December 2019

 Erin at age 11 joins the odd squad with Mom, Dad, Tai-Tai, and Tundra

 We all wish that Erin would be a littl niser to Tessie

 Tessie joined her sisters on the Hayden Dolphins Swim Team. The age cutoff is Nov. 1st and she swims in the 6-and-under bracket. As the only entrant in her age group for her first race, she won a first place ribbon!

Tessie's turkey of thankfulness

 Thanksgiving with Grandma Lu

 Wouldn't this be a good jigsaw puzzle, with all those badges and patches and then the big furballs in the middle?

 One of Erin's party requests was Boda Borg, where Potions continues to confound us.

We hosted a house party featuring a home-made pina pinata

and the 9 11 year-olds trashed the basement

 Tessie's birthday dinner request: Chipotle

 Age 6 for Tessie had moments of being Loving and Defiant, but it was mostly continued Sunny and Serene. We'll see about age 7 and Life in a Minor Key because she's already showing signs of being Lively and Outgoing.

How many of these have you seen?

The girls had 2 snow days before Christmas. That's Tessie out there cleaning off my car - thanks!

We cast that cursed English tea into the fire to commemorate the Lexington Tea Party

An unexpected package arrived from Wyoming. Back in Sep. 2017, after visiting Fort Laramie NHS, we mailed in the adjunct Junior Ranger booklet for Guernsey State Park because it offered a chance for a badge and coin. And look what we received 30 months later: metal WY State Parks badges and the one-of-a-kind Junior Ranger coins!

 At Wilson Farm, we made a gingerbread house

and brought it home, where Tundra immediately went to work on the frosting

And here's what it looked like 2 weeks later. The girls nicked the candies, but the frosting removal was all Tundra, one lick at a time

  On the solstice, the ice at Arlington Reservoir froze and was fantastic

(actual photo taken right before Erin's wake-up for school)

Later fall 2019

 Tessie received a big boo bag from her friend Luke

 Stealth booing outfits

 All of our costumes this year were black

Erin's Mayor's Cup race in Franklin Park ran through this bear enclosure from the old zoo 

Erin was 10 years, 11 months old but got to run with the 9-10 year-olds. This year she has conquered her nerves about running. Her team came in 2nd and she finished #10 with a time of 7:38 for the 1.1 mile course.

 and afterwards a tooth came out

 Tessie and Mommy visited Florida to check on Nana and Grandpa

 Tessie's pal Riley

meanwhile Dad and the girls ziplined,

enjoyed the greenhouse effect in the porch,

and learned how to operate power tools 

 45 ain't so bad

 Sculpey gifts from Caroline and Erin

On a rainy day, the girls busted out the chess board 

We visited Grandma and Grampa and at the local orchard they were handing out free pie samples 

 Grampa gave a tour of the junkies cabinet and explained why Frito-Lay makes Pepsico a great stock to own. "Everybody loves junkies"

Erin's last meet of the season was the USATF New England Regional Junior Olympic race in Rhode Island and it was a cold day. 

For this race Erin ran with the 11-12 year-olds for the first time

Her time of 12:53 for the 3K was a personal best and her team took 2nd place. The team qualified for the Northeast Regional meet on Long Island, but we decided against schlepping down there. (The team finished #1 in that regional qualifier and then went to the national championships in Madison, WI. Brr! They finished #9 in the Junior Nationals) 

 class photos