Snow People, Snowball Fights & Hot Chocolate

Carving Pumpkins

This evening after dinner we carved our pumpkins. Seth wanted a traditional jack-o'-lantern; Benjamin was going to make a run-of-the-mill face in his as well, but I talked him into doing a more complicated pattern. I think it turned out great, but you can judge for yourself!

Costume Party

Yesterday was our second annual children's Halloween party. We tried to get trick-or-treating organized the first couple of years we were in Beijing, but we never had much success, so for the last two years we have been hosting a party instead. I put a lot of work into yesterday's party (designing the invitation, crafts and games) and was very pleased with the results.

Seth's 5th Birthday Party

We had a robot-themed birthday party for Seth at Aubree's Pizzeria in Dexter, Michigan, on Saturday, August 18. Seth chose the theme as well as the color scheme. He decided the colors should be purple, blue, and green because they are his, Daddy's and Mommy's favorite colors, respectively. I had originally thought of orange and turquoise, but I wasn't going to argue with adorable logic like that.

I designed the robots myself using Inkscape, an open source vector imaging program (and my favorite program as of today). I used the robots on the cupcake toppers, favor tags, and invitation.

We were a little disappointed that quite a few people were not able to attend, but we still had a nice time, and Seth now has a supply of new video games and videos that should keep him occupied for a while!

Binder Park Zoo

Detroit Tigers vs. Cleveland Indians

Making Pretzels