Halloween

Shayna and Skyler went trick or treating with Carissa, Carissa's friend Ann Katherine, and a few of Carissa's neighbors (Amanda,10, her sister Michelle,5, and Chase,8, thier neighbor ). This was in Carissa's neighborhood in West Boca (Boca is so big it has an East, central, and west and also downtown sections).

Shayna was an evil "gothy" pirate, Skyler was a pirate captain. Shayna did her make up herself, and the blood, and I sprayed red in her hair and she added the red color gel.

Shayna, Carissa (goth raggedy ann), AK, and Skyler:


I like Shayna in this pic:

Shayna and Skyler:

On our front porch. You can see the pumpkins we made...from left to right- Shayna's ghost pumpkin, pumpkin I did with Skyler, and Skyler's "potato head" style pumpkin. You can also see the skull on Shayna's dress, it was really cool with red ruby heart shaped eyes:

after this we hit a few houses on our street, then inside to sort all the goodies.

Skyler and all the loot!!! The orange bag is from his preschool party:

Skyler's Preschool Halloween Extravaganza

Skyler went to the Halloween party at his preschool today...it was so amazing and extravagant!

When he arrived there was Elmo in the lobby:



They had circle time followed by flag time (will post that video in a few days). His teacher, Miss Teresa, dressed as a butterfly. Everyone looked so cute and the room was so colorful and festive:

They got to help make a witches brew in a cauldron:

Skyler's turn to add some ice cream:

Skyler stirs the potion:

They got to have the potion with a snack. Skyler really liked it:

Luke (sitting next to Skyler dressed as Luke Skywalker) didn't like the potion drink:

Next they went into the gym for the schools Halloween celebration. They walked through a maze path when they entered, with Pirates of the Caribbean music playing- see video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yAJ88QIDLM

Thier music teacher, Dario, was dressed as a pirate and was dancing with them:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_vIgSOq8nA

After leaving the gym, they got to go trick or treating around the school. They made the bags the day before. Skyler went home with his entire bag FILLED to the top:

Back in the Elmo classroom, they had thier Halloween feast. wow was it decandent!!! They had chicken fingers, mac and cheese, chips, popcorn, rice krispie treats, and more. Skyler focused on the popcorn:

They got to decorate cupcakes- frosting them and adding the toppings:

After that, the party was over and they went over for storytime. Skyler at this point said he was tired, so I took him home so he could nap to get ready for trick or treating later!!! He had sooo much fun!

Twas the Night Before Halloween

...and we were busy carving, mixing, cutting, baking and decorating...

3 eyed and 3 nosed pumpkin cookie above. skyler used the dough and cut out cookies himself.

Ghost Art

Skyler used a ghost stencil to make ghosts.

Shayna's Class Halloween Party

Shayna's class Halloween party was today. The party is put together by the room moms, with teacher input/permission. I was sick during the planning phase, so didn't get to help in the planning (this was one I would have liked to, but will have many more to get involved with). Here is the invite:

The party started at 11am, while the kids were away at "lunch" the moms got the room ready. I came in to help out- I was one of 6 moms there. The party ended just in time for the special (gym today). They started with lunch from cheeburger cheeburger, which was served in little car containers. It was chicken & fries & a cookie. Ilene knows the owner so was able to get a good deal.

Then they got to do the "guess how many are in the jar" game:

Then outside for relay races (this was Mr. Mandel's request, he likes them to do sports/physical activities). They go right out the back door of thier classroom to the outside back courtyard which leads to this area. It was pretty windy from Tropical Storm Noel.

Last they came inside and decorated cupcakes. Shayna and Carissa with thier cupcakes:

Note: they are not allowed to wear costumes at this school. it varies school to school but most seem to be this way. they do let the K and 1st graders wear costumes on Halloween.

Pumpkin Pancakes

As per tradition, we made pumpkin pancakes a few days before Halloween. Shayna had off from school so we had more free time than normal.

Here are Shayna and Skyler mixing the batter after adding food coloring to make it orange:


Using chocolate chips to make the faces:

The pancakes that Skyler decorated. I liked the one in the middle so added the whipped cream "hair."

Monster Splash Event

We went to the Miami Seaquarium on Biscayne Bay in Miami today for the "Monster Splash" Halloween event that started at 5pm.

Here we saw a dolphin and whale show, Skyler liked the dolphins. There are 4 arenas for shows at this park, we went into 3 of them by the end of the night.

The whale...he would purposely splash the crowd. people in the splash zone (going up pretty far maybe 6 rows) got completely wet.

