Attack of the Gummy Bears!!

                                                                              Gingerbread construction



 The finished product                                                                          

                                                                                             

                                                                                           
                                               

I decorated the three towers to the right, Gwyneth was the ruler of the gummy bears defending the big castle and Camille owned the mini slug castle (shown below).

                                                                                                                 

                                                                                       

             The Gummy Bear Castle

     

     

Rapunzal and Prince Charming

             

Dictated by Elise

                                                        

              

Halloween Before It's Too Late

Everyone likes Halloween in our house, and Celeste especially loved it.  She wasn't too disappointed when I made her be a fairy with an old ballet costume instead of making her the kangaroo costume she dreamed of (I'm done with that phase of my life.)  Since I didn't make kid costumes, I made costumes for Jeff and I for a grown-up Halloween party at my dear friend Leah's house.

Elise designed her own laundry basket costume.



At the ward Halloween party.





Vikings, of course.



We didn't get a picture of Gwyneth in her Tinker Bell costume because she went to a party and the house was in chaos at the time.  her friends dressed as the other characters from Peter Pan - to see the pictures go to her facebook, they're in there somewhere....

Camille as a bride with face paint on her cheek.





October Camping

At the llama farm

Peeping at the puffin nest

An appetizing puffin breakfast

Views of Camden, Maine

Penobscot Bay

Dinner

The highlight

Halfway up Mt. Megunticook

Adam's lookout

Now we just have to convince Mom and the older girls that fall camping is not so bad!

We Love Quebec!

This week we drove up north to see the Frenchies.  Here's a picture of everyone at a look-out point on Mont Royal (Montreal, get it?).

We celebrated my 10th birthday at our fancy hotel in Montreal,
and then hit the road to the mountains.
 

We stayed at a ski condo on Mont Tremblant. The next day we went on a nature walk. Camille had been begging for a souviner so Gwyneth picked up a slug on a rock and gave it to Camille as a souviner. Camille named her slug Larry.

After our hike we went paddle boating.

The next day we went to the ski village nearby our condo. For lunch we had delicous crepes.  After lunch we went to free face painting.

After we signed out of our condo the next morning we went back to the ski village. Me and Gwyneth went bungee jumping and Camille went rock climbing ( Celeste just watched).

We drove to Quebec City and saw a night time outdoor performance of Cirque de Soleil.

Fighting Pirates in Old Quebec

One of the only times

when Celeste was smiling!!  We had to take a picture of this because she wasn't screaming.

On top of the Citadel before we went on a forced march, Jeff-style tour (it actually wasn't bad at all, but the kids weren't energetic at first.

In front of the "Crazy Pig" restaurant, where Celeste was relatively well-behaved because they had a pot of dill pickles on the table.

Dictated by Elise and Mom

On the Farm

While Jeff and I were enjoying our time together in Italy, the girls got to visit Grandma and Grandpa Stephenson at their farm in Wisconsin.  They got to spend time riding tractors, harvesting chicken eggs and raspberries, helping with the chores, reading and playing with their Wicke cousins for part of the time.  Every night when either of my parents would go down to the barn to feed the sheep, they took Celeste.  She loved it so much, that she started to demand that they take her down to "Feed the Sheepies!!!" as early as 3pm.  Some days she wouldn't stop screaming her request until they took her down to the barn.  As soon as my dad came home from work he would scoop her up and carry her around.  She loved this, so she would ask all day long, "Where's Grandpa?" when he was at work.  When he came home she would say "Hi Grandpa!" over and over and over.  She was in love!

The girls got to go to the Milwaukee Zoo with their cousins as well as the movie "Percy Jackson".  They took Celeste to the movie and then taught to to say "Percy Jackson!" whenever they asked her, "What's your favorite movie?"  I guess this movie is a little scary, and that she hid under her blankie for most of it.  My mom also took the girls to one of her favorite places, the Salvation Army, where they were able to pick out a treasure of their own.

Elise and Gwyneth were very good about practicing.  They only missed one day!

All the cousins together at lunch.

Posing in front of the "fish pond".

Here is Celeste with Dad - they were always together when he came home from work.

<>

Dad taking Celeste down to the barn to "Feed the Sheepies!"