Christmas at Home

This was our Christmas at home. 

This was Max's reaction to all the gifts under the tree

just a quick shot of the fam

We got all dressed up before we headed out for Christmas dinner and tried to get a photo of the kids. Well you can see here that Ev wasn't so happy about that.

This is Max trying to help the situation.

and that was our Christmas morning.

Lowe's Christmas Market

These pictures all come from the "Lowe's Christmas Market". The market is full of food, drink, lights, and of course, people.

The aroma of Christmas was emanating from each of the booths

Even though we didn't go on any ride they sure looked like they would be fun 

An old truck in a back ally. That's it. What you want me to make up some story about this. Okay once upon a time there was an old truck in an ally. Guess now we all know why I'm not an award winning author. 

   

Max sitting in a big chair by the fire, trying to stay warm.        

  

just kind of an over all shot of the place

Thanks to the incredibly warm winter we are having I got to ride my bike down town when I went to the market for the second time just so I could take more photos of the place. We had to leave earlier the first time because the kids and Carrie were getting cold.

Birthday Card

Click on the image above to make the train go.

Birthday

Happy Birthday Maximilian!

Duck Pond

We made a quick trip to the duck pond down the street just before the weather changed and the birds flew south.

And there sitting in the tree was this guy

The ducks were swimming

and flying after the bread we were feeding them

Ev thought it would be a good idea to try to run down the hill

She almost saved herself.

Max was yelling from the hill top. He just likes the opportunity to use his "outside" voice.

We used some sticks as a makeshift rake and piled the leaves up. Then played in them

and rested in them

Ev wasn't so into the whole leaf pile thing.

And that was our trip to the duck pond.

Rouge Park

 yeah yeah yeah I'm a slacker.

Here are some shots from Rouge Park last fall.

Woody

 Ev (love this photo, looks like she is doing some sort of touchdown celebration dance)

Max running through the trees

Me and the little ones

 The 2 prettiest girls in the world

 Ev laughing with Max

The kids loved this park so we went back a couple of times. Maybe head back there sometime this winter, after we get some snow.

Toe

That is Max's toe after he dropped a pie baking dish on it. I think this is the day after it happened. 

If you are wondering, yes the toenail did fall off.

A Knight and a Princess

 That would be a Jedi Knight and Princess Leia.

What better costumes could there be better for a brother and sister.

Max was supposed to be Luke but he kept saying he was Obi

He is telling his sister that everything will be okay. She was not so happy to be getting into her costume.

Little snot nose Ev as Princess Leia

Once we got outside Ev did not want to be up in anyones arms. She wanted to run with everyone else. She even had a minor freakout when we told her we had to go back inside. They both came back with a full bag of candy. (I'm still working on eating all the goodies they brought back)

Oh by the way, both costumes were home made by Carrie. Evelyn's costume was such a hit that she had people taking photos of her and one old lady that just needed to show her to her husband because she was sooooooo cute.

Doohickey

I finally replaced the balancer chain adjuster lever aka doohickey on my KLR. I'm told that aside from this Achilles heel of the bike, it is otherwise bulletproof.

The task required several tools to get the job done, including specialized wrenches and springs. However the most useful tool of all was my iPhone and YouTube.

Specifically this video. An absolutely essential tool for doing the upgrade.

This is my bike with the new doohickey installed

It was a bit unnerving doing 120 down the highway when only minutes earlier it was in pieces on the shop floor.

Apple Picking

We go back to October and Brooks Farm for this post. 

There at the farm they have a monster/zombie/alien theme. They really go all out there. We had no idea they had this set up until we arrived, but it was a lot of fun.

We were there for apple picking, and had read online that they open at 9am. When we got there they politely informed us that they didn't open until 10am. Then gave us a bag for the apples and said go ahead and start picking. It was great, we had the place to ourselves.

Well except for some hungry natives.

Ev, seems to be telling us that it's the red apple she prefers.

Max wishing, perhaps, that he was a bit taller.

Me and my mini peeps

Mother and Son

Mother and Daughter

The boy heading for the dirt

Max, going to get lost

A quick family photo

And of course what trip to an alien/monster/zombie farm would be complete without trying to shoot those alien/monster/zombies with a pumpkin from a cannon? Unlike them, I hit the target with my Canon. :)