santa

We saved Santa again this year! His flight school was in full effect with these guys scanning in as a mechanic and a reindeer caretaker. They took good care to help Santa find his path and were rewarded with a snowy dance party under the big sleigh dome.

thanksgiving

We enjoyed a nice relaxing Thanksgiving thanks to the Brennans after a really busy few weeks. I baked a cake that ended up being a lesson in not picking recipes I've never tried and that require you to beat anything into peaks ;)  It was nice to see everyone!

thanksgiving lunch

Such a fun tradition to have a turkey lunch with neon yellow gravy at the kid's school the week before Thanksgiving. It's fun to hunt for their turkeys and art spread out all over. Keaton's Tom the turkey was hiding in a pile of leaves he cut out and he was saying "I'm not here!" - pretty good way to hide, haha!

sweater

The Throwback sweater pattern was calling for some throwback colors for those chevrons. Turns out I knit even tighter this time of year, and it ended up fitting Keaton really well. He was very excited and even wore it to his Thanksgiving luncheon at school.

recital

In the middle of all the hustle with Mary Poppins, these boys pulled off a really great piano recital! Keaton was so excited for his very first!  It was the day after they finished Mary Poppins, and I was tired so I know they were too. But they did such a great job with the giant duet pieces and their own individual pieces too.

Piano Recital 11-18-18 from LB on Vimeo.

mary poppins 2

So grateful all the big fans of these guys came out to enjoy the show! Thanks!
I'm also so appreciative of the directors and all the other parent volunteers that help make this show possible. It's amazing what they pull off with two 90 minute practices after school for ten weeks! They have so much fun up there!

Here is the complete show I filmed:

https://youtu.be/sCSZSjeobqQ

mary poppins

Mary Poppins was such a treat! Admittedly, not just a few of these kids had ever been introduced to Mary Poppins, but now that they have they love her! (and are so excited for the sequel coming out soon!) Aiden was a very convincing George Banks, going from grump to charmer over the course of the show. Keaton was thrilled to be included as the only second grader and sang his little heart out in the the opposite scenes from Aiden. Aiden and his show wife, Olivia, were so incredibly shy with each other, but somehow ended up with some chemistry in their little dancing scene. I was so excited to costume these kids again, and Mildred's blue dress might have been my favorite...or perhaps Keaton's red plaid pants!

The bumble bees stole the scene when they came buzzing around! 

Top left if the "Oh, my, word!" face when George discovers how he saved his job!

snow day

November 15th was a big surprise snowfall no one expected! The ground was still warm, but somehow it stuck around long enough for some actual sledding - even with the grass peaking through a bit... These boys were deep into tech week for Mary Poppins, and despite missing their full dress rehearsal were grateful for a day to recharge and relax.  We had the show ready to roll the next day and were so grateful school was back in session so the show could go on that night! And they did not break a leg sledding! ;)  Check out all the color still on the trees that hadn't shed all their leaves yet...

winery tour

Neighbors and friends took a winery tour on a beautiful fall afternoon which was such a nice break from the busy season... I do have to admit to knitting on the 'party bus,' but I wouldn't have it any other way!  At our last stop, wine paired with chocolate truffles, yes please!

birthday boy

This is 11!

today show

These guys were beyond excited to make it on live tv at the Today Show!  We even got to talk to Al, who went out of his way to talk to everyone.

NYC shopping

These guys had fun window shopping and bouncing around the city.  We got in quickly to Ellen's Stardust diner where the sang happy birthday to all those celebrating! The boys got treats at the Harry Potter shop and the Disney store.

believe it or not

From our hotel window we could see a giant gold hand, and it turns out it was connected to the Believe It or Not Museum. The boys really love all the creepy and strange illusions in there ;)

sea glass carousel

This is such a cool carousel ride right at Battery Park at the edge of the ferry terminal. The original music, light and movement is so unique.

Seaglass Carousel from LB on Vimeo.

ferry

It was a bit gloomy, but we cruised past the Statue of Liberty on the Staten Island Ferry (eating the big bags of candy we'd collected at Candytopia). We saved the Statue of Liberty up close visit until after they are done renovating the National Park area.

candytopia 1

This place! There was a surprise around each corner!  So many fun things made out of teeny tiny candies!

candytopia 2

Such cool art!

candytopia underwater

Every room had such a feel to it - and a chest full of candy to collect!

marshmallows!

The whole experience ended in a room with a giant pit of foam marshmallows! It's such a thrill to jump in and swim around!

candytopia photo ops

So, so many photo ops!  The confetti was still in our pockets days later!

broadway

We couldn't decide between Lion King and Aladdin so we went to both! The Lion King was both boys' first official Broadway show, and what an epic show it is!  We were in the third row on the aisle and when the giant animal puppets come up the aisle at the intro it was so much fun to watch the expressions on the boys' faces! Aladdin was such a fun show with some magic and comedy mixed in on a really spectacular set!  From the second row you really felt like you were part of the action!

ice skating

The iconic ice skating on Rockefeller Center!

m&m

We stayed just south of Times Square so there were many walks through the action. Can't beat chugging some M&Ms!

lego

Turns out they can make Rockefeller Center even more fun with a huge LEGO store!

nintendo

The only Nintendo store in the world!  There were two visits to this highlight!

nyc!

The birthday boy woke up on his big 1-1 and went straight over to do what he loves at his Saturday acting rehearsal from 9-1pm - Then we swooped him off to Union Station for the quick train ride up to NYC!! We arrived in time to soak in some of that NYC magic (and then go to bed - poor momma was sick, a walking Mucinex commercial, but we made the most of it!)

pokemon night

A favorite family fun night for the Brennan brothers, Pokemon night! This year they were in full trading and playing mode decked out in their gear.

2nd class party

Keaton has such a nice class that gets along so well! They danced to the monster mash and wrapped each other like mummies.  Then it was crafting time along with giant pudding graveyards. It's always fun to get to know more of this classmates. He did so well moving to a new family group at the school this year and has adjusted to barely knowing anyone in his class really well... although he still misses his old friend he still gets to see them sometimes and I tell him that it means double the friends once he gets to third grade!

run for rocky

It was all superhero smiles from these kids that got lucky with a clear morning/afternoon to run laps to earn money for their school. This year J was out of town so he missed a chance to rock it out as Rocky the Raccoon again. Check out Aiden's teacher Mr. A nomaly rocking the top hat and round glasses checking off their laps on the superhero building windows.

spirit parade

The elementary school plans their big fundraiser Run for Rocky on the same day as the spirit parade. Aiden's class planned their class party around all the other time that day - games and Harry Potter! Hat sorting, wand painting, fortune telling, Potter fact bingo, twister, butter beer, and lotsa treats!  Keaton's class dresses up as storybook characters and he used our old wolf hat, vest, and tail to be a wolf from one of his favorite Magic Treehouse books.  Aiden's class and the rest of the 5th graders made paper hats out of a math/science/vocab concept... He made Angles out of paper towel rolls - acute, right and obtuse! The brothers were pumped to see each other during the parade!

halloween night

The block party was hopping this year at the end of the culdesac with some trees really showing off their color.  It was such a mild night everyone lingered and the kids just kept going and going from house to house - I went through tons of candy in my house covered in green light spiders crawling around ;)