November

We started off the month celebrating Jeff's birthday.
We played pub trivia (and won!), visited The Back Dough for midnight doughnuts,
and showered Jeff with fun gifts, like a ukulele. 

The boys had the opportunity to participate in a handmade market at Arrow.
They each worked hard to come up with just the right product and were thrilled
that they sold everything they brought and made some serious cash.
Max made molded chocolates. Clay produced many artistic masterpieces.
And Weston had homemade hot chocolate, marshmallows, and whipped cream. 

After the market closed, Clay's Arrow dance class put on a lovely performance.

Clay read about homemade drums in a science book and decided to make his own set.

We celebrated Clay's half-birthday with a few small gifts, doughnuts, and The Grinch

Ruth marched in the Veteran's Day parade in Roanoke,
and Clay and I got to watch the parade while trying to stay warm.

Clay decided to make giant pumpkin doughnuts.

Clay got a few plants for his half-birthday
and has been a very attentive gardener.

We had an eggnog taste test.
(I snapped the pic after the almond nog, which was everyone's least favorite.)

We introduced the kids to Bob Ross, and they are now huge fans!

Playing The Worst-Case Scenario Game was probably
one of the most hilarious game nights of all time! 

Weston has gotten really into debate and had the opportunity
to observe a debate competition, where he dutifully
"flowed" (took notes) so he could improve his skills. 

I happened to be up at Arrow one day
and in the vicinity of Clay's robotics class,
so I caught him in action.

Jeff and I had a super fun, spur-of-the-moment date night in Denton.
We saw Little Shop of Horrors at the community theater, visited East Side Denton
and Paschall Bar, and picked up unique doughnuts at The Back Dough.

Weston had a grand adventure camping and hiking for a week in Palo Duro Canyon.

Along with my parents, we made a little trip to Rusk for the Thanksgiving holiday.
This was our first day at the KOA. We had the cutest little cabin and my parents
brought their RV. The little boys rocked at finding the golden pinecones the
campground staff had hidden, and they were rewarded with ice pops.
Papa taught Weston how to make specialty sandwiches on the griddle.
And Weston delivered his fire building/safety talk and helped us get the fire started.

Thanksgiving Day was gorgeous! We took a walk in the woods, rented quad bikes
from the campground, tossed the football around, had plenty of snuggles,
roasted marshmallows and made s'mores, and wore ourselves out. 

I made gratitude journals for each member of my immediate family,
which had entries for every day from last Thanksgiving to this one,
and I presented them to the family on Thanksgiving Day.
They all said it was one of the best gifts they have ever received,
and making them was truly beneficial and joyful for me as well.

Thanksgiving, KOA style

The day after Thanksgiving was spent playing games,
racing bikes, and chatting around the fire. 

We had a great time in the town of Rusk, visiting the longest footbridge in the nation
(according to the city of Rusk) and seeing some murals and historic homes.

Mom and I slipped off for a lovely hike through the Piney Woods.

On our last night at the campground, we cooked gigantic steaks,
had a mini birthday party for Weston, and stayed up literally all night 
watching the Fightin' Texas Aggies execute an epic win against LSU.

Weston became a teenager, and we had fun celebrating with gifts and Wolf'ems.

I had my first ever experience with Jury Duty
and am now much more knowledgeable about the Voir Dire process.

Ruth achieved the CAP rank of Technical Sergeant.

We kept our annual tradition of having an "Average Birthday Party"
(for those with birthdays and half-birthdays in November) at a Brazilian steakhouse.

We celebrated Ruth's half-birthday.

We made models of water and alcohol molecules
for the boys' Arrow science class.

Sequoia National Park

I have always wanted to visit Sequoia National Park, and today was finally the day it happened! The park is magnificent and the gigantic sequoia trees are absolutely incredible! We saw General Sherman, the largest tree in the world by volume and about as tall as a 21-story building. We also saw General Grant, which is taller than Sherman but not as big around. A couple of our favorite trees, though, were hollowed out fallen trees that served as a tunnels. It was amazing to be able to stand upright inside a tree laying on its side! And if all that weren't enough to make this stop spectacular, we saw a mama black bear and her two cubs resting on a rock out in the open! It was truly the icing on the cake for our visit. We are staying inside the park tonight and have had so much fun building a campfire, roasting hot dogs, and making s'mores. We have made beautiful memories this day!

Not even halfway around!

General Sherman

How the Watts measure up

It's hard to see, but this is one of the
 bear cubs peeking over his mom.

A four Watts tunnel

Amazing tree tunnel

General Grant

Campfire Cooking

Perfect end to a perfect day

More fun in Vegas

Yesterday was a full and fun day in Vegas. We started at the MGM and then hit the M&M store, where we ate some mega M&Ms (about twice the size of regular ones) and watched a 3D movie about Red and Yellow's adventure in Vegas. We even saw Red in person as we were leaving the store. Then, we moved down The Strip to Paris and the Bellagio. We were disappointed that the famous Bellagio conservatory was closed while they transition from the spring display to the summer one. But, we were still thrilled with the huge chocolate fountain and the flower display in the registration area. Searching for quality Italian food, we ended up in New York New York for lunch and then popped into Excalibur to work on show tickets. Later, we walked back down to the Bellagio to watch the dancing fountains and then wandered through The Cosmopolitan and Aria. Eventually, we made it all the way down to Treasure Island, which is essentially at the complete other end of The Strip from where we are staying. But, we had to go there so we could see Mystere, an amazing Cirque du Soleil show. When the show was over, we headed next door to see the volcano erupt at The Mirage. By the time that was over, we were beat and called an Uber to take us back to our hotel.

MGM

Max and Red

Paris

Bellagio Chocolate Fountain

The dancing fountains

No words to describe how
awesome this show is!

Erupting Volcano

Today started with a fantastic brunch at The Wynn. Then, we visited Circus Circus. After that, we decided to head back to the hotel to spend some time at the pool and take care of a few items of business before heading out tomorrow. Tonight, we saw the Tournament of Kings at Excalibur, which our little knight was especially excited about. Afterwards, we took a limo ride down The Strip, because it seemed like the thing to do while we were here in Vegas. We have had full days and have walked our legs off in 100+ degree heat these last few days, but we have had a blast!

Moving floral carousel in The Wynn

Circus Circus

We were the only family to bring
its own knight to the tournament.

Happy to support the king of France

Surprise limo ride after the show