November 2019 Roundup

November went by so quickly this year since we had the cruise at the beginning of the month and then Thanksgiving at the end. We only had two weeks of normal schedule, during which we also celebrated my birthday. Here are some other November moments:

Before leaving for our cruise I took the boys to the Discovery Center for their first Friday program. Today was about pirates and we made colored sand jars using salt and sidewalk chalk. Davey thought it was so cool! The jar actually lasted a couple weeks before it got all mixed up and went in the trash.

Nothing Bundt Cakes was celebrating National Bundt Day by giving away little cakes at noon. My friend met me there with my kids (she was watching them during my dr. appt) and then I watched her boys in line while she went to grab her daughter. It was a party, but the free cake was worth it!

One of my YW had a job to dress up as Olaf for a Frozen 2 event at McDonalds, so we went out to eat to see and support her

We went back to the Air and Space Museum again this month for another story time, but this time had a bunch of friends join us so it was even more fun

Out for a walk after school on a really nice November day

Chick fil A never spells my name right, but this was one of the most interesting interpretations!

Bubble beard Charlie

Family fun night at Lights Off golf! Sophie kept her own score this time and killed us all with her 11 hole-in-ones in a row. 

Charlie loves Sophie so much and was so excited when we went to see her at lunch one day

Cold day at the park while waiting for Sophie at tumbling class

We invited the Smith family to come play with us in the church gym one Saturday. It was great to give the kids a chance to run around and the boys were thrilled that they brought their little motorized car to share!

Thanksgiving 2019

We had a very low key Thanksgiving this year - we didn't travel to see anyone and no one traveled to come see us. The weather was actually really bad that weekend so I'm actually grateful no one was on the roads trying to get anywhere. It was nice to just stay home and keep things simple!

We went to see Frozen 2 with friends on Tuesday night since there was no school on Wednesday. The kids liked it, but I'm pretty sure they had no clue what was going on. It was pretty complex for a Disney movie.

Thanksgiving was just our family of 5 since Liz was working. Rather than attempt to roast a turkey for only 2 people who would eat it, we grilled up some steaks instead. 

Dinner actually turned out to be just us 4 since Charlie was napping

Later we did some Christmas crafts that I had picked up at Michael's earlier

On Friday we had a fun day at Cinergy since there was no work or school. The theater was running a promotion during November where every 2 cans of food brought in could be redeemed for $5 of game credit. We brought 24 cans of food when we saw Frozen 2, earning us $60 to blow at the arcade - it was so much fun!

Happy 34th Birthday to Me!

This year my birthday was a lot like any other day, with a few special things mixed in - that's how most adult birthdays go it seems! I am grateful to have made it around the sun another time though, and am grateful for the people who were here to celebrate with me. 

Our morning started nice and early. Charlie woke up at 5:30 (usually he sleeps until 7:00) and Davey woke up wet after having an accident in bed so we put the dirty boy in the bath and the dirty sheets in the laundry.

Sophie gave me a much nicer gift than her brother with this sweet card

Later that morning I went out for a treat with my friend, but then we had to hurry back to host Letter Group. The mom who was supposed to host had sick kids, so I offered to trade last minute and so we had six little friends at our house that morning to party!

Charlie's early wake up and the excitement of Letter Group caught up with him and he fell asleep on the rug before lunch

That evening we went to dinner at Texas Roadhouse since I love a good steak, and it's a family friendly place to eat. Our kids are a bit on the lively side and it's nice to eat somewhere with messy floors and loud music where we won't cause a scene.

After dinner we came home for birthday presents and treats. Instead of cake this year I got myself a Half Baked Ben & Jerry's ice cream - yum!! Also, I've been terrible at documenting this pregnancy, but the baby in that bump is about 20 weeks along :)

Baby #4 is....

I had my anatomy scan just a few days after returning from our trip. Dave stayed with the boys, and Sophie was at school so I was able to go to my appointment alone. I really had no idea what this baby was going to be, although I had had one vivid dream where it was a boy that I named Freddie (most likely because we had eaten at Freddy's the night before), but otherwise I had no feelings either way. 

I had the sonogram tech write it down on a paper and put it in an envelope so we could find out as a family later that night. It killed me to know the answer was right there, but I mustered the willpower to wait just a few hours to be surprised. Earlier I had prepared two gifts (made from cut up Amazon boxes - nothing fancy) and had my friend wrap the correct one. When the kids opened it that night we found out if a sister or brother would be joining our family!

Video of the kids opening the gift - too bad the kids were more excited about the suckers in the box than their future sibling

Afterward we realized all the kids were in blue pajamas. Looks like it was meant to be a brother!

A profile shot of baby #4

Proof that a little mister is on the way!

Adriatic Sea Cruise - On Board & Headed Home

Our original itinerary had no days at sea, but the revised schedule included two. I would have loved to see Santorini and Kotor, but it was nice to have some days to rest and relax. We used our time for games, puzzles, and eating.

After returning to Venice, our group split in two. My parents, Nat, and Brodie stayed an extra day to sight see and the rest of us went to the airport to fly home.

Dad was the champion of ladder golf and ring toss!

A puzzle we completed on our second day at sea

All dressed up for dinner - we got to eat at three specialty restaurants (Tepanyaki, Brazilian. and Steakhouse) this time and all were delicious!

On our way home we had a layover in Germany again and Dave fufilled a dream of eating a frankfuter in Frankfut. 

So exhausted after many hours of travel, but just one flight away from home now!

The kids with some of the souvenirs we brought - a Venetian mask for Sophie and a Captain's hat for Davey! We also brought them some wooden toys form Corfu and a small box of cereal from the ship.

Adriatic Sea Cruise - Argostoli, Greece

Argostoli was our final port stop of this cruise and we lucked out with another beautiful day! I finally got to wear my blue shirt I had packed just to wear in Greece. Argostoli is a coastal town on the isle of Kefalonia. We walked through the town to the De Bosset Bridge, the longest stone bridge over sea water in the world. There were lots of fish in the bay and Nat and Brodie even spotted some sea turtles! 

On the other side of the bay we went searching for a church that was said to built into the side of a cliff. Our directions were vague and morale was low after hiking up the wrong road, but we eventually found it!

Inside the church - you can see all the rock formations that they built around

Near the church there was also a bell tower on top of the hill and mom was able to fulfill her dreams as we chimed eleven times at 11:00!

Looking out over the sea bridge

There were pomegranate trees growing in town - I wanted to pick one so bad!

We popped inside a few more churches on our walk back through town

Our ship, the Norwegian Star