Falling into winter Oct - Dec 16

October and the fall colours followed Narnies' visit and we embraced the season as it came.  Lots of walks out in the woods around the neighbourhood to play in the leaves and watch the trees changing colors.   We trooped up to Noggins for a day out in the corn maze and apple picking.  Matt was away and I was a bit worried about getting hopelessly lost and having to wave for help, but Alex and I managed fine and even got everyone out without too many complete meltdowns....

With Halloween approaching we set to and made a graveyard full of markers  froom the bits of pallet leftover from the coffin Matt made for the front step.  We bought a skeleton from Costco (bless!) and had him in the front window watching the street.  We 'planted' the graveyard in the front lawn and painted up some signs warning locals to stay away....   Everyone carved a pumpkin again and we waited till closer to the date this year so they all actually made it though Halloween without disintegrating on the front step! 

On the night itself we waited a bit longer than last year before we went out so the kids could enjoy answering the door and handing out treats.  That done we sallied forth and terrorised the neighbourhood with all the local kids.  I think I said this last year but doing it here is great fun - everyone gets into it and there is a great atmosphere on the streets.  Still weird back home tho!!!

The cold came pretty soon after with heavy frosts and a light smattering of snow.  The birthday season came and went and Amelia had her very last forest kindy.

  The site they were operating from was not going to be available next year so I went in and helped them take everything down.  It was really neat to go in with Amelia and have her show me the swings, secret spots and the dragon tree.  Such an awesome program..  We are going to miss Heidi Weidi and Jackie Wacky!!

With Christmas approaching it was time to start decorating!  We got a tree from the local lot (just like the movies!) and got it decorated in time for the first fall of snow. 

The kids delighted in the snow again - sledding down the side of the house and 'helping' me with shovelling the drive!

It was of course all gone by Christmas day and we deep fried our turkey out the back without worrying about getting frostbite in our feet :)  We had a slow day - took our time over opening presents with plenty of time for food and people to enjoy laying around reading books in between.  The turkey was a raging success and we managed to not set fire to anything or come away with any major burns.  It was surprisingly moist and not anywhere as oily as I was expecting!  Crispy all over too!  The big ticket item of the day was pokemon cards, which we saved for last.  The kids spent the rest of the day and almost the entire next day sorting, pawing over and trading cards which left plenty of time for us to sit back and read our books!

We packed the car and headed up to the lake for the rest of the Christmas holiday.  The birds and squirrels were very pleased to see us!  The lake was frozen hard, and although not smooth enough to skate on was certainly hard enough to walk on, so we did!  One day we (gingerly) walked around the point to the beach, skirting the edge of the lake and jumping each time the ice moved further out, cracking annd groaning.  The kids of course had a great (oblivious) time running and jumping (wince!) and sliding on their knees...