Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! It has been a busy week for all of us. Daddy went to Long Beach, California to host a global workshop that he had organized for 70 international participants on Wednesday through Sunday morning, and Grandpa Ruane stayed with us and helped out while he was gone. Mommy turned in her first Post-Doctoral Fellowship application on Thursday, and sent off another revision of a Lord of the Rings and IR book chapter on Friday. We've all continued to be sick, so no one has been sleeping well, and things have felt a little nuts! I was really happy to have Mike around this week! He cooked dinners, played with kids (even from 2:30-3:15AM one night!), trouble-shot my printer, copy-edited my application (with Grandma Ruane), and took Kiana on walks so I could actually upload the application online. It was a huge help!



Earlier in the week, things were pretty normal. Aidan had soccer school on Monday, which he now loves when he is there (though he still tries to throw a fit about going there). And when we were there, Kiana got to be a co-coach! There are a lot of babies who hang out at soccer school, because a lot of the kids have little siblings. And Monday, the babies were particularly talkative and distracting. At one point, coach Dan discovered that the soccer kids were all turning around to look at the babies rather than listening to him, and so he said, hey! Would one of the babies like to volunteer to help out here? I passed Kiana to him, and as soon as he held her, he had everyone's complete attention! She was a little surprised, but took it totally in stride, and watched happily from his arms until the kids were off on their next drill - kicking soccer balls between "Strawberry Island" and "Blueberry Island" (sets of red and blue cones)!


Monday and Tuesday afternoons, we continued our standing playdate with Rowan, Laurie, and Wesley. Angie (and Tardo) and Jacob (and Dorota) and Lilly (and Erin and Jack) joined us one day at the PS I87 schoolyard nextdoor. It's great to have such wonderful neighbors!






On Friday, Aidan had a Halloween party at playschool: instead of doing "work" (e.g., reading books, doing puzzles, math games), they all cooked cupcakes, decorated goody bags, had a dance party, and ate treats. Aidan didn't want to wear his Spiderman costume, but did wear his Spiderman T-Shirt. The kids were a little overwhelmed when the parent paparazzi were there, but otherwise had a good time!


On Saturday morning, we took Grandpa to the Inwood Farmer's Market and we all got pastries from the Bread Alone truck, picked up delicious fruits and veggies, and tried some of Di Paola's turkey sausage which Laurie has been raving about for ages (it was outrageously good!! We are definitely going back for more).


On Saturday afternoon, we cut our first pumpkin with Grandpa. Grandma Ruane had him carry down on the bus the biggest pumpkin she had in her garden, and it was gorgeous! Mommy carved while Aidan instructed and scooped out the seeds and Grandpa distracted Kiana. Then, Grandpa cleaned out the inside and seeds while Mommy took care of Kiana and Aidan played with his cars. Grandpa also carved an itsy-bitsy teeny tiny pumpkin no bigger than an apple! (Very cute). I can't remember the last time I carved a pumpkin, and I have been looking forward to it! I love that Aidan is old enough to do this kind of thing, now! :)





Sunday morning, Daddy got back. He had gone out of his way to catch a really late red-eye back from California so that he could be here for the Halloween Festivities. (Hooray!) Grandpa took a bus back to Hopedale, MA, and Daddy carved another pumpkin with Aidan (his was *awesome*!).


After Aidan had a couple of fits (not enough sleep the night before + candy + being argued into wearing his Spiderman costume = tough), we went to a pre-parade party at Dorota/Andy/Jake's apartment upstairs (6th floor). Then went out to be part of the annual neighborhood Halloween Parade which goes from PS 187 next door, down the street, and around Bennett Park. It was fun to see all of our neighbors in costume! But it was cold. We went home soon!


Here are some of our friends' costumes: Rowan/Wesley: dinosaurs (Kimberly & Jared: cave-men); Olivia: Olivia Newton-John; Jake: race-car driver; Angus: construction worker; Oliver: the Incredible Hunk (John didn't wear his costume); Nate & Dillon: Buzz Lightyear & Woody; Eme was a ghost; and, of course: Aidan: Spiderman, & Kiana: bumble bee (Mommy&Daddy: masked ball revelers). Happy Halloween!