Ballerinas gone Computing

Wes was at jury duty yesterday, so Zara and I had a little laptop on couch time pre-dinner. Here we see Z computing in a leotard and tights. Isn't that how all the superheros do it?

Cuteness at the Park

I think these pictures need very little explanation, largely because I have no idea what is going on here and Z and G are just always adorable. For those of you in the TKD know, does it kinda look like maybe Zara's doing a bit of Nohai in that second picture?

White Rock Falls

This afternoon we found a nice hike for Zara. It's at mile marker 20 on the Blue Ridge Parkway, across the road from The Slacks Overlook parking area, 0.9 miles one way. The hike is "moderate", with plenty of flats, some steeps, and a few rocky areas. The fall leaves made some places slippery. You cross two foot bridges, and are rewarded at the end with a 35 foot water fall into a small clear pool, ideal for cooling off before reversing direction and hiking back. There's an opportunity for a rock scramble on the way back, to view the falls from above.

Still here...

I remember back in January of this year, when Peggy asked us if we could keep Polar for a week or two while Service Dogs sorted out Polar's placement. Still, he's much smaller, now, so that's something.

Halloweeen on the Lawn

We were planning (again) to dress Zara as a Toyota Prius with an Obama sticker on the back, but the allure of Kiera's hand-me-down lamb costume was too great. I think reading about Ramona the sheep with a black painted nose in Ramona and Her Father may have tipped the scale. Perhaps next year.

Dr. DJ Bickers and Zara

We had fun at Dr. Bickers' office. The hygienist named Jenny was fun too. Dr. Bickers counted my teeth 10 times and I have a very pretty smile. It was really great. I have a book about teeth and I have lots and lots of prizes. I chose to get special dentist gum and a fish tattoo. I also got SpongeBob toothpaste and a SpongeBob toothbrush!

(the above blog entry was dictated by Zara!)

Pumpkin Patch

Zara's class made a trip to pick apples & pumpkins. This is Zara's good friend and classmate Georgia.

Graves Mountain Apple Fest

To take the sting out of the departure of our Michigan friends Caleb and Melissa, we all (where we all = us and our friendly neighborhood Canadians) spent the day at Graves Mountain, where they were having a fall apple festival. Which I think might just be an excuse to have hay mountains to climb and hay mazes and all that, though I did see some apples, and the kids even ate some. And there were some animals to pet. And trees to climb. Despite the rather chilly beginning to the day, as you can see in the last picture it warmed up considerably and we all had a lovely time.
( thanks to Char for the awesome photos.... so far posts for the month of October have been brought to you entirely by pictures taken by people other than us... hmmm, I think we might be slackers. )

Room on the Broom

Zara and her class went to the theatre twice in 2 weeks! Life at CBI Preschool is considerably more fun than I recall preschool being.... Here Z and a bunch of classmates walk to the theatre and after the show, Z and E strike poses in the courtyard.

Havdalah

Zara and her class start the week off with a havdalah ceremony, ending the weekend away from school (or in general cases, shabbat) and beginning a new week together. Zara's a big fan of candle lighting, and is taking her turn bring in charge of the beautiful braided havdalah candle. What better way to welcome in a new week than a super cute pose with an upside down sit and spin?