After 5 the Halloween event started. It was HUGE. The entire park had elaborate decorations everywhere. In the front of the park was a "fall festival" area, with lots of hay. Shayna and Skyler each decorated a pumpkin. They really enjoyed this:

Artists concentrating:

There were some games like this:

Skyler just walked up and put them in the holes:

There were 2 "haunted houses" one for younger kids and one for older kids, we went into/through both. Skyler learned how to do a fake scream. Shayna said it was the least scary of the haunted houses - the scariest being the one at Snipes Farm last year (we were alone in there and it was an old falling apart looking barnhouse), with Sugar Sand park's haunted train ride a close second. There were 2 7th grade girls behind us, who went in front of us and were screaming hysterically the whole time, almost knocking down the one girls mother as they clung to her...since they were right in front of us, they got all the scares and made it not as scary for shayna. then there was a dad with a daughter around shayna's age who was pushing her into the scary guys while she yelled "stop it!" or 'thats enough!" thought they were part of the act at first. The scary guys would high 5 skyler, and he was not scared at all. The most original prop was the hanging blow up dummies you had to walk through- we discussed this the next day (shayna and I) and thought it was quite comical.

They also had trick or treating throughout the park.

The grand finale was a very festive show in Flipper stadium with festive dance music- led by Beetlejuice, Freddy Kreuger, the Wolfman, and Jason. The Beetlejuice guy looked and sounded exactly like Beetlejuice. It was a lot of fun. It reminded me of the shows at Universal Studios or at a resort like Beaches, where you are so enthralled and having so much fun. Then the final dolphin show- very theatrical show and there were dancers in glow in the dark skeleten wetsuits. It all ended with fireworks.

It was a very lively and festive halloween event...there were a LOT of people there, and more then 50% in costumes.

we were more impressed with the halloween event then the park itself, although did not see 2 of the walk through areas since by the time we got to them they were setting up the haunted houses which were in those areas. The nicest area is where they do the dolphin swims, it looks like a hotel and is very classy looking, with cushioned iron chairs- the kind you see at fancy resort lobbys and a pretty pool.

Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show

Manny and Shayna went to the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show today. Skyler got a stomach virus last night so I stayed home with him. This is the biggest boat show in the world, and is at 5-6 different locations including the Broward Convention Center and various nearby marinas. they went to the Convention Center, which is much bigger than the one in Philadelphia. They went to 3 fishing seminars, which Shayna enjoyed because they were giving away lots of free stuff. Shayna also went to the "Kids fishing clinic." They divided the kids into groups and then they rotate around the different learning stations. At the end if the completed them all they got a free fishing rod and lure kit. Not a cheapie or kiddie looking rod but a very good rod and bait kit (lures etc.). They also got into the boat show for free when taking the clinic. During the kids clinic she learned about lures, tying knots, conservation, how to remove hooks safely, how to cast, and more.

They came home with a ton of things they got for free: about 5 T-shirts, thing to keep drink cold, the fishing rod and bait kit, baseball cap/hat, necklace, stuffed fish animal. During one of the seminars the speaker asked "who here doesn't want to catch any more fish?" No one raised thier hand. "I got a free shirt for anyone that doesn't want to catch any more fish." Manny raised his hand first and got the shirt.

Here is Shayna before going into the clinic, doing the fishing craft. It was a stuffed fish on a little line and "rod:"


Shayna during the fishing clinic:

Skyler and the Purple Crayon

After Skyler and I read "Harold and the Purple Crayon" I gave him a bunch of blank paper and a purple crayon so he could draw his own pictures. He has a balloon fetish. His pictures were mainly of balloons. He also drew pumpkins (with face and stem) and one hot air balloon. The above are some of the artwork, he used maybe 15-20 sheets of paper from our large collection of recycled papers.

Shriek Week

In honor of Halloween, they are having "Shriek Week" at Sugar Sand Park, which is a bunch of events going on in the main building. T0night we saw a magic halloween show in the theater, then went on the Crooked Creek haunted tour. The haunted tour was really good and I was extremely impressed. very professionally done and theatrical. First you take a train ride outside...similar to a haunted hayride, riding past scenes and scary creatures unexpectedly jumping out at you. Then you walk through the haunted house. Shayna was extremely fearful as last years haunted house was so scary, but she had her bloody sword with her. Skyler wasn't scared at all and in fact laughed at times.

Here is a sneak peek at their costumes- here at shriek week- although for Halloween I will do more make up and more red in Shayna's hair. They are pirates. seems to be very popular this year.

We met Carissa and her parents and a bunch of other friends there for the haunted tour and to hang out with for a bit afterwards.

Everyone here is so friendly and social- tonight for example I we met a mom with her daughter and friend on the haunted tour and she got my phone number. Even just out picking up take out I wind up talking to people. very different from the Philadelphia area- no wonder it won most unfriendly city in the US.

Deep Thought

I was talking with Shayna today and said that maybe she should consider becoming an astronaut (for all the obvious reasons plus she is good at math/science and good physical shape). She said:

"you know the thing I really want to explore/know? I want to know what there was before the beginning of time." ie before space was created. what was there BEFORE space?

Space Shuttle Launch

Shayna got to see the space shuttle Discovery launch this morning. First they watched it take off on the computer live, and as soon as it took off Mr. Mandel took the class outside and they saw the space shuttle in the sky! We are pretty far, so they saw a red dot and smoke...but still exciting!

