I think). 
Ellie is doing great in second grade and she earned all Ms and Ps again.  She's really enjoying her teacher, Ms. Mayall, and all of the new things that they are learning so far.

Great Job, Emory and Ellie!  We are so proud of you!!!

Pumpkins and Trick or Treating

Emory and Ellie set out to turn their pumpkins into jack-o-lanterns on Saturday night after a busy day of soccer games.  Ellie has known for weeks that she wanted a winking pumpkin and found these cute lips to go with the winking eye.  Emory chose a crazy looking one with lots of crescent shaped eyes this year.  You can't tell in the pictures but Emory's had a multi-color strobe light inside that was really cool when it flashed.

Emory really got into the hobo act to go with the costume that he chose. He had a blacked-out tooth and all!  He had lots of fun acting and had lots of great poses for the hobo.   Let's hope that this isn't in his future!

 Ellie was the cutest little devil!  She enjoyed putting on all of the make up and was covered in glitter!

Here are Emory and Ellie with their friends right before they went trick-or-treating on Halloween night. 

It was a perfect night for trick-or-treating this year!  The weather was great and the kids had so much fun running from house to house all night long.  Emory and Ellie each collected over 200 pieces of candy!

 Happy Halloween!

Spooktacular at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm

On Friday night before Halloween, we got the kids all dressed up in their costumes and headed to the St. Augustine Alligator Farm for an evening of trick-or-treating with their friends Mack and Sydney Solms.

 This year we had a Ellie as a Devil, Sydney as a Werewolf, Mack as a Hot Dog and Emory as a Hobo.

 The kids had lots of fun running around, trick or treating and just acting silly together at the Alligator Farm.

Here's Emory having a close call with an alligator! 

Ellie was able to come along and wrench open the alligator's jaws and save her brother! 

It's not the best picture but here's an alligator who picked up a grapefruit that had fallen off of tree and was taking it back to the water.  We're not sure if it was to eat or just to play with.

At the end of the evening the Alligator Farm closed the night with a big alligator feeding by one of the zoo keepers.  This picture was taken a litttle earlier in the evening.  These alligators were gathered together to get their share of alligator kibble (that looks like dry dog food) that was being thrown into the water from a bridge above.  It was amazing to see (and hear!) so many of them at one time!

Visit to the Pumpkin Patch

The kids made their annual visit to the pumpkin patch with their friends Brianna and Ashton Stalvey.  Emory and Brianna have been doing this each year since their first Halloween!  It's hard to believe that it's been 10 years now!

This pumpkin carriage has been at the pumpkin patch each year.  At one time all four of them could fit inside and peek out the window.  Not any more!