Fernandez Family of Five

Halloween 2010

We did something different this year and actually braved going out in our neighborhood to Trick-or-Treat. For the past 4 yrs. we have gone to a local church Trunk-or-Treat but this year our neighbors invited us over for a Chili dinner and then to go out Trick-or-Treating with a group. Our neighborhood draws a huge crowd and we have to have security people at all the entrances so we don't have a ton of cars coming through our streets. It is crazy and I have never been a big fan of the crowds. Anyway, we tried it out this year. We had a great dinner with our neighbors, Tony and Joyce, and several other good friends and then went out trick-or-treating and stayed out for at least 2 hrs. We were all flat worn out by the end. The girls did great and enjoyed themselves. They did not get scared and most of the houses were not scary. The only downer of the night was when Regan had a reaction to some of my eye make-up I put on her. Her eyes starting getting very itchy and she was very uncomfortable. I had to take her home and wash the make-up off and give her benadryl. After that, she was fine the rest of the night. I guess in the future she will have to wear hypoallergenic make-up or maybe no make-up at all. :)

Riley scooping out the yucky stuff from our pumpkin.

Reece getting a turn to scoop...

Riley showing me how she wants the pumpkin carved.

Reece the Butterfly, Riley as Dorothy from the "Wizard of Oz," and Regan as Cleopatra.

Hanging out with our neighbors and friends...

A Silly Photo.... Regan is not in this picture because this is when her eyes started hurting.

Better after the make-up is removed...

Tony had a football playmate all night, Brandon. Tony brought a football along while the kids went trick-or-treating and Brandon was more interested in playing football than collecting candy. Hence Brandon's costume, a football player. :)

The kids out trick-or-treating. We ran into our friends, the Lundbergs, and they had their dog dressed up as "Frenchy" from Fancy Nancy. It was hilarious. The girls loved playing with "Frenchy."

Reece with her sweet friend, Annabeth a.k.a Fancy Nancy.

Camp Kanata Fall Outing...

Regan and Tony had their Y Princesses Fall Outing this weekend. They spent the night at Camp Kanata on Friday night and then stayed all day/evening on Saturday doing all kinds of fun activities. I love the bond Regan and Tony have and it is neat to hear all about their fun experiences when they come home. Regan is always so happy when she comes back from these events, as well as Tony. Here are some highlights...

They stayed in a very nice lodge. Regan and Tony's bunks are to Regan's left. Tony's highlight of the weekend was when he called Regan to come down to his bunk and read with him. They sat cuddling under the covers reading. Sweet times!!!

They awoke to a beautiful, crisp Fall morning. Regan and Tony walked down to the lake to enjoy the beautiful morning and got some great photos.

There was a rope course at the camp that all the girls and their dads enjoyed. Regan is walking across a tightrope here.

This is a large wooden teeter totter. The girls seemed to have a lot of fun on this.

Regan and Tony enjoyed shooting Pellet guns.

This was a dead tree that Regan and the other girls enjoyed playing on and jumping off of.

This was the highlight of Regan's weekend. She got to ride on a pony led by her daddy down a small trail.

Regan's pony's name was Peanut.

Regan and Tony were walking back from the horse trail and Regan was being silly and getting ahead of her daddy. So, Tony captured a lot of cute photos of her. I love the big smile on her face, SOOO happy!!!

Catch me if you can....

And off she leaves her daddy....check out her great running form.

Regan is in her elements, with her daddy, in the woods, having fun!

Leonardo Day in First Grade...

Riley's first grade class has been studying Leonardo DaVinci this month. Riley has learned a lot of fascinating things about him but I think her favorite was that he wrote things backwards because he was left handed and did not want to smear the ink nor did he want people to know what he was writing. Riley thought this was very funny and enjoyed writing her name as "Yelir" instead of "Riley." Riley's class had a Leonardo Day and recited a cute poem about Leonardo, sang a song about water since Leonardo was fascinated with water and had a little musuem set up that parents could come and learn all about Leonardo. Leonardo was an inventor, a sculptor, a painter, and an observer. We also enjoyed Minestone Soup for lunch which the kids had made in honor of Leonardo being a vegetarian. It was very good soup!!!

The children reciting their poem about Leonardo DaVinci

Riley showing the parents some of Leonardo's flying inventions, a jet, a helicopter, a parachute, and a hang glider.

The children had to draw what their own invention would be.... Riley would invent a clean up crew. She knows we need that at our house! :)

Riley showing her jet that she made in art class.

Each child had to sculpt some kind of animal out of clay. Riley made a prancing deer.

The children re-created Leonardo's "Ideal City" out of blocks. There was a lot of sickness going around so Leonardo created an ideal city where it would be clean (clean water, clean streets and sidewalks) so people would not get sick.

The children made their own self portraits. Click on the photo to see it enlarged and read Riley's description of herself.

The children had to say why they thought Mona Lisa was smiling in her portrait. Riley said, "I think that Mona Lisa was smiling because she hadn't a picture painted of her before." :) Does that mean if she had one before she would not be smiling?? I think this is why Riley does not smile in her photos because she is tired of being photographed!!

Riley watercolored a picture of Mona Lisa. She did a fabulous job.

Reece's Halloween Parade...

Reece's preschool had their Halloween Parade on Friday, October 29. Reece was a butterfly this year. She was very cute and had a great time in the parade.

Reece showing off her wings.

The back side of my butterfly.

Here comes Reece's class...

Reece waving to our friends, the Lundbergs.

Regan's Field Trip to a Gem Mine...

Regan's 4th Grade went to Hiddenite Gem Mine last week. Regan LOVES rocks, in fact we have some rocks in a rock tumbler in our garage right now causing quite a racket. So, this was a dream field trip for Regan. Tony also enjoys rocks so he was eager to chaperone this field trip. They had a great time despite the heavy rain. They enjoyed wading in a creek looking for gems, had a chance do to some sluicing and then listened to an informative presentation on rocks and minerals. Regan and Tony found some really neat rocks.

Tony said Regan was very good at finding rocks in the creek. She went down the creek away from all the other students and found a ton. Everyone in her class was telling her she found the most. Regan gets determined when she is looking for something she wants.