Next launch is December 6th.

Here is the link to read more about todays launch and mission:

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html

Beach Day in Boca

We went to the beach today. Its been a few weeks since we had a beach day (we did go to south beach for a half hour to find the rocks for turtles aquarium but thats it the last few weeks). The ocean is still warm enough to go in- not just the kids but for me. The surf was a bit rough so I wanted Skyler to stay in the shallow surf area.



You can see the swells behind Shayna- the photo is a bit deceiving and it was much rougher and wavier than it appears in the photo:

we built a big sand castle using my method, which is to dig the circular moat first, dumping all the sand into the middle "island," then putting the castle molds on top of the mound. I forgot how much exercise you get just from going to the beach. Loading the car, schlepping the stuff from car to beach, the walk from car to beach, digging in the sand, swimming in the ocean (didn't do that much since one of us had to watch skyler and Manny was not with us today), schlepping stuff to the shower, washing stuff in shower, making 2 trips to car to put away stuff, washing off sand in the shower. Not a bad way to get a bit of exercise. Not that I mind any of the above tasks, as the walk is very pretty and scenic, has a nice boardwalk to the beach (skyler calls it a bridge), and even the shower area is pretty and enclosed in the shady trees/foliage. In fact, every time I do the return walk from the beach along the boardwalk I pause to enjoy the pretty scenery and scent: a mix of coconut palms and tropical flowers/plants- its an extremely pleasant smell.

Halloween decor - Florida style

The Halloween decorations look so different on the Florida architechture and on the palm tree. No large oaks to hang the ghost from, but I'll take palm trees any day over raking those leaves. The kids in bathing suits about to go to the beach adds a nice touch. Still high 80s during the day here. We are to get a cold front later this coming week which will give us highs around 84-85 and lows in the low 70s at night.

Note: the palm tree's trunk has little patterned bumps which made it easy to hang the ghost.

Robot Zoo

After a busy day which included Manny and Shayna going ocean/offshore fishing and Skyler and I going to the beach and getting rained on, we all went to "The Robot Zoo" exhibit at the Science Explorium at Sugar Sand Park, a few minutes from our house. if you remember how we found turtle, we found him on our way to this exhibit a few weeks ago, and when we got there it was closed. They are keeping it open later this week because of "Shriek Week" which is the Halloween events in the same building. So besides seeing Robot Zoo, even more fun for me was seeing kids in thier Halloween costumes (most come to Shriek Week in costume- we have tickets for this coming Friday for the magic show and haunted tour).

See if you can find Skyler:

Shayna and Skyler on one of the Robot Zoo exhibits, which is a giant chameleon head that you control the tongue and try to "eat" the bugs with the tongue:

Fall Family Festival at Del Prado

We went to the Fall Family Festival at Del Prado tonight, which was held in the courtyard in the school.

It was $7pp which included dinner: 2 pieces of pizza, salad, drinks, cake (there was a huge cake), and Italian water ice. There was also a take home photo favor, which we never got around to doing.

Here is where we ate dinner. They did a nice job with the tables- each tablecloth had fall foam pieces glued on, and pretty fall centerpieces (see table behind the kids). We sat and hung out with Carissa and her parents, Janette and Mark. Carissa, Shayna and Skyler:


There were hayrides in the parking lot. there was this little section nearby with hay and pumpkins and a fall display. the kids were all running amuck here throwing the props around- notice the scarecrow lying on the ground. skyler ran right over to this pumpkin and insisted on picking it up. he loves pumpkins:

Shayna and Skyler...still warm enough at night for tank tops and skorts or shorts:

Carissa, Shayna and Skyler:

There was also a DJ, a show from the local karate school that Shayna is starting to go to- her friend/classmate Hannah is on the demo team, and a video game area.

Crabbing and Fishing

We went out on the boat yesterday after school to go crabbing and fishing on Lake Boca.

Manny is training Shayna to do basic boating functions, like helping to dock, use the ropes, and how to drive the boat:



We anchored at Lake Boca and threw in the crab trap using a chicken drumstick as bait. Manny got the kind of trap that once the creatures get in, they can't get out. which means you can catch just about anything that goes after the bait, not always crabs. On the first pull up, we caught a fish:

Next try, we got our first crab! It was a blue crab:

Skyler checking out what is in the trap:

Manny put the crab into the cooler, which is also a seat. Skyler loved looking at the crab:

Closer look at the crab:

Manny and the kids caught a LOT of fish but threw almost all of them back. Mainly baby jacks and Mangrove Snappers, and one trunkfish. sometimes they would have 3 fish on their line (set with 3 hooks). We caught 3 crabs and kept 2 fish, which we cooked for dinner. I had a nice crab salad.

The sun was setting as we made our way home on the intracoastal:

We are still using our pool. Skyler and I went in today as the sun peeked out enough. I thought it was fine once you get in, but its not lukewarm like it was a few weeks ago.