Delving into November

This first of November has brought some “lasts” for us. With the coming expiration of our membership at the Mystic Aquarium, we took advantage of Gavin’s early release from school last week to pay a last visit. That morning we had hopes of getting out to see the sea lions, dolphins, and penguins (all outside), but by the time we arrived it was so soggy we had to wade through inches of water to visit the ray touch pool. We checked out the usual wildlife, with some spooky additions, and discovered one feature we’d missed on past trips – a DNA Dance Dance Revolution game!


Additional fun for the kids came in the form of a playdate for Arwen (I got a real kick out of watching her and Sarah play battleship together) and a class trip to Alice Acres for Gavin. His school is participating in a program that fosters diversity by pairing classrooms from different schools for various activities throughout the year. The kids had a great time playing outdoor games, an hour of which Arwen and I joined in.

Saturday was Gavin’s last soccer game. The season has been a bit sparse this year, with two of six games rained out and us out of town for another. But Saturday the weather was amazing. At moments the sun was so hot it felt like summer. Gavin had a great time playing this year.

That afternoon we joined some friends for their son’s birthday. Candy croquet was a hit, as was the eyeball piñata which took a zillion swings to crack (Chad ended up being the lucky guy to loose the loot on the kids). As usual, it was a great time hanging out with friends.

One anecdote about Arwen this week that’s too good to “hide” on her personal blog: In addition to her usual Christmas request for Ahsoka’s Jedi Starfighter Lego Set, she’s started asking for a thousand dollars. The other night I told her I hadn’t heard of Santa handing out that kind of cash, and she informed me she had called him on the phone and he told her that he does, indeed, do that kind of thing. Guess we need to come up with another response . . .